Jan 2012 Riders Newsletter No 17

SCOTTISH CHAMPIONS ON THE EDGE

Dec 2011 RIDERS

NEWSLETTER No 17

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It has been a year of change for the S.A.C.U. after the poor balance sheets at the A.G.M. the way forward panel made various proposals to the management on ways to save costs. Mainly to look at employed staff as this is the largest cost. A staff review was conducted and it was recognised that the post of finance and planning was unnecessary leading to the redundancy of Eric Jones. Eric was employed for 13 years and had guided us through the foot and mouth epidemic using his Civil Service knowledge, he was instrumental in getting our corporate audit passed and accepted by Sports Scotland and the Parliament. Working with Bob Reid they ran the National Conference at Strathclyde Park and certainly got the S.A.C.U. noticed by local authorities, the police and the Scottish Parliament. Unfortunately the post of National Sports Manager due to various reasons did not materialise thus causing his job to become redundant. Eric left at the end of September with all the best wishes of the management and the clubs. With Bob Reid having resigned from the post of Leisure Manager due to personal reasons, and our President Andy Russell resigning at the beginning of October our organisation has certainly slimmed down. With the shortage of funds the discipline budgets were substantially cut this year and certain events were not supported, the events calendar was mostly run with several events cancelled, mostly due to bad weather, but in MotoX lack of entries caused the cancellation of several events.

The management have decided for 2012 to re introduce One day licences at a cost of £10.00 these will be available to all off road disciplines up to but excluding Championship status. E.g. National and closed to club and there will be no restriction on the number of times they can be purchased. The management have started on making arrangements to celebrate our 100 years anniversary in 2013. Robbie Allan is looking at a D.V.D being produced by Duke Marketing. The disciplines are also being asked to think of a special event that they could run to mark the 100

th.

Anniversary. It will also be the 100th year of the

I.S.D.E. We have arranged to take a stand at the Motorcycle Show at Ingleston next year, and also a stand at the Lanark Motorcycle Show on 12

th. –

13th. May.

Some money has also been set aside for improvements to our office in Uphall to make it friendlier for members calling in for licences etc. and also more comfortable and efficient for the staff. I would like to thank all the club officials, discipline members and the management and also the riders that have made the sport run this year. I would also like to thank the S.A.C.U. staff for all their hard work and wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year. A.J.Shedden SACU Chairman SSSAAACCCUUU RRRoooaaaddd RRRaaaccciiinnnggg RRReeevvviiieeewww 222000111111

Well 2011 has been a funny old year but let‟s start on the World Stage

Michael Robertson © Tom Bone In MotoGP Taylor Mackenzie has had a very successful learning year on his 125 and Kev Coglan has made several appearances in Moto 2

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ISDE Team finishes 9th in the World Adam Easton an appreciation 100 years of the SSDT 1980‟s Schoolboy Reunion Grampian Motorcycle Convention Adult MX Review

Scott Lawrie and James Neave have competed in the F1 British Championship and ended the season in 3

rd place.

As well as being Scottish Superbike Champion Michael Robertson has been competing in the British Thundersports Championship and is the new 2011 Thundersports Superbike Champion – also finishing 2

nd in the Superstock Championship.

Well done Michael On the roads Keith Amor has had another good year at the North West, IOM TT and with his Honda Legends squad. Dod Spence also had a podium at the IOM with his electric bike On the BSB scene young David Paton has had a successful year on his 600 S/S machine. Jimmy Storrar was also running well until injury spoilt his year. In the GP 125‟s young gun Tarken Mackenzie and Callum Bey are the boys to watch for the future Dean Brown, Dan Kinnoch and Tim Hastings were all running well in the 600 S/Stock class On the home front the Scottish Championship was reduced to four rounds – all held at East Fortune After close racing in all Championship classes the ultimate winners were Scottish Champions Scottish Superbike

1 Michael Robertson

2 Bruce Birnie

3 Andrew Tasker

Scottish Superbike Cup Andrew Tasker Scottish Superstock 600

1 1 Roy Houston

2 Angus Mearns

3 Tim Hastings

Scottish Sidecar Championship

1 1 B Davie and M Hoskinson

2 D Wrinn and S Clark

3 A Warden and P Burges

Well done to all the riders and passengers

Finally I have to end on a sad note as at the Manx GP this year we lost Adam Easton from Musselburgh. He had been competing in the IOM at the Manx Classic since 1983. RIP Adam

Hugh Ward Chairman Racing and Sprints Committee. 222000111111 AAAddduuulllttt SSScccoootttttt iiissshhh MMMXXX CCChhhaaammmpppiiiooonnnssshhhiiippp

Well we are at the end of the Motocross season and Scotland once again has hosted some big events this year again very successfully! The excellent circuit at Duns held a round of the British Youth Championship and also a round of the Maxxis British Championship which welcomed back local lad Billy MacKenzie from his new home in Australia, unfortunately Stephen Sword was missing through injury. Also at Duns circuit we held a 1980s School Boy Reunion alongside the Borders club championship, what a success that was. Derek Faulds worked hard to get it up and running and everyone had the most fantastic day some meeting up for the first time in over 20 years. Graham “ I am now 50” Milne has a separate report for that event. I would like to wish Martin Smith well in his recovery from injury at the event. The Scottish Adult Championship class has a fight as usual for the title. Reigning Champion Ross “Bunga” Rutherford and Tony “TC” Craig were going into the last round with only 15 points separating them. Unfortunately the last round had to be cancelled twice due to the weather so it was decided to call it a day after 5 rounds. So Bunga claimed the title 3 years in a row. Well done Ross. We have been struggling for sponsorship this year and with the help of Gordon Brown at Safe Access we can give our riders prize money 1

st to 10

th

again but not as much as it has been in the past. We have had to run a tight ship financially as we have had no assistance to fund the prize money. This will need to be reviewed for 2012. The B class is the best supported class with everyone wanting to claim that title! The winner was Jason Moore, runner up John Marshall and John Kirk 3rd. The C class had Stewart Kelman taking the title, Stephen Humphries 2

nd and Peter O`Neill 3

rd.

