Chris' New Toy
1st April 2020
Is it that time already. Blimey!
We hope you had a great Christmas & that we all come through the coming months intact.
I managed to do a week up in Shropshire with Sarah before the order to stay indoors.
I have never passed the M3 or Heathrow at the speed limit since the M25 opened, unless it was at two in the morning. It was an amazing experience to be one of only a few cars on the road.
Two weeks into isolation I am beginning to have flash-backs to Chris’ wrist & shoulder year.
Chris is already hiding the knives & getting nervous. If there’s one missing Chris, feel your back!
Chris had been rebuilding & smartening his recent purchase, a T150 Beauty Kit (or a North American Variant, whatever you prefer).
He has been shopping on it a couple of times, but has noticed dreaded drips of oil coming from somewhere. He is hoping it won’t be an engine-out job as it’s running beautifully & he doesn’t want to disturb anything.
Anyway, that’ll keep him amused for a while. At least it’ll get him to move from in front of the telly.
LSW
Is it that time already. Blimey!
We hope you had a great Christmas & that we all come through the coming months intact.
I managed to do a week up in Shropshire with Sarah before the order to stay indoors.
I have never passed the M3 or Heathrow at the speed limit since the M25 opened, unless it was at two in the morning. It was an amazing experience to be one of only a few cars on the road.
Two weeks into isolation I am beginning to have flash-backs to Chris’ wrist & shoulder year.
Chris is already hiding the knives & getting nervous. If there’s one missing Chris, feel your back!
Chris had been rebuilding & smartening his recent purchase, a T150 Beauty Kit (or a North American Variant, whatever you prefer).
He has been shopping on it a couple of times, but has noticed dreaded drips of oil coming from somewhere. He is hoping it won’t be an engine-out job as it’s running beautifully & he doesn’t want to disturb anything.
Anyway, that’ll keep him amused for a while. At least it’ll get him to move from in front of the telly.
LSW
Trio of 2019 Diaries Added
Wednesday 1st April 2020
The diaries for Donington Park, Mallory Park and Snetterton have been uploaded to the 2019 Diaries page.
Photos will later be added to the 2019 Photo Gallery page.
Thank you all for your continued support !
Ashley
LSW Rant
Wednesday 24th July 2019
Re Beezumph
This evening I was informed that on the Friday evening of Beezumph, when we have our rally meal, Cadwell Park have told us that because of Saturday’s event we all have to move our caravans, gazebos etc, to the area by the marquee - to the top corner of the right field if you have your back to the track.
Our right to be at the circuit finishes at 18.00hrs Friday night.
Whoever booked the rally has made no provision for the normal Friday evening food and band time.
In fact the Vintage & Classic meet have been told they can come in at 17.00hrs and we are booked until 18.00hrs, so how’s that going to work?
This is the buckle of a flea’s jock-strap of an area we have been given compared to the space we will have come from. We will never all fit in.
Cadwell have had the pleasure of the majority of Beezumphs and I’m sure have not ended up out of pocket.
I understand a Vintage & Classic Car day needs a lot of room but could we not have been informed of this earlier, and I believe they could have given us a lot more space. I’d rather pay for an extra night of camping like we have to when racing if we stay an extra night.
We will have to park at the top of the hill from Wednesday as, although I wanted to take the 3 metre gazebo, Chris insists on taking the 6 metre one and we do not want to have to move it again.
The walk down to the track will take an age and walking back up to the top of the hill each time the boys are out is just painful.
We will have to lock everything away each time we leave the camp en-masse as thieves are around all the time at Cadwell.
It was at a Cadwell Beezumph that Martin Pink had his paddock stand stolen from his pick-up.
I can see myself spending the entire rally at our camp area looking after everyone’s stuff.
I think we should boycott Cadwell for Beezumph from now on. It doesn’t work.
Long Suffering Wife
Re Beezumph
This evening I was informed that on the Friday evening of Beezumph, when we have our rally meal, Cadwell Park have told us that because of Saturday’s event we all have to move our caravans, gazebos etc, to the area by the marquee - to the top corner of the right field if you have your back to the track.
Our right to be at the circuit finishes at 18.00hrs Friday night.
Whoever booked the rally has made no provision for the normal Friday evening food and band time.
In fact the Vintage & Classic meet have been told they can come in at 17.00hrs and we are booked until 18.00hrs, so how’s that going to work?
This is the buckle of a flea’s jock-strap of an area we have been given compared to the space we will have come from. We will never all fit in.
Cadwell have had the pleasure of the majority of Beezumphs and I’m sure have not ended up out of pocket.
I understand a Vintage & Classic Car day needs a lot of room but could we not have been informed of this earlier, and I believe they could have given us a lot more space. I’d rather pay for an extra night of camping like we have to when racing if we stay an extra night.
We will have to park at the top of the hill from Wednesday as, although I wanted to take the 3 metre gazebo, Chris insists on taking the 6 metre one and we do not want to have to move it again.
The walk down to the track will take an age and walking back up to the top of the hill each time the boys are out is just painful.
We will have to lock everything away each time we leave the camp en-masse as thieves are around all the time at Cadwell.
It was at a Cadwell Beezumph that Martin Pink had his paddock stand stolen from his pick-up.
I can see myself spending the entire rally at our camp area looking after everyone’s stuff.
I think we should boycott Cadwell for Beezumph from now on. It doesn’t work.
Long Suffering Wife
A New Year of Chaos
8th January 2019
May we wish you a very happy and prosperous 2019.
It’s all change in the Chapman’s camp. Coca Cola will not fully honour Chris’ racing holiday dates this year. He can take the Friday or the Monday of each race weekend but not both days.
I was dreading the late arrival at each meeting after travelling on a Friday evening and having to set up camp at the crack of dawn, but we have to have the Monday off to unload and repack the van.
Then we heard from Alan that he’d like to stop racing and save for a house. We are pleased for him and will still go to the meetings to support Gav and Lou. Also Chris will be able to help Brendan Ryan with his bikes, should help be needed.
Chris would like to take advantage of this new arrangement and do track days wherever possible. He will now ask for the Fridays before each meeting and work the Mondays. We can use our small gazebo for ourselves and leave the circuit at a suitable time on the Sunday to get the van sorted once home.
We have a new van to which Chris is refitting the tow bar as I type. We will have to empty very little from this van pre racing as the layout inside it is better than any of the others Chris has had.
The web site may become merely ‘Chaos’ or ‘The Captain’ or Chris’ full title ‘Captain Chaos’ if we rename it. (Polite suggestions on a post card please.) The (rather blurry) photo is of current activity in the driveway. The light is fading and Chris is working tomorrow. More activity and less chat would be my advice.
We will miss our team Major Chaos but hope we will see them at some meetings.
Long Suffering Wife (It goes on, regardless!)
May we wish you a very happy and prosperous 2019.
It’s all change in the Chapman’s camp. Coca Cola will not fully honour Chris’ racing holiday dates this year. He can take the Friday or the Monday of each race weekend but not both days.
I was dreading the late arrival at each meeting after travelling on a Friday evening and having to set up camp at the crack of dawn, but we have to have the Monday off to unload and repack the van.
Then we heard from Alan that he’d like to stop racing and save for a house. We are pleased for him and will still go to the meetings to support Gav and Lou. Also Chris will be able to help Brendan Ryan with his bikes, should help be needed.
Chris would like to take advantage of this new arrangement and do track days wherever possible. He will now ask for the Fridays before each meeting and work the Mondays. We can use our small gazebo for ourselves and leave the circuit at a suitable time on the Sunday to get the van sorted once home.
We have a new van to which Chris is refitting the tow bar as I type. We will have to empty very little from this van pre racing as the layout inside it is better than any of the others Chris has had.
