From road bikes to scramblers and scooters, Anglia Car Auctions’ first Classic Motorbike sale, held on Saturday 1st March, has already attracted a diverse range of entries and is looking to mirror the success of its classic car auctions at its Kings Lynn base.

A 1968 Greeves Wessex 250 scrambler project (estimate: £1200-£1500) is ideal for getting off road and enjoying classic trials. Needing some work to make it competitive once again it offers a great way into classic motorcycle sport.

Also offering old-school British oomph is a barn-find 1957 BSA Golden Flash (offered with no reserve). Complete and needing re-commissioning rather than restoring it needs little to be back on the road and beating a path to the Ace or Jack’s Hill Café.

Also ripe for re-commissioning is a Velocette LE. Mainly complete and solid, this rare find should make a rewarding project and is a bargain with an estimate of £300-400.

Slowing things down and needing re-commissioning is a 1955 Douglas Vespa (offered without reserve), which is in reasonable condition but needs refreshing to relive its glory days, while in good order is a 1975 Ducati Regolarita (estimate: £1800-2200).

And for anyone wanting to live out their ‘70s learner enduro fantasies, a Honda XL125 S in good original condition is a tempter. It’s estimated at £700 - 900. Needing more work but with much of the hard graft already done, there’s a 1980 Honda 250 café racer project (estimated: £300 - 400).

Overseeing the motorbikes on offer is auction house manager Guy Snelling, a keen enthusiast with an eclectic collection currently in his garage. Despite owning predominantly British bikes, Guy is hoping to get a diverse range of two-wheeled classics in all states of repair.

Guy said: “Anglia Car Auctions has a great reputation for having a diverse range of marques on offer in its car sale, securing fantastic prices on some rare and unusual project cars. This is exactly what we hope to emulate with the classic bike sale – so we are looking for project bikes in need of restoration, starter classics, concours, etc. All makes, models and conditions will be considered.”

To enter a motorcycle into the classic sale, please call 01553 771881 or email at [email protected]. For more information on Anglia Car Auctions and a full list of lots in the inaugural Classic Motorbike Sale as well as advice on buying or selling, visit www.angliacarauctions.co.uk

TT-winner Michael Dunlop joins forces with BMW Motorrad UK for a BMW Motorrad Motorsport supported road racing team.

Michael Dunlop, seven-times TT winner, will be racing BMW motorcycles for the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy as well as other international road races.

The 24-year-old, from Northern Ireland, is joining forces with BMW Motorrad UK and Hawk Racing, who also operate the Buildbase BMW Motorrad BSB team, with the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport for an assault on the 2014 road-racing programme.

The joint effort – BMW / Hawk Racing – has the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport via the global sports programme, as the team seeks to emulate the great BMW victory of Georg Meier in the Isle of Man Senior TT exactly 75 years ago.

The team will be running both a Superstock BMW in Dunlop Racing livery and a Superbike BMW S 1000 RR in BMW Motorsport livery. Dunlop will compete on the roads for 2014 with the highlight being the prestigious Tourist Trophy races on the Isle of Man.

Michael Dunlop said: “I’m really pleased to have signed for such a strong and competitive team. The BMW S 1000 RR certainly has the speed for the TT and, with my experience, the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and Hawk Racing, I know we have a race-winning package. I really thought about sitting out this year, but I have found a team that I am really comfortable with and the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport will make us a force to be reckoned with this year.”

2014 is the 75th anniversary of Georg Meier’s historic win at the Senior TT in 1939, where BMW secured their first TT win. Georg became the first ever foreign winner of the Senior TT race; with team mate Jock West finishing second, on their Boxer-powered 500cc RS 255 Kompressors.

The BMW / Hawk Racing team will be jointly managed by BMW Motorrad UK and Stuart Hicken, fresh from the Buildbase BMW Motorrad team’s best ever performance in the 2013 British Superbike Championship. Building on their strong relationship and experience with BMW, the team has secured BMW Motorrad Motorsport support for the 2014 road racing programme.

Stuart Hicken, BMW / Hawk Racing Team Principal, said: “We are extremely pleased to have assembled such an experienced racing team. We have been working on it for a while and I genuinely believe that with Michael, the technical expertise from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the BMW S 1000 RR, we have secured all the elements we need to be at the sharp end, challenging for a great result at the TT.”

Lee Nicholls, BMW Motorrad Marketing Manager, said: “We are so pleased to have secured Michael Dunlop to ride for BMW / Hawk Racing. His record speaks for itself and we are confident that, on a BMW S 1000 RR, he can dominate on the roads this season. Creating a team that will focus all its efforts on Michael will present BMW with a realistic chance of replicating our famous victory 75 years ago at the TT.”

