Djursland Ring, Denmark 20th/21st August 2011

We had been invited back to this challenging 1.1 mile circuit on the east coast of Denmark after our last visit here back in 2008.

Local boy Vanni Jensen provided the catering and two ultra short stroke Molnar Manxes, a 500cc 95 bore and the 81 bore 350cc, with the bikes being shared with constructor Andy Molnar.

It hammered down with rain on Thursday night and during Friday, so when we arrived at the track on Friday evening to find deep puddles and a track that was literally steaming in the evening sun. Used very rarely (only allowd to be used 4 times per year, usually by cars) it was clear that grip was going to be a bit unpredictable on this track!

The decision was made to run Vanni “in class” on both bikes, with the aim of utilising his superior track knowledge, whilst Andy would back him up riding the 350 in the 500 race.

But like all great plans, it didn’t go as planned, “he only blew the bloody doors off” as Andy turned out to be the faster of the two riders over the weekend, but boy did we have a good time!

Vanni got 2nd in both 350 races, and 3rd in both 500 races, whilst Andy ended up 9th and 7th, with a pace just 3 seconds off the winner in the 350 class, even though he was in traffic!

The bikes ran faultlessly, thanks to the efforts of Tommy and Richard and as many saw and photographed the beautiful machinery that stood glinting in the sunlight.

Lansdowne Cadwell Park 13/14th August 2011

This was always going to be a big weekend for Chris Firmin, with the team's top rider, Steve Tomes on holiday. Some big boots to fill they were!! Aided just a little (!) by having the team’s top bike to ride, Chris took pole position in the wet qualifying, won all 4 races with ease and took the fastest lap time of the weekend. Bloody well done mate!

It was a delight to welcome Vanni Jensen back to the team after a serious hand injury at Mallory Park, and whilst he rode a little more cautiously than usual, he still was around 6th place in the races, and won most of the "Lansdowne over 55's" class races, for which there are separate trophies.

Andy's weekend on the 350 was a bit back to front, after a season of dreadful qualifying, then getting faster, this weekend he qualified on the 1st row of the 350's and then won the 1st race but then proceeded to slow down a little, and ended up 2nd to Tim Jackson on the 7R in the next 3 races. Very frustrating!

All in all, a very satisfying weekend with all members of the team working together to achieve some fine results in a harmonious manner. Don't forget, it is not just the riders who make for a successful Team Molnar Manx, it starts back in the machine shop, and builds from there.

Lansdowne Brands Hatch "Indy" 30th/31st July

Synchronised racing is what we will call it! With the other teams unable to mount a serious challenge on the track we swapped our 500cc bikes and riders about with Steve Tomes, the slightly faster of the riders going on "old number 1" with Chris Firmin on the new "rocket ship" bike. An inspired move, it saw some of the closest classic racing in history with the 2 team mates safely, but oh so closely passing twice per lap throughout all 4 races, to finish convincing "1-2's" the closest being settled by just 0.003 seconds, with the rest of the field trailing behind. To see onboard footage from Chris's bike go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhtUOyvWXm8 or to see the action from further back, taken by Mike Russell, current champion, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bax6oH6Bbjw or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNYrfo7LtMo the bikes riding off into the distance are the team Molnar Manx bikes!!!

In the midfield, we were missing Vanni Jensen who had been called to an urgent Triumph Scandinavia sales meeting - he is one of 3 Triumph dealers in Denmark.

In the 350 class Andy had no answer for Andrew Taylor on the Molnar manufactured 7R. We are pleased to say that Andrews dad will be building a G50 for Andrew to run in the 500 class next year predominantly using parts sourced from our catalogues!

Lansdowne Snetterton 300 9th/10th July 2011

A depleted Team Molnar Manx entourage made the long trek to Snetterton in Norfolk, with Vanni Jensen staying at home to allow his injured hand to recover.

Snetterton is an old airfield circuit, renowned for having long straights and fast corners, but has been extensively remodelled this winter to add a large infield section of 2nd and 3rd gear corners, nearly doubling the circuits length to create the new "Snetterton 300". Many riders liked the changes, some did not!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and with it came Andy's birthday - 21 again! We awoke to find the motor home had been adorned with a picket fence, garden gnomes and a pot plant. Think someone is taking the P out of the vehicle!