The web site may become merely ‘Chaos’ or ‘The Captain’ or Chris’ full title ‘Captain Chaos’ if we rename it. (Polite suggestions on a post card please.) The (rather blurry) photo is of current activity in the driveway. The light is fading and Chris is working tomorrow. More activity and less chat would be my advice.
We will miss our team Major Chaos but hope we will see them at some meetings.
Long Suffering Wife (It goes on, regardless!)
2019 Race Calendar
Monday 22nd October 2018
Below is the CRMC Race Calendar for the 2019 season:
April 6th / 7th - Castle Combe
May 4th / 5th - Pembrey
June 8th / 9th - Cadwell Park
July 6th / 7th - Anglesey
August 3rd / 4th - Donington Park
August 31st / September 1st - Mallory Park
September 28th / 29th - Snetterton
Ashley
A Quick Update
9th August 2018
I am off to Shropshire until 14th August and will be writing the diary for Donington that evening.
Sorry about the delay.
I can tell you that Alan is now 2nd in the F750 Championship and, Da Da Da Daaaa, 1st in the 1300s. Well done, Alan.
Long Suffering Wife
Article for Open Megga Magazine - Beezumph
19th July 2018
We have just come home from the Beezumph on Anglesey. Chris was so excited at the prospect of being on the track again, as you can imagine.
There were afternoon spaces left in the Friday track day for fifty quid and Alan and Chris had a wonderful time together out there, constantly swapping places – of course. They weren’t racing each other...
When Chris told me how many riders, who’d decided to go racing, cut their teeth at the Beezumph, I was surprised.
Chris remembers seeing Kevan Major with his little lad every year at Beezumph a long time ago; Alan was one year old when he first went.
When he was allowed to ride on the track it was the first year Beezumph was held at Anglesey. Because of bad weather they had an open pit lane so you could go out as many times as you liked.
Poor Kevan had to keep going out to the fuel station to fill up because Alan was out on the track all day on his Aprilla 125.
Then John Hinds built Alan a 200 Ducati which enabled him to race with the CRMC.
After being a spectator at Beezumph for the first few years Chris fancied a go on the track and absolutely fell in love with it. At that time Chris would ride to Cadwell on his Triumph Hurricane, do the track days and ride it home. Chris was getting faster and faster and pretty soon ran out of ground clearance. He put rear-sets on the bike and, twice in one Beezumph, pirouetted on a non-folding foot peg and crashed. Thanks to a friend of Carl Adams lending Chris a pair of handlebars he was able to ride it home.
After this Chris decided he wanted to build the ultimate Triumph Triple; for its speed, stopping power and ground clearance (not sure about the ground clearance bit though. Chris always managed to grind out the fairing).
To fund this the Hurricane was sold and Chris did Beezumph on his Mk1 Le Mans. He was sold a pair of tyres by someone (who shall remain nameless) which were unused. It was wet at Cadwell and Chris lost the front at Charlies and rolled the Le Mans which ended up deep in the muddy grass. (You were thinking it’s just a racing thing but Chris has been crashing bikes for a long time). He couldn’t understand why he lost traction but found out later that the tyres were ten years old. Thanks, Baldrick.
Building the North started a great friendship between Chris, Richard Peckett and Dave Whitfield at P&M who were instrumental in the build process of Chris’ bike. Once built Chris was going to use it seventy-five per cent on the road and twenty-five per cent on track days.
Chris was invited to attend an instruction day at Cadwell by ‘'Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards. Chris had told Mike he was merely a track day warrior. At the end of the day, where Mike corrected many of Chris’ faults Mike said that next time Chris raced he would find he was a lot better. After Chris explained he had never raced, Mike said he thought Chris had what it took to become a successful racer with a classic club. Chris got his ACU licence and joined the CRMC.
I bought him a day of training (unfortunately at Rockingham) to get his knee down and he came home knackered but further inspired.
Kick-starting the North was doing Chris’ knees in so I purchased a starter for him. Chris and friends spent the first twenty minutes trying to start the paddock stand and taking a lot of paint off it then they realised the height adjusted on the tyre on the starter and the bike was fired up. It was painful for me to watch the process, but I thought I really needed to leave them to work it out for themselves.
The North swiftly evolved in the first couple of years after a track day at Odium where the primary drive chain snapped and went through the casing and landed in the fairing. Chris fitted a belt dive.
For two years the North was in road trim with minor tuning. Then Pazon ignition, lightened and polished rockers and lightened valve gear. Six speed box, different cams, twin-plug head and stuff like that.
Among many, Beezumph introduced Chris to Tim Woolley; we remember Guy Martin out on his father’s Rob North for the first time; Carl Adams, King of wheelies on the mountain; Tony Page and Chris in heart-stopping battles where once, at speed, Chris’ knee-slider came off and hit Tony in the chest.
With the exception of the track day with Alan this Beezumph was a disaster for Chris. One and a half laps in, the gear box went and that was it for the North. Lovely Graham Jeffrey told Chris to take his pick from the assortment of bikes he brought along so he chose a nice black and red thing and came off at the hairpin with Graham behind him and Chris decided to call it a Day for this Beezumph. We felt really sorry for Chris. He’d been looking forward to the weekend so much.
Then we all went to the assembly area and Graham Redrup was handing out the awards and Chris won the Ian Hamilton Trophy for things he’s done with the club and racing– Ian was well known in the motorcycle racing scene and was killed at Cadwell when he crashed his Vincent.
Alan Major won the Ray Pickrell Cup for things he’s done and doing in the amateur racing world - Ray was a mega famous Triples racer of the period.
We had a crap journey home. Over ten hours!!
Thank you Graham for the wonderful camping spot in the paddock. You excel at this.
Long Suffering Wife
We have just come home from the Beezumph on Anglesey. Chris was so excited at the prospect of being on the track again, as you can imagine.
There were afternoon spaces left in the Friday track day for fifty quid and Alan and Chris had a wonderful time together out there, constantly swapping places – of course. They weren’t racing each other...
When Chris told me how many riders, who’d decided to go racing, cut their teeth at the Beezumph, I was surprised.
Chris remembers seeing Kevan Major with his little lad every year at Beezumph a long time ago; Alan was one year old when he first went.
When he was allowed to ride on the track it was the first year Beezumph was held at Anglesey. Because of bad weather they had an open pit lane so you could go out as many times as you liked.
Poor Kevan had to keep going out to the fuel station to fill up because Alan was out on the track all day on his Aprilla 125.
Then John Hinds built Alan a 200 Ducati which enabled him to race with the CRMC.
After being a spectator at Beezumph for the first few years Chris fancied a go on the track and absolutely fell in love with it. At that time Chris would ride to Cadwell on his Triumph Hurricane, do the track days and ride it home. Chris was getting faster and faster and pretty soon ran out of ground clearance. He put rear-sets on the bike and, twice in one Beezumph, pirouetted on a non-folding foot peg and crashed. Thanks to a friend of Carl Adams lending Chris a pair of handlebars he was able to ride it home.
After this Chris decided he wanted to build the ultimate Triumph Triple; for its speed, stopping power and ground clearance (not sure about the ground clearance bit though. Chris always managed to grind out the fairing).
To fund this the Hurricane was sold and Chris did Beezumph on his Mk1 Le Mans. He was sold a pair of tyres by someone (who shall remain nameless) which were unused. It was wet at Cadwell and Chris lost the front at Charlies and rolled the Le Mans which ended up deep in the muddy grass. (You were thinking it’s just a racing thing but Chris has been crashing bikes for a long time). He couldn’t understand why he lost traction but found out later that the tyres were ten years old. Thanks, Baldrick.
Building the North started a great friendship between Chris, Richard Peckett and Dave Whitfield at P&M who were instrumental in the build process of Chris’ bike. Once built Chris was going to use it seventy-five per cent on the road and twenty-five per cent on track days.