The joint youth and adult Championship has worked well but numbers are not as good as hoped due to the current climate. We are currently looking at a revamped format for 2012 for both youth and adult.

I‟m sure we would all like to congratulate Elaine MacEachern for winning the British Girls title in the sw85cc class. Youth BYMX Rider Alexander Brown from Whitburn, West Lothian is only ten years old. Alexander recently came 7

th in the World Junior

Championships in Italy. Alexander also won the BYMX Youth Champiopnships and was 1

st in the Red Bull

Youth Elite Championships. A force for the future – Congratulations to the Tartan Terror We have had some new additions to some of our riders recently, so a huge congratulations goes out to Craig Trew and baby Ruben, Morton Hannah and baby Matthew, Steven Groome and baby Jack also to Chris MacVie and baby Max, Future mx riders. . . . . . . . I am sure they have already got little bikes waiting in the garage for their first Christmas!

Photo © Tom Bone 2011 has been a very hard year for me being at the helm of MX and with some health issues along the way but I have tried to do my best for MX in Scotland, I would like to say a few thank you`s to people who have helped me. Firstly Chris MacVie has been brilliant with the website updates and helping me with computer issues!!! Wenda Bryce and Nicola Perfect for their extra help at the meetings, Ernie Beaton who has helped me out on numerous occasions in different ways, the Adult Motocross Committee for their dedication to MX. Jim Clunie for sponsoring the Adult B and C championship trophies and to Gordon Brown of Safe Access for his sponsorship as always. I would also like to say a special thank you to YOU the riders for supporting the Championship. At Round 5 a very touching tribute was made to a

young lad called Malcolm Campbell, he so sadly lost his life in a mining accident in New Zealand earlier this year. His father also Malcolm helped build the track at Comerton Farm, Leuchars more than 20 years ago. In his memory his father wanted a special trophy awarded to the winner of the Adult A Championship class at Leuchars. Andy Russell made a touching tribute to Malcolm and presented the award to Tony Craig. Tony used to race with young Malcolm so was very emotional about winning the trophy and extremely honoured to be presented with this perpetual trophy by his father. Tony also very kindly donated his hole-shot money to the fund which has been set up to help recover Malcolm and bring him home to rest in Scotland. Tracks used for the Championship were Tain, Rhynie, Shiplaw, Duns and Leuchars, sadly Loch Gilphead missed out due to the horrendous flooding we had recently. We are not sure what the format is going to be for next year yet meetings will be taking place very soon to organise it with venues, dates and format being announced asap. Maybe with some new blood on the committees things may change!!! So ….... all help is gratefully received. Our committees are all volunteers including me! So we do our very best to put on good events for the riders, please help us by supplying marshals etc. We would be very grateful if anyone could organise a group of marshals for our adult events. Also needing some sponsors I didn‟t do a programme this year due to lack of help to be honest, I had more than enough on my plate doing the job I do also running the events so again if anyone would like to do a programme for us and hunt down some much needed sponsorship it would be very much appreciated. The official website for the Scottish Championship is www.sacumx.co.uk which is updated by Chris MacVie, he would be very grateful for any information to go on the website. Would love to get the names of previous Scottish Champions posted from as far back as possible, anyone who can contribute get in touch with Chris. So for 2012 I would love to see some old and new faces at our events and hope we can continue running a successful championship. We started off with nearly the maximum 120 riders at the first round at Tain to less than 50 being entered for the last round. I‟m doing my best for you guys but maybe it‟s not good enough, time will tell. All the best over the festive period. Good luck for a successful 2012 season. Diana McLuckie Motocross Chairperson

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For the last three years the Bon Accord Motorcycle Club has been the organiser of the Grampian

Motorcycle Convention which has been held annually on the first Sunday in September since 1982. The convention has always been a day out for bikers of all types and ages with a wide and diverse range of bikes on display and in action. The club‟s aim has been two fold, firstly to entertain the paying public and secondly to provide a platform to promote motorcycle sport in all it‟s different forms. This year we had a fantastic arena programme which was headlined by The Squibb Freestyle Motocross Team. Also on the bill we had Pursuit Racing, Supermoto Racing, Moped Mayhem, Classic Racer displays, Vintage and Classic bike displays and for the first time in Scotland an Extreme Enduro. Outside the arena there is a virtual motorcycle show to go and look round with Ducati, Harley Davidson, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha bikes on display thanks to the local and national dealers. Our special guest this year was the road racing superstar Guy Martin. What a hit he turned out to be with the crowd! The queue to get his autograph had to be seen to be believed and who knew he was so popular with the ladies! Guy also managed to take part in the moped mayhem

wearing what looked suspiciously like a pair of Bruce Birnie‟s old leathers. Ever the superstar Guy made only one stipulation before he would agree to come to Alford. In perhaps what may be the quote of the year he said "OK I'll come, but on one condition...you get me back at work on my customers' trucks at 7.30 am Monday morning.” Hope you made it on time Guy and Haste Ye Back! Our sporting focus was turned onto the Enduro scene this year and a course was built on the lines of the Red Bull Romanics prologue course

complete with two man see saw. Seven riders tackled the course in a head to head to race format. The obstacles proved to be a bit tricky, not helped by the soft grass and the only man who could negotiate them all without falling off too often was the eventual winner Graham Jarvis. We will look at running this event again next year with Scottish riders and wider obstacles which will allow us to run four riders at a time. Watch this space!! The moped mayhem was unbelievably good this year with a total of 54 teams taking to the start line. There was the usual selection of mishaps

including a very spectacular head on collision with a bale, a frame broken in half and a moped with its engine trailing on the ground. Through the two legs came last year‟s winners Norfolk and Chance to claim their second victory in a row proving that experience of racing at 30mph really does help. Bruce Birnie‟s team came a close second helped no doubt by poaching Guy Martin from The Bon Accord Works Team.