Steve Tomes was in peerless form, taking pole position and an easy win in both races. Chris Firmin was struggling a bit on the old bike with 4th and 5th places, whilst further back the birthday boy was getting "beaten up" by Tim Jackson (7R) and Robin Stokes on Bob Woods 350 Molnar Manx.

Sunday was a very odd day, with a sudden and huge rise in temperature that we didn't have time to adjust the carburetion to suit. This resulted in the bikes running very rich, and feeling horribly "lumpy". Fearing engine damage, Steve pulled out part way through the race whilst sitting on a massive lead in the first race, Chris was 4th with Andy the 2nd 350, only due to the fact Robin fell off struggling for grip in the heat!

For the last race temperatures slumped again, carburetion was corrected and normal order restored with Steve romping off into the distance and Andy finally getting a win in 350 class and setting the fastest 350 lap of the weekend on the very last lap of the last race. Shame it look him so long to get "dialled in".

Lansdowne - Mallory Park 18th/19th June 2011

What can we say?! We whipped them! Steve Tomes on the 500 Molnar Manx was untouchable, winning all 4 races by massive margins, up to 17 seconds. As Steve said afterward, "It was easy really; the bike was faster than the opposition, handled better and stopped quicker, what more could I ask for....."

Chris Firmin on the old standard bike had some excellent rides with a 3rd two 2nd place finishes and a hard fought 4th where 2nd, 3rd and 4th were covered by four tenths of a second. We were pleased to welcome Chris Palmer to the podium with two hard battled 3rd places on Ian Garbutt's MPL supported G50.

The only downside of the weekend was Vanni Jensen crashing coming out of the high speed Gerrard's corner which left him with a very nasty hand injury. We wish him a speedy recovery, though, unfortunately, he will certainly miss the next meeting at Snetterton.

Andy had a much tougher battle in the 350 class, up against young Andrew Taylor on the 7R. The two battled throughout the 4 races, with the wily Molnar using all his race-craft to beat Taylor in the first race by a bikes length, then having to give second best in the next 2 races, before pressuring Taylor who was in front into crashing in the last race, gifting Andy with another win!

All in all, a fantastic weekend by Team Molnar Manx. The level of domination by the Molnar bikes is such that a number of our opposition are calling for the rules to be CHANGED to ban our bikes! You can't get a better advert than that!

Lansdowne - Brands Hatch 21st/22nd May

It is a long drag from our base in the North West of England to Brands Hatch, but this was another opportunity to ride the challenging and unbelievably fast Brands Hatch GP circuit - only the 2nd time in 25 years that Andy’s Team Molnar Manx bikes have been on that track! Qualifying was a little mixed, Steve Tomes put the bike onto an easy pole position, but the rest of the team struggled, with Chris Firmin suffering clutch trouble and only making the 2nd row of the grid, whilst Vanni and Andy were getting lost round the back of the circuit & could only make the 3rd and 4th rows respectively!

The race was also a bit mixed with Steve winning by just 0.006 seconds, but the problems with Chris's clutch resurfaced, causing difficulty stopping and changing gear, meaning that he slipped further and further back, until being caught and passed by Mike Russell, in an effort to stay ahead, Chris got a good run into Druids hairpin, but was unable to stop in time, and crashed into the gravel. Vanni had a solid 6th place, whilst Andy ended up a dismal 4th in the 350 class after a gearing change had really not worked......

Then it was all hands to the pumps to fix Chris's battered bike. Andy had to strip the engine 'cause it was full of gravel (!) whilst the rest of the team worked on the chassis. Amazingly, 3 hours later he was back on track and only narrowly missed out on a podium in the second race - a brilliant team effort. Steve got caught behind a back-marker on the last lap whilst in a close fought battle with Glen English and ended up a frustrated 2nd by a mile compared to the last race, a full 0.008 seconds (who says classic racing is boring?!) Vanni had another steady but strong ride, whilst Andy improved to 3rd in the 350 class.

