May 21, 2022

DTRA Peterborough MegaPost

It hasn't got any less busy at Sideburn HQ, so again, apologies for the dearth of posts. Here's one of my snaps from last weekend's race at Peterborough. I'm loving racing as much as I have for the last 15-16 years, possibly more. I'm not sure what to put this down to, except both my bikes are running well, I'm doing OK, I feel like I'm riding well, and except for home/days out with family, there's probably nowhere I'd rather be that the DTRA pits with my friends.

The clickbait image above is Rosie and Sean, who both 'modelled' for Sideburn last year for a merch shoot. I asked before taking this, by the way.

The Sideburn-sponsored Vintage class keeps attracting new entries. This is Luke Adcock who was racing in Rookies last year, on a 450, but has bought David Webb's championship-winning Triumph for the 2022 season. This was his very first ride on it and just missed out on a 4-stroke podium, coming 4th in the final.

A welcome returnee was Dimitri Coste. He has been sponsored by Gareth Howes of Double Six to race a Trackmaster Triumph. First time out, on vintage tyres,. wrong gearing, Dimitri put it on the podium, and, it goes without saying, looked good doing it.

Dimitri was on a real flying visit, leaving even before collecting his trophy, because he was working both Friday and Sunday, in France. Proper commitment.

Double Six is a bike importing and selling business. Get in touch with them if you're after a particular type of bike from the USA. Gareth is finding some good stuff.

Double Six has invaluable help from Vintage class stalwart Rick Bearcroft (above) who prepped (and perhaps even rebuilt, I'm not sure) the bike for the first race.

This is Rick on his own tidy Triumph he has been racing for a good few season's now.

Ross Jackson made it two races on the trot, which is unusual, because he's often under the North Sea welding for weeks at a time (yes, really).

Mike Fisher lavishes attention on his Champion Bultaco, I just noticed his fancy new Ceriani (?) forks. The bike doesn't always repay his love, but it did this weekend. He won the two-stroke final and was quickest lap in the final.

Neil MacQueen's gorgeous CanAm. He came second in the Evo final to Jon Bell, who was flying all day on his Yamaha 500 (read about Jon's Yamaha in SB38).

The story of the weekend was James 'Leftie' Smith debuting his built from scratch, authentic 'Iron' XR750. Leftie sourced parts and built the bike from a bare frame. The frame and engine are from the first batch of 200 XR750s Harley built for racing homologation. He did an incredible job, and made the final. The rear brake operated by the front lever is a last minute fix so he could go racing.

Peter Koren was back racing his XR-alike Sportster, another fabulous looking bike.

Keith Hovvels is a new name to me. Good to see him in the Evo class on his XS650. From the look of that front tyre he was just dipping his toe in water at Peterborough.

Jason's beautiful Trackmaster BSA was having battery charging issues. We featured this bike in Sideburn 46.

Another BSA not having any problems was Odgie's. He won the final. I was in second for the second race of the season. Odgie got the holeshot and I couldn't find a way past. We featured Odgie in Sideburn 29.