INTERNATIONAL
1981 SSDT
For any motorcycle trials enthusiast globally, the first week in May, Scotland is the place to be. In 1981, it was still a significant draw for manufacturers, riders and spectators as they all arrived in Fort William — the home of the Scottish Six Days Trial. Despite the addition of the 15% Value Added Tax which pushed the entry fee up to £57.50, a full house of 280 riders embraced the opportunity to challenge this legendary event. It was by no means the club’s fault the Treasury stated all clubs with a turnover of more than £13,500 must pay the dreaded tax, and the Edinburgh and District Motor Club fell into that category.
Words: Yoomee, Toon Van De Vliet, Mike Rapley • Pictures: Steve Bird, Norman Eyre, Eric Kitchen,
Toon Van De Vliet, Mauri/Fontsere Collection and the Giulio Mauri Copyright, and Yoomee Archive
Times were rapidly changing in the trials world. On the continent, the contagious rule of ‘stop for a five-mark penalty’ was being challenged with a new generation of riders. Many would pull the clutch in to manoeuvre rider and machine into position, but in doing so, were still not awarded the dreaded ‘Five’. To suit this new style of pivot turn and ‘Bunny Hops’, to allow better positioning in the hazards, the machines were also under scrutiny and development for the needs of this new breed of rider.
OLD GUARD
Since way back in 1970, when Mick Andrews won on the Ossa (and again in 1974 and 1975 on the Yamaha), the ‘Old Guard’ of riders who previously won the event, including Malcolm Rathmell (1973 on Bultaco and 1979 on Montesa), Martin Lampkin (Bultaco 1976–1978), and Finland’s Yrjo Vesterinen (Montesa) who had taken the first foreign rider win in 1980, still ruled the sport.
Manufacturers still valued the win at the SSDT to prove their products’ reliability; new ones had arrived from Europe and Italy in particular. Spain was still leading the way, but the Italians and the Japanese were challenging them. The government regimes in Spain had left the manufacturing sector of motorcycle production in ruins. New riders making the headlines in the sport included the 1979 FIM World Trials Champion Bernie Schreiber (Italjet-USA) and Eddy Lejeune (Honda-BEL).
MEN AND MACHINES
Of the potential winners, ‘Vesty’ had moved back to his beloved Bultaco, and Rob Shepherd had moved from Honda four-stroke power to the two-stroke Majesty Yamaha. Despite Schreiber not riding, Italjet would still have machines in the entry for the first time, and Spain’s Jaime Subira would ride the developmental 221cc, 240 model Fantic.
In the manufacturers’ team race, Fantic had three teams, with two each from Italjet, Majesty Yamaha, Ossa and SWM, whilst Bultaco and Montesa had one each.
Many riders had overlooked a change in the rules regarding the riding numbers. They could be made from plastic in previous years, but now the organisers insisted on them being metal. Any form of steel was now like gold dust in Fort William as the riders finally presented their machines for scrutineering and secure parking in the ‘Parc Ferme’ paddock.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Winning the FIM World Championship title was now an even bigger priority for the manufacturers, taking some of the prestige away from the SSDT. Both Schreiber and Lejeune were missing from the SSDT, deciding to focus their attention on the WTC. It was still a strong entry, though, and picking a winner would be difficult. A strong presence of manufacturer teams came from Italy with Fantic, Italjet and SWM, with riders to match.
As the opening four rounds of the world championship closed, the leader was Eddy Lejeune in front of the 1980 champion Ulf Karlson (Montesa-SWE).
After five rounds, the ACU British Championship was the same story, as the WTC as Malcolm Rathmell (Montesa) also held a similar 12-point lead over John Reynolds (Beamish Suzuki). Who could predict a winner in Scotland? As we are about to find out, a young SWM rider from France would come in under the radar.