Hanks for the memories

5 min read

British sidecar champion and TT winner Roy Hanks had an extraordinary life in racing, ably assisted by most of his close relatives. Roy’s now written a book about their life on three wheels – here’s a taste of it

Roy and Norman Hanks

“This is me and Gerald Daniel chasing my brother Norman and the ever-argumentative John ‘Gobby-Goggles’ Glastonbury at Brands Hatch in 1972. I’d be watching for smoke off Norman’s front tyre, which is why John had to be up over his shoulder, trying to get the front to grip. Norman was still on big 16in wheels, while my car tyre had far more traction.

For the record, while ours looked like ex-works Daytona-spec engines, they weren’t. Sure, they had the fancy remote Lucas contact breaker assembly on the right, but they were actually Norman’s own home-brewed bottom-end conversions, copied from what the factory were doing. It helped having a brother who worked in the BSA Comp Shop!”

THE HANKS FAMILY

Roy

Your caption-writer for this feature has – among many other things – finished 54 TTs, collected 47 Replicas and won 1997’s Sidecar Race A.

Fred (Roy’s dad)

Did the Dutch and Belgium GPs each year and raced Manx and G45 big-wheelers in the 1950s, before swapping to ‘sitter’ BSA A65s in the 1970s.

Norman (Roy’s oldest brother)

Won the British title in 1972, but decided he wouldn’t race again unless he had the equipment to beat the best. Unfortunately, that chance never came.

Peter (Roy’s other brother)

A good racer, but he had other interests, like the Double Zero Club – Birmingham’s equivalent to the Ace Cafe.

Rose (Roy’s wife)

The first woman to stand on the TT podium – and one of the best passengers of her day. She only stopped racing when daughter Julie came along, and by the time she was ready to race again Norman had packed in. “I still feel guilty about that,” says Roy. “As well as nearly killing her in 1970, with no brakes down Bray Hill at the TT...”

Gerald Daniel (Roy’s brother-in-law)

Roy’s regular passenger, who went on to marry his sister Beryl.

Tom (Norman’s son)

Roy’s passenger in the 1980s, Tom then drove himself, winning five British Championships before Roy won his. “Kids, eh?” says Roy. Tom did GPs too – but, like his dad, he struggled to get the best machinery.

Julie (Roy and Rose’s daughter)

Raced with her husband Paul and did the TT with other drivers too. Passengering with Roy, she won the Darley Moor Championship six times between 2005 and 2015.