Spring National
& Ken Redfern & Ian Watson Trophy
The first Spring
National meeting was held at Oliver’s Mount in May 1978 and has remained on the
racing calendar to the present day, it is an integral part of the successful
Scarborough season, comprising of a one day National meeting in April or May,
the two day National Cock o’ the North meeting in early July and the
International Gold Cup weekend in September.
For a number of
years the Spring National meeting was run under the title of the Ken Redfern Trophy and in 2005 was renamed to the title of the
Ian Watson Spring National Trophy, in memory of popular Yorkshire
rider Ian Watson, who tragically lost his life in a road accident.
Ken Redfern Trophy
Ken Redfern was one of the top privateers of his day and lived
very close to the Croft circuit. He started his racing at Croft in 1965, taking
his first big win two years later at Snetterton, but
really hit the headlines when he took on the ‘Works’ machines during the 1969
season. On his home-tuned 750 Norton, which was funded
on a limited budget by himself, family and friends, he shook the racing
establishment when this local working class lad on a British bike; finished
runner-up to the might of Italian splendour with the sport's greatest superstar
on-board it. At both the Cadwell Park International
and Mallory Park’s ‘Race of the Year’ he finished
second to World Champion Giacomo Agostini,
but in the process had beaten the country’s top riders including a number of
factory backed Grand Prix stars.
During his racing
career the front of Ken Redfern’s helmet was adorned
with a motif depicting a wild goose in full flight, surrounded by the winner’s
laurels, which represented the two great passions in his life; winning
motorcycle races and wildfowling. When Ken was tragically killed in a road
accident near Yarm on Saturday 30th May
1973, a magnificent trophy with those two emblems, handcrafted from solid
silver and antique bronze was presented to the North East Motorcycle Racing
Club (NEMCRC), who at the time ran the National meetings at Croft.
All of the initial
Ken Redfern meetings (1974 to 1981) were held at the
Croft circuit. At that time the NEMCRC was part of the Scarborough Racing Combine
and with the closure of the Croft circuit in 1981 they allowed the Ken Redfern Trophy to be used at Oliver’s Mount.
In 1990 the NEMCRC
split with the Scarborough Racing Combine and in 1991 began to run the Ken Redfern meetings at the Scottish Knockhill
circuit. The NEMCRC unfortunately found itself competing with established
promoters for available race dates within other regions and the holding of
events far from its North-East origins led to an inevitable drain on resources.
In 1997 the NEMCRC approached the Auto 66 Club and the Ken Redfern
trophy was back again at Oliver’s Mount, along with the Mac Hobson trophy which
is also owned by the NEMCRC. With the re-opening of the Croft circuit in 1995,
the Ken Redfern Trophy returned to its roots again in
2001 and the first Scarborough meeting of the
year reverted to its original Spring National title.
Ian Watson Trophy
Ian Watson started
his racing career at Carnaby in 1986, making his road
racing debut at Oliver’s Mount in April 1993, aboard his 250 Kawasaki. In 2000, with a few years of racing
now tucked under his belt, he entered for the Manx Grand Prix and got his first
100 mph lap in either his second or third practice session, culminating in a
sixth place in the Senior Newcomers race. His next visit to the Island was the
2002 MGP (due to the Foot and Mouth crisis in 2001), finishing 10th
in the Junior and 7th in the Senior, on his
600 Kawasaki,
at an average of 111.73 mph.
Having served his
apprenticeship at the MGP, he entered for the 2003 TT, the meeting starting
well with a lap at a fraction less than 117 mph on his 600 Kawasaki. However things did not go to plan,
his TT debut ending, when his big Aprillia 1000 twin
locked its rear wheel at Douglas Road Corner, resulting in a trip down the road
and a broken sternum. Irrepressible Ian bounced back, with backing from Alusaf Forestry Systems and the support of his local Saltburn, Cleveland community, he bagged four Bronze
replicas at the 2004 TT, scoring 24th place in the Formula One TT,
23rd in the 600cc Junior TT, 26th in the 600cc Production
TT and a fine 17th in the Standard Bank
Offshore Senior TT race, lapping at a personal
best of 118.45mph. He was also a member of the winning club team (Auto 66).
