All of these photographs were taken on February 18, 1996 at the 1996 B.E.A.R.S John Britten Memorial Sound of Thunder racing at Ruapuna Park Raceway, Christchurch, New Zealand. The bike was ridden by Andrew Stroud.xx

John was the founder of the Britten Motorcycle Company and an early member of the Bears Motorcycle Club. The BEARS dedicated this race meeting to John, in memory of his contribution to motorcycle racing as both a rider and innovative designer.

This is the only photograph I got at the 1997 Bears race meet in February 1997. The weather was bitterly cold and it rained for most of the afternoon. I got this shot when the Britten came out to race in the morning while it was dry. I spent the rest of the afternoon sheltering from the rain behind an ambulance wearing only a T-shirt, trackpants and freezing my b#%lls off waiting for the Britten to come out for the final Bears Formula 1 race. Consequently, it didn't show (presumably because of the terrible weather) so all I got was hypothermia!

All of the photographs are � Copyright 1996 Richard Chapman

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