In terms of the IoM Centre Championship, 46 year-old Dicky Gale is the IoM’s most successful sidecar passenger. Run throughout the season at Jurby Airfield’s various circuits, Dicky took his sixth title in 2007. The drivers’ and passengers’ championships are actually independent of each other, but Dicky did, in fact partner Brian Kelly throughout the season; Dicky relates the final day of the season, ‘going into the last race we could both win our individual titles by winning. Brian had to win and hope that James Melvin who was leading the drivers’ championship either broke down or finished lower than 6th. I had to win the race as Lee Cain had decided not to compete. Lee had been Melly’s passenger for most of the season but they had a
difference of opinion at an earlier meeting and had decided to compete with different partners. In the end we won the race quite easily so I was champion passenger but ‘Melly’ who was holding on to 2nd place had a coming together with another outfit and had his chair wheel punctured. He rode the last 2 laps with a flat tyre with smoke pouring out of it from the rubber burning into the wheel arch but the officials didn’t notice so he limped it home in 4th to claim the drivers’ title. For the Club Championship both drivers’ and passengers’ points are added together so Brian and I have defended that title together.’

Dicky’s first title as passenger was in 1986 when with Kevin Christian, then the following year with Denis Proudman, back with Christian for the following two seasons and finally with Brian Kelly in 2006. Dicky is the only person to have won four titles in consecutive seasons; coincidentally  Brian has also won six titles – a record for a driver. Interestingly, Dicky has probably benefited from one of the sport’s more controversial issues – ‘if it had not been for the ACU introducing the Mountain Course licence and the number of races to qualify for it, I would never had gone back to race at Jurby or been with Brian, so I suppose I owe them a vote of thanks.’ Featured elsewhere in this issue is Alan Langton, someone who has both driven and been a passenger of a sidecar – what about Dicky? Occasionally at track sessions have I driven, but my only experience driving an outfit at a race meeting came about in a strange way back in ‘88. I had been competing with Kevin Christian at Jurby and we had won the first three races when we noticed that the exhaust had split on our TZ750 outfit. As we had no welding bottles with us we put the bike away before the last race of the day. Then, Ralph Knight came over and asked if would I passenger for him as his had to leave early. The organisers agreed to let me have a couple of practice laps to qualify and get used to the bike. Ralph must have got a bit excited with me in the chair as we went straight into the lead and held onto it for the first 2 laps, when we came flying into Nan’s Corner, a really tight left hander, much too fast. Ralph just knocked it down a few gears and threw it in. The chair wheel was well in the air and I had every thing apart from my toes hanging out the side to try to keep it balanced and thinking all  the time “ this is it, we are over” when bang we were back on three wheels going up the straight. I thought “well we got away with that one” and looked back to see where the second placed chair was when I noticed there was no driver on our bike
and we were still going up the track in 3rd gear. So I had to leap across rodeo style to grab the bars and steer the bike off the track and stop it. After I stopped it Ralph came running up chased by the marshals and tried to drive off again when I hit the kill switch. “Why did you do that “he asked “we can still win this race” that’s when he looked down and saw that there was hardly any thing left of his glove and his hand was a bloody mess, and promptly collapsed. I found out then that when we had been up on two wheels all Ralph’s weight had been on the twist grip and the rubber had slid of throwing him out of the bike and jamming the throttle open. That was my only time driving an outfit in a race.’

It’s always interesting to hear how people became involved in our sport. Well, in Dicky’s case “lager” had a big influence. He’d been out doing a spot of under-age drinking at the Bay View in Port St Mary with his mate, Bobby and – ‘when his dad Wally Leece saw us staggering through the kitchen door he made me stay and get some coffee into me before I went home. He asked me if I’d ever fancied having a go at being a passenger. I said I had always fancied a go, so he suggested I could passenger for him if he ever got an outfit and me with beer on board, said “yes”. I then went home and forgot all about it, but he didn’t! In similar circumstances, a year or so later, Wally casually told me that he had paid off his mortgage, had just bought an outfit and so I had better get my licence sorted out as well as some leathers.’

