Ken Blake

[Redback]

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Kenny Blake – Nature’s Gentleman




On the 9th of June 1981, the famous Isle of Man races claimed the life of one of Australia’s greatest motorcycle racers.

Ken Blake was born in South Australia, raced for most of his career out of Victoria and, during a short, but stellar career, won races in every important category of racing on the Australian scene.

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He won at Sandown in 1969/70 on a Triumph sponsored by L&D Jesser of Adelaide, and also on this bike, the Australian Unlimited TT at Surfers Paradise and Phillip Island, of which the two latter were his first national successes.
Also, in March 1970, Blake campaigned an H1R 500 Kawasaki, winning the Bathurst Unlimited GP and taking 5 seconds off the lap record!
In 1971 he won the Australian 500cc TT on this Kawasaki at Symmons Plains, Tasmania. As well, he also campaigned the ex-works Ducati 750SS, imported directly from Italy and with an illustrious pedigree. On Yamahas tuned by Ron Angel and sponsored by Jack Walters (who owned the motel in Bendigo),
Ken won the 125/250 races at Bathurst, and the Australian 250 championship in 1973.
The Kawasaki Z1 900 was first successful in the 1973 Castrol 6 Hour Production bike race at Amaroo Park. Amaroo, was a tight, twisty 1.9 km circuit that, in those days, had little or no run-off area.
In the 1973 race, Ken rode the whole six hours solo .…his 1973 win stands as one of the all-time great riding performances, the last of the big solo runs, and a superhuman effort.
In 1974 Blake paired with Len Atlee and won again the Castrol 6 Hour Race at Amaroo Park again on the Kawasaki Z1 900.

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Kenny with Joe Eastmure – 1977 Castrol Six Hour Winners

Blake’s record for the Castrol Six Hours races reads like this; He scored 3 wins (1973, riding solo, 1974, with Len Atlee, and 1977, with Joe Eastmure). He scored two second placings (1975, riding solo and 1976, with Tony Hatton) He scored two fourth placings (1972, solo on the Ducati, and 1978, with Dave Burgess). And he scored an 8th placing (1979, with John Warrian).

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Kenny round the outside of Glenn Flack in the 1978 Six Hour

Between 1972 and 1979 he was not once out of the top 10 placings.

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In 1979 Ken shared his Six Hour ride with Queensland’s John Warrian on a Honda 6

However, lest it be thought that Ken was a Production Bike specialist (though he certainly was without peer in the field), Ken excelled on any sort of machinery. He was a brilliant rider in the 125cc class, often borrowing machinery to put in his usual polished rides. He races both 250cc and 350cc machinery for Jack Walters and other entrants.
In 1974, as well as winning both the Australian 350cc and 500cc Championships, Blake was second to Gregg Hansford in the Unlimited Production race at Bathurst. A win or a place at Bathurst was earned hard.

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Ken on the Ron Angel Imola Ducati

He then raced a Ducati “863″ to win the Unlimited Production class at Bathurst in 1975, as well as finishing second in the Castrol 6 hour in both 1975 and 1976.
Ken also raced a TZ750 at Daytona in 1975, and also in Febuary 1976 at Laverton Airbase, he beat multiple World Champion Giacomo Agostini on a works MV to win the Australian 500 TT. For this meeting he rode a brand new Suzuki RG 500 similar to the bike on which Briton, Barry Sheene, would win the 1976 500cc World Title.
With this prize money and an association with former Works Yamaha 125 rider Chas Mortimer, Ken left Australia for Europe, where this “team” managed 32 race starts in the first season.
About a month into the season Ken won the International 350 race at the Tulln Langenlebarn airfield (Austria), from Tom Herron and Reinhold Roth, and then finished 10th in the 1978 French 500cc GP, riding a Yamaha TZ350!
The 1979 Belgian GP ended up being boycotted, but until this was called by the Works riders due to the slippery track, Ken set a fastest race lap time 1.5 seconds better than Johnny Cecotto (Works 500cc Yamaha). The 1975 350cc Champion had, in fact, qualified on pole position, but Kenny bettered his time in the race!.
The resurfacing on this track had only just been completed, and the bituminous oil from the tar was still coming to the surface, and this was very much in evidence, after the rain. Ken eventually finished second behind Kiwi, Dennis Ireland on an RG 500 Suzuki.
In 1979 Ken competed at the IoM and finished in eighth place in both the 500 and 1000cc TT’s on his TZ350, and finished 12th in the 250 TT.
Honda’s French Endurance signed Kenny and fellow Aussie and ace tuner Tony Hatton, and Michael Cole, also from Australia for the 1979 Bol D’or, at Paul Ricard, Southern France.
From here Ken was offered a ride with Honda France in 1980 and again for 1981, giving him some peace of mind with the assurance of some income while in Europe.

