We shall have a go at bringing the rain swept 33rd ISDT IN BAVARIA GARMISCH PARTENKIRCHEN full of surprises protests & with entrants initially of 257. Soviets withdrew on grounds of 'a mechanical fault' with no further comment, Rumanians did not appear & starters numbers dropped to 213. We shall get ID of riders machinery plus location of pics as we add text to pics hurriedly added & already in place.  The Hosts became accused of soft attention to various entrants on Speed ratings, Class A etc plus some selective 'pushers' aiding chosen entrants on slippery hills, jury had to meet over actions on the last day, nowadays Eurovision Song Contest type assistance levels to whom plus when!.

First Day Course

Monday's start Harry B Baughan holds the timepiece for Johnny Giles to enter the fray on his 650 Triumph.

Hugh Viney looking like 'the man from the Pru.' with his teamster Bob Mann & the Works Matchless.

British Team Camp in the Sunny pre weigh in period, Brian Stonebridge in the foreground working on his Greeves.   Terry Cheshire can be spotted dismounting from his 250 Royal Enfield.  Six teams not seven emerged, practice sessions saw machines coming to wheelspinning halts, Trials rather than rally sections seemed the order of the event. Trials tyres on fronts Sport scrambles on rear seemed best options for the Brits!. Polish 350 Junak machines were allowed in for Witold Pluzanski & Jan Paluch in place of their 250 Zundapp & Maico entries. 

  Mittwoch, a crammed with riders Katzenthal was to lead to entrants getting assistance as later pics will show.

The Parc ferme had no overhead coverage & entries were quick to cover machines with tarpaulins.   43 non starters caused a stir, 18 Vase teams, 27 Manufacturers Teams, 17 Club Teams, 13 Nations represented.   Four Cannon shell fireworks were set off at Ski slopes tops, the opening had taken place, then rain came with a vengeance, here East Germany's 111 H Fischer works on his 250 MZ.

The Flag raised at that first start, F Huber, Germany on 174 Hercules is there whilst the nearest machine is 175 Gilera of F Vergani of Italy.  Sammy Miller remained curled in bed , ill & had to be replaced by Tim Gibbes in the Ariel Team, first out went Pole Wlodzimierz Szarle with magneto water problems, Jim Sheehan's Velocette went out with clutch slip to ruin the Brit Vase B efforts for the Competition, Swedish rider Gosta Burland's 125 Husqvarna started showing ignition problems & even Peter Stirland's normally reliable Royal Enfield broke a rear shock absorber, changed at lunch stop!. Vase A team had Roy Peplow's machine only using second gear & that team duly was far too hampered at this stage to be successful. Birmingham 30 Club lost Martin when his Goldie 500 ignition gave up.  Brian Martin had toured in to Bad Kohlgrub stop with 20 mins to spare, restart? dead magneto which restarted instantly when returned to HQ after retirement '500 points/marks debited each day from now!  Wet cards, hosed down Barbour suits, mud and rain saw to drying out being a premium 28 had retired & 16 had lost marks.  a 5 o'clock start the following day was less attractive!.

Britain's BSA man Brian Martin searches for sparks...  sadly in vain.

Not Lucas's Mags best showing!

The competition begins & leaving the road for rougher going is G Aatink 250 Maico of Netherlands with Bryan Sharp of Britain on a 250 Francis Barnett close behind.

Experienced ISDT Brit. Frank Carey 350 Royal Enfield, a privateer this time, fumbles for his card to be stamped by Harry Louis at Mittenwald Check Point

