Patrick Godet Motorcycles

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Profile	History

The seventies were for Patrick a 'Touring' decade, there were no classic races in mainland Europe and then, as now, he has no interest in 'Modern' racing.

Patrick attended many UK VOC rallies, visiting the New Forest Rally with a Black Shadow and 'wrong side' sidecar virtually ever year and also attending rallies in Germany and Holland.

Then came the Black Prince and the most enjoyable long distance journeys, including a memorable thrash up country from Newhaven to Liverpool for the Isle of Man ferry with speeds well in excess of the current limits, limits which Patrick as a poor foreigner did not understand!. The Prince provided some of Patrick's best memories, at that time he had only Vincents as his sole means of transportation and with typical élan he states " I was only 25 years old at the time and during that period I do not remember ever being behind any modern superbike" , a budding racer on the road!.

All the years of touring with Vincents made Patrick many friends world wide, his house in the suburbs of Rouen became the unofficial headquarters for VOC members touring the continent " I will never forget that period which was so enjoyable and friendly" he says.

By now Classic racing was beginning to spread in Europe and it was time for Patrick to switch emphasis to competition in search of his ambition of 'Vincent Racing'. Patrick's aim was to wave the Vincent flag high in competition, even if it was a 'Tricoleur' version, as it was his passion to promote the marque in any way possible.

The early 80's were dedicated to making 'Le Gros Avion' ,as Alan Cathcart nicknamed Patrick's racing twin, become the fastest ever racing twin cylinder Vincent ever built. Success after success came Patrick's way and then he decided it was time to approach possibly his greatest challenge, that of competing with a Vincent in the 'blue riband' 500cc GP class of classic racing, " Time to enter the serious circle" as he puts it.

The French economy was quickly changing at this time resulting in Patrick becoming jobless, that fact combined with the birth of a handicapped son, forced him to face up to the realities of life and the 500cc GP Vincent was pt on the back burner for the next 15 years.

With his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Vincent engine, Patrick realised that chances of success with this project were slim, but he built and entered a Grey Flash replica with a 5 speed racing Albion gearbox into the a few IHRO races in the late 80's and achieved a rostrum finish in a race at Pergusa on Sicily, this machine was also awarded the prize for the best prepared racer at the IHRO race at Donington Park in 1988.

The 90's opened a new era for Patrick in Classic Racing with the kind loan of a Manx Norton, a Matchless G50 and a Seeley G50 which allowed him to learn a great deal and to add a few more successes to his classic racing career, as well as enjoying the social side of trips to varied circuits with the IHRO circus.

However an attack of realism based on a lack of real racing experience for 9 years and the addition of some 20 kgs in personal weight, a testament to Patrick's gourmet leanings, could not allow him to compete with the 'crème de la crème' of European riders prompted Patrick to look elsewhere for his successes "My goal has always been to try to obtain the best results, riding or not. Racing is the school for perfection when winning is in question"

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