Classic Racer

Classic Racer takes you so close you can actually smell the Castrol R. With the world's finest archive, and an editorial team who live and breathe the sport, the only way you'll get closer will be to put on your leathers.

Classic Racer

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Paddock Gossip • Compiled by The Classic Racer team // Send your classic racing news to: editor@classicracer.co.uk

CLASSIC COOL! • It may not be quite the event it used to be, but the slimmed-down Classic Manx Grand Prix still gave us plenty of action in 2024.

Whatever happened to? GRAHAM WALKER • Oft overshadowed by his famous son, Graham Walker was a trailblazer: racer, TT winner, journalist, commentator and interviewer par excellence.

GREAT Britten! • late John Brittenh The Britten – designed by Kiwi genius the t – was full of innovations, but for many the heart of t e bike’s success and allure was that V-twin powerplant.

RAGING BULL! • Yamaha’s YZR500 may have missed out on the rider’s championship in 2000, but a team effort saw them win the manufacturer’s title that year. Our own Marlboro Man, Alan Cathcart, rides Spanish rider Carlos Checa’s OWK6 500cc two-stroke V4.

YAMAHA RACING’S ICHIRO YODA INTERVIEW

1974 YAMAHA YZR500 OW20

A TALE OF TWO WINNERS • Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the longest ever, 10-lap two-rider TT and for John Moulton it holds a special significance.

1981 YAMAHA TZ500H • Produced in response to Suzuki’s popular privateer RG500 machine, the TZ500 was built as an ‘over-the-counter’ two-stroke racer. Unlike the Suzuki RG500, the customer TZ500s only had a short lifespan – just three years from 1980 through to 1982. This makes the survivors something of a rarity…

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! • Classic Racer friends Tony and Claire Greenslade run Gibson/Allspeed exhausts in Essex. As a big part in the classic racing/Yamaha Past Masters scene, 2024 sees them expand still further into the CRMC scene with some new bikes: this issue, they only take a championship!

Luck be a lady tonight • Bike racers: no nonsense, straight-talking athletes who rely purely on the science of speed to win races and championships. Rubbish – they’re all as superstitious as your dear old nan!

A SPONSORSHIP STORY • Andy Reynolds, former racer and author was at a loss at what to do when he quit racing. Then the idea of sponsoring a rider came into his head. This is his story:

Fred Clarke • In the second of his regular columns for Classic Racer, Fred Clarke – for more than 50 years the voice of British motorcycle racing – takes us back in time for some fun recollections!

BUILDING BARRY! BACK ON HIS WHEELS! • Barry the bike has been in bits for long enough: it’s time for Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards and his trusty, talented main-man Don Carcas to get Bazza back on his wheels and ready to turn them in anger. On a track…

Back in the Day • Welcome to ‘Back in the Day’ where we want to see all your old photographs from way back when. They could be of you racing, or perhaps you meeting your racing idol – or maybe just snaps you’ve taken at a race event from yesteryear: do be mindful of copyright! There’s a prize for the best! Send them to: BSimmonds@mortons.co.uk