The closest racing of the day was surely served up by the Supermoto riders. Scotland‟s very own Dougie Cunningham from Airdrie took the fight to Chris Hodgson and Richard Blakeman of the Triple D Motorsport team and only narrowly missed out on the win having to settle for second place behind Chris Hodgson.

Our policy of never having the same act two years in a row went out of the window this year when we invited back The Squibb Freestyle Team all the way from Devon. Jamie and his team didn‟t let us down. What a thrilling show of aerial stunts they performed much to the delight of the crowd. Listening to the sound of 5,700 people collectively having a sharp intake of breath as John Pearson coolly rode up the ramp and performed a massive 360 degree backflip made me as organiser know that we had made the correct decision to bring them back. Next year will see us celebrating the 30

th

Convention and the organising team are already hard at work planning a few surprises with some of the faces and machines of yesteryear scheduled to make appearances. We hope you can all be with us on Sunday 2

nd September 2012

to join our party. Report and pictures by Bill McGregor www.grampianmotorcycleconvention.com NNNooorrrttthhh LLLaaannnaaarrrkkkssshhhiiirrreee SSScccrrraaammmbbbllleee aaannnddd QQQuuuaaaddd BBBiiikkkeee

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The club was founded in 2002 and was presented in 2007 with the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service for its modern approach to volunteering and completing the full Policies and Procedures. resulted in fourteen club members being invited to the 2007 Queen's Garden Party at Holyrood Palace

Two NLSQBC Directors were invited and attended a reception at Westminster Palace in 2008 NLSQBC was delighted to be selected by the Scottish Parliament to be part of the Parliament's Moving Stories, Travelling Exhibition in 2010-2011 featuring the Petition to Parliament by the club.

Photo © Andrew Cowan - Scottish Parliament

The Queen visited the Exhibition while opening the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood on the 1

st of

July 2011 where Bob Reid was presented to her Majesty

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222000111111 DDDuuunnnsss --- BBBooorrrdddeeerrrsss MMMXXXCCC LLLaaannngggtttooonnn

LLLeeeeeesss FFFaaarrrmmm Report and pictures: Graham Milne FROM an idle chat in a pub last year to one of the most eagerly awaited motocross events in Scotland, organiser Derek Faulds pulled out all the stops to create a top class atmosphere for many riders who were in their prime in the 1980s at Duns on Sunday. Derek and Ray McKinney together with Graeme Farish, the McVie brothers of the Borders MXC and the British championship track at Duns set up three, ten minute, races for the maturing lads to try and recreate their youth and racing prowess, with ALL proceeds from the event going to the „Help for Heroes‟ charity. The weather was pretty blustery high on the hillside venue, and a spot of rain only helped to keep the dust down and provide a cracking circuit for what proved stirring racing from the increasingly stiffening bodies. Thirty-seven of the 40 riders signed up turned up and former British champions were present and all eyes were on former four-stroke champion David Campbell to make headlines, however, former Scottish champ and regular raider into England, Simon Downing took the spoils with three race wins ahead of Stranraer based pilot Andrew Slavin and Campbell in runner-up and third places respectively.

The Holeshots were won by fast starting Jason Moir The day kicked off with a presentation of the riders and with their bright yellow „Camel-type‟ bibs with their names and „Help for Heroes‟ logos printed on them. REUNION RIDERS AND NUMBERS 2 DAVID CAMPBELL 22 RICHARD DEVINE

3 IAN GUTHRIE 23 MARTIN SMITH

4 EWAN JOHNSTON 25 TOM GRANT

5 GRAEME FARISH 26 STEVEN RICHARDSON

6 DEREK FAULDS 27 SCOTT NAPIER

7 RAYMOND MCKINNEY 28 GORDON MORRISON

8 PAUL COWARD 29 DAVID CARRUTHERS

9 ARRAN POTTS 30 DOUGIE GARDEN

11 JAMES METHVEN 31 DAVID LAWSON

12 MARTIN ROWLANDSON 32 CLARK DAVIDSON

13 KEVIN ROBERTSON 33 SIMON GRAHAM

14 ANDREW FORREST 34 ANDREW SLAVIN

15 ASHLEY KANE 36 DAVID MCVIE

16 JASON MOIR 37 IAIN REID

17 CHRIS BLAIR 38 TREVOR GUY

18 GRAEME NAISMITH 39 CARL HODGSON

19 THOMAS CARRUTHERS 40 ALAN REID

20 SIMON DOWNING

Former Honda ATAC squad member Tony Caig and popular Strathclyde MXC secretary Alastair Henderson helped dish out the commemorative medals to each rider. After Moir had taken the holeshot in the first race with Downing, Campbell and former 125ccGP rider and former Fox Europe Exec Ashley Kane in hot pursuit, Campbell took a nose dive from on high over one of the track‟s many jumps and lost a dozen or so places.

Downing took the win from Slavin and third placed „Dervil Dervish‟ Tom Grant. Campbell came back from a lowly 12

th to sixth spot at the flag.