Chris was invited to attend an instruction day at Cadwell by ‘'Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards. Chris had told Mike he was merely a track day warrior. At the end of the day, where Mike corrected many of Chris’ faults Mike said that next time Chris raced he would find he was a lot better. After Chris explained he had never raced, Mike said he thought Chris had what it took to become a successful racer with a classic club. Chris got his ACU licence and joined the CRMC.
I bought him a day of training (unfortunately at Rockingham) to get his knee down and he came home knackered but further inspired.
Kick-starting the North was doing Chris’ knees in so I purchased a starter for him. Chris and friends spent the first twenty minutes trying to start the paddock stand and taking a lot of paint off it then they realised the height adjusted on the tyre on the starter and the bike was fired up. It was painful for me to watch the process, but I thought I really needed to leave them to work it out for themselves.
The North swiftly evolved in the first couple of years after a track day at Odium where the primary drive chain snapped and went through the casing and landed in the fairing. Chris fitted a belt dive.
For two years the North was in road trim with minor tuning. Then Pazon ignition, lightened and polished rockers and lightened valve gear. Six speed box, different cams, twin-plug head and stuff like that.
Among many, Beezumph introduced Chris to Tim Woolley; we remember Guy Martin out on his father’s Rob North for the first time; Carl Adams, King of wheelies on the mountain; Tony Page and Chris in heart-stopping battles where once, at speed, Chris’ knee-slider came off and hit Tony in the chest.
With the exception of the track day with Alan this Beezumph was a disaster for Chris. One and a half laps in, the gear box went and that was it for the North. Lovely Graham Jeffrey told Chris to take his pick from the assortment of bikes he brought along so he chose a nice black and red thing and came off at the hairpin with Graham behind him and Chris decided to call it a Day for this Beezumph. We felt really sorry for Chris. He’d been looking forward to the weekend so much.
Then we all went to the assembly area and Graham Redrup was handing out the awards and Chris won the Ian Hamilton Trophy for things he’s done with the club and racing– Ian was well known in the motorcycle racing scene and was killed at Cadwell when he crashed his Vincent.
Alan Major won the Ray Pickrell Cup for things he’s done and doing in the amateur racing world - Ray was a mega famous Triples racer of the period.
We had a crap journey home. Over ten hours!!
Thank you Graham for the wonderful camping spot in the paddock. You excel at this.
Long Suffering Wife
Article for Open Megga Magazine
Derek's Bike !
14th March 2018
I recently wrote an article requested by Jono Yardley for the Open Megga magazine. As the magazine only goes to the CRMC members, we thought we would put it on the site, so that all our supporters will be able to read it. Apologies to those who have already seen it.
After completing almost twelve years of racing with the CRMC Chris is hanging up his sweaty leathers.
Since winning Novice of the Year twelve years ago, at the tender age of forty-seven, Chris has been riding with great bravery and, at times, unbelievable stupidity. In the first two years I remember people commenting on the fact that they were impressed that Chris’ results improved every meeting but he never fell off, that was until The Race of the Year at Cadwell. Actually, he crashed three times in the one meeting. Lee Gourlay and Cormac Conroy were constants on the podium and Chris started to take more and more risks in his effort to keep near them. Some paid off and some didn’t. As Chris became more experienced he was winning trophies, but the top of the podium eluded him until 2010 at Knockhill.
In 2012 Chris’ Rob North was no longer eligible for the Post Classics. A minimum of eight races per meeting was worth all our effort but to have only the four races in 1300 Multis we realised there’d be too little action for the amount of work it took to attend the meetings. Most of the time we’d be sitting doing nothing. Enter Richard Peckett and his RPS. He offered it to Chris to ride in the F750 and Chris accepted straight away.
So 2012 was a year of firsts. The first year of Chris racing two bikes. His first bone break – his collar bone at Snetterton with amazing photography by Paul Soulby which can be seen on our home page - [email protected] and, on the RPS, his first Race of the Year win at Silverstone.
From the start the success has been all about the support of our friends. Our first meeting, a filthy April baptism of fire at Anglesey and our team was three. Chris and me and Gav Kidwell battled the elements and wondered what the hell we’d got ourselves into. Before each race I’d scoot off in Gav’s van, out of the paddock and round to the high ground above the cork-screw. I videoed Chris in the driving rain for the entire meeting so that, afterwards, he could watch himself and the other competitors on the track. Looking back at the photos on the web site I can’t help noticing how much more hair Gav had then. We’ve sort of worn him out a bit but it didn’t stop Gav and his MT125 making their own racing debut in 2013. When racing, Chris always has had a well organised spares and tool box. It made him a prime candidate to be ‘borrowed’ from. ‘We are not bloody Christian aid’ I’d tell him and thus it became the name of our team. Team W.A.N.C.A has only run like a well-oiled machine because of friends - the likes of Gav and Lou Kidwell, Martin Pink, Graham Redrup, Jim Pipe, Derek Wiltshire and our web master Ashley Barnett. Chris’ first ever win is celebrated in Ashley’s montage on the home page of our website. So many people have helped us and we thank all of you.
Chris has had some extremely talented adversaries to compete with over the years. He could never let down his guard for a moment against competitors such as Cormac, Mike Dolittle, Nigel Hall-Smith, Carl Adams, Mark George, George H-R, Rob Wittey and Patrick Banfield to name a few. Patrick and Chris started racing at the same time and constantly pushed each other in every event. If winning a race thrilled Chris then each Championship he won he was over the moon. Then in race season 2016 Chris won both the UK Classic 1300 and the 1300 Multis. The team was ecstatic. All our hard work rewarded. He had already won by the end of Snetterton but decided to do the final meeting at Silverstone for the fun of it. We had loads of family and friends staying the weekend. Chris had it in the bag. He didn’t have to go mad on the track. We could have a nice, stress-free meeting. I don’t like Silverstone at all. It’s a bastard slippery crappy track they put us on. It was wet and seven laps into the first practice session on Friday’s track day Chris high-sided and snapped his wrist. I was spitting teeth. I’ll leave it at that. It’s all on the web site anyway. Chris was off work and at home for four months! I nearly went mad.
March 2017 Snetterton and Chris had two Championships to defend. He had an excellent meeting. Even the biblical quantities of rain at Pembrey at Easter couldn’t stop him from extending his lead on the results table. His wrist was holding up and, although it ached at the end of the meeting, it was not going to be a problem like we’d originally thought. Great. Could have a good chance of retaining at least one of the championships at this rate. So what did he do? Not happy with everyone ripping themselves in two to make sure his meetings go like clock-work, he wastes all the effort we put into the first two and does an Endurance at Donington where he lobs himself and Mark George’s bike into the tarmac at a great speed and dislocates his shoulder leaving only one tendon attached and his bicep dropped down by his elbow. He was in a bad way. It doesn’t make for a good relationship with your wife when you do this. Our kitchen wall is covered in stab marks and I had to make Chris see the positive side, that every one of them is a knife not through the back of his head. He didn’t return to work until Nov 2nd.
Chris has some of the most amazing crashes over the years where the bike has been destroyed but he has escaped with bruises, but once you’ve suffered a dislocation you are extremely vulnerable to it happening again, even in the most innocuous of spills. You’ve lost that tie which holds the ball to the socket and it aint gonna grow back. I know Chris would continue racing if he had a choice but his employers have gently put their foot down and they have been good to him and he appreciates it. You can imagine though, he is very glum about it.
I came up with an idea that if Richard Peckett wanted to see the RPS still out there Chris should get a someone else to ride it and Chris would handle all the maintenance and transportation. At Brands last year Chris, having had the go-ahead from Richard, approached twenty-five year old Alan Major from the 125 class. Alan said he’d like to give it a go and, after a discussion with his family who sponsor him financially and with their time, we were all set for 2018.
