Blood on the Track: The Man Who Made Motorcycle Racing More Deadly

[@GrandadTinkerer]

Back in the days when the BBC was still worth watching!

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

lol, yep, i signed out of TV for good last year

[@markholroyde9412]

@@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness Mine went 14 years ago, dont miss it at all, scumbag Cooper was right about one thing though...the BBC are scum...i.e. Jimmy Saville and all his cronies etc all these years later....hmm....

[@richardcarr7557]

Thank you for another great video. As a teenager Dave Potter was my favourite rider, he gave me some stickers and autographed my program at the Transatlantic trophy meeting. Such a shame that the people running the sport did not care about the safety of the riders.

[@barebonesmc]

Many memories of Dave, and the Transatlantic was always fantastic racing 🙂

[@paultruesdale7680]

Complaint’s about Mr Cooper is one thing, saying the whole organization didn’t care is wrong. I got my initial training from the RAC/ACU motorcycle course, which was one of the best for new riders. Even today, at several tracks around the world there are dangerous hazards, no blaming Mr Cooper, he’s long passed.

[@barebonesmc]

@@paultruesdale7680 listen to Roberts and Sheenes comments about the ACU. they knew better than most i would say

[@t395delta]

I pray the TT is never cancelled, just finished my 5th visit to the island, and love it. It has been make "safer" Bails, Marshalls, road quality, helicopter rescue etc etc and I don't think it should ever be part of the GP or WSB seasons but it should not be cancelled, riders and spectators alike know the risks. Ask Michael Dunlop if it should be cancelled.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

i would agree completely mate

[@neilgill2269]

Motorcyclists, in all forms,have always been treated as second class humans, started riding at 16, still riding at 75, when that poor lass started to cry, It bought back memories of lost friends ,......so sad.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

we should always remember

[@Bok2022st]

Slightly before my time I think but Barry Sheene posters all over the bedroom wall that was for sure along with the 1/2 at Bathurst in the big Ford coops these were the days of Real Racing May these lost riders ride their iron horses in the sky god bless the two wheeled warriors of the world

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

well put :-) hope all is well and the sun is shining down there :-)

[@diggy-d8w]

Thank you for the quick-start education I'm receiving. I've never followed any motorcycle or racing of any kind so this is as good as it gets seeing the video footage. That said, the phrase, "Nanny State" slammed right thru my brain b/c it surely is true that power/control of people is perhaps a bigger addiction than alcohol or drugs have ever been or will ever be...... Again, thanks for the wok(s). Be safe out there & GB ALL

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

cheers mate, have a great week

[@diggy-d8w]

And you as well, Sir.

[@jeffrobinson8430]

Back when we had reporters!! Thanks for sharing this. Fair play to Clive Horton for speaking up at the time.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

they were wild days

[@jeremyharris5102]

Very interesting video. I think that the only way that the tt could be made safe would be to ban it, which I think would be a very bad idea. All road racing is dangerous and by definition is full of deathtraps. I think that the participants are the bravest of all sportsmen. I think that we also need to remember that we are watching a documentary from nearly fifty years ago with our mentality of today. Safety wasn't an issue to the extent that it is today,it was still in its infancy.Compared to the gp circuits of today it's unbelievable to think what the circuits were like in the 70's. I had never even heard of this man before and I didn't see the documentary at the time . Just my thoughts, thank you

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

there will always be deaths in a dangerous sport, the key bit is the unavoidable ones for me. If VC had listened to Kim Newcombe, or Mac Hobson, they might still be alive. if he had acted timely with the Dave Potter crash, he could have been saved. unnecessary deaths are just that. the sport claims enough without adding to the toll

[@jeffstratton8838]

Awesome job, learned a few things very interesting 👍

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

glad you enjoyed it mate

[@Australian_Made]

· just one word and it's a fitting word .... INCREDIBLE !!!