Moir again hit the front in the second race but Campbell took over and set off to leave Downing and Slavin to fight it out amongst themselves. Downing was having none of it and took the lead on lap two and eventually took an untroubled win from Campbell and Slavin. Slavin had to battle hard with old rival, popular Cumbrian Paul Coward until the flag providing a great spectacle for the large number of spectators. Even though Campbell took the holeshot in race three, it was a bend or two (or half a lap?) before Downing took over at the front and looked at ease with his third win of the day. Campbell and Slavin snatched second and third places respectively. The final Reunion class word has to go to former Northern Centre Champion Ewan Johnston who completely destroyed his newly built Yamaha‟s engine after two-laps of practice and „had‟ to ride an 11-year-old Yamaha 125cc bike for the three races and still finished in sixth place overall! It was a quite superb event with a friendly atmosphere not felt around the paddock for many many years.

The Borders club also ran a club event during the day with Adam Scott taking a hat-trick of wins in the Auto class with Scott Russell (65cc), Lee Perfect Small-wheel 85cc), Robert Bell (Big-wheel 85cc) and Andrew McNichol (Youth 250cc) also taking maximum points in their respective classes. Jack Marshall took the overall honours in the Youth 125cc class with two second spots and a last race win. In the Adult Open class reigning Scottish champion Ross Rutherford put in on a domineering display with three untroubled wins from Daniel Hutchison and Craig Trew. Paul Johnson grabbed three wins for top spot on the Clubman class podium. RESULTS 1980‟s Schoolboy Reunion Motocross 1 Simon Downing 135 points 2 Andrew Slavin 120 3David Campbell 119 4 Tom Grant 114 5 Paul Coward 114 6 Ewan Johnston 103. Open class 1 Ross Rutherford, 2 Daniel Hutchinson, 3 Craig Trew, 4 Mark Perfect, 5 David Houston, 6 Steven Craig. Clubman 1 Paul Johnston, 2 Bob Jack, 3 Ivan Williamson, 4 Drew Harvey, 5 Mark Dempsey, 6 Morton Hannah. Youth 250cc 1 Andrew McNichol, 2 Greg Queen, 3 Paul Baillie, 4 Dyland Annan, 5 Kieran Marr. Youth 125cc 1 Jack Marshall, 2 Kyle McNichol, 3 Kyle Oliver. Big-wheel 85cc 1 Robert Bell, 2 Ben Thomson, 3 Ryan McNichol, 4 Steven Lennie.

Small-wheel 85cc 1 Lee Perfect, 2 Brett Baillie, 3 Adam Hodgson, 4 Andrew Slavin, 5 Kristopher Crowhurst, 6 Elaine MacEachern. 65cc 1 Scott Russell, 2 Daniel Chisholm, 3 Kyle McNichol, 4 Adam Slavin, 5 Kieran Kerr. Autos 1 Adam Scott, 2 Jay Clark, 3 Jordan Graham, 4 Cody Taylor, 5 Haydon Purdham.

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On the 2

nd October the Scottish Classic club ran a

ladies race at their last meeting of the year at Whitekirk. The race was the brain child of Jacquie Barrow and we had five lady riders and three transvestites! Who thoroughly enjoyed their experience?

The race was won by Kate Mcaulay from Co Durham and the total raised was magnificent the sum of £2,375. The club would like to thank Jacquie and the riders who took part and everyone who made a donation to very worthy cause.

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On 24

th September the Scottish Classic Racing

Motorcycle club sent a team of twelve riders to the Classic Motocross des Nations to join another

thirteen countries at a modern style sand track in Kwintelooyen national park in Rhenen, Holland. We had three teams comprising of Over 35, Ian Ridley (Bsa) Steve Dent (Bsa) Rodger Powell (Cz) Ian Stainton (Bultaco) Over 50, Wullie Gordon (Triumph) Willie Brown (Husky) Mike Bell (Bsa) Fergus Moodie (Cz) Over 60, Willie Wallace ( Bsa) Stewart Riddell (CZ) Ken Soutar (Goldstar), Jim Allan (Bultaco) The event itself was very well organized, the weather was superb and the camaraderie was also very good.

The team on the day struggled with machine problems and found riding in the sand took a bit of getting used to. But they all enjoyed the experience of competing alongside some of the best Pre 65 riders in Europe and representing there club and country at such a prestigious event. We hope next year to take a team to Czech Republic. Creena Bell SCRMC Scrambles Sec IIISSSDDDEEE

Top Ten Result for Scotland in Finland Early August saw the running of the 86th ISDE in Finland where the cream of the Scottish Enduro riders brought home a fine tally of medals and a well-deserved 9th place in the ISDE World Club Team Championships. The decision to select a team of young riders paid back huge dividends with Neil Chatham awarded a fine Gold medal on his first ride at an ISDE. Ricky Mair was awarded a hard earned Silver and Frazer Norrie a Bronze medal after a tough six days of intense competition. The week couldn't have got off to a better start and at the start of Day 3 the SACU team were

lying in a fine seventh place and best British Club Team. The ISDE is the ultimate test of man and machine and Day 3 certainly tested the youngest of our team riders. Just as Frazer was riding up to the start of a special test his rear wheel cried enough and Frazer was forced to carry out repairs with only the tools carried in his bum bag. A determined Frazer not only managed to get his wheel back together but finished the day only dropping only 20 mins. Frazer‟s run of bad luck continued on Day 4 when his KTM shock absorber blew apart at the half way stage. Our rapid response service crew of Kenny Norrie, Campbell Chatham and Charlie McKenzie did a sterling job of getting a borrowed replacement to the service check in time for Frazer's final special test.