I decided to change the name of the team. Alan’s niece has just started school and our team name was not suitable any more. In the early years of fourteen as a motorcycle courier Chris earned the title Captain Chaos. Joining forces with The Majors we are now ‘Major Chaos’. The Majors are Kevan, Lesley, Sarah, Sofia and, of course, Alan and Jade. With Gav and Lou keeping us all in check we hope to not live up to our new name – although there will always be a chance of chaos with Chris around. The RPS has had a new oil tank made and a cross-over shaft added so the gear-change can swap to the left for Alan. Finding a 105 decibel limit track day for Alan has so far not happened. It is likely that the first time he will ride the RPS will be at the test day at Pembrey on March 30th.
After massive surgery to re-attach his tendons and bicep Chris is making a fair/good recovery and he will still do track days and the Beezumph on the North. He has finally sorted the scavenge problem on his 1944 3HW Triumph and has totally rebuilt the R80 GS Basic, the last of the Air-heads made in 1996, which has sat rotting in the back of the garage since he took up racing. Chris was helped enormously by Derek who stripped it down to pieces in a nano-second. Incidentally, Derek is recovering from a crash on the M4 near Port Talbot. He was fortunate not to be killed. Derek’s bike makes Chris’ worse crashed bike look like it just came out of the show room. Derek got away with a plated broken wrist and some damage to his hands where his gloves came off. Luckily only nine cars were in the subsequent pile up. Derek!
Major Chaos is looking forward to the new racing season together. We have been friends for some years now. I will not miss the nail-biting wait during each race to see if we have to go home via the hospital to collect Chris. I am pleased Chris finished at the top of his game. And the boys might be under a new team name but when all is said and done, to me, they will always be W.A.N.C.As.
Long Suffering Wife
I recently wrote an article requested by Jono Yardley for the Open Megga magazine. As the magazine only goes to the CRMC members, we thought we would put it on the site, so that all our supporters will be able to read it. Apologies to those who have already seen it.
After completing almost twelve years of racing with the CRMC Chris is hanging up his sweaty leathers.
Since winning Novice of the Year twelve years ago, at the tender age of forty-seven, Chris has been riding with great bravery and, at times, unbelievable stupidity. In the first two years I remember people commenting on the fact that they were impressed that Chris’ results improved every meeting but he never fell off, that was until The Race of the Year at Cadwell. Actually, he crashed three times in the one meeting. Lee Gourlay and Cormac Conroy were constants on the podium and Chris started to take more and more risks in his effort to keep near them. Some paid off and some didn’t. As Chris became more experienced he was winning trophies, but the top of the podium eluded him until 2010 at Knockhill.
In 2012 Chris’ Rob North was no longer eligible for the Post Classics. A minimum of eight races per meeting was worth all our effort but to have only the four races in 1300 Multis we realised there’d be too little action for the amount of work it took to attend the meetings. Most of the time we’d be sitting doing nothing. Enter Richard Peckett and his RPS. He offered it to Chris to ride in the F750 and Chris accepted straight away.
So 2012 was a year of firsts. The first year of Chris racing two bikes. His first bone break – his collar bone at Snetterton with amazing photography by Paul Soulby which can be seen on our home page - [email protected] and, on the RPS, his first Race of the Year win at Silverstone.
From the start the success has been all about the support of our friends. Our first meeting, a filthy April baptism of fire at Anglesey and our team was three. Chris and me and Gav Kidwell battled the elements and wondered what the hell we’d got ourselves into. Before each race I’d scoot off in Gav’s van, out of the paddock and round to the high ground above the cork-screw. I videoed Chris in the driving rain for the entire meeting so that, afterwards, he could watch himself and the other competitors on the track. Looking back at the photos on the web site I can’t help noticing how much more hair Gav had then. We’ve sort of worn him out a bit but it didn’t stop Gav and his MT125 making their own racing debut in 2013. When racing, Chris always has had a well organised spares and tool box. It made him a prime candidate to be ‘borrowed’ from. ‘We are not bloody Christian aid’ I’d tell him and thus it became the name of our team. Team W.A.N.C.A has only run like a well-oiled machine because of friends - the likes of Gav and Lou Kidwell, Martin Pink, Graham Redrup, Jim Pipe, Derek Wiltshire and our web master Ashley Barnett. Chris’ first ever win is celebrated in Ashley’s montage on the home page of our website. So many people have helped us and we thank all of you.
Chris has had some extremely talented adversaries to compete with over the years. He could never let down his guard for a moment against competitors such as Cormac, Mike Dolittle, Nigel Hall-Smith, Carl Adams, Mark George, George H-R, Rob Wittey and Patrick Banfield to name a few. Patrick and Chris started racing at the same time and constantly pushed each other in every event. If winning a race thrilled Chris then each Championship he won he was over the moon. Then in race season 2016 Chris won both the UK Classic 1300 and the 1300 Multis. The team was ecstatic. All our hard work rewarded. He had already won by the end of Snetterton but decided to do the final meeting at Silverstone for the fun of it. We had loads of family and friends staying the weekend. Chris had it in the bag. He didn’t have to go mad on the track. We could have a nice, stress-free meeting. I don’t like Silverstone at all. It’s a bastard slippery crappy track they put us on. It was wet and seven laps into the first practice session on Friday’s track day Chris high-sided and snapped his wrist. I was spitting teeth. I’ll leave it at that. It’s all on the web site anyway. Chris was off work and at home for four months! I nearly went mad.
March 2017 Snetterton and Chris had two Championships to defend. He had an excellent meeting. Even the biblical quantities of rain at Pembrey at Easter couldn’t stop him from extending his lead on the results table. His wrist was holding up and, although it ached at the end of the meeting, it was not going to be a problem like we’d originally thought. Great. Could have a good chance of retaining at least one of the championships at this rate. So what did he do? Not happy with everyone ripping themselves in two to make sure his meetings go like clock-work, he wastes all the effort we put into the first two and does an Endurance at Donington where he lobs himself and Mark George’s bike into the tarmac at a great speed and dislocates his shoulder leaving only one tendon attached and his bicep dropped down by his elbow. He was in a bad way. It doesn’t make for a good relationship with your wife when you do this. Our kitchen wall is covered in stab marks and I had to make Chris see the positive side, that every one of them is a knife not through the back of his head. He didn’t return to work until Nov 2nd.
Chris has some of the most amazing crashes over the years where the bike has been destroyed but he has escaped with bruises, but once you’ve suffered a dislocation you are extremely vulnerable to it happening again, even in the most innocuous of spills. You’ve lost that tie which holds the ball to the socket and it aint gonna grow back. I know Chris would continue racing if he had a choice but his employers have gently put their foot down and they have been good to him and he appreciates it. You can imagine though, he is very glum about it.
I came up with an idea that if Richard Peckett wanted to see the RPS still out there Chris should get a someone else to ride it and Chris would handle all the maintenance and transportation. At Brands last year Chris, having had the go-ahead from Richard, approached twenty-five year old Alan Major from the 125 class. Alan said he’d like to give it a go and, after a discussion with his family who sponsor him financially and with their time, we were all set for 2018.
I decided to change the name of the team. Alan’s niece has just started school and our team name was not suitable any more. In the early years of fourteen as a motorcycle courier Chris earned the title Captain Chaos. Joining forces with The Majors we are now ‘Major Chaos’. The Majors are Kevan, Lesley, Sarah, Sofia and, of course, Alan and Jade. With Gav and Lou keeping us all in check we hope to not live up to our new name – although there will always be a chance of chaos with Chris around. The RPS has had a new oil tank made and a cross-over shaft added so the gear-change can swap to the left for Alan. Finding a 105 decibel limit track day for Alan has so far not happened. It is likely that the first time he will ride the RPS will be at the test day at Pembrey on March 30th.
