It’s not what it used to be, or so they say. Well, that’s not always true. Consider this photo from the excellent collection of British photographer Graham Etheridge.
(these photos are published with the photographers express permission)
The venue is Brands Hatch, the year is 1977. The bikes are RG500 Suzukis and the riders are, in order, Steve Parrish, who now commentates for the IoM telecasts and also OneHD’s MotoGp effort, American Pat Hennen, whose career was tragically cut short when he ran ino a bird and crashed at the IoM, and the late and much lamented, Barry Sheene.
Which Grand Prix is this, you may ask? It’s not. In fact it’s not a GP meeting at all. It is the 1977 King of Brands meeting. You see, dear reader, back in those days, GP riders weren’t the cossetted “stars” they are today. They rode EVERY weekend, supporting their local tracks and clubs as well as following the “circus”. Can you imagine Nicky Hayden, for example, being allowed to go home on off-GP weekends to compete in AMA races, ON HIS GP BIKE? and WITH FULL FACTORY SUPPORT?
From MCN Superbikes meeting, 1979. The leader is “Rocket” Ron Haslam, father of current WSBK star, Leon. Amongst this field there are several GP stars of the day, including Haslam.
My how times have changed, and not necessarily for the better.
You can see more of Graham’s work at his personal web site, racebikepics