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

cheers mate, glad you appreciate it

[@Free_Ranger_CT110]

Thanks for uploading this, yeah I remember Vermin Cooper's callous comment 'the throttle works both ways.' Despicable man.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

i still feel a bit sick when i think of the losses he was directly implicated in. the Kim Newcombe and Mac Hobson deaths were completely avoidable and in my view he should have been up on manslaughter charges harsh as that may sound

[@Free_Ranger_CT110]

@@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness no, not harsh, justifiable.

[@edstobbs9478]

Cooper didn't give a toss about the riders, I used to marshall at Oulton Park, he refused to a abandon a race in the wet when around 15 riders fell on the first lap, one rider died. V C was an arrogant bastard only interested in personal power!

[@barebonesmc]

From a man who knows 😡

[@cbrboy76]

Thanks for putting that up, bit before my time so i never saw it, i only remember roger cook from the late 80's. Never knew about all this happening with the ACU. If you ever watched the movie 'senna' there was the same thing happening with the FIA, drivers were nothing in the FIA's eyes and senna was outspoken about safety at tracks or lack of it, it was almost exactly the same as what happend with the ACU except scarily ithe FIA's behaviour went on for alot longer.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

it is sad, Senna was a legend. too many lost unnecessarily

[@jimamizzi1]

Very interesting

[@keithwinters3031]

Shows what V.C. ever knew about bikes..... ' drivers '

[@Australian_Made]

I waa thinking the same thing. 😡😡😡😡

[@gareth3507]

Very interesting documentary, thanks for posting! 👍

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

Glad you enjoyed it mate, it still raises questions for me that were never answered

[@RichardCummins-ni4em]

20.29 Kenny Roberts 160 MPH through puddles on slicks ! Big brass ones.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

the days when aquaplaning was a word used all the time in racing

[@thegrinch7989]

no one has ever accused Kenny Roberts of being timid

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

@@thegrinch7989 indeed 🙂

[@freemenofengland2880]

Strange to see how Mr Cooper had better communication with the local fuzz than his own track marshals. Was he a freemason?

[@barebonesmc]

That was always one of the rumours

[@freemenofengland2880]

@@barebonesmc 👍

[@barebonesmc]

🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂

[@freemenofengland2880]

@@barebonesmc Freemasonary would also help explain how he managed to get to the top and then get away with a blatant disregard for rider's safety for so long.

[@barebonesmc]

@@freemenofengland2880 indeed it would, i do think its an abomination that he was never charged with anything, and i literally can only find the internal ACU investigation which was a whitewash, especially with Mac Hobson and Kim Newcombe, he was inextricably and directly implicated with no argument, just as with Dave Potter where he was shown to have lied about the straw bales and not just that, tried to conceal evidence by publishing photos from AFTER the crash when the bales had been put up. ok rant over lol. it does make my blood boil

[@crashtestgoat]

Very interesting video. I agree that safety should be pursued as much as possible without diminishing the race. Thanks Barebones. 😎🐐

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

there is always a balance, this in some ways for me, was less about the safety itself, but about the ignorance and poor decision making of Vernon Cooper, lives were lost unnnecessarily because he didnt listen to the riders, his decisions cost the lives of too many great riders. hope all is well mate, #GOATARMY 🙂

[@crashtestgoat]

@BareBonesBackUp I agree very sad and could have been avoided

[@barebonesmc]

@@crashtestgoat hope life is treating you well mate. Had an unrestricted section of autobahn yesterday and was thinking of you and the goat army 😊

[@davemarriott]

The BBC being "the scum of the earth" was only plus for Vernon Cooper.

[@barebonesmc]

lol

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

what can i say lol

[@user-zu6qn9ux9n]

They sure are that.

[@a34rwl]

Cops doing his bidding. The 'good old days' eh?

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

good and bad in all age groups, unfortunately the shit seems to float most oftem 🙂

[@rolfdejonge3915]

We will certainly remember our fallen heroes on metal horses! May they Rest In Peace! 👀👽💥🌟🌀🙏

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

one and all

[@pkjmfineart1593]

Had Mr Head Knob ever even ridden a motorcycle? Or know anyone that actually owned one? I was too young to know much about all this at the time. Wow 0.o is all Ive got to say.