Blake’s best finish for the Isle of Man circuit was 4th in 1980, 250 TT.
Ken was sharing a pit bay at the IoM in 1981 with Barry Smith, (another Australian in Europe.
Ken recorded a TT practice lap average of 179.5 kph (111.5 mph) on his 1977 Yamaha TZ350, (As a yardstick, this is approx 40 sec a lap quicker than Joey Dunlop’s IoM Lap Record set in good conditions on the works Honda RS860R in1984.]

It had been wet over the mountain, but not in other parts, a common feature of the 38 mile mountain circuit. Both Barry and Ken were on slicks and it was “pretty dodgy”. Smith eventually pulled in and retired.
To further increase the danger, Ken had been delayed on the start line with a fuel leak and had been forced to start in last place. However, by the time of his pit stop, 5 laps into the six lap event, Ken was running eighth, having passed 103 riders!

Barry said, “I watched him pit but then fly back out, his bike snaking into the distance under acceleration. He never came back.”
Barry Smith never went back to the Island either.

Kenny’s motorcycle aquaplaned on one of the damp patches at Ballagarey Curve, 5 Kms into his last lap and went straight off.
Ken hit a concrete post and was killed instantly.

Tuesday June 9th 1981. IoM 500cc TT
A National Treasure Lost at the Isle of Man

Ken was planning to retire at the end of the 1981 season, which made things even more tragic.
He was 33 when he left Australia for Europe, and had been road racing since 1966, and professionally for some 12 years.

Kenny Blake was surely one of the best riders Australia has ever produced … and one of the nicest.

[Redback]

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Gregg Hansford – The Greatest Of His Era



Like most riders of his era, Brisbane-born Gregg Hansford started his career racing mini bikes and dirt bikes, and by his early 20’s he had attracted the attention of Queensland Yamaha distributor, Annand and Thompson.

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Gregg was successful riding 250 and 350cc machines and in 1973 he won the 500cc and Unlimited Australian Championships.
Just before the1974 Bathurst races, Annand and Thompson brought Gregg a brand new Yamaha TZ700 to race.
It was on this bike that Gregg and his arch-rival Warren Willing staged what many regard to be the most thrilling race ever seen at the Mount Panorama, Bathurst Easter Bike Carnival.
Sydney “boy wonder”, Warren Willing, was similarly mounted on a bike sponsored by Sydney dealer Adams and Sons and the rivalry between these two young stars was intense.
These two riders staged an epic duel in the Unlimited Grand Prix, chopping and changing the lead throughout the whole 20 lap race, barely inches apart for the whole race distance. In the end, the race went to Willing by the slimmest of margins, but it was enough to let everyone know that the tall, beach-blonde, Queenslander had “arrived”.

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Gregg on his Yamaha and Bryan Hindle [50]

Gregg and Warren both travelled to Daytona that year as well, and while Warren’s ride fell through, Gregg rode, against the likes of multi-World Champion, Giacomo Agostini, and many notables in the sport overseas sat up and took notice as well.
Hansford and Willing continued their rivalry right throughout the 1974 season in Australia, and, early in 1975, Gregg got his big break – through someone else’s misfortune.
Team Kawasaki Australia, the first truly professional motorcycle racing team in Australia, were campaigning factory-supported, but locally-developed Kawasaki H2R 750cc triples.
Their marquee rider was multiple Australian Champion and local legend, Ron Toombs.
In March of 1975, Toombs suffered serious injuries to his arm in an accident at Sydney’s Amaroo Park Raceway, and, when it looked like Toombs’s recuperation was going to be an extended one, Kawasaki Race Team boss Neville Doyle took the opportunity to offer the ride to Hansford.

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So, Gregg became a member of Team Kawasaki Australia, at just the moment when the Kawasaki factory’s marketing department was kicking into high gear.
TKA deluged the Australian market with press releases and photos of Hansford. He and The “Green Meanies” were on everyone’s lips.
Professional motorcycle racing had arrived in Australia.