The next morning we tweaked the gearing, carburation and suspension on Steve's 500, then sent him out with Chris in a 2 lap mixed warm up with the modern "minitwin" class whilst the rest of us looked on in awe as they annihilated the lot of them! "Modern" Suzuki's and Ducati's getting beaten up by the "old" Manx's!!! That was the closest anyone got to Steve all weekend as he won both of the races by 10 seconds and set a new class lap record. Andy finally got "his thumb out his bum and his brain out of neutral" and won both of the 350 races. Chris had a well worked for podium and near miss on old faithful, whilst Vanni had the save of the weekend when he took to the gravel at Druids at about 40mph and stayed on!!

All taken into account, Team Molnar Manx dominated the meeting, to the point our closest competition accused us of "cheating". Tehe, we know we are doing well when that happens!!!

CRMC - Donnington Park 2nd May

A 4 hour drive from Pembrey saw us arrive at Donnington Park for an unusual 1 day Classic Club meeting on the GP circuit. The format was very different from normal with all capacities mixed in together. This meant that each rider could only really ride one capacity bike, rather than the usual separate 350 & 500 classes. We had taken the 95 bore for Steve Tomes to ride & Vanni Jensen rode his Lansdowne bike, whilst Chris & Andy had a day's rest! Suffice to say, Steve was the fastest 500 all day apart from in the big money race when a combination of brain & brake fade saw him relegated to 3rd place! Grrr! Vanni had some good rides on a technical circuit that he struggles with.....

Young Richard rode Andy's Lansdowne 350 in the Parades and was very proud to lap at a steady 2.16, faster than he had lapped on the much shorter national circuit 8 months earlier (and faster than a couple of the racers)!

Lansdowne - Pembrey 30th April/1st May

The Lansdowne series had a late start this year and we turned up in deepest south Wales with our new race transporter. We have had some had some horrendous weather at Pembrey over the years, but this time the sun shone non-stop!

We had a strong team with Steve Tomes leading the way on the new built stage 2 engine, Chris Firmin on old faithful engine 001, & Vanni Jensen all the way from Denmark on his standard 86mm Manx. Andy was the only representative in the 350 class, though we have a lot of customers in the class.

Qualifying was mixed, with Steve on pole, Chris 4th, Vanni disappointed at 10th and Andy gutted at 16th (4th 350). Pembrey is an extremely bumpy circuit, and handling is always the main issue here. Andy decided to tweak the suspension on Steve's bike & went totally the wrong way, to the extent that the bike was unridable and Steve was forced to retire from the 1st race. Not a good start! Meanwhile, Chris went on to finish a close 2nd to Glen English, Vanni was 6th and Andy 2nd 350, some way behind the flying Andrew Taylor on the Molnar manufactured AJS 7R.

For the second race, we sorted Steve’s suspension out and "normal service" was resumed with Steve taking a close win, though the engine refused to rev past 7,500 rpm. A good night was enjoyed at the local hostelry.........

Sunday dawned bright & sunny, carburetion changes had Steve's bike singing & he took a comfortable win from Glen with Chris a close 3rd again. Andy had finally "woken up" and took the race to Andrew Taylor, with the two of them trading places and paintwork, thought the 7R came out on top again.

A quick re-fuelling before the final race. At the front Steve played a "canny" race following Glen knowing that he could pass Glen’s bike at will through the final corner & before the finish line. However, on the final lap, when Steve needed to actually make it stick, the bike wouldn't rev past 7,500 again and Glen narrowly shaded the win!! Later, back at base, the problem was diagnosed as an intermittent fault in the ignition coil! Chris again took a strong 3rd with Vanni just a few places further back. In the 350 class, Andy was having a storming race, leading for the first 6 laps before Andrew Taylor squeezed past and although the lead changed hands a few times in the last 2 laps, the 7R triumphed yet again, Arrrgh!!!!!

As we rushed to pack up to get to CRMC Donnington, we could reflect on a very satisfactory start to the season for the team, 4 bikes x 4 races, no mechanical problems and most of the trophies (well bottles of beer!) coming home with us!

