Brighton Results 110910

As an alternative to a sunny race at Cadwell Park a select few chose to take in some seasonal English seaside weather down in Brighton for the eponymous Speed Trials. The 500cc class hasn’t been well supported in recent years but this time a triumvirate gathered for the standing ¼ mile blast, namely Hakan Sandberg (JBS-Norton), John Potts (Monaco-Norton) and James Holland (Cooper-JAP Mk VIII). A welcome addition came in the form of Brian Joliffe’s “Hell’s Hammers”, the ex Wally Cuff Cooper Mk VI V-twin.

Brian relaxes with Hell's Hammers

There were intermittent light showers during practice so the course was damp for our one and only practice run with a marked lack of grip at the start. The course is now rather bumpy and the combination of that and a breeze throws a 500 around quite a bit so commitment is required to make a good time. The extra capacity of Brian Joliffe’s Cooper twin was telling and he posted the quickest practice time of 15.23 seconds with a terminal speed of 93mph. Interestingly the quickest 500 was faster over the first 64 feet in 2.75 to the twin’s 2.93 seconds. However the 500 only managed 16.23 secs for the ¼ mile with a terminal speed of 83 mph; 6,000 rpm in top gear being reached crossing the line. Hakan posted 17.32 seconds and 77mph over the line using circuit gearing in the JBS and John set 18.73 seconds and 63 mph in the Monaco.

Problems were few and confined to James having to adjust his clutch after losing travel just before the practice run and John Potts electing to run without the engine cover after overheating concerns. Sadly the weather continued to deteriorate for the timed runs and the order didn’t change. Times were slower but terminal speeds similar illustrating how slippery the start had become. Brian Joliffe posted 16.79 seconds ahead of James Holland (17.10 secs); Hakan Sandberg (19.46 secs) and John Potts (21.35 secs) who interestingly recorded the quickest time over the first 64 feet.

The first runs proved to be the better of the day as the drizzle became more persistent for the second runs and the startline offered no grip at all. Brian’s experience told and he took “Hell’s Hammers” down the famous promenade in 16.95 secs with a terminal speed of 92 mph. James missed the change to 2nd gear which made an absolute mess of the run and 19.60 secs /77 mph was the result. Hakan ran close with 19.95 secs/71 mph with John not enjoying the rain to record 24.30 secs/58 mph.

John Potts and the Monaco

James Holland on a run while Hakan Sandberg prepares for the off.

James Holland, Cooper Mk VIII JAP, fastest time of the day.