No bikes at Brighton Speed Trials 2023

FOR decades now, Madeira Drive in Brighton would reverberate to the sound of engines every September, as the Brighton Speed Trials took to the famous stretch of road.

This year’s event will be a little bit different though, as no motorcycles will be taking part in the event. The decision was taken after the VMCC Sprint Section deemed that the road layout at the venue was no longer suitable for two and three-wheeled competition without additional safety features being installed to help reduce the risk to riders.

The decision to pull two and three-wheelers out of the event has been taken after the VMCC Sprint Section deemed the new decorative road surface, additional street furniture, and a narrowing of the road towards the finish line as the main reasons for the withdrawal. It also states that while some safety measures have been implemented, Armco barriers and tyre walls, the VMCC only deems these to be ‘proportionally safe for cars but not for motor cycles’. The VMCC goes on to say that should the course be made safe for bikes, trikes and sidecars to take part, the cost of upgrades would have to be borne by the club, and that is something they say they simply cannot afford.

Bikes have been absent from the event since 2019, and while the organisers, the VMCC Sprint Section and Brighton and Hove Motor Club have worked hard to get them back into the event, it now sadly looks like the last runs for motorcycles may have already been completed.

The first race along Madeira Drive took place in 1905 after the council were persuaded to Tarmac the road with a view to holding the competition. The fastest time along the quarter-mile course is held by John Siggery with a time of ​​9.38 seconds set in a Geronimo Dragster in 1971. 

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