Both Ricky and Neil were putting up a great performance with test times consistently inside the top 10 of their class as was Frazer despite his problems. Ricky and Neil were both running well inside the Gold medal qualification when the teams run of bad luck continued. Ricky's clutch lost all its drive in the middle of a special test. With a replacement clutch plate fitted mid test - a determined Ricky continued to the end of the day loosing minimum time. Meanwhile Neil was flying the flag high for Scotland with a ride of maturity beyond his years. The traditional final day of The ISDE sees all the riders competing in a moto cross to decide final finishing positions. All 3 SACU riders made the fast heats of their classes. Ricky and Neil in the E1 C class and Frazer the E2 C class. Neil rode fast and safe to ensure he remained on Gold, while Ricky did what is becoming a tradition and led the race from start to finish despite some pressure from one of the Italian rides throughout the race. Frazer rode with his usual determined

style and fought hard through the pack despite not having the best of starts. All 3 riders proved their worth as SACU ISDE team members and we should all be proud of their achievements. Our fantastic result would not have been possible without the dedication of our hard working support team of Kevin Gauld, Allyn Scotland and Alastair Millar and the second to none support of all those that travelled to from Scotland to Finland to cheer on and provide support as and when required. Thanks must go to Charlie McKenzie, Campbell Chatham and Kenny Norrie for their added support provided to the team.

Our top ten placing would of course not have been possible had it not been for the financial support of all the Scottish Enduro Clubs and the generous donations received and funds raised at the Selkirk fundraising evening. Thank you to you all. Sam Davidson SACU ISDE Team Manager MMMaaannnxxx GGGrrraaannnddd PPPrrriiixxx

There were quite a few members over at this years MGP. Ewan Hamilton, Gordon Yule, Wattie Brown, Ian Bainbridge, Ken Davis, Adam Easton, Derek Allan and Vic Allan. Norman Holland and Iain Bell were both spectating and taking part in parades etc, and had a great time. I think all went well in practise for most of the lads. First out on Saturday was Vic Allan in Newcomers B, who finished 7

th on a 398cc Kawasaki in 1hr

10min 30.68secs – 96.316mph and got a replica. Many congratulations from us all.

Unfortunately, Ewan didn‟t get a finish in the 250cc Classic on his Suzuki, he retired whilst leading the race. Barry Davidson (he raced at the Bob Mac this year) inherited the win, Maria Costello finished 3

rd on Bob Jackson‟s Suzuki.

In the 350cc race, we had Gordon Yule and Ken Davis, both on Hondas with Ken finishing 10

th 1hr

43min 16.41secs – 87.682mph and received a replica and also wins the Colin Keith Memorial Trophy. Gordon Yule finished in 13

th place, 1 hr

47min 16.62secs. Congratulations. Derek Glass was the winner of the replica donated by the Club, he finished in 6

th place, also on a

Honda, in 1hr 38min 22.08secs – 92.054mph. The 500cc race had 4 members racing Wattie Brown, Gordon Yule, Adam Easton and Ian Bainbridge. Wattie was having a great race lying in a safe 3

rd until the last lap when he broke down

at the Nook, He pushed all the way to the finish line to finish in 10

th place, no mean feat, tired after

4 laps and a heavy machine to push uphill, no wonder he was knackered, but well done you Wattie! 10

th place, 498cc Petty Norton in 1hr

34min 23.10secs – 95.939mph and received a replica (donated by the Club) and is the winner of the Brian Richards Trophy. Ian Bainbridge came in 12

th on his 499cc Manx Norton, 1hr 36min

33.54secs – 93.779mph and also received a replica, and Gordon Yule on his 350cc Honda finished 20

th 1 hr 41min 46.25 secs - 88.976mph.

Adam tragically didn‟t get to finish his race. He crashed at Lambfell and later died of his injuries (he was lying in 16

th place when the accident

happened). We were all shocked and stunned to hear. Adam‟s year was geared towards signatures for the Manx, we will all miss him dearly. AAAdddaaammm EEEaaassstttooonnn ––– aaannn aaapppppprrreeeccciiiaaattt iiiooonnn

Adam was a founder member of the Scottish Vintage Racing Club, he started racing his Dad‟s

Rudge. He also was a founder of the Scottish Classic Racing Motorcycle Club. We first met Adam when we went to Knockhill to watch the racing (after about 18 years after having stopped racing in 1962). Agnes and I had decided to go on the spur of the moment and Adam was racing in one of the support races on his Weslake.

The noise and the smell of Castrol R got me thinking about racing again, that was the beginning of our long friendship. We raced together at most local circuits, Adam on his Manx‟s and me on my Goldstar. Then when the Classic Racing started at the MGP, we both entered the Junior and Senior races. We all stayed at Leighton House, just up Broadway and garaged the bikes with Ken Teare up the lane by the Bowling Club. Ken also had a bacon curing business next door to the garage and we were constantly hungry by the smell of the ham cooking. There were 5 of us in the garage – Adam, Chic Flockhart, Wattie Brown, Euan Ferguson and myself, we had some great times there, we had everything, drills, lathes, grinders, kettle, water, toilet, etc, we all had our own mod-cons. Everybody helped each other out, whether it was working on each other‟s bikes or going for fuel up to Jurby, everybody mucked in, vans shared and costs split. Adam and I shared our old Transit van on many occasions, loaded to the gunnels, but great, great times, and many, many laughs and a few tears, but such good memories to have of someone who had been a pretty regular part of our lives, and many others lives. After I stopped racing we still kept in touch once a fortnight or met up at the racing, etc. Everyone who knew Adam has a story to tell, but all say the same thing, he was the gentleman of racing, never had a bad word to say about anybody, highly respected with a very dry sense of humour, and who put everything into the focal

point of his year, the Manx Grand Prix and his Manx Nortons.