Dicky’s first practice day was in February 1981 – certainly a memorable occasion; Dicky explains, ‘we had borrowed a Ford Transit van to get to the airfield, but on the way, the driver’s door fell off then after we put that on, the passenger door fell off and to cap it all off, the gear lever pulled out of the box. So, we changed into our leathers, drove the bike to my parents’ house and got a neighbour to tow us up to the airfield. After 2 laps of practice we stopped out on the circuit and another outfit driven by Dave Costain with his brother Barry as passenger, pulled up to see if they could help. While Barry was looking at our bike Dave waved to me to come over, I walked up and he pushed me on to his chair and set off round the track leaving Wally and Barry to get our bike back. We did 6 laps before we were red flagged and I got my first ever telling off by a clerk of the course on my first day on a track.’

Wally and Dicky did the whole season, gaining a second and two thirds. For the ‘82 season they bought a frame off another local rider, Eric Bregazzi, fitted a 900 Honda engine into it, but first time out on it blew it to pieces going down the back straight on the airfield. Wally then managed to get hold of a 1015 Kawasaki from a person who, though Dicky didn’t realise at the time, was going to have a big influence on his racing
career, Des Founds. The pair made their road racing debut together at Jurby road circuit in August - any incidents to report? ‘In practice we had come into the Cronk Hairpin at a good speed behind Artie and Edda Oates when, as I made my move to get out for the corner, Wally managed to go from 5th gear into 1st. This threw me straight out of the front of the bike and I landed on my back, bounced up in the air and found myself back on the bike again but on my back looking at the sky! During the race I kept wondering why the marshals were waving at us, so I kept waving back and it was only after at one corner I looked back to see we were on fire, the back calliper having got hot and melted the seals letting the brake fluid out onto the hot disc. I got Wally to stop and ran off to get an extinguisher with him sitting on the bike shouting “what’s wrong now” when he felt his foot getting warm and noticed that it was on fire as well as the bike. That was the best bit of dancing I had ever seen as he tried to put his boot out by jumping up and down at the side of the road.

That year, Dicky competed in his first S100 with another local rider, John Bullivant, winning the twin cylinder award donated by Dave Saville He also got to know newcomers Steve Webster and Tony Hewitt who smashed the lap record. Later in the same year Wally found out he had cancer, packed in racing and sadly died in early 83. Dicky teamed up with Denis Proudman who had bought Wally’s bike; they did a season at Jurby and the S100 with a little success. Dicky almost made his TT debut as he explains, ‘Webbo who was making his TT debut that year called me as Steve Sinnott needed a passenger, but by the time I had got up to the paddock Alan Langton had beaten me to it. So I signed on as a marshal and during the first lap of the first sidecar race had to pick up the pieces after Steve and Tony crashed right in front of me. I did not get the chance to meet up with Steve again until I went to race at Croft in 1998 and he came over and thanked me for picking him up then asked what had happened.’

As Dicky was not enjoying the sport as much without Wally, he packed up until Bob Munroe came calling in May ’84 – he wanted a passenger for the TT. Being a Manxman, Dicky had much knowledge of the course; nevertheless he prepared for his debut by riding many laps on his road bike, but, ‘the problem was that the course from a bike seat looks a lot different than from an outfit and as, with all newcomers, I over-worked the course passengering far too many corners that did not need it and not getting tucked away enough meaning that the wind-drag pulled the strength out of my arms.’ Also, I hadn’t sat on the bike before I turned up at the paddock for the first early morning practice and it was also the first time I had ridden with Bob. I also fell for the oldest trick in the book, that when you ask the more experienced passengers for advice they all say the same thing, “never look up when you go down Bray hill on your first flying lap” What’s all the fuss about I thought, I looked up - arrrrrggh why am I here?’ Dicky was very happy with his first race finish of 40th place, but there was quite a climax to his involvement in Race B, ‘we broke down in Parliament Square when we were dicing on the road with two other bikes; as we approached the Square our engine just stopped and we took to the slip road, but we didn’t realise that the other two outfits had followed us up the road as well by mistake, causing a little panic with the spectators.’ Mixed fortunes over the next few years at the TT – failure to qualify with Vince Winstanley, a coupe of finishes – 31st and 32nd – with Bob Munroe, engine problems beset his time with Mike Masheter, but his first Bronze Replica was secured in TT90 at the start of the F11 era with Alan May.