Tuesday leaving Bad Kohlgrub checkpoint Eduard Lichtenberg 175 Maico, leading Oldrich Klaudinger 248 JAWA. Rain stopped, 128 miles to be covered 2 x12 to 15 miles sections cut out by Clerk of the Course in view of conditionsTerry Cheshire's 250 Royal Enfield refused to start in the allocated time & eventually took a lot of pushing to get going, POINT LOST.   Long Term Germany Used ISDT Section Ettaler Berg between oberau & Oberammagau of Passion Play fame saw climbs to 4500 ft in 1 in 5 inclined with mud galore, many efforts & failures until one daring Belgian Alex Colin on a 250 NSU attempted a flat out in 3rd gear Climb & remained aboard at the top to the admiration of all.   Albert Glassbrook crashed his 250 Greeves, Army MCA had Pat Brittain 250 exit with a big end well gone Garth Wheldon 250 James had his 250 James Piston with a gaping hole in it to see one Brit manufacturer less in the fray.   Gordon Blakeway's Ariel petrol tank pins sheared & bungees, then known as aerolastics were called for.  Nails in tyres of Ken Heanes 650 Triumph and John Brittain's 350 Royal Enfield were coped with by a puncture sealant whilst Tim Gibbes had to change his Ariel's rear tube.  Sport (Scrambles Tyres ruled) Sebastian Nachtman after a really heavy crach in the outskirts of Garmisch became the 2nd German Vase A team member to exit this ISDT. 

Second & Third day course, (the direction of the course would be changed) for the second circuit day.

Tuesday at Altenau-Kochel Germany's L Muller DKW folloing 250 Greeves man J M Simpson

British B Vase Team man Peter Stirland Royal Enfield flying up Katzenthal followed by Austrian K Zohrer 282 Puch.

Romano Crippa of Italy on 125 Aeromere (Capriolo) leads Leo Zeller of Germany on a 175 DKW on Tuesday.

Tuesday near Altenau No 73 Karl Wessel on 172 Maico has a private tussle with Fred Bracher on a 250 JAWA.

Brit teamsters Ken Heanes 650 Triumph at Peustelsau during midweek, with A Vase Team man Ron Langston on 500 Ariel behind him.

Watersplash always loved by spectators, Dante Mattioli 175 of Italian Vase A team charges thru

MZ Rider we have no idea who, can anyone help identify please?.  It may be a German helmet & low number.

Altenu-Peustelau section where  A Zemen Czechoslovakia CZ leads 175 Husqvarna Mounted L O Hagmann of Sweden followed by 175 Gilera rider Italy's D Mattioli. 

That Victorious Czech Trophy winning team after the Speed Test from left to right:-Jaroslav Pudil, Bohuslav Roucka, Zdenek Polanka on CZs, Vladimir Sidina, Sasa Klimt & Antonin Matejka on Jawas

Better pic?

Trials tyres was officially declared to be the choice, of British Teams, here we can see Johnny Brittain showing it was not to be so!.  Wednesday saw Harry Baughan emphasising to 'a mass' of just the one! Journalist that Clerk of the Course Otto Sensberg was to make everything harder from here on in & 6 to 7am saw Terry Cheshire manage to start & leave this time Helmut Amthos of East Germany Trophy Team manage to start his Simpson 340 with just 8 seconds in hand, Romano Crippa of Italy Vase B Team  snapped a rocker arm on his Capriolo near Uffing & retired, John Harris on another James left with piston trouble, Alex Nicholson Crashed & damaged himself plus the Dot & later retired.   Only Army Team member remaining was Bill Brooker & Army reserve Doug Theobold was without penalty, Katzenthal would cause wheelspin for all!.

Brian Martin, Tuesday lamenting his dead magneto as his Trophy Team BSA 499 lays silent

Hmmm

Sammy Miller was too ill to start using this choice machine, a sister vessel to the one used by Dave Langston, tim Gibbes was placed in the team as a highly capable substitute for Sammy

Dave Curtis 497 Matchless in early stages.   At the end of this first day only Sweden had practically given up after Gosta Berglund's 83 lost marks with his ignition problems.  10 Vase Teams -Austria A & B, Czech A & B, West Germany B, Italy B, The Netherlands, Poland A &B plus Sweden were Clean.   Seven British Manufacturers' teams Ariel BSA Francis Barnett Greeves Matchless & Royal Enfield like other countries had not dropped marks.   British Army Club Team had dropped 54 Marks, (Alex Nicholson's Gearbox trouble) whilst Birmingam 30 had 277 points totted against them, Bryan Povey & Michael Martin on BSAs had waterlogged Magnetos plus Albert Glassbrook on 250 Greeves had Clutch plus ignition problems.  Frank Carey had his 350 Royal Enfield losing 35 marks with Olga Kevelos retiring on her 175 CZ.   A lavish Dinner was arranged for those of Ariel BSA & Triumph mounts by Edward Turner MD of BSA Automotive Divn., who was visiting the event, early finish to let the lads meet the 5am start.