Report and appreciation by Diana Dyce

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The SACU was very pleased to receive a Ben Fund donation from the Melville MC. They had a fund raising raffle for a Harley Davidson donated by their nearest neighbour John. He also helps on work parties and helps out at events to assist the officials. A very dedicated helper and much appreciated The bike was raffled in July at the Melville 40

th

anniversary celebrations. The club will continue to fund raise for the Ben Fund – as taught by Adam Brownlie whose years as Ben Fund Officer made Scotland a major source of donations. Diane Dyce Melville MC A great example for us all and very much appreciated – the Ben Fund is for all riders and officials – and every donation goes direct to the fund. TTTrrriiiaaalllsss SSSeeecccttt iiiooonnn

The 2011 season bows out and what a fantastic year fro Scottish trials. We hosted a British Round of the ACU series in April, ably promoted by the enthusiastic Lochaber Motor Cycle Club. A new team was formed headed by Clerk of Course Ally Morrice who took over the top job from Arthur Macdonald who had decided to step down after seven events. The good news is that Scotland is to once again host a round of the British Trials Championships next season at Nevis Range, a change from the usual Kinlochleven area which was stretched a little for ample parking. The format for the British series will change with a return to traditional no-stop rules (TSR 22B) which will encourage more riders to take part. Of course it goes without saying that the Centenary Scottish Six Days Trial was a

resounding success, an article has been provided in this edition by the Trial Secretary Mrs. Mairi Jenkins. Mark Whitham steps down after seven years at the helm to concentrate on riding his bike again. Well done Mark from the SACU, you have kept the trial fresh and your efforts should not be without praise as you have done a sterling job having taken over from the late Willie Dalling. The new Clerk of Course for 2012 is the former deputy, Jeff Horne, son of former TT rider Jackie Horne from Perth. Jeff is a well known face around the trials scene and no doubt has already formulated plans to make his mark on the event and take the trial forward to the 101

st edition. Good luck Jeff

from all at the SACU. Finally on the SSDT, there is a fantastic DVD available from the Edinburgh & District SSDT website www.ssdt.org entitled “Six Days in May” (Running time: 50 minutes) the story of the 100 years of the Scottish Six Days. This is one helluva film created by Stu Thomson of “MTBcut Productions”, certainly one to have for posterity! The club has also produced a hard backed book of the 100 years of the SSDT and this too is available from the above website. Scotland also provided in 2011 the ground at Nevis Range, Fort William for a round of the World Trials Championships in July and while the event was a great success and enjoyed by all those that competed over natural sections, sadly there will be no World round in Scotland next season due to a major sponsor dropping out, a sign of the times in this world-wide recession. The nearest round will be at Carlisle, date to be confirmed by the FIM in due course.

Murray Whittaker crests a hill at Gala

Photo © scottishenduros

We will all miss you, Mr E.

Sincere condolences from all at the Scottish Classic Racing Motorcycle Club,

to Adam‟s family.

Mr & Mrs C

It is great news that the Melville Motor Club (Scotland) which has been around for 78 years is back in the trials business in 2012, well done Melville! I used to ride in their popular Peebles trial many moons ago and whilst that ground at Gypsy Glen is no longer available, they have good plans to run easy trials in the Lothians to encourage more riders to take up the sport of trials riding. Their formula will be simple and straightforward, a good day out on the bike with nothing too serious for beginners and wobblers, which worked well for the Lanarkshire which emerged as the biggest trials club in Scotland back in the 1970‟s. Who knows, maybe the Melville might just capture that title for them-selves? Trials clubs will, by the time you read this article, have received a letter from the SACU trials committee on that very note, making trials acceptable for all to take part. Clerks of Courses need to lay out sections for the masses, not just the chosen few talented riders who can be adequately tested on the Red route, leave the yellow and even the green routes as ride-able sections for beginners and novices. And remember, your watchword is simple… “No-Stop”… so lay the sections out so that they can be attempted as such! It‟s no good putting in a section that simply can‟t be attempted without stopping! And observers… check out the “Observers Guidance” in the 2012 SACU Trials Regulations, if a rider stops in a section, no matter how long for…give him/her a five mark penalty, this is what it says on the tin…No-Stop! But finally, whoever you are, whatever you ride, whatever class you ride in…have a cracking 2012 season and get that trials bike out and RIDE and remember… “TRIALS RIDERS DO IT…FEET UP!” „Observed‟ by John Moffat, SACU Trials Committee – Chairman

The Centenary Scottish Six Days Trial The world-famous Scottish Six Days Trial (SSDT) celebrated its centenary trial in May, and thanks to the help and support of the many volunteers that make it

happen, this impressive milestone was celebrated in some style! Stunning weather graced the bulk of the event and helped confirm to riders and spectators alike why the SSDT remains the world‟s greatest trials competition. For one hundred years motorcyclists

have made the pilgrimage to the Scottish Highlands to take part in what remains a unique event that tests both man and machine to the limit. Much has changed over the past hundred years but the fundamental ethos of the SSDT remains very much intact, with riders taking on the gruelling hundred-mile off-road circuit each day, including thirty observed sections, whilst being forced to maintain and repair their machines themselves and get back to Fort William within a specific timeframe.

It is this lure of bike and rider being pitted against the elements that continues to attract competitors from all over the world, with the Centenary entry list including representatives from as far afield as Australia, Canada and all across Europe. The SSDT remains the single most important event in the trials calendar and offers amateur riders the opportunity to compete over the same course and alongside their professional counterparts. This is perfectly illustrated by the fact that this year‟s entrants shared their week with no less than three previous world champions – Dougie Lampkin, Eddy LeJeune and Diego Bosis. Whilst the entry of two hundred and seventy six riders were out navigating the most spectacular terrain that Scotland has to offer, the crowds of followers benefited from the brand new festival hub in the centre of Fort William. The hub was only made possible through funding from EventScotland and included a marquee to house a wide range of events and services throughout the week. Licensed catering facilities were provided inside the marquee, with 50” screens keeping everyone up-to-date with the event as it unfolded. Footage was shown throughout the day, ranging from 1925 to that very day, and the audio-visual equipment also provided riders with their latest scores for the event along with satellite tracking to allow everyone to follow a range of riders on their journey. In the evenings the marquee became home to Rock The Fort, a brand new music festival that provided an upbeat and diverse soundtrack for the week.