Over the years he
continued to improve with every visit to the Oliver’s Mount track, the course
becoming his favourite, with arguably his best performances being in July 2004,
when he finished second on his distinctive “Green Meanie”
1000 Kawasaki in the first leg of the Superbike
(175-1300cc) race and second in a leg of the Classic Superbike
(Geoff Barry Trophy), this time aboard Brian Scott’s 350 TZ Yamaha.
Ian sadly lost his
life in a road accident near Dishforth, on Sunday 27th
November 2004, when returning from a classic bike event in Leeds.
In May 2005, the inaugural Ian Watson Trophy was presented by Ian’s wife Julie
and his daughters Mandy and Emma to popular winner Guy Martin.
The Spring National
proves to be a popular non-stop day, packed full of racing, giving the riders a
chance to “blow off the winter cobwebs” and competition-test their machines
prior to the North West 200 and TT road races. Here are the previous title
holders of the Spring National, Ken Redfern and Ian
Watson Trophy :
|
Year
|
Rider
|
Machine
|
Meeting
|
|
1978
|
Steve Manship
|
750
Yamaha
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1979
|
Roger
Marshall
|
750
Yamaha
|
Spring National
Trophy
|
|
1980
|
First and
only April
|
International
meeting
|
|
|
1981
|
Bob Smith
|
750
Yamaha
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1982
|
Ian
Bell/Mark Salle
|
750
Yamaha/500 Suzuki
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1983
|
Mark
Salle
|
500 RG
Suzuki
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1984
|
Joey
Dunlop
|
500 Honda
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1985
|
Mark
Salle
|
500 RG
Suzuki
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1986
|
Mark
Phillips
|
500 RG
Suzuki
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1987
|
Dave
Leach
|
1000
Yamaha
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1988
|
Dave
Leach
|
500 RG
Suzuki
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1989
|
James Whitham
|
600
Suzuki
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1990
|
Mark
Phillips
|
750
Yamaha
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1991
|
Dean
Ashton
|
750
Yamaha
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1992
|
Rob Simm
|
600 Honda
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1993
|
James Whitham
|
750
Yamaha
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1994
|
David
Jefferies
|
926 Ducati
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1995
|
Dean
Ashton
|
955 Ducati
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1996
|
Dean
Ashton
|
955 Ducati
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
1997
|
Nick
Jefferies
|
750 RC45
Honda
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1998
|
David
Jefferies
|
1000 R1
Yamaha
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
1999
|
Dean
Ashton
|
750 R7
Yamaha
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
2000
|
John McGuinness
|
500 NSR
Honda
|
Ken Redfern Trophy
|
|
2001
|
Adrian
Archibald
|
900 Honda
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
2002
|
Cancelled
|
Due to
Fog
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
2003
|
Ryan Farquhar
|
1000 GSXR
Suzuki
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
2004
|
Guy
Martin
|
1000 GSXR
Suzuki
|
Spring
National Trophy
|
|
2005
|
Guy
Martin
|
1000 GSXR
Suzuki
|
Ian
Watson Trophy
|
|
2006
|
Ian Lougher
|
1000
Honda Fireblade
|
Ian
Watson Trophy
|
|
2007
|
Marc Ramsbotham
|
1000 GSXR Suzuki K6
|
Ian
Watson Trophy
|
| 2008 |
Ryan Farquhar |
1000 ZX10 Kawasaki |
Ian Watson Trophy |
| 2009 |
Ryan Farquhar |
1000 ZX10 Kawasaki |
Ian Watson Trophy |
| 2010 |
Ryan Farquhar |
1000 ZX10 Kawasaki |
Ian Watson Trophy |
| 2011 |
?????? |
????? |
Ian Watson Trophy |