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Team Kawasaki Australia. Gregg with team rider Murray Sayle and Neville Doyle

Hansford repaid the faith that Kawasaki and Doyle had placed in him by also winning the 1975 Castrol Six Hour Production Bike Race at Amaroo Park on a Kawasaki Z1.
Gregg kicked off 1976 by winning the Unlimited TT at Laverton Air Force Base, just outside Melbourne, giving the brand new, water-cooled KR750 its most important win to date.

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Pat Hennen leads Gregg at the Laverton Air Base International Meeting 1975

Another trip to Daytona ensued in which Gregg finished 4th, the first Kawasaki home, easily accounting for the Team Hansen Kawasakis, the American version of TKA.
The American Kawasaki officials were stunned that Doyle had extracted both Yamaha-like power and reliability from the fast-but-fragile KR.
1976 belonged to Hansford. Gregg was the Number One pin-up boy of racing, along with Warren Willing. He had the stature, the blond hair, the boyish charm and he was unbeatable on a bike. He was, in short, a promoter’s dream.
And it was the revelation that TKA’s tuning department (Neville Doyle) was doing it better than any other local Kawasaki racing effort that caused the factory to place even more faith and valuable development resources into its hands. And, of course, the bikes went even better, were more reliable and won more races.

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Gregg at Perth’s Wanneroo Circuit 1975

The world stage beckoned and we were not surprised when in 1978, TKA took off for Europe to provide Gregg with the support he needed for a full-scale assault on the World 250cc and 350cc championships, as well as selected Formula 750 races with the now utterly reliable KR750.
When he arrived in Europe, Gregg had to face a horde of Yamaha “works” and privateer rivals and the South African, Kork Ballington, riding similar Kawasaki KR’s but supported by the British arm of Kawasaki’s world-wide racing effort.
Despite the challenge, in 1978 Gregg finished 2nd in the 250 World Championship and 3rd in the 350. In 1979 he duplicated this result again.

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Gregg wins at Paul Ricard in France

In 1980 he finished 2nd in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour Race, riding with the late Jim Budd, and then, in 1981, at Spa, in Belgium, he suffered a serious fall that caused horrific injuries to his knee. Not long afterwards, facing a long rehabilitation, Gregg “eased out” of motorcycle road racing.
With 10 victories at the Grand prix level, Hansford still ranks 3rd on the list of overall Grand Prix wins for an Australian.
During this time, Gregg had also made many F750 appearances and competed each year in New Zealand in the Marlboro Series, a summer series for F750 bikes that allowed many riders from the Northern hemisphere to escape the northern winter and race in the sunshine.
Gregg competed the Marlboro Series twice on the KR750 and it was at one of these races that he scored his most amazing victories.
Having crashed his 750 in the first race of a two-leg meeting in the 1978-79 New Zealand series, Gregg fronted the starter for the final race of the day on his 250!!
Officials and spectators were stunned, but, as the race progressed, Hansford not only kept the 750’s in sight, but, on the tight track, began to pick up places until he was in the lead. Then disaster seemed to strike.
Watching from the pit wall, Neville Doyle noticed that Gregg’s front tyre was going flat. Gregg, despite this handicap, rode a superbly tactical race and brought the bike home, with the front tyre now totally flat, to win the race.
Gregg took time off to develop his motorcycle dealership in a Brisbane’s outer suburb and seemed to have settled well into retirement. But the competitive spirit burnt very brightly within and nobody was surprised when he announced that he was going car racing.
His first big win was in the 1984 Oran Park 250, followed by wins in the 1988 Sandown 500 and the 1994 Bathurst 12 Hour. Such performances gained him drives in both V8 Supercars and Supertourers, with highlights being 1st in the 1993 Bathurst 1000, 3rd in the 1994 Bathurst 1000 and 3rd in the 1994 Sandown 500 partnered with Larry Perkins.
Hansford’s 1993 Bathurst win gave him the unique distinction of winning a race at the Mount Panorama Circuit in both motorcycle and car racing.
But his car racing exploits were to prove to be tragic.
While competing in a 2-litre sedan car race at Phillip Island, Hansford’s Ford Mondeo slid off the track at Turn 1 and hit a tyre wall at high speed. The car bounced back onto the track where he was hit by another car at over 200 km/h. The car had slewed around after the initial impact with the tyre wall and came out onto the track with the left hand side of the car facing the oncoming traffic. As the car was left hand drive, the impact on the driver’s side door was always going to be catastrophic.
Hansford died moments after the impact and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Thus passed the legend, Gregg Hansford, into the history books.
Gregg was much more than just a sublimely talented rider. He was a true gentleman and one of the loveliest persons that you could ever hope to meet.
Despite his absolute superstar status at the top of his career, he remained, humble, approachable and self-effacing. The world of motorcycle racing will never see his like again.
RIP, Gregg Hansford

Gregory John Hansford. Born April 5th 1952. Died March 5th 1995.