CRMC Mallory Park 26th/27th March

We dragged out the 95 Bore 500 and the little T3 from their winter hibernation, loaded them into our new race transporter and set off for Mallory where we met up with Steve Tomes.   Well, Steve and the bikes were in stunning form and by the time we left the circuit, the combination had clocked up one 2nd place and 7 wins - really in a class of their own.  In the 350 class, Andy rode exceptionally well (!) on his standard specification Lansdowne bike to back up Steve’s wins with two 3rds and two 2nd places, beating almost all the Honda twins in the process!  Just to keep us busy, young Richard was also riding the Lansdowne 350 in the parades.  A good start to the season!

2010 SEASONS ROUNDUP

The second half of the 2010 season passed in a blur, with race meetings every two weeks or so and a heavy workload back at base, we just could not keep the website up to date. Some of the highlights included new boy Chris Fimin's third place on his debut on the faithful Lansdowne bike 001 at Cadwell; Steve Tomes taking the brand new Lansdowne bike to two very very close second places as BSB Brands Hatch despite the bike not being on the track before not one and even missing most of the practice as Steve was stuck in a traffic jam! Then there was Steve winning at BSB Oulton Park on the same bike and setting a new class lap record. Andy winning both 350 races at the same event; not to forget Steve's stunning ride at Donnington Park on the T3, beating all but 2 of the 500's on our little 350. At the same race meeting young Richard having passed his 14th birthday, made his track debut riding Nick Roberts beautiful 250 Ducati in the parade.

Low points? There always a few of these in racing! Clutch troubles on Andy's 350 Lansdowne bike finally resulting in the first DNF for years - the bike now has a proper MPL clutch on it instead of the old rubbish one that was on it before! Steve binning the 95 bore at Snetterton whilst running away with the race!

All in all, not a bad year. The bikes were consistently fast and on the pace and not a single engine component failure.

BHGPC Cadwell Park 22nd/ 23rd May 2010

The 3rd round of the British Historic GP Championship ( aka "The Lansdowne") took place at this picturesque circuit where we were again providing support races for the British Superbikes. In 25 years of racing at Cadwell I have never seen the place so full - mapproximately 25,000 spectators around the 2.2 mile, narrow circuit and race trucks as far as the eye could see. Good job it was dry, because most had to park on the grass, and dry it certainly was. Red hot for the spring in the UK - 27c shade temperature, almost unheard of.

Our team was again a little diminished, this time due to Nick Roberts being obliged to work, but it was good to welcome back chief mechanic Harry! Vanni Jenson was back too, but due to the no score from Oulton, was obliged to start from the back of the grid ( which is formed on championship position not qualifying times), a real handicap on this narrow circuit. Andy was leading 350, but failed to capitalise on that, getting swallowed up by the pack on the first lap and struggling to finish 3rd 350. Not a good result. Vanni fought well to end up 8th overall.

In the second race Andy made a much better start and led the 350 class for several laps, until Andrew Taylor again slipped by on his MPL AJS 7R. Cadwell is Andrew’s home track & he was riding superbly - get you back at Silverstone! Vanni again was 8th 500 and Lee Moore was again 3rd on his dads 500 Molnar Manx

CRMC Darley Moor 15th/16th May 2010

Not the most exciting of tracks, and with very little facilities, it is Steve Tomes' "home" track and also we wanted to go and support one of our Australian customers Neil May. Neil has one of our standard 86mm 500cc Molnar Manxes and an ultra short stroke 350 and it was the 350 that he had brought back to the UK to spend a few months with his family touring the UK classic race events. Darley was Neil's first UK event and he had some good rides though he slipped off at the hairpin whilst lapping a slower rider.

Steve kept us busy, trying lots of different set ups over the weekend. We ended up with 2 wins' 3 seconds 2 3rds & 2 4ths.  No crashes and no mechanical mishaps - and we were the only top runners to be able to say that!

CRMC Mallory park 2nd May 2010

Returning "old boy" Steve Tomes reminded the field of his class & the competitiveness of the Molnar Manx by winning the first 2 races on the ultra short stroke T3 350 and the 95 bore 500, breaking the lap record in the process. Andy wobbled round on his standard unfaired 350 beating 75% of the 350 Hondas. A good, if cold, day!

