Ducati v Tornado GR4 Race - On Friday 14 September 2007

On Friday 14 September 2007 at approximately 3:20 pm on the main runway at RAF Marham a Ducatti superbike was ridden by Leon Haslam (3rd in the Series). He went head to head with a Tornado GR4 for a single run to see who has the most pulling power (Direction dependent upon the wind). The race will be broadcast as an advertisement for the British Superbike Series.

On a perfect summers day at RAF Marham, a challenge had been accepted by Leon Haslam to race a Ducati 1000cc motorbike against a GR4 Tornado. Ranked 3rd in the British Superbike Series and son of Ron Haslam the British Champion, Leon had the credentials and experience to make a major claim to beat a GR4.

The rules of the race was that both the jet and the bike would line up on the piano-keys on runway 24 and on the firing of a green flare, by Air Traffic, the race would commence. The agreed distance for the race was 4,000 feet and as the flare burst, Leon on the Ducati, dropped his clutch and with direct drive to the huge rear type shot off to an impressive lead. However, the Tornado released its breaks and slowly accelerated. The GR4, like an ungainly gosling lumped after Leon. The aircrew, Squadron Leader Nigel Crennell, the pilot and Flight Lieutenant Leigh Borrow the Weapons System Operator, realized they had a race on their hands! The pilot slammed the Rolls Royce RB199 engines into re-heat and the ‘gosling’ turned into a graceful ‘swan’ and powered towards the finishing line, which was the Air Traffic yellow landrover. With 100 feet to the finish, the Ducati and Leon were over taken and the Tornado claimed victory!

After the race, Leon was asked about his thoughts as the race slipped away from him, he said “The weather conditions were perfect, with very little wind, the surface was good and as I pulled away at the start, I was confident of victory. Sadly, I was ‘pipped at the post’. The experience was tremendous as its not everyday you have the chance to race against an RAF Tornado”.

Leigh added to the statement, that in the back of the cockpit he thought the race was going to be ‘neck-and-neck’ and therefore screamed encouragement to his pilot. The words of encouragement are unprintable!