The Philips Tracer Series was the brainchild of Paul Velasco, who was desperate to give local riders some international exposure. Probably one of the most ambitious private projects ever. The international entry list was: Robert Holden (NZ), Mike Dowson (Aus), Kork, Fred Merkel (USA), John Williams (USA), Rob Phillis (Aus), Gustave Reiner (Germany), Hans Lindner (Austria), Jeurgen Muller (Germany), Keith Huewen (GB), Paul Lewis (Aus), DP, Helmet Dahne (Germany), Karlheinz Dieplold (Germany), Doug Polen (USA), Joey Dunlop (Ireland), Mick Doohan (Aus), Steve Dick (Canada), Alex Vierra (Portugal), Iain Pero (NZ) and Paul Feeney (Aus). There was a lot of fan-fare involved, with Philips and the media really getting behind the series. I picked Joey Dunlop up from the airport who came in on the morning flight and asked him if he wanted to go to the hotel to relax before the press launch later in the day. Nope - he wanted to go to the workshop to work on the bike. Later that afternoon, we managed to drag Joey out of the workshop to go to the launch. The press werent sure if he was a rider or mechanic, covered in grease. Those were the days of Afrikaans / English spilt on SABC. Joeys interview ended up on the Afrikaans news that night. The Afrikaans viewers were pretty sure he wasnt speaking their language, and the English viewers thought they recognised a few words, but werent sure. There was no fuss around Joey - what a great star. I got my first lesson in Aussie culture later that week. I was standing on top of a container in the Goldfileds paddock, with a few of the Australian riders and mechanics, including Peter Doyle who went on to become one of the most respected crew-chiefs in AMA. The Philips umbrella girls were walking down the paddock toward the container when Pete chirped, hey lets chat these birds up. As they got closer the boys went to work - hey girls, show us your pink bits - show us your whizzer. Unimpressed, Patricia Lewis and her mates stormed off, leaving the guys dumbfounded that there smooth pick-up lines hadnt worked. Sure some of the local girls did fall for the charm later on though. For various reasons the local riders dominated the series, but the class was there to see. Dave P had hardly ridden during that year, doing duty as Toni Mangs team manager, but was very competitive. There was a prize fund incentive of R100k for any rider who won all four heats. The Aussies later told me that they were so confident of cleaning up, that they had an agreement, whoever among them won the first race would be allowed to win the other three, and they would split the winnings. Wayne Heaseman had other ideas, but the weather won in the end when a huge Highveld thunderstorm intervened and the final race was cancelled. The pictures are of Fred Merkel, Paul Loopy with Doohan and our mate Peter Whyte, myself leading Brian Morrison and the lucky Philips girls.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 07:29:19 +0000
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