RIDEFAST DECEMBER 2021

He created a fully adjustable girder
(Hossack) style double front wishbone
suspension system which was linked to
an Ohlins racing shock. This was then
connected straight onto the engine,
which in turn formed a stressed member
of the chassis. Due to the lack of a
conventional frame, the bike was lighter
than the competition, weighing in at just
145kg.
The rear suspension was also an
example of out of the box thinking.
Instead of taking the easy route, the
rear shock was mounted in front of the
engine. Interesting – but the thought was
that with greater airflow, the shock would
run cooler.
At the time Carbon Fibre was still new
and really only used on formula 1 race
cars. John designed the interesting
faring, using wire stuck together with a
glue gun to form a basic outline. This
was then clay molded and formed in
home-made carbon fibre. He even made
the wheels and forks from the stuff -
unheard of at the time.
Track success:
What makes the Britten V1000 legend is
its on-track successes.
On its first outing at the 1992 Daytona
Supertwins race, the Britten led in
spectacular style. The class-leading
factory Ducatis just didn’t have the
power to keep up with the machine from
New Zealand. Racer Andrew Stroud
demonstrated this brilliantly by wheelying
away from his rivals at every opportunity.
Unfortunately, on the penultimate lap,
one of the few parts that Britten hadn’t
manufactured failed, denying the team its
first victory.
But even without the win, Britten had
proved that his concept worked.
In the following years the Britten
dominated at home and abroad. It won
the New Zealand National championship
in 1993 and 1994 and won multiple
British, European and American Race
Series (BEARS) races during the same
period.
Sadly, the Britten’s racing career wasn’t
all positive. When the team returned to
the Isle of Man TT after a successful test
year in 1993, they experienced a major
disaster. Their rider, Mark Farmer, a top
British road racer at the time crashed
in practice at the fearsomely fast bend,
Black Dub and was killed instantly.
After an inquest it was found that the
accident wasn’t due to bike failure, but
the tragedy certainly put a damper the
team’s 1994 efforts.
In 1995, after a few years of key
development, the bike won the BEARS
championship outright and embarrassed
the competition at Daytona, finishing an
unbelievable 43 seconds ahead of the
closest rival…
Record Breaker:
In 1994, The Britten V1000 smashed four
FIM World Speed Records in the 1000cc
class, the most impressive being the
Britten’s astounding 188mph (302kph)
flying mile.