Recollections from those who were there

The excursion in the winter of 1995 to Malta for the club and its members did not turn out as expected. When the promoters initially  approached the club it was for the Bemsee management to provide Race Office staff, marshals and officials for the International meeting at an ex WWII airfield on the island that had been converted for racing, all expenses were to be paid by the  promoter of the event.

Unbeknown to the club it's  headed paper had been used to offer riders an all expense trip to the island in the winter sunshine. Most people had probably entered as they thought it was a Bemsee meeting. Only after 6 of the promoters shipping containers were loaded and on the high sea  did pieces of the jigsaw begin to fall into place, and a Maltese rat was smelt. The club then had a dilemma did it distance itself from the event or go and look after our members interests, it chose the latter.

Things went from bad to worse when the club officials and marshals arrived there, accommodation and transport had not been paid for by the promoter as promised, and nearly all of the promised race facilities were not in place. Crowd control and safety was non existent, as were fire extinguishers, and facilities for timekeepers and public address system. Practice did get started but had to be stopped twice, once for 2 dogs humping in the middle of the back straight, and then when 2 police motorcyclists decided to ride the track the wrong way round with racers flying past them in the opposite direction!

St. John Ambulance staff arrived with an invoice for the promoter for the weekend's medical cover. The promoter's response was that they didn't have any money. St. John's people said that in that case, they were taking their ambulances and staff home.  . . .End of race meeting ! 
Then all manner of nightmares started appearing from every conceivable orifice. Disappointed spectators summoned local police, who insisted that the promoters refund all gate money or risk arrest. So the club saw, what was later found out to be, the entire finance for the meeting disappearing from the promoter's grasp.

Word got out quite quickly on a small island and everyone who was owed money by the promoter turned up demanding payment, from the contractors who had laid the tarmac on the circuit, to the haulage firm moving the bike containers between the port and circuit. It turned out that the promoters, who by then had disappeared like the Maltese Falcon, had promised the 6 containers of bikes as collateral against the debits owed ! £200,000 alone for the tarmac. A court writ was very hastily issued on Friday afternoon impounding the shipping  containers full of bikes. It was on the Monday that some marshals, officials and some riders managed to fly off the island back to UK.

Dave Stewart, then a competitor at the event, rallied the Bemsee troops and the fight began. In the UK demonstrations were conducted outside the Maltese embassy, and radio, TV and newspaper press releases circulated to publicise the injustice. In Malta, the Malta Historic Motorcycle Club harangued the race promoters,  St. John Ambulance, the Minister for Sport and the Malta government, in the local press and radio on our behalf.

The club hired a brilliant highly regarded Maltese lawyer recommended by the British Ambassador in Malta. On the club's behalf, the lawyer issued 2 sample counter writs in the names of bike owners. Meanwhile the rent on the containers continued to mount. Through the lawyer's efforts the writ on the containers were released, but by the time the club had paid the legal fees, there was only just enough cash left in the bank to pay the £63,000 bill to get the containers shipped back to the UK. Whilst leaving the club strapped for cash it stood by it's members in their time of need.

It is fair to say that the Board of the club were duped by the promoters of the event, possibly greater due diligence with hindsight may have shown the venture as not viable. A hard lesson learnt. . . . . . However we are still here and organising race meetings, which is what we do best.