supporting "pure" road racing
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oliver’s
Mount, Scarborough
2013 Events
The Ian Watson Spring National 21st April 2013
The Barry Sheene Classic 15th & 16th June 2013
Cock O' The North 20th & 21st July 2013
Steve Henshaw Gold Cup 14th & 15th September 2013
Getting
There
The circuit, England’s remaining public roads circuit, is
situated on the South side of the North Yorkshire town just off the Filey Road,
the A165. Use Deepdale Avenue leading to the main spectator entrance in
Jackson’s Lane.
Postcode YO11
2UE
Useful
Websites
Official Auto 66 Club website for tickets etc. http://www.auto66.com/
Unofficial website focusing on Oliver’s Mount events http://www.oliversmount.com/
Advanced Tickets and Admissions
The only advance
tickets available are for the 4 meetings listed above at Oliver's Mount.
Paddock admission at Oliver's Mount is only available to
advance ticket holders. For those of you who miss the deadline for advance
tickets you will be able to purchase them at the main entrance on race day at
the same price but you will not be allowed access to the Competitors Paddock.
There’s no additional charge for Paddock access but unless you have an advanced
ticket you will not be able to gain access to the Paddock. It is strongly
recommended that you order advanced tickets. The atmosphere in the Paddock is
superb and you have the added bonus of being able to view the racing from the
start line. It is the equivalent of the Pit wall at any other circuit. Not to
be missed.

You are advised
to book early as there is a limit on tickets available in advance and they may
have all gone before the cut off date which is printed on the advance booking
form, so don't leave it late or you may be disappointed.
Accomodation
Camping is available
in the Bikers Village at Oliver's Mount at all 4 meetings and also during Bike
Week when there are Sprints during the week. Camping tickets can be purchased
at the same time as your advance tickets.
Being a seaside
town there’s no shortage of B&B’s, Hotels available. See here http://www.thisisscarborough.org/ More About Oliver's Mount
Oliver's Mount is the British mainland’s only natural "roads" circuit
and has over the years been the proving ground for many future world
champions, just take a look at some of the legendary names who have
appeared at the Scarborough circuit :
Cecil Sandford, Geoff Duke,
John Surtees, Bob McIntyre, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read, Giacomo Agostini,
Klaus Enders, Jarno Saarinen, Kent Andersson, Takazumi Katayama, Mick
Grant, Barry Sheene, George O'Dell, Jock Taylor, Wayne Gardner, Joey
Dunlop and Carl Fogarty to name but a few.
Oliver's Mount has
survived when other road circuits have vanished from the racing
calendar. Despite fixture clashes and loss of championship status, the
riders have continued to support the venue. Six times World Champion
Geoff Duke went out of his way to encourage top Continental riders to
visit the track and frequently remarked that no other circuit presented
him with "greater difficulty, or more fun and thrills, than Oliver's
Mount."
Geoff Duke made no secret of the fact that Oliver’s Mount
was his favourite circuit and went on to win numerous Internationals
first on Nortons and then with Gileras. In September 1951, Duke, then
the reigning world 500cc and 350cc champion could not compete in the
first official International motorcycle road-race meeting held on the
Oliver’s Mount circuit as he was honeymooning in Switzerland. So he
sportingly offered the trophies he had won outright at Scarborough in
1949 for competition among the foreign riders.
In the recessive
mid-1980's when the crowds stayed at home with attendances generally
down by 40 percent, circuit owners were forced to axe meetings and
implement cutbacks. During the 1984 season the Donington circuit
attracted only 3000 to a two day combined European and British
Championship meeting which ruined their season and fried their books.
However during the same season the Scarborough September International
meeting still attracted a 20,000 crowd.
One of Scarborough's
biggest annual tourist attractions, Oliver’s Mount has drawn a huge
following throughout its celebrated history. Up until the mid-1950s the
biggest crowd ever seen at Scarborough was when nearly 40,000, poured
through the gate to watch John Surtees and Geoff Duke go head-to-head in
the September 1953 International meeting. These 39,980 enthusiasts
arrived in 3,356 cars, astride 6,511 motor-cycles and in 25 coachloads
bringing the Scarborough town traffic to a standstill in many places.
Duke then regarded as the “greatest rider in the business” screamed his
giant red-tank Italian Gilera four motorcycle into first place in the
500cc final to win the News Chronicle Gold Trophy and narrowly miss
setting up a new course record. They also saw newly crowned 350cc world
champion Fergus Anderson riding Italian works Moto-Guzzi machines, break
the 250cc course lap record, win the lightweight event and take the
350cc laurels.
So great was their enthusiasm, the crowds broke
onto the course during racing and on Saturday night they almost mobbed
the most famous names in motor-cycle racing, as they swamped the
prize-giving ceremony. Scarborough and District Motor Club president
Dennis Tesseyman paid a special tribute to the club’s secretary, Mr Jack
Claxton who had now realised his dream - an International race meeting
of record calibre.
One rider who reckoned Scarborough to be one
of the best events of the year is Mick Grant. ‘It’s a real riders
circuit that has to be treated with respect’, remarked Grant who freely
admits to being a supporter of the pure road-type circuit. Legendary
duels between the ‘local hero’ Grant and ‘Londoner’ Barry Sheene,
regularly attracted 35,000 through the gate in the 1970's. The twisty,
narrow Oliver’s Mount is a great bike leveller and Sheene’s incredibly
quick 680cc Suzuki had no great advantage over Grant’s better handling
750 three-cylinder Kawasaki on the short straights and hairpins that
tested each rider’s nerve in the braking stakes. Their battles for
points in Britain’s most important road race series caused fierce
loyalties amongst the crowd to the point of Sheene complaining of fist
waving and insult hurling by Grant’s fans.
However it didn’t stop
Barry Sheene naming Oliver's Mount as his favourite circuit, out of the
many he raced on in one of the most illustrious racing careers on two
wheels, lasting more than a decade and a half : "Yes, I think so, mainly
because of the atmosphere and the fact that the actual racing was so
much fun with the track being so tight." After an epic 1970’s duel in
which he narrowly beat Mick Grant, he announced "I never thought a
bloody cockney would be applauded by 20 odd thousand Yorkshire people
after beating their favourite racer. You buggers must really love your
racing !"
More recently at the 50th Anniversary celebrations in
September 1996 a record crowd of over 63,000 people squeezed through the
gates to see their heroes from yesteryear, who could between them boast
32 World Championships. The star line-up included 15 times World
Champion Giacomo Agostini reunited with his former factory MV Agusta,
Jim Redman on the fabulous Honda-6, Barry Sheene on a Suzuki RG500 and
World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty on his Honda RC45.
If
you've never watched the close-up, action-packed racing through the
beautiful wooded parkland at Oliver's Mount, give it a try. There’s no
greater thrill for a race fan than to see race bikes brushing the
banking only yards away from where you stand - you can leave the
binoculars at home !.
Situated just five minutes from
Scarborough’s town centre, the races have been likened to a 'miniature
TT by the seaside'. Amusement arcades, lively nightlife, ice cream, fish
and chips, scenic countryside ride outs on great roads, good beer and
friendly locals are all key features of a stay in Scarborough.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|