Congratulations if your entry got accepted...after awful weather in the last couple of years, here’s hoping the weather gets back to form in 2012!
“There's no other event quite like the Bright on Speed Trials. It should be a must on every rider's bucket list!”
PROGRAMME NOTES & RIDERS LIST BELOW:
If you’d like to know more about getting an entry to the Brighton Speed Trials next year, you can read our Entries page and more importantly our ‘how to enter the Brighton Speed Trials’ article which answers some of the most frequently asked questions we receive.
THE FROSTS BRIGHTON NATIONAL SPEED TRIALS 2012 - THE MOTORCYCLES
It’s that time of year again; the second Saturday in September, the day the VMCC Sprint Section makes its annual pilgrimage to the South Coast for the longest running speed event for both motorcycles and motor cars – The Frosts National Brighton Speed Trials. We the VMCC Sprint Section would like to take this opportunity to thank Brighton and Hove Motor Club for their invitation to organise the motorcycle entry and Frosts for their continued support of this prestigious event.
This year has been no easier than previous years when selecting machines and riders from the invited entry, but I think we have been fair to all who applied and have a good cross section of motorcycles for the Speed Trials and you the spectators. We have such machines as a 98 years young Triumph 4HP, ridden by a local rider, Paul Gander, through to one of the latest Japanese motorcycles, a Kawasaki ZZR1400cc, ridden by Mike Grainger. Now both Mike Grainger and his brother Fred take their motorcycling very seriously and I would think this year is no different from previous years, in that they both would have ridden up from Plymouth to compete here today and will then be riding back when the racing is over.
Talking of distances travelled to compete here at Brighton, we have the welcome return of Manfred Rauscher from Austria who has travelled a long way by anybody’s reckoning to go racing. Well, sorry Manfred you have been outdone this year as we welcome Steve Robins from Brisbane in Queensland Australia with his Rob North BSA Triple Rocket 3, ridden by Mark Parrett. Mark won the Formula Classic event at the 2011 Manx Grand Prix last year and so Steve decided to leave the bike here in the UK so that they could defend their title at this year’s Manx GP. We hope they were successful. Steve took time out to visit the Speed Trials last year and was so impressed he got in contact asking to enter his machine. We hope their day is productive and that they have a great day here at Brighton.
Some 40 years after his one and only visit to the Brighton Speed Trials we have a World Record Breaker amongst us, John Hobbs no less.
John is here today not with his world famous Hobbit, but with his newly built Triumph Tiger 100, “Olympus”, a lovely and well-crafted replica of his 1968 World Record machine, for both the Standing Start Quarter Mile and the Standing Start Kilometre set back in 1968 at RAF Elvington, may I add, at the grand old age of 21! John’s first visit to the Speed Trials was on “Olympus 2”, a twin engined machine on which John managed to smoke the rear tyre for the full Kilo, it was demo run, but still very impressive. This time round John will be running in the Consistency class.
In the paddock and on the race track today you will see another record breaking machine from the 60’s and 70’s, the Hillman Imp powered sidecar “Impulse”, then ridden by Vic Phillips.
Today, some 18 years since it last appeared at Brighton, it will be ridden by Andy Forward who has restored the machine, along with its owner Paul Standing. It will great to see this machine back in action; it is my understanding that Vic Phillips may well be in attendance today as well as the original frame builder Micky Pearce.
We have a first here at Brighton, Talan Skeels-Piggins, a regular rider with the VMCC Sprint Section for the past two years. Talan is the first paraplegic in the world to hold a full ACU Road Race licence. Talan is a rider with Revenge Racing, the world’s first motorcycle race team where all the riders are paraplegics. On 15th August Talan, along with Bret Crossley and Russell Docker, took part in a three hour endurance race for solo motorcycles at the Assen TT Circuit against 40 other teams. This was the first time in history that a team of paraplegic motorcyclists competed in an endurance race against able-bodied racers. Talan does not do this for just himself, as he has set up a charity that teaches disabled motorcyclists how to ride a motorcycle again. A true inspiration to us all!
Finally, it just leaves me to say thank you all, enjoy your day on the seafront and have a safe journey home with all your memories of the day. We look forward to seeing you all again here in 2013.
Juan Manzano - VMCC Sprint Section
BRIGHTON SPEED TRIALS 2012 | RIDERS LIST
Class I Vintage & Classic (to 1972) Consistency Class
No. Name. Machine. CC. Year.
