The
following blog pays tribute to an extremely able motorcycle road-racer who lost
his life in July 1974.
Motorcycle
racing is a dangerous sport and sadly always will be. It is
doubly sad when a tragic event is caused by something outside a rider’s
control, something that he could do nothing about. His only failing therefore
was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Vic was
killed following an incident at the end of 250cc class practice at the Oliver’s
Mount circuit. On being shown the chequered flag signifying the end of
practice, the rider directly in front of him braked suddenly after crossing the
start-finish line. As the start-finish line is on a gentle right-hand curve, it
is taken at a relatively high speed before braking hard for the tight left-hand
Mere Hairpin. In having to move off-line to avoid the slowing rider in front of
him, Vic was pushed to the right-hand side of the track and into the picket
fence immediately above the Paddock. He died instantly.
That 1974 Cock
of the North meeting on July 7th was a tragic event. Phil Haslam was
also killed when his 350cc Pharaoh Yamaha misfired on the steep climb out of
Mere Hairpin and he pulled to the side of the track. In doing so he moved into
the path of Steve Machin, who in the midst of the perusing group, hit him from
behind. He was shunted forward against his screen, severing his jugular vein.
Victor J. Wright
was a motorcycle mechanic by trade and worked at Wraggs Motor Cycles of Sheffield.
Wraggs were a family owned firm of northern motorcycle dealers in the early
1970s, which also had branches in Chesterfield and Mansfield. The owner of
Wraggs was a keen follower and supporter of motorcycle road-racing and
sponsored many riders over the years. Their supported rider at this period was
no other than John Cooper. Wraggs did not sponsor Vic Wright, but I feel
certain they would have been extremely proud of the results he obtained on uncompetitive
machinery over the years. Vic certainly became the talk of the Sheffield motorcycle fraternity, when on a Greeves Oulton he manged to lead John Cooper on his Yamsel at Mallory Park.
In 1968 Vic
purchased a brand new Greeves Oulton - 35RFS116 from V.S. Bentley, another Sheffield
motorcycle dealer based on Abbeydale Road. It was well known at the time that
these RFS 350cc racers were a huge disappointment and Greeves halted production
after just 2 months and 21 had been made. The dated cast-alloy frame was
totally inadequate for a 350cc bike as were the brakes, resulting in a poor
handling and woefully under-powered machine. To quote Derek Pickard “only 21
were made and no real successes were recorded anywhere”
However
within 2 years, two people had these uncompetitive British machines flying.
One was Bob
Stevenson of Spondon Engineering in Derby, the other a mechanic from Sheffield
– Vic Wright.
Both of them
took it in turns to hold the 350cc Race Record at Darley Moor. Don’t forget
this was 1970 and the Junior class was awash with TR2 Yamahas. By now the 350cc
Yamaha was producing 54bhp and challenging Agostini and the works MV Agusta for
the World Championship.
I accept
that Darley Moor is primarily a clubman’s circuit and as such the level of
competition is not as great as that found in ACU National events. So let us
move to the 1971 season opener at Mallory Park. This is a National meeting with
a top-class entry of established British riders. Heat 2 of the Junior Race
reads like a ‘who’s who’ of motorcycle road-racing stars.
Vic Wright finished 7th on a Greeves Oulton.
Virtually everyone in
front of him was on a Yamaha, all being sponsored and supported riders.
Finishing immediately in front of him in 6th place was Barry Sheene,
in 5th Jim Curry, in 4th Dave Browning, in 3rd
Derek Chatterton 1970 British 350cc Champion, in 2nd Steve Machin
1970 British 250cc Champion and the winner was Tony Rutter – Champion elect.
What a result.
Ah you
say….”it was only a heat”
Oh yes that
is true, but Vic finished 9th on the Greeves in the final.
Can you
believe it….Greeves were in the money!
So let us
look at the second Heat:
To finish 9th in the Final with the quality of that combined field is truly amazing.
Since
purchasing the machine in 1968, he had performed similar ‘giant-killing’ acts
at various circuits throughout the UK, including a wonderful 6th place in the
350cc British Championship race at Oliver’s Mount Scarborough on 10th
May 1969.
Two weeks later he did even better at Cadwell Park in the Coronation Trophy 350cc race. Here he finished in 5th place, in 4th was Cliff Carr, in 3rd Ken Redfern, in 2nd Billie Nelson and the race being won by acknowledged Cadwell expert Derek Chatterton.
Two weeks later he did even better at Cadwell Park in the Coronation Trophy 350cc race. Here he finished in 5th place, in 4th was Cliff Carr, in 3rd Ken Redfern, in 2nd Billie Nelson and the race being won by acknowledged Cadwell expert Derek Chatterton.
In September
of 1971, Vic took 35RFS116 to the Manx Grand Prix for one last time. He lapped
at over 92mph in practice, only to have a piston ring fail on the start-line whilst
waiting for the off of the Junior race proper.
Victor
eventually succumbed to the inevitable and bought a 250cc Yamaha. On this he
finished 6th in the 1972 Lightweight Manx Grand Prix and recorded an
even better result the year later finishing in 3rd position.
The Trophy
 |
| The Vic Wright Trophy |
Following
Vic’s tragic demise, a trophy was put up in his memory by his friends at the
Sheffield Road Racing Club. This trophy was to be awarded to the 3rd
place finisher in the Lightweight 250cc Manx Grand Prix and honours Vic’s best
result in that same race.
Previous
winners are: 1974 Steve Ward
1975
Ricky Burrows
1976
Mick Grice
1977
Clive Watts
All the
above received the award based on this qualification.
Ten years
later in 1987 the trophy was awarded for a last time to David O’Leary.