What of TT92? ‘That was the start of my partnership with Des Founds and probably my best time in racing with the craziest gang of nutters in the paddock; we didn’t finish either race but we had some real fun. TT93 saw Des and me get a Bronze in Race B but another dnf in Race A when Des “kissed the valves with the pistons” at Rhencullen. Another dnf in Race A of ’94 but we ended up with a finishers’ award for Race B despite running out of fuel on the last lap on the Mountain. Des got off the bike and asked the spectators to all shout “We believe in Manx fairies” I thought he was mad but the crowd did it and next thing a gallon can of petrol landed on the heather beside me. He had spotted Jock “Mad Dog” Muldoon in the crowd running towards his van and knew that he always carried a can of fuel with him; the crowd certainly enjoyed it. ‘95 saw us with our best TT together with a Silver and a Bronze and our first 100mph lap. TT96 saw another Bronze in Race A on my wedding day! I got married to Monika in the morning, raced and then had the reception!’ No luck with Des in 1997, but the following year Dicky teamed up with Greg Lambert, yielding a second Silver Rep with 8th place in the only race held. They had been holding on to 6th place starting the last lap but something broke in the steering and so they were lucky to get the bike home at all.

Two finishes, but no reps with Bill Currie in ’99; no ride in 2000 and no TT at all in 2001 due to the foot and mouth outbreak. The following year, Dicky agreed to ride with his regular classic pilot Albert ‘Brassic’ Price but was not happy with the way the bike handled and so, after practice, decided not to race, which was probably one of my biggest regrets ever in TT racing, letting ‘Brassic’ down then but I just did not feel safe.’ Some good finishes with Lars Schwartz over the next couple of years, but problems loomed, ‘2005 was the year that Lars had to gain his licence by ice racing and that is all I will say on that matter, apart from never again! However, it got us on the start line and two finishes. 2006 and Lars decided that he did not want to continue racing after all the trouble trying to get the Mountain Course licence. I advertised for someone to get me a ride at Jurby to qualify for the Mountain licence. Brian Kelly replied and we went so well together that Brian asked me to race with him permanently, but we had two dnfs at the TT.’ So what of the Centenary meeting? ‘It was brilliant for me personally, two Bronze reps with13th and 17th positions and our fastest ever lap at over 106mph. Our main problems came from different people giving us totally different advice on engine set up so we spent all fortnight chasing problems that had been caused from having the wrong electronics on the bike. We had practiced on the same engine all week, used it in Race A then put another engine in for Race B, went out for the practice lap between the races and it was a rocket but only took us as far as Crosby where it ate a plug and wrecked itself. So the old engine went back in and got us another replica.’ Dicky also competes in classic sidecar events, doing so at the Pre-TT Classic with Mike Cain, Graham Hilditch, Greg Lambert but mostly Albert “Brassic” Price. He also had a few rostrum places at the S100, the best year being ‘94 when, as Dicky explains, ‘I had a 3rd with Albert on the classic, then two 3rd places with Greg in the F2 Class; I then jumped on with Vic Jefford in the Open Class as his passenger had  been hurt in his first race. We ended up with a 2nd place which maybe is a record of four race starts with three different drivers in the same year on the Billown Course and all on the rostrum!’

Dicky has been plying his trade for many years, so what makes a good TT passenger? ‘Most people would say that you need to be crazy or have had your brain removed, but for me I would say you have got to be able to have complete trust in the other guy on the bike. For most of the lap you have your head down behind the fairing, not seeing where you are going, just listening to the engine note to give you an idea of when to get ready to move. I find the TT is such a long race that you have to be able to concentrate for longer than any other and that makes you as mentally tried as you are physically. Once you have your handles in the right place and can get comfortable on the bike you find places that you can almost relax your grip with your hands just to get a breather. I can honestly say that all the way from Glen Helen to Ginger Hall there are only about 7 or 8 corners that I have to move for. From Ginger Hall to Ramsey you do not passenger, you just hang on and cope with the bumps, but the faster you can ride it the less bumpy it is as you are jumping over a lot of them.’ The bulk of Dicky’s racing has been on the IoM, but he did venture to the continent with Des Founds. ‘Belgium was a fantastic place to go as it was all road circuits and the crowds were fantastic. They start the race behind the fences but as the race goes on, they get closer and closer and by the last lap they are on the track. On the slow down lap they are standing in front of you to shake your hand or slap you on the back and hand you beers as you go past. In ‘95 we won the Sealink Award for the best F2 team competing on the continent’ Dicky’s also raced in the Irish Republic, ‘but every time I’ve raced there I have ended up in hospital after big crashes at the Fore and Mondello Park so I’ll stick to the Manx roads, thanks.