In true SSDT style the fight for the title came down to the bitter end with no less than four riders in with a chance of taking the centenary win. Come the final section of the last day, previous winners

Gavin Johnstone at Lagnaha © Scottishenduros

Graham Jarvis (Montesa) and Alexz Wigg (Sherco) were both contenders once again, along with Michael Brown (Gas Gas) who was looking to take his first Scottish victory. In the end it was 2007 SSDT victor James Dabill (Beta) who was crowned the worthy winner of the centenary SSDT, after a tense battle over six testing days. Edinburgh & District Motor Club are already looking towards 2012 and the next hundred years. The Centenary SSDT was declared an overwhelming success by all concerned and was a fitting tribute not only to everybody involved this year, but also to the organisers, competitors, followers and spectators who have played their part over the past century. Report by Mairi Jenkins CCCooonnnccceeerrrnnn --- fffrrrooommm aaa RRRaaaccceee OOOfff fff iiiccciiiaaalll ‟‟‟sss PPPeeerrrssspppeeecccttt iiivvveee

A recent high-level resignation from a Senior Event Officer has prompted me to highlight a fairly recent trend at motorcycle events (Road Racing

and Off-Road) with which I‟m becoming increasingly concerned and unhappy. We have all seen the warning notices at public counters, shop check-outs and enquiry desks, etc, proclaiming that various forms of verbal abuse and harassment of Staff and Officials will not be tolerated. Well, I am having to consider getting some of these notices put up at some of our events! Never thought in my wildest dreams, that this could happen amongst the normally extremely well-mannered Club membership, but it‟s definitely here now, and it has to stop! Let‟s remind ourselves how it all works – basic principles:- A group of like-minded folk get together,

wishing to go motorcycle racing. They form a Club of enthusiasts and

competitors. They organise competitions to enjoy their

sport. They appoint Officials and Marshals from their

numbers to run the competitions. The set-up is highly successful, and the Club

membership increases in line with the popularity of the events.

The Competitors begin to mis-use the Officials.

The Officials start to go away. Eventually left with just Competitors, so have

to stop racing. Now in fact, we haven‟t got to the last bullet point listed yet, but the writing is on the wall. Marshals and Officials at Club events are all strictly volunteers – no payment whatsoever, not even travelling expenses or subsistence. They spend entire weekends away from home facilitating the racing for the Competitors. Senior Officials also have to prepare the events and ensure that everything is correctly in place for the safest and most enjoyable weekend possible. They then have to ensure that all the races run to programme, and in accordance with rules. They have to deal with all eventualities, from racing incidents, spectator problems and the running of the whole “mini-village” that is the paddock where people live for the 2 or 3 days of the event. That includes maintenance problems, social issues, security and the Health & Safety of over 1000 people. Senior Marshals and Officials are all licenced personnel to ensure competence in our sport, another undertaking that they make entirely voluntarily. But they are few and far between as a result. Our Sport suffers minimum numbers, you will have noticed that it tends to be the “usual suspects” in charge of all events, that‟s because there is no-one else!! If a senior officer can‟t attend an event, we have major problems finding a stand-in. The Club runs National events,

sometimes Scottish Championship, but the staffing levels can never be BSB levels, where for instance, they have the luxury of grid marshals – one for every row! For us to do that at East Fortune for instance, we would need another 11 volunteers! So we focus our efforts on covering all the safety issues before allocating “spare” bods to these optional positions, of course we do. We wouldn’t need a grid marshal for every line if you did what was expected of you, and stayed in your allocated grid position, this is by far what is generating most of the complaints. The temptation to roll forward a row if there’s a space in front, and sometimes when there isn’t a space is tempting, but we are asking you to play fair. I know how tempting it is, I’ve done it when I was racing! Not good enough for some though, is it? At the last meeting, we lost a qualified, experienced Clerk of the Course, who had volunteered to stand in for me, in my rare absence from an event. She was in charge on her own, no Assistant Clerk available. She had to run the grid with the Chief Marshal, Starter, flag marshal and 2 grid marshals. That‟s 6 people, whereas you might easily see 15 on a BSB grid! Six good people though, and without harassment, perfectly capable of doing the job in the usual Melville accommodating way. With harassment though, and without an assistant Clerk, nearly impossible! The Clerk can‟t possibly start a race whilst still suffering a protracted heated debate with Competitors or their representatives complaining about issues in a previous race. And if that happens repeatedly throughout a day, usually with the same complainers and same issues, then I ask, would you give up your time to do that? I think not, more likely you would head home and watch MotoGP on British Eurosport! So wise up guys, we try our hardest with the limited resources we have, so for the few who don‟t like the way we do it, perhaps you might find another club who does it the way you want it – all the best of luck in your search. Now I am fully aware that it is only a handful who spoil it for us all, the vast majority of competitors are incredibly grateful for the efforts of the Club Officials and Marshals – and this venting of frustration is not aimed at them, rather the few who simply don‟t understand the spirit of racing at the level we do. I don‟t want to lose another Official, so please think twice before biting off the hand that feeds you!

EEEnnnddduuurrrooossspppooorrrttt With the continuing credit crunch making riders think about each event it is good to see that clubs

are still putting on lots of Championship events and even managing to add in some new formats. The Bon Accord Club adding a new 12 Hour Hare and Hound event – the first in Scotland and very successful.

