We have just returned from the Malvern Autojumble, our first event of 2015, where we had all inside 75 stalls full plus a dozen outside and an excellent crowd on a beautiful winter day.

What a difference a year makes as last year this event was hit badly by the snow, lets hope that this is a sign of a good summer to come.

The next event on the Malvern calendar is for classic cars and Minis on Sunday 13th April where we will have the Avon and Wye Halls full of clubs, private entries and traders. We have space in the Wye Halls and under the large marquee between the halls for about 150 pre booked classic cars, with clubs limited to a display of 6 cars per club. We will have commentary from Les Clayton plus concours judging from our resident concours expert Brian Braid.

In December 2012 at Donington the weather was against us but last month between Christmas and New Year we had a glorious day when both the public and trade and exhibitors turned out in decent numbers. We will be returning to this popular East Midlands venue on Sunday 9th March when we are welcoming bookings from club stands and private individuals both inside the halls and outside on hardstanding. We have space for just six classic car clubs each able to display 6 cars inside the halls and space for a further 100 individual and club entries outside on the hardstanding.

Our summer season starts in earnest on early May Bank holiday at Arley Hall and Thoresby Park and we look forward to seeing you at some point during the summer.

www.classicshows.org

From road bikes to scramblers and scooters, Anglia Car Auctions’ first Classic Motorbike sale, held on Saturday 1st March, has already attracted a diverse range of entries and is looking to mirror the success of its classic car auctions at its Kings Lynn base.

A 1968 Greeves Wessex 250 scrambler project (estimate: £1200-£1500) is ideal for getting off road and enjoying classic trials. Needing some work to make it competitive once again it offers a great way into classic motorcycle sport.

Also offering old-school British oomph is a barn-find 1957 BSA Golden Flash (offered with no reserve). Complete and needing re-commissioning rather than restoring it needs little to be back on the road and beating a path to the Ace or Jack’s Hill Café.

Also ripe for re-commissioning is a Velocette LE. Mainly complete and solid, this rare find should make a rewarding project and is a bargain with an estimate of £300-400.

Slowing things down and needing re-commissioning is a 1955 Douglas Vespa (offered without reserve), which is in reasonable condition but needs refreshing to relive its glory days, while in good order is a 1975 Ducati Regolarita (estimate: £1800-2200).

And for anyone wanting to live out their ‘70s learner enduro fantasies, a Honda XL125 S in good original condition is a tempter. It’s estimated at £700 - 900. Needing more work but with much of the hard graft already done, there’s a 1980 Honda 250 café racer project (estimated: £300 - 400).

Overseeing the motorbikes on offer is auction house manager Guy Snelling, a keen enthusiast with an eclectic collection currently in his garage. Despite owning predominantly British bikes, Guy is hoping to get a diverse range of two-wheeled classics in all states of repair.

Guy said: “Anglia Car Auctions has a great reputation for having a diverse range of marques on offer in its car sale, securing fantastic prices on some rare and unusual project cars. This is exactly what we hope to emulate with the classic bike sale – so we are looking for project bikes in need of restoration, starter classics, concours, etc. All makes, models and conditions will be considered.”

To enter a motorcycle into the classic sale, please call 01553 771881 or email at [email protected]. For more information on Anglia Car Auctions and a full list of lots in the inaugural Classic Motorbike Sale as well as advice on buying or selling, visit www.angliacarauctions.co.uk

TT-winner Michael Dunlop joins forces with BMW Motorrad UK for a BMW Motorrad Motorsport supported road racing team.

Michael Dunlop, seven-times TT winner, will be racing BMW motorcycles for the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy as well as other international road races.

The 24-year-old, from Northern Ireland, is joining forces with BMW Motorrad UK and Hawk Racing, who also operate the Buildbase BMW Motorrad BSB team, with the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport for an assault on the 2014 road-racing programme.

The joint effort – BMW / Hawk Racing – has the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport via the global sports programme, as the team seeks to emulate the great BMW victory of Georg Meier in the Isle of Man Senior TT exactly 75 years ago.

The team will be running both a Superstock BMW in Dunlop Racing livery and a Superbike BMW S 1000 RR in BMW Motorsport livery. Dunlop will compete on the roads for 2014 with the highlight being the prestigious Tourist Trophy races on the Isle of Man.

