ARIELS IN COMPETITION

 

Ariel invested time & money in factory riders & races in the early years of Ariel production.  Winning races gave Ariel its promotional muscle & helped to make it a well-respected marquee.

 

The Isle of Man races were the most publicized motorcycle racing event in Europe.

 

                 

     Jack Slaughter (1910 Ariel 482cc) Single Cylinder TT Race                    Charlie North (1911 Ariel 498cc) 1911 Senior TT Race

 

               

                 Len Newey (1913 Ariel 498cc) Senior TT Race                                E.H. "Gaffer" Littledale (1914 Ariel) 1914 Senior TT Race.

 

 

Ariel’s were more widely known for off-road competition.  The ACU Six Days' Trial (SDT) in the 1920's and the English SDT, Scottish SDT, and International SDT of the 1930's were extremely successful for Ariel.

 

     

                                                    1923 Riders                                                     1938 Trials Rider

 

 

1938 Trials Riders

 

In the USA, Lew Atkinson rode his customized 1938 Red Hunter in the 1942 Lancaster Ohio Races.  The Ariel was repainted in Maroon & Orange (rims too).  Lew was the Ohio State Amateur Champion for two consecutive years (note the #1 plate in the photos).

 

        

Lew Atkinson in 1938 (photos courtesy of his son, Ted Atkinson)

 

 

Ovide Pazzi rode 7 miles in 8 minutes (52.mph average) in a 1946 Canadian race on his late 1920's twin-port Ariel single.  Note the strange exhaust pipes in the photo below.

 

 

 

At least two Ariel’s raced in the 1977 Vintage MCC/BP & Brands Hatch races.

 

No. 88 is Gary Wyatt's 500cc VH (with 350cc oil tank & WD fuel tank).

Wyatt's Red Hunter won the Best Sprint Machine in 1976.

 

 

  

 

 

     

 

No. 14 is a sidecar outfit ridden by Leonard Ore & Dave Fox.  Another 500cc VH, it has BSA Empire Star forks and postwar 8" A10-type front brake.  Notice that the kick-starter and speedo drive openings have been blanked off.

(Photos courtesy of  "The Second Post-Vintage Racing Scene 1931-53)" from 1978.

 

 

 

In 1933 Ben Bickell decided the 500cc OHV Ariel Square Four was the best machine to take the motorcycle cup for the first multi-cylinder 500cc machine to cover 100 miles in one hour at the Brooklands track in England. Ben and his brother Joe, of Bickell and Sons in London, built an Ariel that would lap Brooklands consistently at over 110 mph.  However each time Ben attempted the actual record, the cylinder head blew or the cylinder base flange showed a tendency to part from the cylinder block, such was the power of the supercharged engine.  Ernie Smith (Ariel Selly Oak factory technician) tried to get a new block made up with a more robust flange but the designer Edward Turner resisted stating that everything must be standard.  The photos shown below are a replica of this racing motorcycle.

 

 

  

 

        

1933 Supercharged Ariel OHC Square Four 500cc Replica

(Built by Ted Woodrow in England in 2000)