On Sunday September 11, 2022 Nick drove his second race at the HMV with this beautiful Rudge Special racer from 1934.
For this event, we at Red Hand Classics had to make some adjustments that Nick ran into during his first race at Mill. We had to adjust the width of the drip tray that runs under the engine and gearbox for the racer and we had to grind out a corner at the bottom and make it a slant so that Nick no longer hit the drip tray in the corner. We also had to replace the suspension of the exhaust pipes with new vibration dampers to which the exhausts are mounted because the old ones showed some drought cracks. We also drilled and locked the bolts and nuts with lock wire so that they no longer vibrate loose from the gearbox.
During the training the bike ran perfectly and Nick was able to explore the track for a short while because all 7 classes only had 1.5 hours to train. The track was in good shape and there was no rubbish on the track. All manhole covers were also neatly marked with white crosses where they were on the track so that you could clearly see where they were.
The first race went very well, the start had to be done in 2 groups because the class of the Pré 50 and veterans 125 was too big to start in one go because there were about 22 riders in the class. Nick started in the 2nd group, 10 seconds after the first group had already left. Soon Nick ran into the rear riders of the first group and overtook them. During the race he got behind an AJS and a Velocette and they drove on with his 3rd until the end of the first race.
Between the races a lot of people came to look at the bike because they didn't get to see this bike up close during the race where you see the push rods and valves go up and down and most people were very curious about this take a closer look. A number of Red Hand Classics customers also came by who wanted to cheer Nick on from the sidelines and not miss this wonderful event.
The second race went great! this time Nick started in the first group and soon came to the front with the Velocette. Midway through the race, Nick managed to overtake the Velocette and leave it behind him and already ran into the first few riders and Nick started to get a lap ahead. at the end of the race he managed to overtake about 10 on a lap.
In the end Nick came 11th out of about 22 participants in his class. At the HMV there is no racing but demo driving. This selects the result on who has completed the laps most consistently and it is not about who crosses the finish line first.
Below are a few more photos from the race.
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