In 2015, I raced at 13 events at 13 different venues, all of which I had raced at before. I entered 47 races and started 44. I had 22 wins, seven 2nds, three 3rds, four 4ths, four 5ths, and one DQ (forgot to mount the transponder). I had five DNFs, three of which were crashes. Three crashes is about my average for a year. One was on oil, and one might have been as a result of a mechanical failure, but maybe I was pushing too hard. I raced 13 different bikes owned by 10 different people. A reasonably successful season and I won the AHRMA 350GP championship again, though it seems like I had more than my share of mechanical issues. This completes 44 years of racing, without missing a year.
In addition, I did the Lap of Honour at the Isle of Man, three Tiddler Tours, and a Moto Giro.
44 continuous years of racing, 44 starts, 22 wins, and a Lap of Honour at the IOM.
ReplyDeleteYou set the bar quite high for the rest of the pack!
Congratulations on the 350GP Championship and all the great racing action this season provided.
Thank you for your blog- the writing and photos balance the specifics and the colour commentary in a way rarely seen in sports writing.
Here's to looking forward to 2016...
The North American Chapter of the Dave Roper Fan Club
Hi Dave, I really look forward to every blog entry. I've been lurking here for several years now. I think you and I started racing about the same time.. me in AAMRR around 1969. I had an old BSA Gold Star and was working at International Cycles in Sharon Hill, PA (Ed LaBelle's old shop)near Philly. My boss was Ed Fletcher who raced IOM sidecar outfits with your friend Maurice Candy. Other boss was Fuzzy Carlson who was campaigning a Harley KR road racer at the time. Anyway, everyone urged me to race so i did! My Gold Star "mentor" was Nick Baronian who crashed and died (on the Gold Star)at Mosport in 1969. I inherited his BSA racer and eventually his G50. It was an ex-Bob Hansen "practice" machine, 4 speed, pretty standard factory bike. Anyway I eventually ended up at Stan's Cycle Shop in Doylestown, PA, where I met "the Indian" Greg Frazier, who says he knows you.. We raced BMW's for Stan for a few years and I eventually drifted away from racing.. Now 40+ years later, I am totally excited about Moto-Giro, so maybe we will meet up next season.. - bill olson (in Maine)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, callbill@hotmail.com if you want to "share".. hee hee.. - bill
ReplyDeleteHello Dave, Marco Polo here, when you have a chance drop me a note jeff@jeffmail.net
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