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►When the first
international Drag Festival was staged in England, September-October 1964, only
two American drag bikes were represented. Short notice and lack of organization
on this side of the Atlantic were responsible for the minimal showing, and while
both Bill Wood (Har-Dav) and Don Hyland (twin-Triumph) gave creditable
performances, they were outclassed by the knowledgeable Britons with their
light, special frames, superchargers, injectors, streamlined shells and
familiarity with local weather and strip conditions. Add to this the fact that
the East Coast Yanks were used to running only gas, while the British were all
using methanol and mild loads of nitro and it may quickly be seen that it was
only pluck and savvy of quick getaways that kept the U.S. effort from being a
complete rout.
Little less than fighting mad, the hard core of American drag
cyclists were stung with a desire to reverse the decision of '64 by returning in
force of numbers and power to the announced '65 Dragfest.
This year
the U.S. Team included six machines and a crew of ten, captained by Dick Rios,
holder of the lowest e.t. at 9.73 seconds for the quarter mile. Dick's
twin-Triumph `Two Timer' had also hit 155.1.7 mph and the 1300cc machine ran
heavy loads of almost pure nitromethane. Assisting Rios with the show-perfect,
black and chrome beauty was Bob LaRue. Another double-engined rig was Sonny
Scott's bike, Stagefright (named for its temperamental nature at big meets),
with Lawrence Perry twisting the throttle of the two 40-inch Triumphs. The
all-aluminum framed machine is the nation's fastest at 155.25 mph and had hit a
low e.t. of 10.01.
Several
single-engined Triumph dragsters made up the bulk of the U.S. contingent: Bob
Loux, with mechanic Garland Leonard; Jim Cook rode Boris Murray's chassis with
his own 40-inch engine installed; and. Nira Johnson soloed his 40-inch
Bonneville/drag bike. Both Loux and Cook were consistent dwellers in the mid and
low ten-second bracket with speeds in the high 130's, while 'Johnny' had the
quickest gas-burner going (at 119 mph) and his initial tests on fuel looked good
to place him in the same category.
Rounding out
the Team, Dennis Manning's 350cc Honda had been thoroughly revitalized to
include a root-type supercharger with Hilborn injector, and though still
undeveloped as to potential with the new equipment, prior performances indicated
it to be fiercely competitive in its class.
The
undertaking was a vast one, including flying the bikes and crews to London for
the meets scheduled, over two weekends. Helping to defray the expenses, the Team
obtained sponsorships from Valvoline Oil Co., Webco Inc., Johnson Motors and the
Triumph Corporation (West and Eastern distributors of Triumph), and Barnett Tool
& Engineering. A drum of 98% nitro was purchased and shipped to England. Team
jackets in red, white and blue were fitted with embroidered patches, and decals
to match adorned shipping crates, luggage and the Ford Vans used to transport
the Americans around England.
Making
connections for the machines and men through BOAC, the Team was jetted to London
ever a week prior to the first meet at Blackbushe Airport on 25-26 September.
Fall weather was pleasant and a practice meet at Gravely, to the north of
London, was set for the 18th, giving the English a chance to look us over — and
vice-versa. The Dragfest sponsors and British Drag Racing Association pitched in
with fervor to assist the visitors in obtaining needed plugs, oil, racing boots,
competition licenses and materials needed to modify the bikes to meet local
requirements. The Auto-Cycle Union's usual rule requiring front wheel brakes was
waived for the events. Chain guards over the primaries were required, and
fabricated.
Gravely
proved a good show. The strip was rough, yet gave good traction, and the near
sea-level altitude and humidity was similar to conditions with which the
Americans were familiar. Immediately obvious was the fact that the Briton's
hadn't been sitting on their hands for a year. Many new machines and refinements
to the old were in evidence. There had been no complacency after the first
victory, and while they generally doubted the times and speeds of the U.S.
bikes, they readied them- selves — just in case.
Most of the
Yanks took it easy that first outing, for after all, the big competition wasn't
for another week's time, so why push it and take a chance on blowing? Manning
needed the tuning time to sort out a few problems with stripping timed blower
drive belts. Johnson stuck to petrol for his tuning, but after a couple of runs
was able to hit 120 mph — a shade faster than his Stateside best! Another to top
his time at home was Bob Loux, who cracked out a 139 mph. His 10.68 e.t. wasn't
up to his 10.07 best, but was good enough, to tie English and World Champion
George Brown on an 1150cc Vincent, whose supercharged `Super Nero' garnered a
top speed of 140. Best Time of the Day went to another blown Vincent when
Neville Higgins rolled out his streamlined 'Jindivik' to clip off 142 mph in
just 10.21 seconds. Fastest Speed fell to Dick Rios with a 151 — the highest
ever turned on the British Isles — although the Cap'n's e.t. was 10.45 Murray
and Cook's 'Drag City' bike had several good runs in their 13C mph area and the
Scott/Perry combs ate up an Avon slick while spinning the rough surface in the
140's.
During the
following week the troops did a little sight-seeing and readied for the big.
bash at Blackbushe. Actually, although the Festival was to be held for the
two-day weekend, the bikes would run only on Saturday due to conflict with
previously scheduled sprint meeting the next day and the subsequent in ability
of the sponsors to secure Sunday sanction. This was the firs indication of
organizational chao which was to plague the entire Festival's running. Then the
weather fell off.
By Saturday
the Blackbushe Air port, 50 miles southwest of London was covered with a blanket
of black cloud which gave forth torrents. A few hardy souls braved the wet in
the grandstands. Even the occasional breaks in the fierce downpour allowed
little more than an effort to get the meet underway. The big American car
dragsters remained in trailers or under tent. A few sedans raced down the
puddle-pocked strip and some of the smaller bike classes were allowed to try to
qualify when the rain let up. Even so, the scooters were usually on the strip
while the sky was falling. Not a little chicken to try their luck in the wet,
the big bikes stayed in the vans or tried warm-ups between showers. Then it
really hit, weather-wise, and the meet was called.
Enroute to
the next weekend's fracas, the Team visited the Triumph and BSA factories in
Coventry and Birminigham, then headed north for R.A.F. Woodvale near Southport
on the west coast north of Liverpool. Rain was heavy.
Miraculously, Sunday dawned al- most clear and in mid-morning a large golden orb
appeared in the sky. It looked like a really good day for racing. But too many
chiefs and not enough Indians scuttled the show. Even qualifying runs were
loused up when the U.S. bikes were forced to run without warm-ups or worse,
called and then forced to shut down when overheated due to some obscure
official's decision to change the program or bring back cars on the strip.
Despite this, some Americans did well; Perry hit 150 with a 10.53, second only
to Alf Ha on with a 10.50 for elapsed time. So much time was taken with needless
detail, that actual racing was not gotten underway until near dark, and then was
curtailed to allow the big cars tout on their show.
There was no
American victory — nor a British, for that matter. It did prove that we can do
the things we've claimed — or at least approach them under adverse conditions.
What it did do was to severely whet the appetites of both sides to get together
again without the well-mean- in g interference of sanctioning officials and
organizations not directly involved and have a jolly good go.■ |
Competition 