Between Hollenschtein & Oberau on the Tuesday run, a Marshall warns of conditions, leading is Hermann Wagner 175 Express, next Harald Uhlig 175 DKW, the fourth and last can be identified as Jack Simpson on his 250 Greeves.

Chilcott has wheelspun to a stop with his Triumph whilst Dave Curtis gets his Matchless past

NOT the day for Bears to go to the woods! at KRUN, Czech Augustin Sule on a Jawa leads the way followed by the Francis Barnett of Britain's Brian Sharp, stopped on the right is F Scheider on NSU.

Ariel man Ron Langston gingerly keeping his feet up.   Thursday saw Vladimir Sedina with ignition problems which saw lips quiver in the Czech Teams until if started on one cylinder them blew out a cloud of smoke & sped off running perfectly.   Frank Carey's 4 yrs old machine which had carried sidecars thru 4 previous ISDT simply had it's front brake plate fracture to send him out, Terry Cheshire helped his starting trouble by draining the old oil and filling up with hot oil!.   Scramblers excelled & such as Brian Stonebridge agreed going was tough.   Ton Bakker of Netherlands Vase Team 250 Maico lost marks near Krun trying to repair rear brake problems, by now all the Ariel Team biggies had their tank fixing pins sheared. 

Ken Heanes on his Brit Team 650Triumph flying near Oberau.

Peter Stirland 350 Royal Enfield of Brit Vase B Team on Friday near Kuhn

Ignition Repairs, Eugen Stroke 277 Maico seeks Sparks!, Peter Fletcher in the background seeking grip!! at Hochopf on Friday.  138 unpenalized, the  Czechs look good & the course from here goes from Altlach around the south Shore of Walchensee up to 4500 ft in 1 in 5 inclines mud galore, Bob Manns & Dave Curtis on Matchless find it better than many others, Ernie Smith loses his footbrake from his Francis Barnett Peter Baldwin 250 Greeves has clutch slip problems, burned clutch smells waft about the course, Jack Simpson 250 Greeves hits a tree and later retires in pain.   Francis Saini of Italy Trophy team on 125 Gilera has 2 punctures to lose marks.  Czech & West German Teams were on time Polish B Vase Team man Ryszard Potocki on 174 Jawa dropped out.

The man shouting? gesticulating at the photographer when the felt hat wearing pusher of 143 plus the chap at the right with a puller at his front wheel contradicts the outside assistance regulations.  photo can of course be questioned?.

6th & Final day with speed test included.

Arnost Zemen 175 CZ of Czech Vase B Team on friday afternoon rounding a Walchensee turn, 16 Stone  Baldwin's clutch got worse & cost him 50 point Doug Theobold on the Army reserve Dot blew a head gasket & left the event.  Only the Czechs plus West Germany & Polish Siver Vase A team were now in with a chance.

Saturday saw a course lap of 78 miles then on to the road circuit 4.35 Near Ettal, Terry Cheshire's ignition chose to cost all 60 marks, absolute toughie Tim Gibbes with a stone cut eye rode against Doctors orders to get his required 57 mph speed for the big Ariel.  Lorenz Mullen Crashed his DKW fracturing his leg, Karl Zohrer 282 Puch was struggling to finish with suspensions worn out & hand operated carburetter 54 was the average for up to 350 cc & the British 650's of Ken Heanes & Johnny Giles were straight into the lead with determined Germans Gernot Leistner 262 Zundapp & Volker von Zitzewitz 277 Maico were leading Manns & Brittain after 3 laps by a few yards, they had reckoned without smaller capacity Czech CZ & JAWA machines easily reaching their averages to win after W Germany's Richard Hessler 247 Zundapp stopped and had to be pushed home to the finish by him easily. the Gileras of Italy way out of the contest

Sixth Day Speed test where the Trophy and Vase became at last decided, 138 is Ernst Dellsperger 248 Jawa, Luigi Gorini 175 Gilera No 61, Fausto Gervani 175 Gilera & J Van Dobben 175 CZ.

to be continued below

to be Continued below