The British Motorcycle Racing Club
The British Motorcycle Racing Club, or Bemsee, as it is better known, celebrated its 100th anniversary recently at Brands Hatch and I was lucky enough to take part in Formula 400s on my ZXR400.
The weekend of 18-19 April 2009 corresponded with the very first BMCRC meeting that took place at the Brooklands circuit in Surrey on the 18th April 1909. Bemsee put on a superb weekend with all classes over-subscribed, sharing the paddock with classic and historic racers from yesteryear. Being the oldest 400cc racer, at aged 51, saw me pitched against riders as young as 15. This old-timer did himself proud with a series of top ten finishes and breaking the 52 second mark for the first time. Sadly I also now hold the record for crashing two of my own bikes in one race when I collected my No2 bike, ridden by ex Clubman 400 champion Dave Harviek, when I out-braked myself at Druids in the last race of the weekend.
Both days featured historic parades covering bikes from the turn of the last Century in the “Brooklands Celebration” parade to Post-War Classics. Classic riders who supported the meeting came from CRMC, BHR, VMCC, Lansdowne and the Morgan 3-Wheeler Club. There were also memories evoked of the famous Hutchinson 100 races held at Brands Hatch through to 1976, in the “Hutchinson Parade”.
The paddock featured displays from a wide range of owners clubs of past and present marques including bikes from the Brooklands museum.
It was fantastic seeing some of the old classics going full tilt round the circuit including GP500s and Morgan Three-wheelers. Bikes such as Randy Mamola’s Gagiva 500, Kork Ballington’s KR500 and a NSR250 in Rothmans colour scheme.
The weekend proved how popular racing is with Bemsee and the old adage of ‘The Bemsee Family’ came true again as each rider was presented with a commemorative medal to mark the celebration.
Motorsport Vision and the brewers Courage sponsored the prize-giving by providing beer at 1909 prices, ‘One Penny a Pint’, now that was one way to reduce the grids!
Although it’s hard to prove, Bemsee reckon they could be the oldest bike racing club in the world, let alone the UK, I’m sure they’ve got another good 100 years left in them. Maybe my ZXR400 will be in the classic parade in 2109!