Oulton Park 17th April 2010

The sun was shining on this beautiful circuit in the middle of Cheshire. Unfortunately it was not shining for Vanni Jensen who was stuck in Denmark due to the Icelandic ash cloud. So it was a diminished team that took to the (overflowing) grid. Nick Roberts continued to build his confidence and circuit knowledge with a steady ride to 10th and 7th places. But Andy was on fire after the disappointments of Brands and absolutely blitzed the 350 class winning both races & finishing 8th and 9th overall. He now has a small lead in the 350 championship.

Brands Hatch 4th/5th April 2010

Our season started at bitterly cold & windy Brands Hatch where the Lansdowne boys were putting on a couple of support races for the British Superbike meeting on the very short “Indy” circuit. All our team member felt woefully underprepared with all of us out on track for the first time, not having had any pre season testing. First race was particularly difficult for Vanni Jensen whose footrest fell off after he had done some last minute adjustments (!) & Nick Roberts on his return after serious injury. Andy had a half decent race, but lost out to the evergreen Tim Jackson (7R) by just 0.005 seconds on the line. Second race was significantly better for the 500 boys, but Andy did not manage to up his pace sufficiently and ended up 2nd again. Must try harder!!

Molnar/Walmsley G50 wins at Goodwood 19/20th September 2009

Wayne Gardner & co-rider John Leigh-Pemberton took a stunning victory at a sun blessed Goodwood Revival meeting in front of over 40,000 spectators. Going into the 2nd leg of the two day event on Sunday, the duo trailed Michael Rutter/Mike Russell by over 15 seconds. Although John did his best, he was handicapped by lack of time on the bike & at the handover, the ex-world champion Gardner had a lot to do, though he was helped by some slick pit work. “I knew I just had to hunt them down” said a beaming Gardner at the end “I didn’t have too much to drink at the party last night(!), watched my pit board & let the bike really have it-and it never missed a beat.” The crowd were on their feet as Gardner gradually caught and passed Rutter to take the aggregate win. The bike is an absolutely standard G50 to 1961 specification right down to 19” wheels. Built entirely from components manufactured by Molnar Precision and built by Fred Walmsley.

For more information:
MPL: sales@manx.co.uk
FWD: fred@fredengines.co.uk

Molnar Manx wins Belgium 500 Authentics Championship 29/30 August 2009

Veteran English rider Tony Raynor wrapped up the CRMB 500cc Authentics Championship on his 7 year old standard 86 bore Molnar Manx at Gedinne on Sunday. This series requires the bikes to be to original bore & stroke & limits modifications to quite strict regulations. It is run on a number of street circuits around Belgium. “Going into the final race I had a small points lead” said Tony “and I only needed to finish 3rd to be certain of the series win. I was so nervous, I spent most of saturday night checking absolutely everything, But I need not have worried, the bike ran faultlessly as usual!”

Tony Raynor

Molnar Manx 90 bore at 2009 Manx Grand Prix.

In difficult conditions, burly Scot Wattie Brown rode his Molnar Manx 90 bore to 2nd place at this years Manx Grand Prix. Although there was no way that the 2 valve single could challenge the multi valve multi cylinder Paton and MV for absolute speed, Wattie kept the wire pulled tight and as the others gradually fell by way ride the 90 bore ploughed on and climbed up the leader board. An excellent result for Wattie, mechanic Gary and owner Hans-Georg Stutz and a reminder again of the strength of the Molnar Manx 90 bore which stunned the classic racing world on its MGP debut in 1997 and won the MGP in 2002.

Whilst we were getting drowned and blown away on Anglesey, Mark Sharrock took Molnar Manx number 001 to the first Lansdowne event at Oulton Park.

Meantime, across the Irish Sea, a couple of hundred miles west of Anglesey, Wattie Brown took Hans-Georg Stutz's 90 bore to a comfortable victory on the roads in the classic race at Cookstown.

I was quite nervous with this meeting, the first round of the Championship, but looking forward to a good result.

Went through scrutineering with no problems and then signed on, got my programme to check out the competition and list of entries, good grid of 30 riders with the majority being on 500's. Practice went well with no major problems (other than the swing arm being loose!!) anyway I was fastest by 0.1 of a second, taking pole position with championship favourite, Duncan Fitchett on the second row.