[Redback]

The late 1980s were a golden age when it came to professional motorbike racing in Australia. Wayne Gardner was winning the 500cc World title, Mick Doohan and Kevin Magee were on their way and like Robbie Phyllis, Tasmania’s Malcolm ‘Wally’ Campbell was dominating domestically.
Malcolm Campbell was a two time Australian Superbike Champion, he won the prestigious Castrol Six Hour event and the Swann International Series championship in 1983, he stood on the top step when bikes raced at Bathurst and won many other national and state championship titles.
Being a bike whizz and having had so much success, you would think that Campbell was obsessed over two wheels from the start. Not so.
“In my early days I lived on a farm and I used to play with billy-karts, I guess my interest, if there was any interest, was towards cars,” Malcolm Campbell explained to Speedcafe.com
“I remember when I was eight or 10 years old, listening to the radio commentary from Longford and the racing cars there.
“I went there a couple of times, but motorbikes didn’t come into my life until I was 16.
“I got one simply so I could ride on the road. In Tasmania you could get your learners license for a motor bike when we were 16.”
A quick convert, Campbell loved the freedom that came with owning a motorbike.
“You didn’t have to have mum or dad besides you, so it gave you freedom and mobility,” said Campbell.
“I started to get a bit more serious a further 18 months later.
“My mates had bikes and Symmons Plains would stage rider clinic days, which the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club would run in the late 60s, early 70s, as a safety thing and an introduction to racing.
“That’s how I got into racing.”
Campbell’s first race was one to forget, he fell off the bike twice on his first day of racing, but undeterred he kept at it. He spent several years involved in club racing competing in Tasmanian state events, before getting signed.
“It was a long journey, I reckon I would hold the age world record for getting signed up to a distributer team I reckon,” said Campbell.
“I used to do a lot of endurance races, like the Castrol Six hour and the Adelaide Three hour. You’d go off with a couple of bikes and a mechanic.
“That’s how I got noticed, in events like this. Rob and Val Watson where Honda Australia’s advertising managers, they also did the lap scoring at the Castrol Six Hour for the Honda team. They pushed to get me in there and I was 30 years old.
“Everyone’s retiring by 30 these days; I was a pretty old age when I signed, but still useful.”
Campbell was more than “useful”; he quickly turned into one of Australia’s best riders. In the mid to late-1980s he was one of the men to beat. He’d won the Castrol and New Zealand Six Hour races, several rounds of the Australian 500cc Grand Prix championship, Australian Production championships, Endurance titles, the Swann International Series and two Superbike titles. At the same time he was also looking at opportunities overseas.
“I did quite a bit of overseas racing for Honda,” said Campbell.
“I won an Australian Grand Prix which was not what we see today, that was at Bathurst; I won that a couple of times.
“I raced at the Malaysian Grand Prix before it was a world championship event and won several rounds of the World Super Bike championship here and in New Zealand.
“I also competed in Europe in the World Superbikes Championship off my own back. We had some fantastic results, including a couple of poles against the factory teams.
“In the end budget killed us.”
After finished ninth, 14th and 16th in the respective 1989 – 91 World Superbikes Championships – which were impressive results against the big overseas factory teams – Campbell retired in 1992.
“I didn’t want to retire but time comes along when they have to feed new riders into the system,” said Campbell.
“Troy Corser took over where I left off.
“I didn’t race for a couple of years, then came back into the Australian Supersport championship and raced through to 1998.
“Since then I’ve been talked into doing the historics – old motor bikes, old riders and old mechanics. What a recipe!”
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/08/1581.jpg (http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/11/18/malcolm-campbell/campbellbathurst86/) Malcolm Campbell won the Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst twice

