John grew up in Deptford, South-East London, with his parents and with younger siblings Jane and Jim. His first road bike was 350cc AJS, which was superseded by a 1957 650cc Triumph twin. He joined a local club, which led to passengering a racing sidecar outfit with Arthur May, who is still a friend and fan today.
Very few racers win first time out. Though John is very proud of his debut victories at Thruxton in 1962, but feels ironically, that these wins early on, held back his career. 'It had taken a year to get an entry in a 1000cc Non-Experts race, but by winning my heat and final, I recieved an entry for the open final and won it. Consequently, I was no longer considered to be a Non-Expert, so enteries became even harder to get'.
John borrowed 350cc long stroke Manx Norton for the first of his many Brands Hatch practice sessions. Subsequently, he purchased the bike, but decided to install a tuned Triumph Bonneville engine instead.
After his Thruxton successess on the Triton, he purchased a Tickle Lowboy frame for 1963, only to have stolen from his garage.
Above; early picture of John with his trade mark helmet and white hanky.
Charlie Hayman, who helped him with casual engineering jobs, came to the rescue, and fettled a special for him to ride, powered by at first a Velocette KSS engine then KTT units.
John purchased a AJS 7R, and with help from Haymen, a 250cc Greaves. After some initial successes, the Greaves gave way to a Yamaha TD1A. Races were won with the Yamaha, but it was too unreliable, and so John struck up a deal with Syd Lawton, whereby he bought a 250cc version of the Italian pushrod single Aer-Macchi, and Lawton loaned him a 344cc model.
Above; winning the NW200 road race in Ireland beating local lad Brian Steenson and flat out on the 500cc Seeley, at the bottom of Bray Hill.
A first visit to the Isle of Man for the the revamped 250cc Manx GP brought, a creditable fourth place on the Aer-Macchi. John then had former Bill Ivy sponsor, Geoff Monty, taking him under his wing.
John rode a 250cc Cotton, a very fast Manx 350cc Norton, and also on of his 500cc Triumph based Monard specials for Monty.. During this period John acheived many successes at the South London circuit; Crystal Palace.
A close friend; Sid Mizen, recommended John to Colin Seeley, who was looking for a capable rider to ride his AJS and Matchless based Seeley specials, after they had been rejected by first choice; Derek Minter. John regards the 1966 as his first proper TT where finished 6th in the Junior and 4th in the Senior.
John also rode a URS Fath Four, solo version, at Hockenheim during 1966. It was then arranged to build one of the 500cc URS engines into a Colin Seeley chassis. A small team trying to take on the mighty works teams, produced plenty of problems and stress, but John managed several memorable rides on the Anglo/German special, including a fastest lap at an International at Scarborough, and a fourth place in the Ulster Grand Prix.
Above; setting the fastest lap at Scarborough on the Seeley/URS and with Helmut Fath.
In the wake of the split with Colin Seeley, John a fluent Gernman speaker decided to stay with the German Fath/URS camp. A new version of the four was prepared, this time with a Rickman chassis, and was readied for a catastrophic 1968 West German Grand Prix. There was a problem over the metals used for the brakes, which subsequently locked the bike up, and there were many technical difficulties. John decided to return to single cylinder machines, originally supported by Bill Chuck. John was back in the grove by 1969.
After again electrifying rides at that years NW 200 in Ireland, John was lined up for some super rides for that years TT races in the Isle of Man. Second fastest in practice, in both junior and senior events, to the Italian wonder boy Giacomo Agostini, and his superior works MV Agusta's. World fame looked likey, especially should 'Ago' run into trouble with one of his machines.However, it was not to be, as John picked up a bad injury during training for the newly introduced production TT, riding a works Norton. The injuries were serious enough to prevent John taking part in the event.
Above; with the 500cc Seeley Matchless at the German Grand Prix and a rather thoughtful skinny young John.
Whilst racing in the North West 200 in Ireland during 1970, during the 500cc race, which John ahd won the previuios year, a faulty nut caused the rear wheel to become lose, and as a result, John crashed at 120mph. Having received serious injuries which included a fractured skull, John decided, now with a young family, his racing career was over.
John responded to a request from American millionaire George Bell to return to Germany, and team manage the Munch URS team. With John in charge, they were able to secure the sidecar world championship in 1971, with driver Horst Owestle, repeating what Helmut Fath was able to achieve in 1968.
Above; A second place on the Velocette during the 1970 production TT race, and push starting the 250cc Aer Macchi to finish fourth, in the 1964 Manx Grand Prix.
When, the Munch URS team disbanded in 1972 John came out with most of the equipement, including the latest version of the solo 500cc machine and the world championship winning sidecar machine.
John spent many years restoring both these historic machines whilst running a successful motor cycle business, to a state that were better than original. Then, with the aid of a team of enthusiasts and ex sidecar champion Colin Seeley, they were paraded around the circuits of Europe, for a number of years in the early '90's.
Above; the 'Fath-URS' years. Also pictured, brother Jim, Helmut Fath, Paul Smetana and Colin Seeley.
Due to the pressure of business and other committments, the whole URS equipe was regretfully sold in 1995, though John even now has six bikes, which include his original 350cc and 500cc Seeley/AJS and Matchless machines from the '60's, and are raced and 'paraded' on a regular basis. One of John's favourite events these day's, is the Schotten GP in Germany. A well attended classic event, where he is regarded as a hero, and is highly thought of for his riding skills, and professional set up.
Above; Fastest rider at the Schotten GP in Germany, and also in the 500cc event at the Assen CCTT event in Holland 1998.
john.blanchard@virgin.net
