Tuesday February 17, 2015 at 12:39pm
Gary Jones was born in Kingsbury, West London in 1960. The following year he moved to Hamble near Southampton. Gary’s first memory of being on a motorbike was standing on the tank of his father’s Corgi minibike in 1963. His father swapped the Corgi for a boat engine, I wish he had kept the bike said Gary.
In 1966 the family were on the move again this time moving to Calshot Activities Centre, near Southampton. So his father could look after their boat fleet and drive the lifeboat. It was a great place for a young boy, says Gary. There were a couple of Princess flying boats stored there and massive hangars; it was also the place that the Schneider Trophy float planes flew from. They also had a go-kart track and Gary would try to get a go on the go-karts whenever he could. They also had the velodrome in one of the large hangars that maybe came from Crystal Palace. Gary thinks he may be the only person to ride a Raleigh Chopper bike round the steeply banked track, it had to be done! said Gary.
When Gary was 10years old an older friend Wayne Mayer turned up with a BSA Bantam D1. It was in a mess with flat tyres, no brakes and no padding on the seat. Wayne said to Gary have a go, just let that lever out and turn the throttle up a bit. So off Gary went on his first solo bike ride, about 30ft I was hooked! said Gary.
His father wouldn’t let Gary have a bike saying they were dangerous, so Gary would go to his mate’s place, which was on the edge of a common/quarry, which was first class for riding. They would ride any bike they could get hold of. BSA Bantams, Villiers and Lambrettas, old and cheap, pocket money biking! says Gary.
In 1973 his parents moved again this time to Selsey in West Sussex so his dad could take over the driving of the lifeboat there. Gary soon made friends with other boys who were into motorbikes. There was an area on the coast known as Bombing Range where the lads would go riding. Gary’s best mate’s father started an amusement park, which had go-karts and Gary and his mate would run them for his father.
Gary left school in 1976 and started a mechanical apprenticeship at Tony Hill Motors in Selsey. Gary worked there for 25 years and during that time the garage changed hands a number of times. At that period in time it was the moped revolution, Yamaha FS1E, Suzuki AP50, Honda SS50, etc. Gary opted for a Gilera trail bike as he always enjoyed doing off-road riding. One night Gary had an accident on the way home, when a drunk driver hit him, resulting in a broken ankle, suffering cuts and bruises etc. It was also Gary’s first trip in an ambulance. He repaired the bike and sold it. Gary then bought an Anglia van, which he customised it with paint and filled the interior with fur and of course furry dice (all the rage in those days).
Gary had always been interested in Drag Racing and in 1979 he heard Radio 1 advertised an event at Santa Pod, so he and a couple of mates decided to go. It was quite an experience and he remembers seeing the bikes run and thinking the riders were nuts, no way he would try and ride one of those bikes!
Gary carried on as a mechanic and the owner at that period Phil Way had a motor bike shop, so Gary was doing more work on bikes. He had a variety of cars and bikes Honda 250 G5, Honda CB500 4 low rider, Suzuki GS550, Triumph t 100 chop, Suzuki GS1000, Kawasaki GPZ 400R and a Yamaha RD250. Gary still enjoyed off road riding so he bought a Maico 250, which he re-engined to 440. Then a workmate got a Suzuki RM250, which had the most violent power band of any bike Gary had ridden, you had to be ready or it would put you on your arse every time! said Gary.
Gary made the odd trip to Santa Pod and Blackbushe to watch the racing and kept his eye on the drag scene via Custom Car magazine. A friend of Gary’s, Eric Humphrey, was also in American cars and drag racing so Gary helped him convert his Pontiac Firebird into a racing car. It was 1989 and at that time an interesting character moved to Selsey and came to the garage where Gary worked to see about getting MOT’s and repairs done. His name was Paul Rose. They got chatting and he said he raced drag bikes, so Gary went and had a look at them, Paul had a single and twin-engine TZ750 two stroke bikes. Gary went to watch Paul race and soon started helping him. They did a lot of racing, (there was more races back then) they won a lot of races and finished second in the ACU Comp Bike Championship in their best year.
In 1990 Paul let Gary ride his single engine bike at Santa Pod, which was such an eye opener for Gary, having a big rear tyre it handled like nothing Gary had ever ridden before, lean to the left to go right and lean right to go left! Gary made a right pig’s ear of it, but was totally hooked!
In 1992 Paul moved back to London and retired from riding, but proceeded to build a collection of drag bikes, which he would let other people ride (Helen Curran and Lucy Thorn for example) helping many riders get into the sport.
