RUST magazine: RUST #44

The Bike Shed Fesival
motorsport firmament ever since,
although actually always as a bit of an
outlier. It’s a small kidney-shaped circuit
set in a small valley, a real scratcher’s
track, known as much for the regular
rallycross competitions it hosts as
for road racing. It doesn’t have the
infrastructure nor the corporate swagger
of the big circuits – so it feels friendly,
maybe even slightly eccentric. Perfect
for the Festival.
Checking out the event details it was
evident this was not a gig you took an
R1 to, nor a YZ450F for that matter. This
is very much the time and place for the
inappropriate motorcycle. Here at RUST
we took a Triumph Bonneville T120
Ace. Being a homage to the rocker age
of the Ace Café and all, it has that Fifties
vibe and judging by the low footrests,
bench seat and – I must say – a fair
heft, clearly it was not made for racing.
So, ideal.
Quite how The Bike Shed guys
managed to get the event officially
sanctioned shows their mastery in
creative thinking and solutions. They
managed it, though, and so for not a
lot of money everyone got to play racer
for the day – you know, with a real
start, real set number of laps and real
chequered flag. That we were out there
w
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