After massive surgery to re-attach his tendons and bicep Chris is making a fair/good recovery and he will still do track days and the Beezumph on the North. He has finally sorted the scavenge problem on his 1944 3HW Triumph and has totally rebuilt the R80 GS Basic, the last of the Air-heads made in 1996, which has sat rotting in the back of the garage since he took up racing. Chris was helped enormously by Derek who stripped it down to pieces in a nano-second. Incidentally, Derek is recovering from a crash on the M4 near Port Talbot. He was fortunate not to be killed. Derek’s bike makes Chris’ worse crashed bike look like it just came out of the show room. Derek got away with a plated broken wrist and some damage to his hands where his gloves came off. Luckily only nine cars were in the subsequent pile up. Derek!
Major Chaos is looking forward to the new racing season together. We have been friends for some years now. I will not miss the nail-biting wait during each race to see if we have to go home via the hospital to collect Chris. I am pleased Chris finished at the top of his game. And the boys might be under a new team name but when all is said and done, to me, they will always be W.A.N.C.As.
Long Suffering Wife
Team Update
One horse power... to manage expectations!
10th December 2017
Long overdue congratulations to Gav Kidwell and Alan Major for each finishing 4th in their respective championships. Chris, after only two meetings!, finished 6th in the UK Classic and won £50 and a pair of race boots.
You see! You don’t have to attend a whole season of racing. Just pick the meetings where Cormac isn’t turning up. It makes things so much easier.
October’s meeting at Brands Hatch will always be remembered, for, in a tragic accident at Clearways, Fran Fletcher lost her life. Warm, caring and adventurous, Fran will always be missed by her CRMC friends and racing colleagues.
There were a spooky number of offs over the meeting each followed by a serious examination of the track for oil, but in each case nothing was found to be wrong.
On the test day on Friday Alan Major’s RS125 seized second session out. Kevin Major and Gav cleaned the aluminium off the barrel by gently scraping it and replaced the piston. The bike finished the meeting with no further incident.
The previous evening Chris had popped home to pick up the North hoping Alan would like to take it out during the test day. Alan did five sessions on the North and was intrigued. With Chris forced to step back from racing since he dislocated his right shoulder at the Endurance, and the subsequent surgery for massive rotor cuff repair, we wanted to be involved still in the CRMC , but not merely as spectators.
Cutting a long story short, Richard Peckett would like to still see the RPS racing and Alan will ride it next year in the Formula 750. Alan Major is only 25. A mere whippersnapper. It will be an exciting year for us all.
Chris will continue to maintain the RPS at and between meetings, and will transport it to and from meetings as usual. Only one bike and spares to deal with now!
It is at this point I would like to say an enormous thank you to Martin Pink who transported the North in the early years of Chris racing two bikes and also to Graham Redrup and Janet who transported the North from when Graham retired from work to when Chris retired from racing. Chris would not have been able to manage without you. Derek did his fair share of stepping in when Graham was on holiday... last year at Pembrey he had loads of fun - arriving at the circuit in the early hours of the morning, pitch black, raining, with the car’s headlights failing as far back as Cardiff, his tent submerged so he had to go to a hotel and up to his knees in mud. Could I just say you’ve all done us proud.
With a new rider on the RPS we are changing the team’s name! I have given this a lot of thought and I feel it is time we had a more mature name and we mark the joining of the Majors with the Chapmen. I am also aware of the fact that Sophia, Alan’s niece, has just started school. She is very proud of her uncle Alan and it is not right that, if asked by teachers what she did at the weekend, she has to say W.A.N.C.A. in her reply.
New Team name:
I would like to begin by going back to the early stages of Chris’ fourteen year romance with motorcycle couriering. For a variety of reasons Chris was named ‘Captain Chaos’ or, merely, ‘Chaos’ to his friends. Our mail would be addressed to ‘The Captain & Mrs Chaos’. After Chris’ exciting and successful racing career we feel a promotion is due and with Alan’s family joining with us we are hence named Major Chaos. Nothing immature about that, is there?
Team Major Chaos’ first flirtation with the mud will be at Pembrey in March. MARCH! So here are the dates and circuits for 2018’s season.
31st March – 1st April Pembrey (a mud bath)
28th – 29th April Snetterton (nice)
26th May AND 28th May Oulton Park (that’s a Weird one as they can’t race consecutive days)
7th – 8th July Darley Moor (you either love it or hate it)
3rd, 4th, 5th August Donington Park (slippery, cramped & noisy)
8th – 9th September Mallory Park (a toilet)
6th – 7th October Cadwell Park (it’s nice when it’s dry)
The RPS is at P&Ms having a new oil tank made and a cross-over shaft put in so it will be left-hand gear change for Alan. We hopefully will meet with the Majors and the Kidwells to discuss preferential camping/paddock set up and everything will run smoothly, as usual.
Major Chaos wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2018.
Long Suffering Wife (no changes there... !)
Long overdue congratulations to Gav Kidwell and Alan Major for each finishing 4th in their respective championships. Chris, after only two meetings!, finished 6th in the UK Classic and won £50 and a pair of race boots.
You see! You don’t have to attend a whole season of racing. Just pick the meetings where Cormac isn’t turning up. It makes things so much easier.
October’s meeting at Brands Hatch will always be remembered, for, in a tragic accident at Clearways, Fran Fletcher lost her life. Warm, caring and adventurous, Fran will always be missed by her CRMC friends and racing colleagues.
There were a spooky number of offs over the meeting each followed by a serious examination of the track for oil, but in each case nothing was found to be wrong.
On the test day on Friday Alan Major’s RS125 seized second session out. Kevin Major and Gav cleaned the aluminium off the barrel by gently scraping it and replaced the piston. The bike finished the meeting with no further incident.
The previous evening Chris had popped home to pick up the North hoping Alan would like to take it out during the test day. Alan did five sessions on the North and was intrigued. With Chris forced to step back from racing since he dislocated his right shoulder at the Endurance, and the subsequent surgery for massive rotor cuff repair, we wanted to be involved still in the CRMC , but not merely as spectators.
Cutting a long story short, Richard Peckett would like to still see the RPS racing and Alan will ride it next year in the Formula 750. Alan Major is only 25. A mere whippersnapper. It will be an exciting year for us all.
Chris will continue to maintain the RPS at and between meetings, and will transport it to and from meetings as usual. Only one bike and spares to deal with now!
It is at this point I would like to say an enormous thank you to Martin Pink who transported the North in the early years of Chris racing two bikes and also to Graham Redrup and Janet who transported the North from when Graham retired from work to when Chris retired from racing. Chris would not have been able to manage without you. Derek did his fair share of stepping in when Graham was on holiday... last year at Pembrey he had loads of fun - arriving at the circuit in the early hours of the morning, pitch black, raining, with the car’s headlights failing as far back as Cardiff, his tent submerged so he had to go to a hotel and up to his knees in mud. Could I just say you’ve all done us proud.
With a new rider on the RPS we are changing the team’s name! I have given this a lot of thought and I feel it is time we had a more mature name and we mark the joining of the Majors with the Chapmen. I am also aware of the fact that Sophia, Alan’s niece, has just started school. She is very proud of her uncle Alan and it is not right that, if asked by teachers what she did at the weekend, she has to say W.A.N.C.A. in her reply.
New Team name:
I would like to begin by going back to the early stages of Chris’ fourteen year romance with motorcycle couriering. For a variety of reasons Chris was named ‘Captain Chaos’ or, merely, ‘Chaos’ to his friends. Our mail would be addressed to ‘The Captain & Mrs Chaos’. After Chris’ exciting and successful racing career we feel a promotion is due and with Alan’s family joining with us we are hence named Major Chaos. Nothing immature about that, is there?
Team Major Chaos’ first flirtation with the mud will be at Pembrey in March. MARCH! So here are the dates and circuits for 2018’s season.
31st March – 1st April Pembrey (a mud bath)
28th – 29th April Snetterton (nice)
26th May AND 28th May Oulton Park (that’s a Weird one as they can’t race consecutive days)
7th – 8th July Darley Moor (you either love it or hate it)
3rd, 4th, 5th August Donington Park (slippery, cramped & noisy)
8th – 9th September Mallory Park (a toilet)
6th – 7th October Cadwell Park (it’s nice when it’s dry)
The RPS is at P&Ms having a new oil tank made and a cross-over shaft put in so it will be left-hand gear change for Alan. We hopefully will meet with the Majors and the Kidwells to discuss preferential camping/paddock set up and everything will run smoothly, as usual.