Gary was missing racing and teamed up with his mate Eric Humphrey again who had obtained the old (Panic) Funnycar rolling chassis. The Firebird engine and gearbox were transferred into the Funnycar chassis and they went competing in the Pro ET class, which was a lot of fun.
But Gary still had the need to race a bike, so he thought he would build something a bit different. He had learned a lot from helping Paul with the TZ two-strokes on nitrous, so thinking back to my motor cross days, Gary purchased a Kawasaki KX500 two-stroke MX bike and built a drag chassis, tuned the engine and added nitrous. He ran it in 10.90 and then 9.90 bike. It was a lot of fun said Gary. Weighing 80kg and making about 100bhp, best figures of 10.2sec at 136mph, which wasn’t bad for a one cylinder! However it did seize frequently and Gary decided to buy a four -stroke engine.
One of Gary’s friends Marc Fossey was selling his Super Street Bike so Gary bought it and entered the Super Street Bike class for one race. But there was a problem getting tyres at that time, everybody was using Yokohama street tyre, but there had been an earthquake in Japan and the factory had been badly damaged, so there were no tyres available. With an 18inch rear wheel fitted to the bike and no suitable tyres available. So in 1996 Gary decided to fit a rear slick and compete in Comp Bike. It was a bit exciting for Gary to ride a slick with no wheelie bars. Gary made some wheelie bars and about this time that he teamed up with Dave Friend who had been crewing for Martin Bishop and they became Jones and Friend Racing. They campaigned in Comp Bike for a couple of years, but the small rear tyre hurt them if the track was in a poor condition. So they built a new bike over the winter of 98/99 with a John Clift frame and a 10inch rear tyre. They also fitted two-stage nitrous system, recording best figures of 7.8sec at 168mph. Gary won his first trophy, runner up at the Summer Nationals in 1998.
In 2003 Gary and Dave decided to convert to Turbo EFI, so they did some research and built a Turbo EFI system and put it on the bike. It proved to be quick and consistent. The following year they were ready to give the championship a real go, but Gary suffered a back injury, rupturing a disc, which curtailed the season after only two races. Gary looks back fondly of the 2005 season. After his back improved he passed a medical and he won his first ever event at the opening round of the ACU Championships at the Easter meeting at Santa Pod. He beat T J. O’Brien in the final. He won most of the rounds that year and went on to win the ACU Comp Bike Championship, the APIRA Championship and the SPRC Championship. Their greatest victory was in the UEM European Top Fuel Bike Championship at the European Finals at Santa Pod. They entered Top Fuel Bike (just for practice really said Gary) and with a combination of consistency and luck they managed to win the event.
The bike was retired at the end of that season, as it was becoming a bit of a handful to ride with all that power the engine was making. A new bike was constructed over the winter and much of 2006. At the end of the year they did a (run what you brung) meeting to try the bike out and were pleased with a couple of nice passes. The following year they made their debut in the bike in the Funnybike class, with some success, but also a lot of clutch issues. In 2009 they finished runner up in the ACU Funnybike Championship, but they had some nagging faults persist, making the bike inconsistent.
In 2007 Gary changed jobs and is currently a Motorhome technician and is married to Rosie and they have two children.
At the Easter meeting at Santa Pod, Gary found the reason for the inconsistency. A partially sticking dump valve on the Turbo, which was fixed. The next run Gary recorded a personal best of 7.0secs and then on the next pass he ran his first six-second pass of 6.99 at 192mph. Unfortunately number two con rod exited the block causing his first ever oil down.
The following two years they ran a limited amount, then a decision to use a Hoosier rear tyre in 2013 proved to be a mistake as the bike became increasingly wild off the start line. At the Summer Nationals it tried seriously to throw Gary off and there were no Goodyear tyres the size that Gary required, so Gary called an end to that season.
2014 saw a Mickey Thompson 101/2inch rear tyre fitted to the bike, so Gary had to retune the clutch to suit the new set up. At the opening round of the new season Gary lost in round one of the eliminations. The rest of the season had its high and lows, but Gary hung on in there and went on to win the ACU Funnybike Championship and the APIRA Championship.
ACU asked Gary does he have any fond memories he looks back on. The support of my long-suffering wife Rosie who has been by my side throughout my race career, my long-time friend and race sponsor Eric Humphrey, and all of the friends I have made.
Time with Paul Rose was an absolute blast and building bikes with Dave Friend was a great experience.
The ACU would like to thank Gary for his time and allowing them to do this article.
Report by Steven Moxley.