Classic Racer

STUART GRAHAM to appear as guest of honour at STAFFORD CLASSIC BIKE SHOW

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Stuart Graham, a winner on both two and four wheels, has enjoyed a successful and unusual racing career, and will share his stories in front of a live audience at the 40th Carole Nash Internatio­nal Classic Motorcycle Show on April 25/26 at Stafford County Showground.

Born into a racing family, Stuart’s father was Les Graham, 1949 500cc World Champion and IOM TT winner. Although Les was killed in a fatal accident in the 1953 IOM TT, Stuart was not deterred from following his own racing dreams and went on to achieve great success.

Racing motorcycle­s from 1961-1970, Stuart progressed from 250 Aermacchi, to 350 AJS 7R & 500 Matchless G50, racing in his first IOM TT in 1964. Impressive performanc­es in the early 1966 GP, including placing 2nd to Agostini in the 500cc Belgian GP at Spa, soon earned him a place in the factory Honda team as team-mate to Mike Hailwood on the fabulous 250cc Honda six cylinders.

By 1973, Stuart had embarked on a second very successful career in car racing, winning races in his first season in the British Touring Car Championsh­ip. Stuart’s big V8 Chevrolet Camaro was the car to beat, and when he won the prestigiou­s RAC Tourist Trophy race, he became the first person since Freddie Dixon prewar, to win both bike and car TTS.

Despite bringing a 1940s theme to the event, in homage to the 75th anniversar­y of D-day in 2020, the show will remain a core classic bike enthusiast weekend.

There will be thousands of classic motorcycle­s to see, a huge indoor and outdoor autojumble and more than 900 traders in attendance, all forming an important part of the show.

The Bonhams auction will be as spectacula­r as ever and further highlights for the weekend include a 1940s-themed hall, with a Spitfire and Hurricane taking centre stage, surrounded by an abundance of privately owned classic motorcycle­s and incredible displays from owners’ clubs too.

Organisers have been in contact with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to hopefully secure a flypast from the Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota, with confirmati­on due in March.

Advance tickets are on sale now, with a 20% saving on the gate price: www. classicmag­azines.co.uk/stafford

Closing date for early bird advance e-ticket sales is 08:30 on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.

Closing date for gate price e-ticket sales is noon on Thursday, April 23, 2020.

Standard Opening Times: Saturday 9:30am-6pm; Sunday 9:30am-5pm. (Advance ticket holders will be fast-tracked to enter from 9am on either day)

 ??  ?? It’s1964 and Stuart Graham rounds Governor’s Bridgeonam­atchless. ©Nicknichol­lscollecti­on at Mortons Archive
It’s1964 and Stuart Graham rounds Governor’s Bridgeonam­atchless. ©Nicknichol­lscollecti­on at Mortons Archive

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