[@barebonesmc]

He knew them. He just didn’t care

[@davesandall4530]

Rip Mike Trimby

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

and all the other fallen heroes who's lives could have been saved

[@grahambarton1942]

When the BBC did things that were worthwhile as well as interesting l.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

It was an interesting watch 🙂

[@thegrinch7989]

@5:54 oh sure, Giacomo Agostini and Barry Sheene think that they can't win LOLOLOLOLOL

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

not the brightest comment :-)

[@TringmotionCoUk]

Roger Cook was good. It's a sad state of affairs when his modern counterparts barely get a look in.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

too many people just smoothing the way for the idiots these days

[@chrisweeks6973]

Sadly, such an attitude is not confined to motorcycle racing. For almost four decades I was involved in motorsport on two continents, both as an official and as a driver and saw first-hand that competitor safety was often of minimal interest to those at the top of the administrative tree. Likewise, I had an involvement in aviation, where one national controlling body was referred to as the "conspiracy against safe aviation."

[@barebonesmc]

the sad reality, when business runs runs racing

[@thebawzrittenhouse1433]

Dont participate if you dont feel safe . Thats it

[@barebonesmc]

@@thebawzrittenhouse1433 easy to say if you arent fighting for a championship

[@dogpaw775]

poor marshal training can still be addressed in 2024, just look at IOM footage today. it;s the TRAINING, the marshals themselves are doing the best they can and mostly through a passion for the sport, governing bodies and organisers take advantage with insufficient input.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

a fair point

[@Nick-Emery]

I disagree, the TT is second to none with rider safety and marshalling. The Travelling marshals are basically paramedics and there are marshals every 100ft or so. Just look at the races that have been cancelled due to wet/damp roads this week. I also watched Davo Johnson crash right infront of me at K-tree on Sundays superbike race, he was doing approximately 150mph… the marshals did a first class job and the helicopter to air lift him away had landed in minutes! Absolutely class organisation.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

@@Nick-Emery just to be clear, my comment wasnt anything negative about the marshals, and i do think the TT have gone to greater lengths than many over recent years (they HAD to) but that better training more often is usually a good thing

[@phillippitts6294]

Dave Aldana !

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

Ive got some Transatlantic footage with him in i will sort out at some point too :-) Enjoy the ride my friend

[@lucvanwijland9243]

Bizar

[@barebonesmc]

Sad. Very sad

[@menelik-present5242]

he was right about BBC, well in advance of most people.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

that doesnt excuse his failures though

[@barryconaghan7248]

He is worse than a snake 🐍

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

fair words 🙂

[@jonb3311]

It's very sad that morons have used this video to attack the BBC. It was all but impossible to remove Cooper from the ACU. Like so many similar sports, the jacket brigade stayed there because no one else was prepared to replace them. Few if, any former racers, trials or motocross riders put themselves up for ACU positions. If they had, things will may have been different. As for circuits having huge run off areas and high fences - that has come about due to spectators, as well as drivers/riders being killed and injured. Insurers don't want to pay for the likes of what happened at Le Mans back in the 50's, when dozens were killed, when a car flew into a grandstand.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

always there is a balance. but the power structure of the ACU at the time wouldnt have had riders anywhere near the positions of power they needed to be in to make a difference

[@michaellowe5980]

Ridiculous blaming the isle of man track for being unsafe! Its a series of country roads , not a prepared race track. If people decide to race around there then its on them, they know the risks.

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

that isnt what this was about. it was about poor decision making and a corrupt man who didnt care

[@thebawzrittenhouse1433]

People love to blame anyone else than themselves . Weak ! Ive done extreme sports all my life and if i die i know fully well that its my own fault

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

ask yourself, if someone else blames you for their own failings, should that be ok?

[@thebawzrittenhouse1433]

Dont participate if you think its not safe enough .

[@BareBonesMCMyMotorcycleMadness]

doesnt alter certain things. like if you are in a race and a fallen rider is in danger, if the organisers says "carry on its ok" and you do, then hit the rider who is down because you cant see them until its too late, then both you and the other rider die, is that ok? will your family think so?