Bad timing

I read your article on the Bayliss dynasty (OBA 96), and I’m looking forward to the second instalment. The bit about Stan being a gruff figure having run-ins with officials and photographers made me smile. The following anecdote will explain why.

I think it was about 1974 when Stan and Steve were racing at Symmons Plains in Tasmania. As usual, they set an astonishing pace and won every race they entered. But for some reason I don’t recall, they only had one operational sidecar outfit that they used in both the 650cc and unlimited classes. That meant they had to use a different engine for each class. The race program for sidecars went something like Junior, Unlimited, Junior, Unlimited, with a few races in between which gave them about half an hour to pull out the small Honda 4 engine and put in the big one (or vice-versa), making it to the grid in the nick of time for each race.

It must have been an exhausting day for them with three engine swaps. The work wouldn’t have been aided by the fact that it was quite a hot day and the engine they pulled out after each race would have been blisteringly hot as well. So I can well understand that Stan’s temperament may have got a little frazzled. I happened to be wandering around in the pits while they were working feverishly on an engine swap. Stan had his leathers pulled down to his waist while swinging the spanners. His singlet was soaked with sweat and he was looking more than a little heat-stressed. I was foolish enough to choose that moment to initiate a conversation with him. It went like this …

Me: “G’day Stan. Is it OK if I take a photo?” Stan: “F*!k off!”