Beer Town Races
Let's hear it for the fans of 'real' motorcycle road racing
John Newman
If you're a fan of any sport, it's easy to become seduced by the glamour, clamour, rumour, gossip and considerable money lavished on the top end performers and their entourages. But like many other aspects of life that are over hyped and over the top, it can become overwhelming and expensive.Maybe when that happens it is time to seek out more down to earth events or sporting programmes.
'Real' road racing
My sometime riding mates Dave and Tref – not a typo, he's Welsh – are big fans of Irish (real) road racing. I was due to join them last summer for a jaunt to the Skerries races just outside Dublin. But I whimped out because of a surfeit of wet stuff.
The early part of this year was shaping up to bring us motorcyclists more meteorological misery when Tref sent us his 'wish list' for summer '13 trips. So pushing optimism to the fore, we agreed on dates at the end of July to ride to Chimay in Belgium for the International Road Racing Championship (IRRC). A series that runs across circuits in Czech Republic, Holland, Germany and Belgium, with entry open to all European riders.
Two big ticks in the plus column
This event has two big ticks in the plus column:
* The races are run on (closed) public roads on the outskirts of the town
* Chimay is the centre for brewing some of the worlds finest beers.
* I should add another plus point - that the town sits on the edge of the Ardennes forest region, with its wide wooded valleys and majestic rivers creating ideal surroundings for motorcycling and all kinds of other outdoor activities.
Cold beer on the garden table
My mates and I live in different parts of the UK, which always involves one of us in hundreds of miles of travel when meeting. But this time round we decided to share the miles, and we arranged to come together at a bike friendly guest house in northern France: Les Ballastieres, run by two enthusiasts Sue Fairbairn and Paul Thomas
www.lesballastieres.com. They will make you very welcome as they did with us, placing several bottles of cold beer on the garden table before my leathers were removed.
Bikes at Les Ballastieres
Rain check
We treated ourselves to a late departure the next morning thus avoiding a brief but heavy storm. I wheeled the bikes out for a picture shot. The classic Kawasaki ZX7R sports bikes that Dave and Tref drape themselves across, and in some contrast, my lugubrious but comfortable Moto Guzzi Breva. They may travel fast, but have to travel light. Wash and go is the key.
Wash and go, but remove washing line first
The accommodation we had booked was in the small French town of Givet on the river Meuse. This was about half an hours swift ride from Chimay (Belgium) and the circuit, where we stopped on our way through to take our first pleasurable sips of chilled Trappist liquid; and to acquire a timetable for the two days practice and racing.
Givet and River Muese
The first visit to a new circuit is always a bit of head scratcher in terms of knowing where to stow riding gear, best places to view, where any good eats and drinks are etc. We fetched up at the main entrance and paid 25 Euros (£22) for a two day wrist band. Fortunately a group of Tref's Welsh mates formed one of the groups of sidecar racing crews from the UK: Keith Walters and passenger Alun Thomas, so with introductions made, our gear was stowed in their caravan. They also had info about one of the best places to spectate, with an adjacent bar and food facility.
The Cafe Restaurant du Circuit
As the 'Cafe Restaurant du Circuit' was serving Chimay beer in attractive glass goblets - not a nasty plastic container in sight - this seems a good point to inform readers about one of the above bullet points.
Paddock life
Chimay beer is brewed by Trappist Monks at the Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey. They established themselves there in 1850, setting up a farm, a brewery and a cheese making facility; and now their product is one of just seven in the world to carry an authentic Trappist logo.
Drinking Chimay is similar to drinking wine: a sipping and appreciation beer, and all the profits accrued are dedicated to the social services work the Monks engage in (our hotel bar bill was testimony to our own efforts to support this). More info at
www.chimay.com
Naked sidecar
Stormy weather
Practice and the Saturday race programme were over three hours behind schedule when we arrived at the circuit. A major storm during the night had blown down trees and branches requiring a tractor to clear the track so paddock and people were drying out in the post storm heat.
The first thing a visitor to the Chimay races will notice is the informality surrounding the race proceedings, and the laid back attitude from the marshals around the track could be mistaken for a lack of safety awareness. You are very, very close to the action here; and after a practice session or race is over and the course car has closed proceedings, race fans are free to wander the track to seek their viewing spot.
Whistles let you know when the next action is due to take place. Then it's a hop over the nearest Armco or a clamber behind the numerous tyre walls before the bikes are unleashed around the 4.5 kilometers of rectangle with four well designed chicanes built in to keep the speeds down.
Sidecar in action
The finest example of Chimay's relaxed and anarchic atmosphere took place after one of the sidecar practice sessions. The (Belgian) crew of outfit No 1 who were cheered around each lap, pulled up on the track outside the bar, and relaxed with the fans, while a tray of beer was brought forward. Nice move.
Essential beer stop
Duel of the weekend
Duel of the weekend was between the 'local' favourite Sebastien Le Grelle and the German racer Didier Grams. Both have very credible racing CV's and they dished up a crowd pleasing and exhilarating display of the racers craft. But arguably the most entertaining class were the 'Endurance - Classique and Post Classique' bikes from the eighties and early nineties (the cut off point is 1994). All the favourites that perhaps you and your mates owned and rode: Yamaha YZF750, Ducati 888, Kawasaki ZXR750, and a brace of Hondas in Bol d'Dor trim mixing it with CBR's. Sound, fury, and the smell of heated and tortured metal as they braked and stamped through the gears into the chicanes.
Endurance class in action
We came across a handful of other spectators from the UK. Including one enthusiast who had taken a ferry to Le Havre, and then a convoluted route to the circuit using trains and other local transport. A couple of solo riders had entered and made the journey, one of whom was the TT enthusiast Paul Shoesmith. Nine crews from the Isle of Man and UK made up part of the sidecar contingent. There's a lot of support for the sidecar class on mainland Europe, and it must be rewarding to race there.
Sidecar action
The TT paraphernalia people had made the long journey from the IOM with their stall. They were doing very brisk business, and the number of people around the track sporting TT garb confirmed the continuing revival of interest and support for the special excitement and atmosphere that derives from public road racing.
A slow bottle of wine
Back at the hotel, and after dinner, we decided to consume a slow bottle of wine before the following mornings return ride to the Channel. The Patron explained that he bought and collected wines at auction, and invited Tref to choose a red. It came to our table with a price tag that was a tad more expensive than our usual supermarket selection. No matter, the racing, the rides, the countryside and villages, and the empty roads, all made for a superb few days Euro biking.
Pit lane
If you want info about Chimay for your 2014 riding menu go to
www.circuit.be
IRRC (International Road Race Series) race series info can be found at
www.irrc.eu
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