To keep up to date with the latest news from the team, follow @BMWMotorradTT on Twitter.

Following a year’s break from the BMF Show, the organisers are pleased to announce the return of the ACU British Track Racing Championship for the 2014 season. The British Motorcycle Federation and Auto Cycle Union have once again joined forces with The Mid Cornwall Premier Motorcycle Club to host the events at the East of England Showground at Peterborough.

The opening two rounds of the 2014 Track Racing Championship will take place on the 17th and 18th May, before heading back to the East of England Showground on the 13th September for the third and fourth rounds.

Mulberry’s Managing Director Martin Chick, said “We are really pleased that the ACU will once again be thrilling the crowds at the BMF Shows in Peterborough this year. There was an overwhelming positive response to their last appearances in 2012 so we’re hoping that even more people will come and watch some spectacular racing in May and then the championship decider in September at the Tailend!”

For more information about any of the BMF shows visit www.thebmfshow.co.uk. Or talk to the show organisers, The Mulberry Group, on 01869 277077.

Survey finds four out of ten drivers not concentrating. 

Only sixty per cent of drivers concentrate when they are behind the wheel, according to a poll by IAM/Vision Critical of nearly 1500 drivers. However, there is good and bad news in these findings.

The good news is that older drivers are much less likely to lose concentration while driving. Seventy-three per cent of over 65 year-olds say they concentrate on the road all of the time that they are driving. Twenty-six per cent said that they concentrate most of the time. The bad news is that 50 per cent of younger drivers aged 18-24 admit to not concentrating on driving 100 per cent of the time. Not far behind, 47 per cent of 24-34 year olds admit to not concentrating.

Nearly a quarter of drivers (24 per cent) say that simply daydreaming was the most common reason for not concentrating. Among 18-24 year-olds the figure is 30 per cent. Other reasons given for not concentrating include stress (22 per cent), thinking about what you will be doing when you arrive (21 per cent) and thinking about family, friends and personal relationships (21 per cent).

In the North East and in Wales, 64 per cent of drivers, said they concentrate all the time.

Londoners are most likely to be distracted while driving, with forty-seven per cent admitting to not concentrating one hundred per cent on the road. Yorkshire and Humberside, the South West and Scotland were not far behind with 46%.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Signs of not concentrating such as missed turnings or uncancelled indicator lights are commonplace. Simply not concentrating is a key cause of crashes yet it is not borne out in statistics because drivers rarely admit to it in police reports or on insurance forms.”

“These results reconfirm stereotypes surrounding younger drivers and the ease with which they can be distracted away from staying safe. The key is to build up as wide a range of experiences as possible as you learn and to look upon your driving as a skill that needs continuous improvement.”

www.iam.org.uk

John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels

On the day of John Surtees’ 80th birthday, new motorsport book publisher EVRO Publishing announces that in June 2014 it will publish a photographic memoir by John Surtees.

Containing over 250 photographs from Surtees’ own collection as well as from the world’s finest motorsport picture libraries, John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels will present a complete visual record of the life of the only man to have won World Championships on motorcycles and in cars. In motorcycle racing through the second half of the 1950s Surtees was in a class of his own, winning seven World Championships on Italian MV Agusta motorcycles. He was 500cc World Champion in 1956 and followed that with an incredible run of six titles – three each in the 350cc and 500cc categories – in the three years from 1958 to 1960.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Surtees becoming Formula 1 World Champion in 1964. Driving for Ferrari, Surtees achieved his unique accomplishment with outstanding wins in the German and Italian Grands Prix, as well as second places in three other races.

John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels will show every great moment of his racing life as well as candid behind-the-scenes shots and personal photographs right back to his childhood. Accompanying the imagery will be Surtees’ own commentary, written in collaboration with leading motorsport journalist Mike Nicks.

Royalties from sales of John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels will go to the Henry Surtees Foundation, which was set up to honour the memory of John’s son Henry, who was killed in a freak accident at Brands Hatch in 2009.

The Henry Surtees Foundation aims to raise funds to support accident care, with particular emphasis on head injuries, and help educate and train young people with motorsport-related programmes in technology, engineering and road safety instruction for two and four wheels. The worthwhile causes supported by the Henry Surtees Foundation include the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.

John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels

Published by EVRO Publishing, 19 June 2014

Jacketed hardback • Price £50 • 304 pages • 295x240mm • ISBN 978 0 99282 092 3

EVRO Publishing is a new motorsport book publisher set up by Eric Verdon-Roe (former Group Managing Director, Haymarket Publishing) and Mark Hughes (former Editorial Director, Haynes Publishing, Books Division).