Ramsgate Sprint Revival 2015
Back in the pre H&S days of the middle 50s, Ramsgate was renown as a seaside town venue, of motorcycle sprint racing. The Sunbeam 0wners club held quarter mile sprint racing on the town's west side under-cliff road, on a regular basis, from 1956 to 1968.....I can remember going to watch with my dad as a little boy, and being overwhelmed by the noise and exhaust smells. Maybe the seeds of my enthusiasm for motorcycles were unconsciously sewn during those early days visiting the sprint.
My good friend Tim Hart, had always harboured a desire to organise some sort of classic motorcycle show, but had never formulated a plan. Tim had never been fortunate enough to attend the original event, but when we were talking about it one day in 2014, a spark of an idea was ignited in him, and he said, "do you reckon we could hold the sprint again?"
The paperwork, and organisation of such an event, (racing nasty fast motorcycles on the public highway), would require the skill and determination of a man who had previous experience in dealing with the local council, and it's fair to say, the event would never have materialised without the broad shouldered Phil Spain stepping up to the plate.
Once the councils had agreed to the proposal, the content of the show had to be built, and marshalling duties established. The emphasis was to be primarily a classic motorcycle event, but family orientated, with sprinting taking centre stage, a funfair for the kids, and all day live music for everyone. At great expense, a Wall of Death was also contracted in, along with a variety of caterers. The static display was to be provided by our club, among others, a number of trade stands, and new bike retailers. We wanted a guest of honour, someone with some motorcycling pedigree, and we brought in none other than, six times world champion, and six times TT winner Jim Redman to fill the role. The weekend would open, with Jim giving a fantastic talk about his racing career at the Ramsgate Oddfellows club on the Friday evening, and Jim would also spend Saturday at the sprint, recounting his experiences on the main stage, and dropping the flag for the first bike to leave the line, and thus getting the event under way.
Well that was the plan, but would it work? Would anyone come? How do we publicise our event to ensure people at least know it's on? There was no lack of enthusiasm from potential competitors, and the grid was filled quite easily. Some prestigious historical machines applied to compete, including some that had raced in the original sprint. Government Acre's prominent position was probably responsible for bringing in some of those that attended, as the setting up of the funfair inevitably attracted good attention. We also handed out thousands of flyers at a number of other events prior to ours, and received very positive feedback from all we spoke to. Tim's Ducati sprint bike did considerable mileage, for a bike that doesn't run, visiting numerous shows and events around the county, including a trip to Brands Hatch to raise awareness of the event. The little Ducati was worth it's weight in gold, as literally everyone seemed to be drawn to it at the shows we attended. Finally, I approached the local press, and spent a lot of time posting and updating on the facebook pages of every relevant motorcycle club and organisation I could find.......but would it all be enough, would our efforts be rewarded?
YES......What an amazing weekend !
The Ramsgate Sprint Revival was probably the biggest and most successful event the town has ever seen, and the East Kent Classic MCC can be very proud !
The event was mobbed....wall to wall....and everyone enjoyed themselves, including us. Many of the people I spoke to said they were coming again for the day on Sunday, and couldn't believe such a great family weekend was put on free of charge. Tim wont mind me saying, he was a little emotional, when he looked up to the cliff top to see the railings lined with people watching the event he had masterminded.
My good friend Tim Hart, had always harboured a desire to organise some sort of classic motorcycle show, but had never formulated a plan. Tim had never been fortunate enough to attend the original event, but when we were talking about it one day in 2014, a spark of an idea was ignited in him, and he said, "do you reckon we could hold the sprint again?"
The paperwork, and organisation of such an event, (racing nasty fast motorcycles on the public highway), would require the skill and determination of a man who had previous experience in dealing with the local council, and it's fair to say, the event would never have materialised without the broad shouldered Phil Spain stepping up to the plate.
Once the councils had agreed to the proposal, the content of the show had to be built, and marshalling duties established. The emphasis was to be primarily a classic motorcycle event, but family orientated, with sprinting taking centre stage, a funfair for the kids, and all day live music for everyone. At great expense, a Wall of Death was also contracted in, along with a variety of caterers. The static display was to be provided by our club, among others, a number of trade stands, and new bike retailers. We wanted a guest of honour, someone with some motorcycling pedigree, and we brought in none other than, six times world champion, and six times TT winner Jim Redman to fill the role. The weekend would open, with Jim giving a fantastic talk about his racing career at the Ramsgate Oddfellows club on the Friday evening, and Jim would also spend Saturday at the sprint, recounting his experiences on the main stage, and dropping the flag for the first bike to leave the line, and thus getting the event under way.
Well that was the plan, but would it work? Would anyone come? How do we publicise our event to ensure people at least know it's on? There was no lack of enthusiasm from potential competitors, and the grid was filled quite easily. Some prestigious historical machines applied to compete, including some that had raced in the original sprint. Government Acre's prominent position was probably responsible for bringing in some of those that attended, as the setting up of the funfair inevitably attracted good attention. We also handed out thousands of flyers at a number of other events prior to ours, and received very positive feedback from all we spoke to. Tim's Ducati sprint bike did considerable mileage, for a bike that doesn't run, visiting numerous shows and events around the county, including a trip to Brands Hatch to raise awareness of the event. The little Ducati was worth it's weight in gold, as literally everyone seemed to be drawn to it at the shows we attended. Finally, I approached the local press, and spent a lot of time posting and updating on the facebook pages of every relevant motorcycle club and organisation I could find.......but would it all be enough, would our efforts be rewarded?
YES......What an amazing weekend !
The Ramsgate Sprint Revival was probably the biggest and most successful event the town has ever seen, and the East Kent Classic MCC can be very proud !
The event was mobbed....wall to wall....and everyone enjoyed themselves, including us. Many of the people I spoke to said they were coming again for the day on Sunday, and couldn't believe such a great family weekend was put on free of charge. Tim wont mind me saying, he was a little emotional, when he looked up to the cliff top to see the railings lined with people watching the event he had masterminded.