Major Chaos wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2018.
Long Suffering Wife (no changes there... !)
Donington Park
4th - 6th August 2017
How very odd to merely be a spectator after ten years. I'm not sure that I like it, compared to being a team at the circuit, but it is the only way to be able to catch up with most of our racing friends.
One is aware of the importance of not getting in the way when everyone is busy. After the final race on Sunday I had lost Chris again and was hanging around the Kidwells and Majors like a spare part as they all dashed about, packing.
I was grateful to Lou that she'd been so busy over the weekend she'd got behind with the washing-up. 'Camping washing-up' is something I am really good at and I soon had it done and then went to fold gazebo sides with Lesley. It made me feel 'normal' for a while.
Sandra Peckett booked a place for us with them on the campsite just outside the main gate. It was so very kind of her. We parked up opposite Sandra and Richard and I found it was lovely and peaceful to go back to between circuit visits.
I'd had two long and physically exhausting jobs booked on Thursday, while Chris drove to Eastbourne to have lunch with his sisters and his new sister-in-law, so we were not able to leave home until after the rush hour.
We arrived at the circuit at 10pm and Sandra made us tea. We sat for a while with her and Richard before setting up the caravan. To not have Richard's bike in my bedroom was strange but wonderful. My bed was already made, there was not the half-a-dustpan of gravel to sweep up from the tyres' treads, no bike-clamp in my living-room nor 'le parfum de gasoline' (pardon my French) hanging in the air.
Getting up at 10am Friday morning was luxurious - a gentle hum of bikes in the distance reminding us that there was a race meeting next door. We set off to do a sweep of the paddocks and find the Kidwells and Majors. Chris was accosted by numerous people who asked how he was. I must admit I didn't know who most of them were. I lived a sheltered existence at race meetings and rarely set foot beyond the caravan and garage/gazebo.
We had been walking for a while when the purple and lemon roof to Gav's gazebo appeared in the distance and we quickly found them. After lunch I went and had a catch-up and several beers with Lou, then Chris and I headed back to the campsite for supper.
Wow!. That's the way to do it! A microwave and a lasagne. A little salad and two forks. I like this side of not racing! We sat for a while with Sandra and Richard & co and it was the most beautiful summer evening. I would have appreciated it even more if I'd known how crap Saturday's weather was going to be.
My body was demanding a rest after the onslaught my muscles endured on Thursday so I spent most of Saturday reading in the caravan. The rain became a storm and went back to steady rain again and the track sounded quiet for long periods of time. I was on the phone in the caravan during the heaviest downpour and had to ring off as the noise on the roof was so deafening.
Chris arrived for supper at 6pm and we persuaded Marshal Neil to join us for a curry. We moved our chairs over with Sandra and Richard and introduced them to Neil. We haven't seen him since Pembrey.
After supper we walked to Gav and Lou's to partake in the consuming of home-made Rhubarb Vodka with her friends. It was extraordinarily fine and, as it burned its way into my flesh, my breath smells of it still.
We met Rod's son, Ian, who was at the circuit for the weekend. He's a lovely chap. We hope to see Rod when we visit Brands in October.
Sunday's weather was fair. Gav, who had a 4th, 2nd & 3rd thus far was preparing for the MT 40th Anniversary Race. The grid positions would be drawn before the race and Alan drew 10th. Gav drew 30th so he was last on the grid. Chris and I decided to get to Redgate and watch from there while Gav donned his new leathers.
We met Spike Livingstone on the way and took him with us. We waited ages for the race to come up as there was catch-up from those cancelled Saturday. Finally they were on the grid. During the race Alan, who was leading, suffered gear-change problems and pulled over but Gav, who I couldn't see for the first two laps because no-one told me he'd changed his leathers, was working his way through the pack up to fourth when I spotted him. He got into third and we held our breath and he kept ahead. He collected his trophy and laurel and was absolutely delighted. He said it was his best racing moment so far. He went on to finish the meeting with another 3rd in his last race.
After seeing everyone off, Chris and I returned to the campsite. Marshal Neil was going to pack his tent and call in and have a cup of tea with us before he left.
I persuaded Sandra that we should eat in the hotel restaurant that evening with the Tapsells. She booked a table and as the time was fast approaching we started to pack away the chairs in case it rained and Neil suddenly realised he was the only person still sitting. We said our good-byes and went to eat.
Sandra accosted a lone diner who'd been at the meeting and had just been served his meal. She took his plate and drink and plonked them on our table. He had to follow if he wanted his meal. He was one half of Team Orange and had a long chat with the boys while we ate. He seemed to have a good time and joined us all for coffee after by the Peckett's caravan.
We were away by 11am Monday. It had been a lovely three days thanks to Sandra booking the site for us.
Gav had done brilliantly. Alan was doing even more brilliantly in each race but sadly suffered constant bad luck which resulted in him having to pull over each time.
Just as we thought the dangerous stuff was over Jade was cut on her knee by the transponder clip on the bike as Alan pushed it into their van. A plaster was required! I feel that her jeans, which were slashed across the knee prior to the incident, would have offered more protection if the fabric was entire. It is unlikely to happen though, as in order for me to sew it up we would first have to drug her. Team W.A.N.C.A wish Jade a speedy recovery. We may not be practising but we are there in spirit.
Thank you Lou for the photos (see 2017 Photo Gallery). The cream bike is Lou's Prototype by the way. Isn't it lovely! And it runs beautifully.
Chris is making slow progress recovering from his dislocated shoulder and subsequent surgery. Thank you to everyone who wished him well. It was painful for Chris to attend a meeting and not be able to race but he really wanted to catch up with everyone.
We hope Gav and Alan have a successful Anglesey in four weeks time.
Finally, we would like to introduce you to Wilson, Marshal Neil's owner. Neil's new Kyham One-Touch tent has passed the Wilson test. A quality tent for a quality cat.
Long Suffering Wife
How very odd to merely be a spectator after ten years. I'm not sure that I like it, compared to being a team at the circuit, but it is the only way to be able to catch up with most of our racing friends.
One is aware of the importance of not getting in the way when everyone is busy. After the final race on Sunday I had lost Chris again and was hanging around the Kidwells and Majors like a spare part as they all dashed about, packing.
I was grateful to Lou that she'd been so busy over the weekend she'd got behind with the washing-up. 'Camping washing-up' is something I am really good at and I soon had it done and then went to fold gazebo sides with Lesley. It made me feel 'normal' for a while.
Sandra Peckett booked a place for us with them on the campsite just outside the main gate. It was so very kind of her. We parked up opposite Sandra and Richard and I found it was lovely and peaceful to go back to between circuit visits.
I'd had two long and physically exhausting jobs booked on Thursday, while Chris drove to Eastbourne to have lunch with his sisters and his new sister-in-law, so we were not able to leave home until after the rush hour.
We arrived at the circuit at 10pm and Sandra made us tea. We sat for a while with her and Richard before setting up the caravan. To not have Richard's bike in my bedroom was strange but wonderful. My bed was already made, there was not the half-a-dustpan of gravel to sweep up from the tyres' treads, no bike-clamp in my living-room nor 'le parfum de gasoline' (pardon my French) hanging in the air.
Getting up at 10am Friday morning was luxurious - a gentle hum of bikes in the distance reminding us that there was a race meeting next door. We set off to do a sweep of the paddocks and find the Kidwells and Majors. Chris was accosted by numerous people who asked how he was. I must admit I didn't know who most of them were. I lived a sheltered existence at race meetings and rarely set foot beyond the caravan and garage/gazebo.