What are the plans for 2008? ‘They are based around the TT. Dave Molyneux is building us a new stealth faring, as we damaged ours in a crash in last year’s S100 when we hit the wall outside my own house. We will not be doing much racing at Jurby Airfield, so defending the title is not in the plans. We may do the road races at Jurby and possibly the Southern if we still have a bike. Brian has decided that this will be his last season so there are no plans for anything else race wise, apart from my normal jaunts on the classic sidecars with Albert.’ How does our man from the south of the IoM, a bus fitter by profession and who, incidentally has received his long service award from the TT Marshals’ Association see the future of the TT? ‘The way sidecar racing is going at the moment it is the growth class with more and more top runners coming over to tackle the course. I have to admit that when Kalffi came over first time I thought it was just a publicity stunt with a big payday for him, but he went about it the right way and proved that you can become competitive very quickly with the right attitude. Now we have got the current world champion coming to race here. Could you ever think that Toseland or Stoner will ever turn up to race here? The technical advances in the frames of the machines makes them so fast around the corners it’s a job to hang on if you are not in just the right place at the right time. I started riding round the TT on a 998 Suzuki outfit then we progressed to the screaming two strokes which were my favourites of all time and they used to pull your arms out of your sockets on acceleration but nothing compares to the feeling of cornering you get now. ‘My biggest worry is now the MMCC has lost the organisation of the meeting and the ACU has taken over again will the rider’s receive the same level of support?’

What about hobbies? ‘I am heavily involved in the football scene, being a qualified Level 2 FA Coach. Monika and I organise all the junior fixtures for all the age groups from U16 girls and U15 boys down to U11 mixed football. This covers about 1500 children and every weekend sees us co-ordinating the movement of over 1200 people around the Island for matches. I coordinate the results for the press and deal with the sponsors, pitch bookings, trophies and all the other things with the help of a few gallant individuals. Not least the wife. We also run the thriving junior set up at our local club Colby AFC that has over 250 children in it including our own – Marc, 16, Tommy, 15, Jim, 11 and Ben, 9 - as well as being the groundsman, pitch marker and doing sundry other jobs around the club. I also manage the ladies’ team in which Monika plays; we only started this team last year and they have gone form next to bottom to the top 5 this season. We took
them away last summer to Switzerland to play. Colby is a very close thing to my heart as the club was founded back in 1919 by my grandfather and his brother when they came home from the First World War where they both served in the trenches; they were the only brothers from the area who returned home. After that my father played and was President of the club and now it’s down to me and my family.’ Talking of his family, his youngest, Ben was the cause of a bit of a family problem, Dicky explains, ‘when I rode with Greg Lambert we found out on the morning of the race that Monika was pregnant so we told Greg when we got to the paddock, but did not tell anyone else; he was sworn to secrecy. After the race, I was going on the parade lap so left the team and merrily went off only to break down at Ginger Hall so we went to the pub and all these people kept coming up and congratulating me. I thought it was because we had finished 8th and was happy with that until a mate of mine said the same congrats then he added on the baby! Greg had announced it live on Radio TT and we had not even had the chance to tell mine or Monika’s parents. We got a lot of stick over that.’

A final comment from Dicky, ‘I’d like to give my thanks to all my helpers over the years, far too many to list but I feel I do have to mention Big Phil and Bunter from Team Founds who have become Godparents to two of my boys, and to Ferret, Kate and Mark, the pit crew for Brian and me and of course the wife, Monika for putting up with it all and my Mum and Dad, Joan and Fred Gale as I have lived my Dad’s dreams really but on 3 wheels instead of 2. Sidecar racing has given me some of the best and worst moments in my life and I will be very sad to say goodbye to it when the day comes, but one thing is for sure when you see Brian and me or ‘Brassic’ and me go past we will have the biggest smile on our faces possible because it’s one hell of a thrill and the most fun you can have with your leathers on, or off!

A brilliant story – thanks, Dicky.

Further information about John’s work can be obtained via man-x@manx.net or 7 Greeba Road, Willaston IM2 6NJ