Race 1
The flag drops, I'm second into Old Hall corner to Nick Roberts, got good drive down the Avenue and took the lead round Island bend but I knew both Duncan and Nick were on my tail. Stayed in the lead for the opening lap and held it to Clay Hill when Duncan came past. I stayed with him for a lap and he gradually moved away, the bike was behaving strange I tried to close the gap but it was just not handling. I managed 2nd be it 4.5secs behind. On return to the paddock I realised the problem (another broken Falcon rear shock unit!!) Between races we jetted down, managed to source some old NJB units from the most helpful guy in the paddock (Dave Birkinshaw), with a bit of work we got them to fit.

Race 2
The flag drops, I'm second into Old Hall corner to Nick Roberts again, got good drive down the Avenue and past him (back end feels soft but ok) again both Duncan and Nick were on my tail, stayed in the lead for the opening lap and held it again to Clay Hill when Duncan came past. I stayed with him and could tell he wanted to put a quick lap in to break me, it didn't work I stuck with him for all six laps but couldn't quite get him it was 0.8 of a second over the line, both Duncan and myself were 12 secs clear of 3rd.

I don't think it's going to a one horse race as people may suspect (Old Faithful will surely be there abouts come the end of the season).

Roll on Brands.

Mark

The club had booked the new Ty Croes coastal circuit for a practice day on the Friday, this being the CRMC's first ever visit to this circuit on the Isle of Anglesey. This would give team Molnar Manx the opportunity to test some setup modifications to suit team new boy Mike "spike" Edwards

Warm Up

Unfortunately Friday dawned wet and windy fit only for ducks so we learnt very little other than it's always cold in Wales.

Assemble Area

Saturday race day started off, dry, with Mike taking an emphatic win on the 350, team mate Vanni 4th and my old man having a wobble round 6th in class. The 500 was not so successful 3rd for Mike as we experimented with the setup. Then the heavens opened leaving the rest of the weekend wet, not that this bothered Mike and Vanni who had a 1st and 3rd. The 500 race got a bit exciting when the unfortunate Alan Oversby slid off infront of Mike who tried evasive action but couldn't help running over Alan's legs on his way to a bit of grass tracking. Now towards the back of the field Mike produced the ride of a lifetime with some adrenalin pumping overtaking moves passing people on the corkscrew but ran out of laps before he could close down eventual winner Lee Gourlay. We had a good night in the pub afterwards!

Tactics

We awoke on Sunday to constant drizzle but at least the wind had died down. The team had a stunning 1, 2 in the first 350 race with Vanni beating Gourlay to second place. Unfortunately the success went to his head and he binned it in the 350 National which Mike won as well as the next 350 race with Vanni going down again! The 500 National was a real thriller with Mike and Gourlay having a right good ding dong never separated by more than 3 meters until Gourlay lost the back with 2 laps to go. This time round Vanni not crashing. The final race was a Molnar Manx demonstration of pure class with Mike easing it into first with Luke Notton second on Brian Camp's 95 bore.

Quick Talk

So Mike goes to the next round at Lydden (luckily not in Wales) leading all the championships he is competing in on a Molnar Manx.

Word: Richard Molnar
Pictures: Jennifer Edwards

Classic Club - Pembrey 22-23 March 2008

Andy Molnar and Mike Edwards

Team Molnar Manx 'new boy' Mike Edwards started his classic racing career with a bang, taking the lead from Lea Gourlay at the end of the first lap of his first ever classic race. Although Gourlay went on to regain the lead and ultimately narrowly win the 1st race, Edwards showed that with the 95 bore Molnar Manx, he will certainly give the established classic stars a run for their money.

Talking Tatics

Mike enjoyed riding the ultra short stroke 350 even more than the 500. The weather conditions were atrocious with freezing temperatures gale force winds then heavy rain!

Bad weather

Suffice to say Mike found the limit of adhesion of our Avons, and then went a little too far......! He ended the weekend with 2 wins 7 seconds and a crash. Not a bad start.

Grass tracking

Team mate Vanni Jensen had some good results too with a couple of 3rds and other top 6 placings plus a collection of the best welsh mud when he slipped of his 350!

Vanni Jensen

Roll on Anglesey 26-27th of April. It must be warmer there.

Word: Richard Molnar
Pictures: Jennifer Edwards