We had been walking for a while when the purple and lemon roof to Gav's gazebo appeared in the distance and we quickly found them. After lunch I went and had a catch-up and several beers with Lou, then Chris and I headed back to the campsite for supper.
Wow!. That's the way to do it! A microwave and a lasagne. A little salad and two forks. I like this side of not racing! We sat for a while with Sandra and Richard & co and it was the most beautiful summer evening. I would have appreciated it even more if I'd known how crap Saturday's weather was going to be.
My body was demanding a rest after the onslaught my muscles endured on Thursday so I spent most of Saturday reading in the caravan. The rain became a storm and went back to steady rain again and the track sounded quiet for long periods of time. I was on the phone in the caravan during the heaviest downpour and had to ring off as the noise on the roof was so deafening.
Chris arrived for supper at 6pm and we persuaded Marshal Neil to join us for a curry. We moved our chairs over with Sandra and Richard and introduced them to Neil. We haven't seen him since Pembrey.
After supper we walked to Gav and Lou's to partake in the consuming of home-made Rhubarb Vodka with her friends. It was extraordinarily fine and, as it burned its way into my flesh, my breath smells of it still.
We met Rod's son, Ian, who was at the circuit for the weekend. He's a lovely chap. We hope to see Rod when we visit Brands in October.
Sunday's weather was fair. Gav, who had a 4th, 2nd & 3rd thus far was preparing for the MT 40th Anniversary Race. The grid positions would be drawn before the race and Alan drew 10th. Gav drew 30th so he was last on the grid. Chris and I decided to get to Redgate and watch from there while Gav donned his new leathers.
We met Spike Livingstone on the way and took him with us. We waited ages for the race to come up as there was catch-up from those cancelled Saturday. Finally they were on the grid. During the race Alan, who was leading, suffered gear-change problems and pulled over but Gav, who I couldn't see for the first two laps because no-one told me he'd changed his leathers, was working his way through the pack up to fourth when I spotted him. He got into third and we held our breath and he kept ahead. He collected his trophy and laurel and was absolutely delighted. He said it was his best racing moment so far. He went on to finish the meeting with another 3rd in his last race.
After seeing everyone off, Chris and I returned to the campsite. Marshal Neil was going to pack his tent and call in and have a cup of tea with us before he left.
I persuaded Sandra that we should eat in the hotel restaurant that evening with the Tapsells. She booked a table and as the time was fast approaching we started to pack away the chairs in case it rained and Neil suddenly realised he was the only person still sitting. We said our good-byes and went to eat.
Sandra accosted a lone diner who'd been at the meeting and had just been served his meal. She took his plate and drink and plonked them on our table. He had to follow if he wanted his meal. He was one half of Team Orange and had a long chat with the boys while we ate. He seemed to have a good time and joined us all for coffee after by the Peckett's caravan.
We were away by 11am Monday. It had been a lovely three days thanks to Sandra booking the site for us.
Gav had done brilliantly. Alan was doing even more brilliantly in each race but sadly suffered constant bad luck which resulted in him having to pull over each time.
Just as we thought the dangerous stuff was over Jade was cut on her knee by the transponder clip on the bike as Alan pushed it into their van. A plaster was required! I feel that her jeans, which were slashed across the knee prior to the incident, would have offered more protection if the fabric was entire. It is unlikely to happen though, as in order for me to sew it up we would first have to drug her. Team W.A.N.C.A wish Jade a speedy recovery. We may not be practising but we are there in spirit.
Thank you Lou for the photos (see 2017 Photo Gallery). The cream bike is Lou's Prototype by the way. Isn't it lovely! And it runs beautifully.
Chris is making slow progress recovering from his dislocated shoulder and subsequent surgery. Thank you to everyone who wished him well. It was painful for Chris to attend a meeting and not be able to race but he really wanted to catch up with everyone.
We hope Gav and Alan have a successful Anglesey in four weeks time.
Finally, we would like to introduce you to Wilson, Marshal Neil's owner. Neil's new Kyham One-Touch tent has passed the Wilson test. A quality tent for a quality cat.
Long Suffering Wife
CRMC Dinner Dance 2016
We'd like to introduce you to the Hotel's team at the helm - from the left:
Maitre d' - Head Waiter - Gigolo - Parking Valet - Manager
Tuesday 6th December 2016 (more photos in the 2016 Photo Gallery)
Mercure Daventry Court Hotel and Spa
This year we arrived early enough to have a little social time and lunch before the AGM started. All our rooms were ready and when the boys went to the AGM the girls headed off to have a lovely slobby afternoon. Sarah had a bit of a shock when she walked into her room and found it was still occupied. That could have been very embarrassing. 'What did you see!' we all asked. 'Bags' was all Sarah said. (Carpet, eye or ball we wondered)
We gathered again at 6.30pm. Graham gallantly bought two glasses of wine from the bar for Janet and himself at a cost of £10.50 and we sat down to eat at 7pm. Everyone on our table said the meal was lovely. Martin didn't come with us this year so we shared each of his courses between us. Alan, particularly, relished the extras. As usual it was So hot in the dining room, and we were at the very back with a regular cooling breeze from the smokers going in and out. It must have been like hell fire at the front.
The prize giving started and Chris had already been informed that his trophy for the 1300 Triples had been engraved with '1300 Twins' by mistake. He was somewhat disappointed with this. So was Cormac. His trophy had the same mistake on it as well.
The band was very good but if you are not keen on dancing it is hard to hold a conversation when the music is loud. It all gets to be a bit tiring after a while and before long we were all yearning for our beds. We had a little photo session in the reception area with Lou's phone. My camera wasn't taking good pictures and for some reason everything kept coming out orange.
Even Chris, who doesn't normally go to bed before four o'clock each year, headed upstairs with the rest of us. It had been a brilliant day and lovely to catch up with everybody. Shame Spike didn't make it this year. He could've had our spare room. They forgot to give Spike a room last year but luckily there was a spare bed available in with Martin.
We'd had a little fine snow overnight but it was melting by the time we all left.
Gav and Lou did a fine job sending photos straight away. Thank you both! We hope to have more in a few days as I have some to edit.
And finally, Chris is going to the fracture clinic on Thursday and is hoping to have his cast taken off. He's looking forward to having a shower without Lou's arm condom.
Ashley is going to South Africa over Christmas so we'll make the most of him before he goes, then we'll have a couple of weeks break until he returns to us.
Catch you soon.
LSW
Mercure Daventry Court Hotel and Spa
This year we arrived early enough to have a little social time and lunch before the AGM started. All our rooms were ready and when the boys went to the AGM the girls headed off to have a lovely slobby afternoon. Sarah had a bit of a shock when she walked into her room and found it was still occupied. That could have been very embarrassing. 'What did you see!' we all asked. 'Bags' was all Sarah said. (Carpet, eye or ball we wondered)
We gathered again at 6.30pm. Graham gallantly bought two glasses of wine from the bar for Janet and himself at a cost of £10.50 and we sat down to eat at 7pm. Everyone on our table said the meal was lovely. Martin didn't come with us this year so we shared each of his courses between us. Alan, particularly, relished the extras. As usual it was So hot in the dining room, and we were at the very back with a regular cooling breeze from the smokers going in and out. It must have been like hell fire at the front.
The prize giving started and Chris had already been informed that his trophy for the 1300 Triples had been engraved with '1300 Twins' by mistake. He was somewhat disappointed with this. So was Cormac. His trophy had the same mistake on it as well.
The band was very good but if you are not keen on dancing it is hard to hold a conversation when the music is loud. It all gets to be a bit tiring after a while and before long we were all yearning for our beds. We had a little photo session in the reception area with Lou's phone. My camera wasn't taking good pictures and for some reason everything kept coming out orange.