Michael Dunlop said: “I’m really pleased to have signed for such a strong and competitive team. The BMW S 1000 RR certainly has the speed for the TT and, with my experience, the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and Hawk Racing, I know we have a race-winning package. I really thought about sitting out this year, but I have found a team that I am really comfortable with and the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport will make us a force to be reckoned with this year.”

2014 is the 75th anniversary of Georg Meier’s historic win at the Senior TT in 1939, where BMW secured their first TT win. Georg became the first ever foreign winner of the Senior TT race; with team mate Jock West finishing second, on their Boxer-powered 500cc RS 255 Kompressors.

The BMW / Hawk Racing team will be jointly managed by BMW Motorrad UK and Stuart Hicken, fresh from the Buildbase BMW Motorrad team’s best ever performance in the 2013 British Superbike Championship. Building on their strong relationship and experience with BMW, the team has secured BMW Motorrad Motorsport support for the 2014 road racing programme.

Stuart Hicken, BMW / Hawk Racing Team Principal, said: “We are extremely pleased to have assembled such an experienced racing team. We have been working on it for a while and I genuinely believe that with Michael, the technical expertise from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the BMW S 1000 RR, we have secured all the elements we need to be at the sharp end, challenging for a great result at the TT.”

Lee Nicholls, BMW Motorrad Marketing Manager, said: “We are so pleased to have secured Michael Dunlop to ride for BMW / Hawk Racing. His record speaks for itself and we are confident that, on a BMW S 1000 RR, he can dominate on the roads this season. Creating a team that will focus all its efforts on Michael will present BMW with a realistic chance of replicating our famous victory 75 years ago at the TT.”

To keep up to date with the latest news from the team, follow @BMWMotorradTT on Twitter.

Following a year’s break from the BMF Show, the organisers are pleased to announce the return of the ACU British Track Racing Championship for the 2014 season. The British Motorcycle Federation and Auto Cycle Union have once again joined forces with The Mid Cornwall Premier Motorcycle Club to host the events at the East of England Showground at Peterborough.

The opening two rounds of the 2014 Track Racing Championship will take place on the 17th and 18th May, before heading back to the East of England Showground on the 13th September for the third and fourth rounds.

Mulberry’s Managing Director Martin Chick, said “We are really pleased that the ACU will once again be thrilling the crowds at the BMF Shows in Peterborough this year. There was an overwhelming positive response to their last appearances in 2012 so we’re hoping that even more people will come and watch some spectacular racing in May and then the championship decider in September at the Tailend!”

For more information about any of the BMF shows visit www.thebmfshow.co.uk. Or talk to the show organisers, The Mulberry Group, on 01869 277077.

Survey finds four out of ten drivers not concentrating. 

Only sixty per cent of drivers concentrate when they are behind the wheel, according to a poll by IAM/Vision Critical of nearly 1500 drivers. However, there is good and bad news in these findings.

The good news is that older drivers are much less likely to lose concentration while driving. Seventy-three per cent of over 65 year-olds say they concentrate on the road all of the time that they are driving. Twenty-six per cent said that they concentrate most of the time. The bad news is that 50 per cent of younger drivers aged 18-24 admit to not concentrating on driving 100 per cent of the time. Not far behind, 47 per cent of 24-34 year olds admit to not concentrating.

Nearly a quarter of drivers (24 per cent) say that simply daydreaming was the most common reason for not concentrating. Among 18-24 year-olds the figure is 30 per cent. Other reasons given for not concentrating include stress (22 per cent), thinking about what you will be doing when you arrive (21 per cent) and thinking about family, friends and personal relationships (21 per cent).

In the North East and in Wales, 64 per cent of drivers, said they concentrate all the time.

Londoners are most likely to be distracted while driving, with forty-seven per cent admitting to not concentrating one hundred per cent on the road. Yorkshire and Humberside, the South West and Scotland were not far behind with 46%.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Signs of not concentrating such as missed turnings or uncancelled indicator lights are commonplace. Simply not concentrating is a key cause of crashes yet it is not borne out in statistics because drivers rarely admit to it in police reports or on insurance forms.”

“These results reconfirm stereotypes surrounding younger drivers and the ease with which they can be distracted away from staying safe. The key is to build up as wide a range of experiences as possible as you learn and to look upon your driving as a skill that needs continuous improvement.”

www.iam.org.uk