301 | Victor Aldous | Lambretta SX | 200 | 1967
302 | Bob Anderson | Hagon JAP Special | 1000 | 1964
303 | Andy Bush | AJS R6 | 350 | 1930
304 | Frank Clarke | Brooklands Norton / JAP | 500 | 1936
305 | Paul Gander | Triumph 4HP | 550 | 1914
306 | Paul Gregory | Triton | 500 | 1966
307 | John Hobbs | Olympus – Triumph Tiger 100 | 498 | 1956
308 | Bob Horton | Greeves Oulton Road Racer | 350 | 1964
309 | Chris Illman | Bayley-Cole DT Douglas | 500 | 1927
310 | Mark Illman | Leigh Rudge Special | 630 | 1930
311 | John Ralph Langridge | Norton Atlas | 750 | 1967
312 | S. Neal & D. White | Triumph S/Car | 649 | 1952
314 | Roy Robertson | Egli-Vincent Rapide | 1272 | 1972
315 | Andrew Wali Taylor | Ariel Badger | 492 | 1936
316 | John E Young | Triumph - JAP | 500 | 1936
Class II Solos up to 350cc
321 | Jeremy Alan Ashton | MV Augusta | 349 | 1972
322 | David Harvey | Honda CR350 | 350 | 1971/72
323 | Keith Laker | Yamaha RDLC | 350 | 1980
Class III Solos up to 500cc
331 | Frank Chatokhine | Triumph Speed Twin | 500 | 1938
332 | Mike Gilbert | Dresda Honda 500/4 | 500 | 1972
333 | Malcolm Herwin | Summerfield Norton | 499 | 1998
334 | Martin Newton | Honda CBR 400RR | 398 | 1992
335 | Alan Tinnion | Yamaha RD | 388 | 1982
336 | Brian Wallace | Honda CR500/4 | 498 | 1978
Class IV Solos up to 1000cc
341 | Nick Archer | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1000 | 2007
342 | Timothy Boutle | Honda CX650 Turbo | 623 | 1983
343 | Ron Cheesman | BSA Special | 650 | 1963
344 | Simon Copper | Kawasaki ZX6R | 599 | 2011
345 | Fred Furlong | Suzuki GSXR | 988 | 2002
346 | Dave Glover | Ducati Special | 996 | 1998
347 | Jayne Glover | Triumph Daytona | 675 | 2006
348 | Stephen Mead | BMW S1000RR | 1000 | 2010
349 | Mark Parrett | BSA Triple Rocket 3 | 850 | 1969
350 | Talan Skeels-Piggins | Aprilia RSVR | 1000 | 2000
Class V Sidecars & 3 Wheelers
351 | Trevor Duckworth | Yamaha Cyclecar | 402 | 1979
Passenger | Ballast
352 | Andy Forward | Impulse | 998 | 1966
Passenger | Ballast
353 | Roger Hollingshead | ASCO Honda | 1150 | 1987
Passenger | Cassie Fowler
354 | Des Lindsey | LCR Yamaha F1 Sidecar | 998 | 1988
Passenger | Vivien Waters
355 | John Renwick | Vincent Special | 1665 | 1951
Passenger | Ballast - “Slim Lead Ed”
356 | David Woodard | Suzuki Superside | 1500 | 2008
Passenger | Darren Saunders
Class VI Production Solos
361 | Paul Bonham | Buell Lightning X1 | 1203 | 2000
362 | Fred Grainger | Suzuki Hayabusa | 1298 | 2000
363 | Mike Grainger | Kawasaki ZZR1400 | 1440 | 2012
364 | Terry Grayer | Honda VFR800 | 782 | 2004
365 | Terry Homan | Suzuki Hayabusa | 1300 | 2004
366 | Clive Hurst | Kawasaki H1E | 498 | 1974
367 | Kevin Lade | Suzuki B-King | 1340 | 2011
368 | Ian Pollard | Ducati Desmosedici | 989 | 2008
369 | Steve Walton | Suzuki GSXR | 999 | 2006
370 | Mark White | Performance Bike Magazine | Suzuki Hayabusa | 1340 | 2012
Class VII Solos up to 2000cc
371 | R. Albans | Bikes of Brighton | Suzuki Hayabusa 1550 | 2008
372 | Keith Cooper | Suzuki GSXR | 1216 | 1990
373 | David Hall | Suzuki GSXR 1100L | 1216 | 1990
374 | Tony Madgwick | Buell S1 | 1430 | 1998
375 | Craig Mallabone | Bikes of Brighton | Suzuki Hayabusa Turbo | 1300 | 1999
376 | M. Rauscher | Kawasaki ZZR 1100 | 1107 | 1991
377 | R. Simmons | Suzuki Hayabusa Turbo | 1300 | 2006
378 | Nigel Spencer | Harris Suzuki F1 | 1080 | 1987
379 | Phil Steele | Kawasaki XZ12R | "Parny Express" | 1200 | 2000
380 | Barry Varndell | Kawasaki Z1000J | 1494 | 1981
381 | Andy Whittle | Kawasaki Z1R | 1327 | 1979
382 | Phil Wood | Suzuki Hayabusa | 1300 | 1999
PDF riders list HERE: DOWNLOAD IT HERE
Announced: Monday, 15 August 2011