Racing Success
The 'Thruxton' version of the Velocette Venom was ridden by Dave Dixon and Joe Dunphy won the Thruxton 500 endurance race. (In 1965 the race was actually held at another disused airfield, the Castle Combe Circuit). In 1967 two Velocette Venom Thruxton motorcycles, ridden by Neil Kelly and Keith Heckles gained first and second places in the Production TT that was first staged at the Isle of Man that year, with Kelly also recording the fastest lap at 91 mph. Prepared by London Velocette dealer Reg Orpin, the winning motorcycle was far from standard, for as well as being in 'Thruxton' trim, the valve gear included titanium tips to the pushrods and valve caps. A Norton Manx piston had been specially engineered at Velocette's Hall Green Workshops and it had cam followers on needle rollers as well as light alloy timing wheels. It was nearly all for nothing, however, as Kelly failed to start and the rest of the field left him struggling to kick start the Venom. Orpin managed to start it just in time and despite the poor start Neil Kelly caught up with the other riders within three miles and went on to win the 500 cc class, recording 121 mph as he passed the Highlander speed trap.
Read more about this topic: Velocette Venom
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