Campbell also has memories of racing at Bathurst. He won there in 1986, five years after hitting the wall at McPhillimey
“I wouldn’t do it today,” said Campbell on racing at Bathurst.
“My introductory meeting with Bathurst wasn’t good, that was 1981.
“I learnt what others have learned, I broke my femur and several other bones. It’s not a very forgiving place.”
One of the biggest world sporting events to hit Australia was the debut of the 500cc World Championship and its arrival at Phillip Island in 1989. Gardner had won the 1987 title and won the very first Australian race. The other local in that race was Campbell.
“It’s one of the best motor bike tracks in the world,” said Campbell.
“I didn’t last very long in that race. I’d come back from a Superbike race at Donnington where I badly injured my knee, I had to drain my knee daily, so I had limited practice and we were unfamiliar with the bike.
“We hadn’t tested it with a full tank of gas, which you need to get through to the end of a race.
“The front end bottomed out through turn one on the second lap, I had to run wide and ended in the mud.
“That was the end of the event for me, but it was great to be a part of.”
Following that race, Campbell had the opportunity to ride in the 500cc World Championship. He tested with Elf Honda, Team Gallina and Cabin Racing Honda.
“I had ambitions to race 500ccs,” said Campbell.
“It’s about being in the right place at the right time though. I had three opportunities, but they all shriveled up.
“It was pretty hard in those years, there was a lot of competition for a ride and there were plenty of guys that could have made it and didn’t, but it’s even harder today. You need a packet of cash now; I didn’t need that in my day.”
Despite this, Campbell doesn’t harbor any negative feeling towards the sport, he loved riding his bike and being a part of Australia’s golden era.
“The 1980s for motor bike racing in Australia, and around the world, were fantastic,” said Campbell.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/08/1582.jpg (http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/11/18/malcolm-campbell/nr750-005/) Malcolm Campbell is one of Australia's best motor bike racers

“There was a lot of money and good crowds. At the start of World Superbikes in 1987 there were 60 people competing for 40 starts. You had to work hard for it, but the ‘80s were fantastic.
“It’s just a shame to see the state we have got ourselves into today. How you fix it I do not know.”
Interestingly, Campbell doesn’t rattle off any individual results when asked about his career highlight. Like all forms of motor sport, a rider or a driver is part of a team, and they don’t taste success without a dedicated, professional combined effort.
“Some of my most enjoyable races were the endurance races,” said Campbell.
“I liked being a part of a bigger team and enjoying a good day together.
“You needed to have a good day at the office to take home the bacon in those races.
“In a sprint race, you’d go home after a race and the buzz was gone, in a team the event lingers on and you enjoy the good times together.
“If I have to pick something else, I suppose cracking pole a few times in Europe stand out.”
Campbell has no career regrets, he was happy with what he achieved and how he achieved it. In saying that, he acknowledges that things might have been different had he been raised on the Australian mainland as opposed to Tasmania.
“Tasmania is always a hard place to come from,” said Campbell.
“The big island is the next step, you’d see people like Wayne Gardner one step ahead, they’d be looking at Europe as the next step.
“It’s that Tasmanian mentality that mainland people are one step ahead.
“It’s hard to get in at that top level. I got my break with Honda Australia because someone said that they should check me out.
“Early on, coming from Tassie, there was no one here to say that they could take me places, give me that leading hand, help cut some corners and provide guidance.”
Now in his late 50’s, when most riders have stepped away from the bike, Campbell still races. In-fact he is racing this weekend in a historic race at Symmons Plains.
“Yeah, I’m still competing against Robbie (Phyllis),” said Campbell.
“Leopards don’t change their spots; Robbie and I are still butting heads.
“It doesn’t matter what bikes you are on, you’re trying to beat each other. It’s amazing to think that 25, 30 years down the track that we’re still finishing side by side.
“It’s a bit déjà vu like, but still pretty cool.”
He’s been racing for over forty years but Campbell is still as competitive as ever.
“I ride to win, this hasn’t changed,” said Campbell.
“Even today I’m still the same, if I think I have half a chance it’s not often I’d say let it slip, let it go away, be content.
“I’ve still got a bad streak in me, Robbie is the same, if he has the opportunity he’ll snaffle it up as well.
“We’re both fiery competitors, we’ve both still got a few tricks up our sleeves.”
Malcolm Campbell won the prestigious Swann International Series in 1983



Who can't forget this race though.
1985 Swann Series - Rd 3 Surfers Paradise - Race 2


1985 Swann Series - Rd 3 Surfers Paradise - Race 2 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dxw-3Rmx8c#at=1321)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Who else remembers watching Mal on the triple beat Gardner on the V4,,:banana::banana:

[lewy]

wow,now this brings back some memory,s, I can remember these blokes going around Bathurst along with Gary Thomas, Alan hales,God that kwaka 900 just killed them first time it ran at the mount.