500s on the island

In 1976 the FIM dropped a bombshell on the ACU and the IOM Tourist Board by announcing that the TT was no longer part of the World Championships. To appease the ACU, the FIM offered a lifeline by granting world championship status to any suitable formulae that the ACU could suggest for the TT. And thus was born a new classification of bike racing within the UK; Formula 1, 2, 3 and 4. The Formula 4 class [125cc two strokes and 200cc four strokes] never actually appeared in the TT programme due to lack of entries but the other classes went from strength to strength , replacing the production TT classes which had been a mainstay of the Island’s racing entertainment for many years.

Barry Roberts, who famously once rode around the Island sitting backward on his bike, see here in flying form in F2 TT

The Laverda 500 twin fitted very neatly into the newly proposed Formula 2 regulations. This was a middleweight class that grouped 250cc to 350cc strokers alongside 400cc to 600cc four strokes. The type of engine had to be a production unit and at least 1000 machines of the basic type had to be built for homologation purposes. Four valve heads were permitted as were 6 speed ‘boxes, all of which meant that the Laverda was a perfect F2 contender.

Pete Davies in the 1980 TT

The Laverda 500 made its debut on the Island in 1978 with PK Davies’ singleton entry in the F2 event. PK , as he was known, already established as an outstanding Laverda rider in the Avon Production Championship, came home 6 th ; an impressive first showing for a bike which had barely been in production for twelve months. In 1979 the TTF2 had really started to gain popularity and there were three Laverdas amongst the thirty starters. The riders were George Fogarty, Mick Hunt and PK Davies. Hunt equalled PK’s previous years result with a 6th place. Davies came in 9th and Fogarty unfortunately had a DNF.

Swedish superbike champion Llennart Backstrom on F500 in the 80 TT.

The 1980 Formula 2 TT became a watershed in the history of Laverda’s competitive outings on the Isle of Man. This was the year when Laverda 500s occupied 7 of the top 14 places, a remarkable achievement considering the Laverda F500s were truly production based machines whilst paddock gossip suggested that race winner Charlie Williams’ 350 Yamaha was probably more TZ than LC ! Unsurprisingly, Williams led from start to finish before repeating his performance in the afternoon Junior race, making him one of handful of riders to win two TT races in a single day.

Journalist Ray Knight on Formula No 17 in the 1980 TT

PK Davies was the first Laverda man home in the 1980 race with a highly creditable 5th place followed by Lancashire man George Fogarty in 7th. The remaining Laverda positions were Lennart Backstrom, [Swedish Superbike Champion] in 9th , Mick Hunt 11th with Bernard Murray, Roger Winterburn and Ray Knight in 12th, 13th and 14th place respectively. Roger Winterburn’s race might have ended very differently ; he was lying fifth when the motor suddenly cut out and he coasted to a halt, “ I thought it had thrown a rod“ said Roger, “ but then I looked down and saw that the ignition key had switched itself off”. In keeping with their road bike underpinnings Formula 500s came equipped with ignition keys. Roger had carefully lockwired the key to the top yoke to prevent it getting lost but unfortunately a violent movement of the fork yokes had cause the key into the off position. Although quickly under way Roger had lost valuable time and eventually came home 13th.

 

Roger recalls that most of the 1980 bikes were almost completely standard, out- of- the- crate examples. The two Slater entries were Roger and George Fogarty whilst the remaining Laverda riders had their own sponsorship arrangements. High speed handling issues became apparent in practice and Derbyshire based Spondon engineering were quickly commissioned to produce some reduced offset yokes for the Slater machines. 1980 was remarkable year for the 500 but there was an even more impressive result to come before Laverda’s TT career finally came to a close

Malc Wheeler in fine style on the Island aboard the Brightman Montjuic

The Laverda 500 continued to make its presence felt in the F2 TT, albeit in slightly reduced numbers. There were 4 Laverda entries in the 1981 race with PK just scraping into the top 10 followed by Mick Hunt right behind him in 11th. Bringing up the rear were Roy Armstrong and John Getty in 26th and 27th.

We are now entering the swansong of the 500 Laverda at the TT. Fortunately Malcolm Wheeler made sure it was a memorable one in his final outing by posting the fastest lap set by any Laverda racer on the Mountain Course. The scene was set in the’ 82 race when Malcolm took the Cleve Brightman prepared machine to 4th place; Laverda’s best ever result on the Island. Also riding Laverdas in that race were Barry Roberts in 27th place and last man home, American rider Will Harding. It should be pointed out that Will was riding the first incarnation of the famous Ogier Laverda and at this stage in its development it wasn’t quite finished! Apparently the bike was quite a handful.... For more information about this please refer to Alan Cathcart’s splendid article on the Ogier Laverda elsewhere on the website

Roger Winterburn closely followed by yer maun Joey Dunlop in the 80 TT

It was the following year however when Malcolm really secured his place in the Laverda Hall of Fame by riding to 5th place against some very tough and better-funded opposition. Malcolm scorched his way into the Laverda record books on the 3rd lap by circulating at over 105mph. A very respectable speed in that era, especially on a production based parallel twin.

Making his Laverda TT debut in the 1983 race was journalist Alan Cathcart whose 20th place was followed up by 26th place in the 1984 race, it was to be Laverdas final TT outing. The air-cooled 500cc twin had reached the end of its racing development and was no longer competetive in the class. Alan was on the pace for a bronze replica in the ’84 race but a missed gear and subsequent power loss due to bent valves put paid to his chances. Neither of Alan’s results on the Ogier Laverda would forecast the level of success that awaited the Cathcart/Ogier/Laverda combination later that season.

And that wraps up the 500s eventful TT career; it wasn’t to be the final appearance of a Laverda twin on the Island. That honour passes to Tom Quaye riding a Segoni- framed F2 machine loaned to him by Phil Todd. Tom entered the ’90 and ’91 Manx Grand Prix coming a very creditable 9 th in the 1990 Newcomers race. By this time the little Laverda twin had been out of production for 6 years.

Tom Quaye’s Segoni TT F2 machine, the last Laverda F2 machine to race on the Island