When Mark Upham, CEO of the revived Brough Superior — “The Rolls Royce Of Motorcycles” — showed up at the Bonneville Speed Trials in 2011, it signaled Brough Superior’s first return to the salt since 1949 when British rider Noel Pope raced — and crashed — a specially prepared Brough, the streamlined “Silver Fish,” at racing’s holiest of shrines. Rider Eric Patterson made one record run, clocking 124.98mph on an 1,150cc running in the 1,350cc class.
Upham returned for 2013 with veteran racer and motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart and British TV presenter and motorcyclist Henry Cole, who campaigned the 750cc “Baby Pendine” in the 750cc class. The nickname pays homage to the original Pendine Racer, named for Pendine Sands in Wales where Brough made many runs in the 1920s. Cathcart and Cole rode the Pendine to four new records. Cathcart took the FIM Mile at an average speed of 101.329-85mph, the FIM Kilometer at an average of 101.329 and the 750A-PS-VG (special construction, partially streamlined, vintage gas) at 101.3285. Cole took the AMA 750A-VF (special construction, vintage fuel) with an average speed of 99.78mph. MC
