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GORDON JACKSON - A
MARK IN HISTORY - FIFTY YEARS ON
This year’s Scottish Six Days Trial (SSDT)
will be special for many of its visitors. However, for one man the
2011 event will be significant for more than just its centenary
celebrations. That man is Gordon Jackson, who, fifty years ago won
the SSDT in remarkable fashion, dropping just one single mark over
the multi-day marathon. It is a record that still stands to this
day and looks unlikely ever to be repeated.
Jackson, who is the only person to have won the British Trial
Championship on both two and four wheels, had triumphed in
Scotland three times prior to his single dab victory in 1961. In
fact, during the eleven times that he rode at the SSDT between
1952 and 1962 he only finished out of the top three once.
“It was an event that suited my style of riding,” said
Jackson, who is now seventy-nine-years-old. “I love it, too.
There is something magical about the SSDT that is missing at other
Trials. Perhaps it is the landscape, the grandeur of the
Highlands, but whatever it is I only have fond memories of riding
there. It was very good to me.”
“I am proud that my record still stands,” continued Jackson.
“I know the course has changed over the years and they have
added to its severity, but the bikes are much better these days
too. We did not have sticky tyres and other advances in technology
that are around now. It was a different style of riding back then
and, as I said, the SSDT suited the way I rode, so it was a
combination of things that contributed to my success there.”
During Jackson’s era he fought with the likes of Sammy Miller,
Hugh Viney, Jeff Smith, Arthur Lampkin and Artie Radcliffe on his
factory AJS, many of whom he still counts as good friends today.
In fact, Miller, who owns a museum in New Milton, Hampshire,
recently found and bought Gordon’s SSDT- winning 350cc AJS and
has been busy restoring it to its former glory.
“We are a tight group and it is great that we still see each
other to this day,” said Jackson. “We go to the SSDT every
year and it is like a reunion for us. Naturally we are
particularly interested in the pre-65 event, as we are nostalgic
and we still adore those old bikes. I am really looking forward to
it this year. It is fifty years since ‘that’ victory in ’61
and one hundred years since the Trial began, so it will be a very
special occasion for everyone involved.”
To make the centenary celebrations even more memorable for Gordon,
and in recognition of his achievements, the SSDT’s organisers
have asked the four-times winner to present the awards to this
year’s victors. “I am honoured to be invited to hand out the
awards,” proclaimed Jackson. “I always look forward to my trip
to Fort William and this year is gearing up to be one of the best
yet.”
Marking its centenary, the 2011
Scottish Six Days Trial will take place in and and around Fort
William between Monday 2nd and Saturday 7th May - for more details
please visit www.ssdt.org
Click here to view the provisional 2011
SSDT entry list [EL]
Click here to view images [1]
[2]
[3]
High Resolution copyright free versions for media / editorial use
available on request.
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