Bob Mac June 2026

 

The riders and their squires - Symon Woodward

Members of the RAF Classic Racing Team took a trip north over the border to East Fortune, just south of Edinburgh, for the Scottish Motorcycle Racing Club's Bob McIntyre Memorial races. The Team consisted of Joe Woodward (ZXR750), Symon Woodward (VFR750), Tubbs Welford (ZXR400), Francis Whitby (VFR400) and Dorian Eardley (Manx Norton), with Joe, Symon and Tubbs also making a guest appearance on Honda MT125s kindly supplied by Jerry Lodge of Earnshaws Motorcycles heritage.  

The weather stayed dry, although strong winds on Saturday made some of the corners more exciting than they usually are, especially for the little Hondas.  As usual, the ageing MT125s kept the riders on their toes with a range of issues. 

Tubbs making a move -Dennis Brown

Tubbs managed to crash his MT with relatively minor damage, only to flood the bike, starting it and missing the grid for the second race. He also managed to burn the clutch out on Sunday's practice, but by the end of the weekend had fully gelled with the bike and was lapping at a competitive pace. 

Joe in clear air - Dennis Brown

Joe Woodward's 125 was very flat all Saturday, with it eventually popping out a crank seal. The replacement of the seal created a timing error due to inaccurate timing marks, but once all "strobbed" up, it was ready to fly on Sunday. 

Close up of Symon - Ronnie Weir

Symon had a head gasket blow during Saturday's qualifying but had enjoyable, competitive races over the weekend. Although he narrowly missed disaster when his right clip-on broke off in his hand on the first lap of Sunday's practice, he managed to stay on board after taking a very unusual line around the second corner of the circuit.  

Tubbs hunts the apex - Dennis Brown

The forever consistent Tubbs also crashed his ZXR400 in the Junior Post Classic races and steadily improved over the weekend. 

Franky enjoying the V4 - Dennis Brown

Francis had arguably his most successful weekend racing in his short career, managing to start and finish every session, this being a clear first for himself. Without the rush of repairing or fixing his bike, he was able to concentrate purely on his riding, which was shown by a consistent improvement throughout the weekend in both his riding and his confidence.  

Woodwards on their 750s - Ronnie Weir

Both Woodwards competed in the Senior Post Classic races, Symon on the trusty old Superstock VFR750 and Joe on his ZXR750. Whilst Symon tried but failed to stay ahead of some of the local fast boys on their Junior bikes, Joe, along with fellow CRMC competitor Harley Rushton, had some excellent races at the front with 2 of the local heroes, with Joe's best position of 2nd. 

Dorian tucked in - Dennis Brown

Dorian was the only rider on a Classic bike, not a post-classic machine, as he competed in the Landsdowne series. He enjoyed some excellent races, gaining 3 seconds and a first in class.  

It was great to see old Team member Paul Kirkby, now a Scottish resident, over the weekend, and to also have the return of Andy Green, although currently not racing due to injury.  A great time was had by all, and hopefully we'll return next year with more bikes and riders.  Last but not least, a huge thank you goes out to Jerry Lodge for the loan, transportation and preparation of the fleet of Honda MT125s for us all to race.

The MT125 gaggle, cheers Jerry!

The Royal Air Force Motor Sport Association supports tens of disciplines, both two and four-wheeled. More information on the RAFMSA can be found on Facebook, the Sports Federation home page, Twitter and can be found with a quick search on MODNet. 

The RAF Classic racing team races in the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club (CRMC) offer live timing and has race results going back years. You can find more of the team on Facebook, Blogger and YouTube.

There is a strong contingent of the RAFMSA MCRR in No Limits Racing, they can be found on Instagram with some fantastic videos shared by competitor James on his YouTube channel, and many others can be found on there too. There is also an interservice race held at all NLR.

All serving RAF Classic Racing Team members race under the banner of the Royal Air Force Motorsports Association (RAFMSA) alongside our veteran former members and associate members. If you are serving and wish to get involved with motorsports, you can find all the contact details you will need on the RAFMSA website or get in contact directly with us.

 This blog post was written by Symon Woodward and edited by Gavin Heggs. 

Many thanks to the photographers attending the Bob Mac, especially those who gave us permission to publish their work:

Dennis Brown - Captured by Dennis

Ronnie Weir