EEC Hare and Hounds © Scottishenduros The Enduro Committee has been hard at work this year and has now got an electronic break beam timing system for Enduro Championships in 2012. Initially to be run by two volunteers it will be run by the clubs if successful and should ensure consistent and accurate results. The Calendar gets busier every year and trying to balance the number of events and ensuring that clubs do not run them at a loss is important. With new club ERMC starting to run Enduros it makes it even more interesting for riders. They will be holding a National for their first event to gain experience – and it looks like being a great event with a keen club. Worth supporting – and also able to run on a day licence – so get new riders in there too. Tell your mates about it! The Enduro and Hare and Hound Championships were both hard fought and down to almost the last round. Well done to Ricky Mair on winning both Championships – the hard part is always retaining them – especially with the young and very talented riders getting better all the time.

As already reported in the newsletter we sent a young team to the ISDE this year under the capable management of Sam Davidson.

Alistair Miller finds the mud at Selkirk © Scottishenduros

We were rewarded with 9

th overall – a great result

and one that keeps us well placed in the world. The riders benefited enormously from the experience – and all finished – despite everyone having numerous mechanical problems which they all overcame in a very mature manner. This was the first ISDE I have been to and was very proud of all the riders and the fantastic efforts of the support crew – and yelled very loudly as Ricky led the final MX all the way to the finish line – where he whipped it in great style. Elsewhere this year Scottish riders have been winning Championships and classes . Neil Chatham E1 under 23 in the Sprint and Fraser Flockhart and Alistair Miller winning their classes in the Clubman BEC events. Rule changes for 2012 The only new rule is that Tear Offs will not be allowed in Enduro or Hare and Hounds in 2012 . We will still allow Roll Offs – but the rider must collect it if it gets damaged.

This is to protect livestock on farms and land we ride on. Some animals have died as a result of eating a tear off as it causes problems with their digestive system. Clubs will also be adding additional “wrong way“ markers to Enduros to stop riders following the wrong track. These will be used where there are old tracks or doubt about a route. It is up to the rider to follow the correct route as intended – and to rejoin if they go wrong at the earliest opportunity. You meet the nicest people …… Finally a piece of good news to start the year with. A rider had his garage broken into and everything bike related stolen. His tools, kit and spares built up over many years were all taken in a very systematic theft. He had nothing left and was about to give up the sport being thoroughly dispirited. However the other riders were not going to let this happen and lots of riders rallied round to provide him with gear – boots – tools and even the loan of a bike. After such a show of support he is now carrying on and is even looking to start an initiative to help other victims of theft to help them get back on their bikes. More news on this next year I have always felt Enduro riders were special – they will stop in mid race to help a fallen rider- and this has now carried on beyond the race. I should also mention that the riders at Pathhead donated a massive amount of easter eggs and cuddly toys to the Edinburgh Sick Kids

The Enduro Chairman at the Sick Kids So a big thank you to you all – you make me proud to be an Enduro rider Charlie Mackenzie Enduro Chairman

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The SACU – working for you. We give you - Certified Officials Event Organisation and Stewards Discipline Committees to develop the sport Permits and licensing to safeguard the rider and club Cost effective insurance – lowest in the UK Track inspection – with advice and licensing Training for club members A single voice to speak to Government and local bodies Planning guidance for track applications Support with noise objections – providing guidance Funding of National Teams – Celtic Match Race, ISDE Child Protection Guidance National Championships National Awards Ceremony Our own office with full time staff Legal advice and representation An independent disciplinary code – written rules Support for disciplines – help for National teams In 2010 we hosted a National Conference 99 years of service to the sport

This newsletter is copyright Scottish Autocycle Union 2012. If you wish further copies or to advertise please contact the staff at office@sacu.co.uk or phone 01506 858 354 Editor Charlie Mackenzie

It was agreed by those present at our December management committee meeting that the 2012 Scottish ACU Awards Presentation will now take place on Remembrance Sunday, 11

th November 2012. It is planned

to have a one minutes silence at the commencement of the ceremony in memory of those who have fallen in previous conflicts as a mark of respect. It was agreed that this would be a sensible date to hold our presentation on Remembrance Sunday as this date is customary devoid of competition and that our awards ceremony also takes up a Sunday in the sporting calendar.

SACU Events 2012

SACU Championship Dates 2012

Trials

1 Apr Bon Accord Craiglash

8 Apr Inverness & Dist Alvie

29 Apr Lanarkshire Galashiels

20 May Lochaber & Dist Glen Nevis

27 May Perth & Dist Braco

24 Jun Scottish Classic Abington

8 Jul Dalmellington Craigengillan

15 Jul Dunfermline & Dist Dunduff

19 Aug Lanarkshire Perthshire

9 Sep Lochaber & Dist Fersit

16 Sep Dunfermline & Dist Burntisland

14 Oct Inverness & Dist Alvie

Road Race

25 Mar Kirkaldy & Dist East Fortune

14/15 Apr Melville East Fortune

28 Apr Knockhill Knockhill

3 Jun Knockhill Knockhill

14/15 Jul Melville East Fortune

28/29 Jul Knockhill Knockhill

18 Aug Melville East Fortune

2 Sep Knockhill Knockhill

15 Sep Melville East Fortune

6 Oct Kirkaldy & Dist Ingliston

Motocross Youth/Adult Championship

17/18 Mar Highland Tain

21/22 Apr Borders Duns

12/13 May Aberdeen Rhynie

16/17 Jun Mid Argyll Lochgilphead

14/15 Jul SYMCC Shiplaw

1 /2 Sep GYMCC Leuchars

Enduro

7/8 Apr EEC Lossiemouth

21/22 Apr Melville Pathhead

13 May Bon Accord Brechin

27 May SBEC TBA

21/22 Jul Melville Selkirk

19 Aug EEC Monaughty

2 Sep ELRAT Griffin

16 Sep Melville Selkirk

Hare & Hound

4 Dec( 2011) Melville Lochhouses

5 Feb ERMC Tain

19 Feb Melville Lochhouses

11 Mar EEC Elgin

10 Jun Melville West Linton

7 Oct SBEC TBA