My first thread here with a bit of a personal cry for help.
My father, who I didn't know for nearly all my life, (he and my mum divorced when I was about 3 and he never made contact again), recently passed away. He has quite a back story, which also includes working in Williams F1 machine shop in Didcot when they first started out.
My reason for joining this forum is because in the early to mid or late 1970's, he was a sidecar racer, I believe at club level rather than big time GP or TT.
He was apparently pretty good and something else I've been told is that he built his own outfits. I've done a little research because I've managed to get in touch with an old Williams colleague of his who knew he raced sidecars and also knows someone who rode in the sidecar for Dad.
I managed to find on Google a PDF copy of a motorcycle race meet program in I think 1975, that took place in Colerne, Wiltshire in which Dad is mentioned as an outfit in one of the heats.
His name was Brian Mark and his sidecar oppo was a guy called Richard Polley. Richard also worked at Williams as a van driver. I've been passed a phone number for him as apparently he still lives in Didcot.
Also if this is true, my Dad was also the first racer to have a woman in the sidecar!
One other bit of info is that the outfit they were riding in this meet was a BM650? That would possibly match with what I heard about him building his own bike?
So if anyone knows anything about my Dad or his career it would be much appreciated, indeed any info on where I can find anything would be great too.
Thanks in advance,
Ricky Mark
