Racing star STUART GRAHAM to appear as guest of honour at STAFFORD CLASSIC BIKE SHOw

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Stuart Graham, a winner on both two and four wheels, has enjoyed a successful and unusual racing career, and will share his stories in front of a live audience at the 40th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show on April 25/26 at Stafford County Showground.

Born into a racing family, Stuart’s father was Les Graham, 1949 500cc World Champion and IOM TT winner.

Although Les was killed in a fatal accident in the 1953 IOM TT, Stuart was not deterred from following his own racing dreams and went on to achieve great success.

Racing motorcycles from 1961-1970, Stuart progressed from 250 Aermacchi, to 350 AJS 7R & 500 Matchless G50, racing in his first IOM TT in 1964.

Impressive performances in the early 1966 GP, including placing 2nd to Agostini in the 500cc Belgian GP at Spa, soon earned him a place in the factory Honda team as team-mate to Mike Hailwood on the fabulous 250cc Honda six cylinders.

By 1973, Stuart had embarked on a second very successful career in car racing, winning races in his first season in the British Touring Car Championship.

It’s 1964 and Stuart Graham rounds Governor’s Bridge on a Matchless. © Nick Nicholls Collection at Mortons Archive

Stuart’s big V8 Chevrolet Camaro was the car to beat, and when he won the prestigious RAC Tourist Trophy race, he became the first person since Freddie Dixon prewar, to win both bike and car TTs.

Despite bringing a 1940s theme to the event, in homage to the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2020, the show will remain a core classic bike enthusiast weekend.

There will be thousands of classic motorcycles to see, a huge indoor and outdoor autojumble and more than 900 traders in attendance, all forming an important part of the show.

The Bonhams auction will be as spectacular as ever and further highlights for the weekend include a 1940s-themed hall, with a Spitfire and Hurricane taking centre stage, surrounded by an abundance of privately owned classic motorcycles and incredible displays from owners’ clubs too.

Organisers have been in contact with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to hopefully secure a flypast from the Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota, with confirmation due in March.

Advance tickets are on sale now, with a 20% saving on the gate price: www.classicmagazines.co.uk/stafford

Closing date for early bird advance e-ticket sales is 08:30 on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.
Closing date for gate price e-ticket sales is noon on Thursday, April 23, 2020.

Standard Opening Times: Saturday 9:30am-6pm; Sunday 9:30am-5pm. (Advance ticket holders will be fast-tracked to enter from 9am on either day).

Read more News and Features in the March/April 2020 issue of Classic Racer – on sale now!


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