Even Chris, who doesn't normally go to bed before four o'clock each year, headed upstairs with the rest of us. It had been a brilliant day and lovely to catch up with everybody. Shame Spike didn't make it this year. He could've had our spare room. They forgot to give Spike a room last year but luckily there was a spare bed available in with Martin.
We'd had a little fine snow overnight but it was melting by the time we all left.
Gav and Lou did a fine job sending photos straight away. Thank you both! We hope to have more in a few days as I have some to edit.
And finally, Chris is going to the fracture clinic on Thursday and is hoping to have his cast taken off. He's looking forward to having a shower without Lou's arm condom.
Ashley is going to South Africa over Christmas so we'll make the most of him before he goes, then we'll have a couple of weeks break until he returns to us.
Catch you soon.
LSW
Update on Chris
Wednesday 16th November 2016
After visits to Epsom hospital two Mondays running after Silverstone, they decided Chris should have his wrist plated after all. It was mending, but they weren't happy with the alignment.
On Friday 21st October Chris was admitted to St Hellier hospital in Rose Hill where, a few years ago, they tried to murder my father (I don't know which came first, the hospital or the name of the road, but St Hellier is in Wrythe Lane!).
Chris was by himself in a room which was screaming out for a decorator with some sand-paper. He last ate at 6.30 the previous evening. By 6.30 Friday evening, having had the op postponed all day, Chris was starving. He had to be allowed something to eat and then couldn't be done until noon the next day. I cannot tell you how much I had to rush on Friday to get Chris there on time. I could have earned three times as much as I did if I'd have known that, really, the earliest they wanted him was Friday evening.
Chris returned home on Sunday in a lot of pain. They'd had to break his wrist again and wiggle it about then drill holes in it so it was bound to be a bit sore. It took a week before the painkillers gave him total freedom from the aching. Since then he vacuums! dusts! and washes up! and he's done rubbing down and painting.
We've had a lot of visitors and have used an enormous amount of tea-bags, milk, sugar, bread, cheese and pickle.
Six weeks until the next X-ray and then we assume the cast will be taken off and he'll have to get the strength back in his fingers and mobility back in his wrist.
The North is still as it returned from Silverstone except Derek has removed the damaged bodywork. Chris planned to rebuild the North's engine this winter but he'll have to wait and see what he's capable of doing.
Having looked at the dates for the meetings next season I am appalled to see we are starting as early as 18th March. Hopefully the weather won't follow the pattern of all the previous March meetings.
I need to contact His Pinkness and see if he has any photos from Silverstone. Also, Lou has some from Beezumph which she is going to send and then Ashley will put those in the gallery too.
We recently had a catch up on the phone with Marshall Neil Boorman. He very much enjoyed Ashley's montage on the home page (see below). It does take a while to load on some computers, so some of you will not have realised it is there. We have had it in the videos section since Ashley put it together when he was at college. It includes Chris' first win which was at Knockhill. At 00.34 we have Lee Gourlay at Knockhill breaking the screen with his face after stalling on the grid, getting away late and high-siding. He stayed on and came third! Tim Woolley features several times. We've missed him and Molly this season as well as Tony and Hilary Hayward. Tony features on his 500 Triumph which Neil Boorman paraded.
We are looking forward to seeing many of our friends and racing colleagues at the Dinner Dance. I don't know what happened last year - everything got a bit busy afterwards and I didn't write about it or take pictures. I will gather photos from everyone this year and keep you all amused through December.
LSW
After visits to Epsom hospital two Mondays running after Silverstone, they decided Chris should have his wrist plated after all. It was mending, but they weren't happy with the alignment.
On Friday 21st October Chris was admitted to St Hellier hospital in Rose Hill where, a few years ago, they tried to murder my father (I don't know which came first, the hospital or the name of the road, but St Hellier is in Wrythe Lane!).
Chris was by himself in a room which was screaming out for a decorator with some sand-paper. He last ate at 6.30 the previous evening. By 6.30 Friday evening, having had the op postponed all day, Chris was starving. He had to be allowed something to eat and then couldn't be done until noon the next day. I cannot tell you how much I had to rush on Friday to get Chris there on time. I could have earned three times as much as I did if I'd have known that, really, the earliest they wanted him was Friday evening.
Chris returned home on Sunday in a lot of pain. They'd had to break his wrist again and wiggle it about then drill holes in it so it was bound to be a bit sore. It took a week before the painkillers gave him total freedom from the aching. Since then he vacuums! dusts! and washes up! and he's done rubbing down and painting.
We've had a lot of visitors and have used an enormous amount of tea-bags, milk, sugar, bread, cheese and pickle.
Six weeks until the next X-ray and then we assume the cast will be taken off and he'll have to get the strength back in his fingers and mobility back in his wrist.
The North is still as it returned from Silverstone except Derek has removed the damaged bodywork. Chris planned to rebuild the North's engine this winter but he'll have to wait and see what he's capable of doing.
Having looked at the dates for the meetings next season I am appalled to see we are starting as early as 18th March. Hopefully the weather won't follow the pattern of all the previous March meetings.
I need to contact His Pinkness and see if he has any photos from Silverstone. Also, Lou has some from Beezumph which she is going to send and then Ashley will put those in the gallery too.
We recently had a catch up on the phone with Marshall Neil Boorman. He very much enjoyed Ashley's montage on the home page (see below). It does take a while to load on some computers, so some of you will not have realised it is there. We have had it in the videos section since Ashley put it together when he was at college. It includes Chris' first win which was at Knockhill. At 00.34 we have Lee Gourlay at Knockhill breaking the screen with his face after stalling on the grid, getting away late and high-siding. He stayed on and came third! Tim Woolley features several times. We've missed him and Molly this season as well as Tony and Hilary Hayward. Tony features on his 500 Triumph which Neil Boorman paraded.
We are looking forward to seeing many of our friends and racing colleagues at the Dinner Dance. I don't know what happened last year - everything got a bit busy afterwards and I didn't write about it or take pictures. I will gather photos from everyone this year and keep you all amused through December.
LSW
Six years ago, but the spirit remains the same !
9 September 2015 - Before and after Alan Major's incident at Cadwell Park ...
The RPS Trident
Winner 2013 Race of the Year 1300cc Multi's
Below is an extract from an article Chris wrote for the TR3OC (See Links Page) :
"Hi, I thought I would put pen to paper as I am one of the fortunate individuals that have had the pleasure to race an RPS Trident as
well as a Rob North Trident so I can compare the two. First I’ll give a little bit of background on the man and motorcycle.
RPS stands for Richard Peckett Special – for those of you in the know he is one half of Peckett and McNab, better known for their giant killing F1 winning Z1 Kawasakis that stomped all over the factory teams back in 1978.
Richard, after experiencing the howling Rob North Triples at Crystal Palace, was so inspired he had to have one. Sadly for Richard, even if a North chassis had been available (which it wasn’t) there was no way he could afford one ... "
To continue reading the article, Click Here to go the 'Bike Specification' page, where the rest of the article is situated.
Thank you for your continued support during the closed season, not long till the first race weekend at Brands Hatch on 23rd - 24th March.
Best wishes
Ashley Barnett
"Hi, I thought I would put pen to paper as I am one of the fortunate individuals that have had the pleasure to race an RPS Trident as
well as a Rob North Trident so I can compare the two. First I’ll give a little bit of background on the man and motorcycle.
RPS stands for Richard Peckett Special – for those of you in the know he is one half of Peckett and McNab, better known for their giant killing F1 winning Z1 Kawasakis that stomped all over the factory teams back in 1978.
Richard, after experiencing the howling Rob North Triples at Crystal Palace, was so inspired he had to have one. Sadly for Richard, even if a North chassis had been available (which it wasn’t) there was no way he could afford one ... "
To continue reading the article, Click Here to go the 'Bike Specification' page, where the rest of the article is situated.
Thank you for your continued support during the closed season, not long till the first race weekend at Brands Hatch on 23rd - 24th March.
Best wishes
Ashley Barnett