So near, so Spa
Bike’s Peter Boast and racing’s Guy Martin experience Spa Francorchamps for the first time. And it all goes really rather well…
IT’S start EnduranceClassic mechanics 7.56PM,of Suzukithe are Four-hourrace FOURpit chattingat feelsSpa minutes Classicand oddlyby the the before calm. Team pitlanethe Two door, crew chief Nathan is doublechecking that riders Pete Boast and Guy Martinfuel, dryingheat gun.anda knowpair team Emergencyof the manager Boastie’spit signals spares Peteold to are socks Littlewoodcomelaid with outin fora is neatly already departmenton in a their side (that’llski table, masks,be the Bike fuel and contributorcrewthe cateringare Ruperturn for Paul what, and hopefully,wife Fi) are will brimmingbe a long the night. they’re It’s doing. almost like they know what stark. The A contrastmate and withI had last ridden year’s to effort Belgiumis to give Bike’s road tester Boastie some moral support for his first endurance race at Spa and we walked into chaos. Popping our heads round the pit garage door, we saw the bike on its side with Araldite being smeared over a crack in a crankcase. Tools, parts and Kitkat wrappers were strewn across the floor and Boastie’s boots were covered in oil from the leak. We were then told that the bloke charged with letting the pitboard team know when their rider was approaching had forgotten his glasses and that was now our job. It was hilarious, but we felt for Boastie – all that effort, with so little reward. The bike didn’t last an hour. This year his Spa operation has gone up a notch or seven thanks to three mighty motorcycle operations working together, bonded by unintelligible Lincs accents and a love of endurance racing. First is the Lincolnshire Massive, comprising Boastie and his local racey mates, one of whom is TT and TV bloke Guy Martin. Second is Suzuki Vintage Parts and Team Classic Suzuki (the racing arm of bike collector Steve Wheatman). And third is B&B Motorcycles in Lincoln, Guy and Boastie’s local Suzuki dealership. Pete Littlewood owns B&B: ‘It all started for me last October when some Suzuki managers visited my dealership and during the conversation my phone went and it was Guy, asking if some spares had arrived. The Suzuki people couldn’t quite believe it was the actual Guy Martin, so I explained he only lives 20 miles down the road and I knew his dad and sold bikes to his uncle Rod. The Suzuki guys then asked if I could ask Guy if he’d like to ride the Katana that Team Classic Suzuki had built. I mentioned it to Boastie, who had already asked Guy if he wanted to ride at Spa with him. It went from there.’ In fact, Boastie and Guy were planning an under-the-radar assault on Spa, getting their own bike together and racing out of the back of a van, when Pete mentioned they might be able to get their hands on the Katana. Looking at the big Suzuki sitting in the drizzle waiting for Guy to take it to the start, it oozes quality – every bracket is a miniature piece of artistry, every cable has been routed and re-routed until it has that neat, honed, productionbike feel. But it’s the stuff you might not notice that sets this bike apart: the frame for example, is not from a Katana. It looks like it is, because builder (and crew chief) Nathan Colombi started with a blueprint of one, but then he changed the headstock angle, swingarm pivot point and indeed every other dimension he thought necessary to make it handle like – and have the ground clearance of – a pukka race bike. Then he had it built from lightweight chromoly tube. Ditto the swingarm: at first glance it looks like an original extruded jobby, but is actually machined from billet so they can fit a 205-width slick if necessary. Even the fork legs are handmade replicas (so the latest K-tech internals can fit inside). Only the engine is original Katana – it’s a 1982 GSX1100 motor, with the