1973-2001

“I remember in that race looking round as I was going out of York Hairpin and John was just coming into it, lap after lap, the distance always the same. Near the end I think he decided he wasn’t going to do any better, and he eased off a bit. John Williams was a real decent character, he just said he had tried his hardest and wished me good luck.” ⁴

Williams secured his place in the record books setting a new absolute course record of 115.80 mph on the way to an emphatic 750cc victory. Mick Grant had bettered the old course record with a lap of 113.32 mph to emerge as the early race leader, but Williams was quick to reply with a lap of 114.81 mph. As speeds rose Grant’s lead was cut to just three seconds on lap four. Next time round it was Williams in front, and as Grant retired on the sixth lap, Williams could afford to ease off, still finishing over a minute and a half ahead of Barry Randle and Billy Guthrie. Suzuki mounted Roger Sutcliffe’s 5th place was the only top six finish for a non Yamaha-mounted rider all day.

In contrast to the previous years dismal conditions, 1975 will long be remembered as a vintage year, when temperatures soared, and a young rising star from Yorkshire, resplendent in the green livery of the Boyer Kawasaki Team, pushed the lap record to an astonishing 122.62 mph, as he romped to a 500cc/750cc double.

The headlines announced, “Grant smashes two-miles-a-minute barrier”⁵ . Mick Grant’s blitz on the record books raised the winning race average speed to 119.96 mph, 4 mph more than the previous lap record, and on a course lengthened by five hundred yards, with the reintroduction of the Metropole section.

“We were brought up on short circuits in England, and in my early career I’d been weaned on diving up the inside. You didn’t bother so much about the racing line, you just had to pass people. The technique in Grands Prix then and now is to take a nice smooth line, because generally the circuits are a lot quicker. I’d never seen anything like the North West 200. Silverstone was perhaps the quickest circuit I ever raced on, and although there were very fast corners on it, the North West was just a different ball game. I’d raced a fair bit of my career up to then on circuits that weren’t so fast. It was a different technique to learn, a bit of an eye-opener. I definitely struggled a wee bit when I went there first in ’74.

The 500cc Kawasaki was not a good package in 1975. I remember having to dice with Tony Rutter, who was on a 350cc Yamaha. The Kawasaki was quite a bit heavier than the Yamaha, and it didn’t really have more horsepower, so it wasn’t really the ideal tool. I remember going down towards Shell Hill Bridge side by side with Tony, and there was nothing between the two bikes. I thought, I’ve got my work cut out here.

The 750cc was a different kettle of fish. On the 500cc the handling was OK, but it didn’t have a lot of horsepower, about the same as the 350cc Yamaha of the time. In fairness, if somebody had offered me a 350cc Yamaha, I would have preferred it to the Kawasaki. The 750cc was a better package all together, unbelievably quick. I think they were one of the nicest looking motorbikes thats ever been designed, so neat and clean in the design, fabulous. Not only did they give good hp, they only weighed 130kg which is about the weight of a modern Grand Prix bike, and no matter what people think about their reputation, they actually handled well.

On the Kawasaki I was very, very lucky to be the right man in the right place to get the machinery. Maybe I worked hard enough to get it. On fast circuits like the North West they made life a lot easier.”⁶

For one glorious lap Percy Tait not only challenged the mighty Kawasakis of Grant and team mate Barry Ditchburn, but led briefly before running wide at Metropole. By the end of the opening lap the veteran’s TZ750 Yamaha was back in touch with the leading duo, but seized at Portstewart, leaving Grant with all the time in the world to refuel on lap four, and resume in second place behind Ditchburn. Grant regained the lead as Ditchburn pitted on lap five, and as his fuel load lightened, recorded a lightening fast 122.62 mph on his final circuit, with Ditchburn completing the 1-2 for the team, finishing out of sight of South African newcomer, Alan North, riding the Hailwood Yamaha.

With Ditchburn a non-starter in the 500cc event, Grant’s main challenge came from Tony Rutter, who was tucked in three yards behind Grant’s back wheel as they completed lap one. Whilst Rutter could match the charging Grant on straight line speed, the superior handling of the Kawasaki-3 proved decisive. Rutter held second place throughout the race, to finish twenty five seconds adrift and claim his only podium finish of the day. Despite setting another lap record of 117.49 mph on the penultimate lap of the three cylinder factory machine’s World debut, Grant complained of under gearing, but already had high hopes of what the flying, “Green Meanie” could be capable of at the following months TT.

In the seven lap 350cc opening race of the day, Charlie Williams took the win after resigning himself to finishing second to Martin Sharpe who led for the first five laps.

“Martin Sharpe and I broke clear of the field, but Martin had a very fast bike and was riding it very well and he started to pull away from me. I was well ahead of everyone else, and had a look over my shoulder and thought, you’ll just have to settle for second place here Charlie.

We came out of York hairpin and accelerated up the hill, Martin was probably twenty or thirty yards ahead of me, and suddenly I saw something drop on the floor. All of a sudden Martin came to an abrupt halt, his gear lever had broken off. I went on to win the race from Bob Heath and Neil Tuxworth."⁷

The 250cc grid lined up without the Harley Davidson of Ray McCullough. The quietly spoken Queen’s University technician had been refused permission to practice after arriving at the circuit without an International license, and faced with the option of starting from the last row, McCullough withdrew his entry. Derek Chatterton emerged in front, after an early close battle with Martin Sharpe and Cliff Carr, to pull clear by the midway stage. Chatterton’s win, with a new lap record of 111.66 mph into the bargain, saw him become the first rider to win on both the “old” and “new” course.

Further changes saw the newly built roundabout at Ballysally on the outskirts of Coleraine, introduced to the circuit in 1976. As the heavens opened, Charlie Williams led the opening 350cc race from the fall of the starter’s flag. Buffeted by strong cross winds, on flooded roads, Ray McCullough on the Irish Racing Motorcycle’s Yamaha headed the pack by Shell Hill. As Joey Dunlop’s challenge ended on lap two, and Williams’ on lap four, McCullough gave a master class in wet weather riding, leading the bedraggled field home, with a late charging Tony Rutter filling the runner up spot.

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