Daytona

The story of Alan Cathcart’s adventures on the Ogier Laverda make a fitting tailpiece to the racing history section of laverda 500.cc . The bike was the brainchild of Mauric Ogier , a talented engineer/racer/tuner of cars and bikes who hails from the Channel Islands. Starting out its life as a standard Montjuic, the bike was purchased new in 1979 and used as a road bike until Maurice had an idea to enter it in the TT ridden by his American pal Will Harding. After a fairly disappointing Island debut Maurice started to make substantial improvements to the specification.

Alan Cathcart on the Ogier Laverda in a European F2 race. [copyright Kel Edge]

Even in this early incarnation the bike sported the distinctive under seat fuel tank skilfully fabricated by Maurice along with a number of interesting modifications including a fuel pump driven off the swing arm, a Krober self generating ignition and a savage weight pruning which saw 20kgs in weight being shed after the starter, generator, battery and coils were discarded . Alan Cathcart is enthusiastic about the technical development carried out by Maurice. In an article written by Alan in 1985 about his experiences with the Ogier Laverda he made the following observation;

“To prepare the engine for racing Mo also cut all the starter and generator splines off the right side of the crankshaft, and fitted a self-generating Krober electronic ignition system instead, The Krober is incredible, providing such a good spark that the bike can be started from cold on very hard NGK 11-grade plugs without them fouling - it'll even run at 2.3,000 rpm on constant throttle while warming up the Castrol R. The NGKs deserve a plug (sorry!) too: we used the same pair with no problems for three seasons! An indication of the excellence of the Ogier-modified combustion shape can be gauged by the fact that the ignition timing can be moved from anywhere between 30-35 degrees without any variation in power output”.

During the course of its development the bike was transformed from a modified roadster into a fully blown F2 racer. Big valves were fitted from the factory’s F2 race kit and Maurice specified lightweight 77.8mm pistons manufactured by Mahle , along with suitably ported heads and 36mm Dellortos. Dyno testing with an exhaust of Maurices design liberated more horsepower until the bike was putting out 71bhp at the rear wheel; an impressive figure for an aircooled twin of 579ccs. Eventually this was to rise even higher to a very healthy 74bhp .

 Last TT outing for the Ogier Laverda. Alan Cathcart in the ’84 TTF2

Although retaining the standard frame the bike received a host of improvements to the rolling chassis. Stiffer 38mm forks were fitted along with magnesium sliders. Dymag wheels were used and the cush drive left off to save weight. The bike eventually tipped the scales at 290lb, and with 74bhp on tap it’s 150mph potential soon became apparent.

After successfully campaigning the machine in European F2 events the team decided to enter the Battle of the Twins at Daytona in 1984 and found themselves competing in the 750cc class . 750c class regulations meant that the bike would have to run with a half fairing.

The bike ran like clockwork at Daytona with Alan leading from flag to flag, the first British rider to ever win a race at Cycle Week. Due to its astonishing turn of speed nobody could quite believe that the machine was within the 750cc limit, let alone just 579ccs and the motor was ordered to be stripped for inspection. Despite the compromised aerodynamics created by the removal of the fairing the bike was timed at 149mph. The bike continued to be successful in TT F2 races for another season and was even entered in the occasional F1 meeting. An interesting aspect to the bikes racing life was its impressive reliability record. In an era when the factory F2 machines needed regular overhauls to keep them in tip top condition the Ogier machine ran for three seasons on the same plugs and crank! The reliability possibly stems from Maurice Ogier’s decision to use the lightweight Mahle pistons and run at a lower maximium RPM than the factory bikes. Alan Cathcart also believes a contributing factor to the reliability was the decision to run it on Castrol R from day one.

Maurice Ogier pictured with his bike at Daytona

Alan Cathcart’s Daytona ride was an incredible achievement on an amazing bike and probably marked the end of an era when a privateer on the right equipment on the right day could trounce the big budget opposition. The Laverda 500 twin was an ideal basis for a privateer to take on the semi works Ducatis and Yamahas in F2 as well as in the larger capacity classes. The Daytona result demonstrated that when talented people unlocked its potential, the Laverda middleweight became a true giant killer.