BIG DECISION

At the end of the 1976 season, it was decision time for the Toynes, with Pop offering to dip into his savings to finance a twin-shock 750 Yamaha four, with the proviso that when eventually sold, all monies would be returned to him. Mal Farrer had a couple of year old models up for grabs – the Toynes parted with £4500 for one which had only two races under its belt, while Derek Chatterton bought the other. Incidentally, Roy proudly remembers beating Derek – Lincolnshire’s finest – at Cadwell on that same bike within two years of purchase! However, his first acquaintance with the bike wasn’t very promising. Mal, having had the engine refreshed and updated by experts Machin & Saunders, brought it straight to Cadwell for Roy to race. Mal’s only warning to its new owner was to “Be warned, watch that bloody front brake, it’s lethal”. Bedecked in brand new leathers, Roy, much to his embarrassment, promptly threw it away at the tight hairpin having grabbed a handful of brake in true Metisse style – this bike was a whole new ball game, demanding much respect and familiarity! His first International on the Yamaha found him struggling to get the best out of it, and needing more track-time in order to ready himself for mixing it with experienced similarly mounted rivals. In order to (in his own words) “get his hand in”, Roy took the unusual step of entering a few club meetings – getting time off work during the week for practice days was totally out of the question. Just imagine the consternation of his rivals finding an almost apologetic Roy and the immaculate flying Yam lining up against them, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The strategy worked as his confidence grew in leaps and bounds and lap times began to tumble dramatically. This resulted in Roy being invited to race in the 1977 20 lap Record Breakers race at Cadwell Park, having previously turned down a similar invite when Commando mounted, on the basis that the bike just couldn’t take that amount of stick for that length of time. Much to the team’s delight, he won the prestigious event and left the club scene entirely to concentrate on nationals and internationals the following season – job done.