BT-H
Magnetos Ltd.
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BT-H magnetos helped to take many riders to success in 2005 including Austen Kear riding his BSA to become VMCC Novice Champion, David Witt, second in the CRMC Classic Senior Group 2 Championship and Peer Skyte (Matchless) (2004 Champion) second in the European Classic MX Championship despite missing the early rounds. BT-H Magnetos Ltd. supported the racing activities of Paul Dobbs throughout the 2005 season on his way to winning the VMCC Champion of Champion's title. Some of his many successes are detailed below. Paul's Dobbs 2005 Racing Results
BT-H Magnetos Ltd assists Paul with his race bikes and he uses BT-H magnetos on both the BSA Goldstar and Moss Scott that he races.
The first meeting of the year was, like the grey Easter weather, not very good for us. The Goldstar didn't complete the first race when the carburettor gave a problem but Paul managed to get a 4th in the second race after a few adjustments. The Scott was flying in practice but a gear selection problem turned out to be a broken shaft so no race results for the Scott. Like the weather this has to get better.
Paul didn't compete at Pembrey as he was racing in the Isle of Man TT.
Paul raced 900cc Kawasaki's supplied by Dave East and a Triumph 600. He was 24th in the Duke TT Superbike race lapping at over 114 mph gaining a bronze replica. In the TT Superstock raced he was 20th lapping at over 115 mph for another bronze replica. On the Triumph he was 39th at over 110 mph in the Supersport TT race "A" and 35th at over 111 in Supersport TT race "B". He got a bronze replica for both Supersport races and an award for the fastest rider on a British built bike. The Senior TT was on Friday. The Superbike was by now well sorted so Paul was confident of an even better ride in good conditions. He unfortunately only completed one lap before retiring with a chronic misfire. This was later found to be caused by the battery chafing through part of the wiring harness.
The Bob Mac Memorial classic meeting is held over two days at
the East Fortune circuit in Scotland. Bill and Agnes Cadger are heavily
involved with this meeting and Bill was pleased to see Paul racing the Goldie
which is Bill's old race bike. The meeting enjoyed hot sunny weather (not
always the norm for this area) and Paul started off with a 7th place in his
first race and improved to top three placing as he learned the circuit and set
the bike up. It was interesting to see Pat Sefton racing the Kaye Gilera
four at this meeting. It looked and sounded great. Mark Kaye told us
that the BT-H magneto specially built into the original Magnetti Marelli magneto body has
been trouble free firing four cylinders at up to 10,000rpm.
The weather at Lydden for the two day VMCC meeting was hot and sunny. Paul had a busy weekend as besides racing the Scott and the BSA Goldstar he was also "running in" a new project, a featherbed Norton fitted with another ABSAF 500 Goldstar engine. The Scott results were three 3rd places, four 1st places and one missed race when Roger dropped something in the works while making adjustments. We actually turned the Scott upside down trying to shake the bit out but eventually had to resort to the spanners for a bit of a strip down. You see it all in a race paddock! See the pictures for yourself. The Goldie went well with two 2nd places, two wins and two fastest laps in close races with Tim Jackson. The NORBSA improved during the day as the engine loosened up providing an 8th, 6th, 4th and 3rd places. The suspension needs some work to get the handling sorted.
The Goldstar provided two 2nd places and Paul hustled the Scott around the Lincolnshire circuit to good effect winning four races and producing a fastest lap. He also rode the Scott in the Champion of Champions race where he put in the fastest lap and just missing out on the win by 0.13 of a second. To see a short video clip of Paul and the Scott entertaining the crowd at the top of the Cadwell Mountain select the link below. (Hosted on the Moss Engineering site.)
Anglesey VMCC August 6th & 7th The Welsh island of Anglesey was bathed in sunshine. Paul didn't have much time to look at the beautiful views across the water to Snowdonia as he was competing in 17 races. The Scott was running well with Scott maestro Roger Moss on hand to keep the water cooled two stroke twin in tune. Paul's main opposition came from Ian Cramp on the cammy Velocette. Ian had the bad luck to be black flagged in one race due to a broken exhaust system. The Moss Scott also had a hiccough in one race when a gear linkage problem dropped the gearbox into neutral as Paul approached the line for the final time. Ian Cramp took the win by half a wheel as Paul coasted the Scott over the line in neutral for second place. Paul had eight races on the Scott taking two 2nd places, six 1st places and six fastest laps. The Goldstar ran faultlessly only needing a slight change to the overall gearing after practice. The main opposition in this Event 5, 500cc class came from G50 mounted Tim Jackson. Paul won all four races for this class and set three fastest laps. He also rode the Goldie in the Champion of Champions race. Another Goldstar using a BT-H magneto was ridden by Austen Kear. Novice racer Austen rode well to lead the race for most of the early laps. Paul, with maximum handicap started last. He overhauled the whole field to win and set the fastest lap. The Norstar that Paul rides in the 500cc specials class continues to be developed. The featherbed frame had been altered since the last outing to allow easier changes to the suspension and steering geometry. Saturday's two races on the ABSAF engined machine resulted in a second place and a third place. The front forks and suspension settings were changed after the racing on Saturday and the changes proved successful on Sunday when Paul won and set fastest laps in both 500cc Specials Class races. Norstar Photograph
The initial plan for the Senior Classic Manx Grand Prix was for Paul to ride a Drixton Honda built by Roger Winterburn, the proprietor of "Windy Corner" Triumph agency. Roger built two very nice bikes, one as a spare. Tests at Mallory Park indicated that they were quick but checks afterwards revealed a camshaft oiling problem that could not be addressed in time for the races. Paul was fortunate to be offered the use of a Matchless G50 and an AJS 7R for the Manx Classic races. The bikes are owned by Peter Lockwood. In the Senior Classic 500 race Paul had gearbox problems on the G50 and stopped twice to make clutch adjustments. Despite the gear change problems he managed a lap at over 100 mph only to run out of petrol on the last lap. For the Junior 350 event the light weight 7R he had practiced on was found to have an engine problem. He was fortunate to able to race a somewhat slower but very beautiful standard 7R from Peter's impressive stable of machinery. Paul finished 18th after a precautionary pit stop for fuel at the end of the third lap.
Cadwell VMCC September 3rd & 4th. This was the season finale for the VMCC series with the races on the short Woodland circuit on Saturday and the full circuit on Sunday. Several classes were amalgamated due to the busy schedule. This meant that Paul had to decide between riding the Scott or the Goldie in some races. A close scrutiny of the championship positions gave the optimum mix of races for the most potential points. He scored five wins and five fastest laps on the Moss Engineering Scott, a fourth and three second places on the Norstar and three wins and three fastest laps on the Goldstar before he got to the last race of the day, the Champion of Champion's event. It is run as a handicap so Paul was last man away due to the handicap system. He had to finish in front of Ben Graham who was one point in front of Paul before the start. The handicap gave Ben a large start over Paul and it looked as if there was no way that Paul could catch him let alone pass him. Initially the commentators were saying that there was too much of a gap to make up. Putting in some stunning laps, including the fastest lap of the race, Paul managed to pass Ben on the last lap to take third place in the race and enough points to win the championship. We are proud to have helped Paul on his way with BT-H magneto ignition this season. Paul, as the overall winner of the Champion of Champion's series, will carry the number one plate next season. An exciting and fitting end this Cadwell weekend and the season as a whole. Paul and family have returned to his native New Zealand but will be returning to the UK to race again in 2006. |
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