September 2000
Festival of Ducati. Oschersleben , Germany. September 1-3, 2000
An excited Pro Britten team headed to the Festival of Ducati at
Oschersleben, hopeful that problems experienced with the #9 Britten were
solved. After a few spark plug problems the bike was running beautifully
by second practice and rider Heinz Platacis was having trouble keeping
that front wheel on the ground. The bike sounded great and the crowd were
really enthusiastic. Then, in an extra practice at the end of the day
disaster struck.......the bearing in the sprocket carrier collapsed,
forcing the sprocket outwards which made a mess of the rear swingarm - the
damage was unable to be repaired in time for the race as a new one has to
be sent from the New Zealand factory.
May 2000
Since the death of founder John Britten four years ago BMC
continued to build Britten V1000's and complete the 10 bikes
that John had always said he would build. The last one was
completed and sent to Las Vegas in March last year. During
this time we have also been actively seeking a joint venture
partner to invest in the company's future and although
nothing has yet come to fruition there are some parties
interested. The factory continues to operate on a scaled down
basis, still supporting the bikes racing endeavours and doing
prototype work.
10K Racings Britten V1000 is currently in the workshop where
it was being re-spec'd for Daytona - however pistons from the
UK which finally arrived with very little time to spare have
had to be returned as they are oversize - they never arrived
back till 3 March so we missed Daytona. However I think they
now intend to race it in Mid Ohio in July .#9 Britten which
is based in Holland was planning to race but their sponsors
have withdrawn (I think the company has sold) and the owner
is not prepared to pick up the cost at this stage.
The BEARS bike and the Pre-Cursor (one of the early fully
faired bikes) have been on display in the America's Cup
Village in Auckland, New Zealand and were on display at the
Classics and Collectibles show in Hamilton last weekend -
they should now be on their way back the factory. We need to
spruce up the BEARS bike before it goes to Eastern Creek in
August (for a demo only).
Jim Hunters bike is in the Art of the Motorcycle Show which
started at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, moved on to the
Field Museum in Chicago and is now in the Guggenheim, Bilbao,
Spain until September. The next venue will be advised when
confirmed.
George Barbers bike is now part of his collection in the
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Alabama, USA.
Roberto Crepaldi's (Milan, Italy) bike is retired - he lost
the heart to race after his good friend and racing companion,
Sandro died.
Mark Stewarts bike (Michigan, USA) is kept in a climate
controlled room with the rest of his collection and comes out
for the odd gentlemans events.
Te Papa's bike (Museum of New Zealand) still attracts a lot
of interest in Wellington,NZ - one of the Britten staff has
visited to check it over and make sure there are no
leaks.
The last Britten, #10 was delivered to Las Vegas in March
last year and is still in its crate - the new owner is
tempted to leave it there.
Britten Prototypes Ltd is involved in the development of a single
moto-x bike - the protoype bike is built (and has been tested
with an ordinary engine) and work has commenced on its own
engine - it was originally to be a 600cc but they are
now developing something new but with a smaller cc. Something
else being developed,
towatch out for, is the "Jiggernaut" - a dry land dragon boat
racing event!!
There is also a
new company called Dashfoot Ltd which is currrently
involved in the development of prosthetic legs which are
being tested by amputee cyclist Mark Iglis. The legs have
improved his performance already in international cycling
events. A different leg is also being trialled by a
javelin competitor in the North Island.
|
