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Introduction

The 42nd ISDT was held between Sept 17 to 22 at Zakopane in Southern Poland.

image – official programme cover 42nd ISDT 17 – 22 September 1967 Zakopane, Poland ( Courtesy Brian Catt)

A copy of the full programme thanks to SB can now be found at our issue.com library

Photo of Parc Ferme, viewed from the man made Ski Slope ISDT 1967

Text & Results to follow,

Mapping the ISDT

We have a post with the daily routes and check details from the programme here

Event summary

East Germany wins in worst year for Brit Teams. East Germans gave a display of reliability skills, determination & consistency on MZ machines.
314 Competitors started. Britain failed teamwise by the machines used, however with some fine individual efforts by Trophy Team man Johnny Giles Triumph 490 & Gordon Farley on a 350 Triumph, seventh out of nine teams echoed failure for stagnant machinery developments.
Britain’s Vase B team lost a man & came 16th out of 23 teams whilst the All-Army Vase A Brit Team lost all & finished 21st out of 23. Generally electrical or mechanical failures covered most of Britains’s retirements.  138 riders were to collect unpenalised on time efforts awards. Course distance amounted to 985 in miles.

17 Countries were entered Austria (13, Belgium (5), Canada (4), Czechoslovakia (27), East Germany (250, Finland (8), France (11), Great Britain (30), Holland (16), Italy (22),Poland (30), Russia (27), Spain (12), Sweden 2(4), Switzerland (2), USA (8), West Germany (60).

Silver Medal was taken by Welsh Privateer Billy Mills (499 Royal Enfield) who went through with a clean sheet only to lose 6.69 Points on a special test. Two British Privateers took Bronze, Dick Sutton (490 Triumph) & Tim Pritchard on a (175 Husqvarna). Even the first day seemed to be steeped in disaster, Billy Mills’s Royal Enfield refused to start within the specified minute & even for the 2 days prior to start that Greeves of Trophy Man Jim Sandiford became moody re whether it would start or not & Jim had to withdraw and be replaced by Scott Ellis (343 BSA).   Ellis retired early with electrical problems and Ken Sedgeley then had problems with his 250 twin Suzuki.

Hasrro Esmarch who has supplied us with superb pictures & data of this Period when he was a Journalist at thes ISDT events PLUS a Castrol Representative, many thanks to ‘stb’ & Harro for memorable records of these occasions for us to look back upon & appreciate.

Photo of British Trophy Team at ISDT 1967 (image courtesy of Mortons Archive)

The 1967 International Six Day Trial – The British Trophy team, from left, Ken Heanes, Roy Peplow, Johnny Giles, Gordon Farley, John Lewis and Jim Sandiford.

Photo of USA Vase Team #129 Jim Penton #162 Bud Ekins, #46 Le Roy Winters, #60 Dave Munganast, #62 Malcolm Smith. all on Husqvarna. ISDT 1967 (image courtesy Dave Cooke)

The Pentons became one of the pillars of US Enduro sport with their connection also helping launch the KTM brands dominance of the sport. Malcolm Smith was also one of the major moves in the sport from his appearance in the ‘On any Sunday’ film through to the ‘die to own’ clothing and accessories made by his company Malcolm Smith Racing.

Malcolm’s ISDT history started in 1966 and he won his first medal in 1966 a Silver but then in 67, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75 and 76 he won Gold. Here is a fetching photo of him modelling his Six Day Gold medals

Photo of Malcolm Smith with his gold medallions

Photo of #20 Mick Andrews on an 250cc Ossa, the Spanish Marque he built a successful career winning on at ISDT 1967

Mick Andrews Ossa 250, Best marks for Britain for British Entrants Mick Andrews, John Harris, plus Peter Gaunt on a Suzuki took Gold, 2 out of 3 Brit entrants were on Foreign machinery to cope & compete.  The daily Courses radiated fro Nowy Targ which was positioned outside the town.  Rain for once was not a mud-stuck problem, however the lack of it resulted in hard rocky going & Brit. 3 Man Royal Marine Team of Jim Terrell, Jim Bartlett & Tom Gould all retired on their Tiger Cubs with collapsed front wheels.   Trophy team by now was one man short, then Sedgeley’s Suzuki packed in & Vase B took a knock then Army Vase A team lost Peter Lasota 250 Greeves with a sheared flywheel key, Eastern Bloc machinery began to look far more developed & reliable plus rideable!.

Photo of #135 Dick Sutton’s Cheney Triumph in ISDT 1967 (Photo courtesy of Brian Catt)

Photo – Hercules 132cc of Dutch rider Stef Van Der Sluis ISDT 1967

Photo of #17 Hans Weber on 250cc MZ of the winning East German Trophy Team ISDT 1967

Gold Medallist Hans Weber 250 MZ of Winning East German Trophy Team, by the first day announcement East Germany seemed sitting pretty, Italian Trophy Team entered for first time since 1963 lost Alessandro Gritti 175 Morini from Trophy Team when he broke his collar bone & Polish Trophy teamster Jerzy Warchal 125 WSK packed in with a broken gearbox.   Unexpectedly Austria showed in second spot, Austrian Puch machinery from 49 to 166cc was nearer the front since they won at Bad Assee in 1960.   Czechs were trying to deal with East German domination and at end of first day had Vase A topping the list with West Germany Vase team on small machines second.  Don Hitchcock struck his Air bottle with a prodding leg & chipped a bone & hence withdrew, Mick Andrews had to switch over to a spare Coil when he had trouble.    Second day no trouble other than when a Swedish Team protest over a slave clock timer was upheld & they retained their clean sheet, Brit Trophy Man John Lewis’s 500 AJS had carb plus timing problems.  Third Day after hectic work John Lewis also dropped out, Ken Heanes Triumph cruised back to retire with a well rattled engine, subsequently blamed on Polish Petrol Quality.
Half ISDT event gone, half British Team already out.

Photo of #160 Roy Peplow with his 490cc Triumph ISDT 1967

Roy Peplow 490 Triumph chatting to Jack Stocker (In an article in ‘Motor Cycle‘ of 16th Sept 1967 it was reported that Jack Stocker had informed the ACU would not be attending the ISDT the week before the event).  Walkie Talkie Radio transmissions of German plus Russians were protested over & a Polish Army unit was brought in to jam their channels.  Fourth Day, Wednesday Fred Care, Mick Noyce, Mick Soames all left the event with electrical troubles on their 440 BSA’s, Ted John’s 500 AJS Big end left the machine clanking & stopped, Gordon Norton left with a strained ankle & a rare fully functioning British machine, 500 AJS. Talk of a ‘jinx’ should concentrate on machine faults.

Photo of #244 H Trinkner on 125cc Hercules of the West German Vase team ISDT 1967

5th Day Austrian Johann Sommerauer #166 went out with a broken frame which was to cost 100 marks per day for the last 2 days.   Uproarious protests over walkie talkie useage was again raised, only Russia remained in favour of them being allowed to continue being used.

Photo of #127 Johnny Giles on 490cc Triumph in ISDT 1967

Johnny Giles 490 Triumph.  East Germany were leading on the end of the 5th day followed by Czechs & Austrians, Czechs other teams remained well ahead in the Vase tussle.

Photo of #23 Peter Gaunt on a 250cc Suzuki Twin at ISDT 1967

Peter Gaunt still going well for Britain & his Gold.

Photo of Sweden’s S Skogsmo 350cc Husqvarna ISDT 1967

Photo of #305 A Lichtenberg of East Germany on a 75cc Simpson ISDT 1967

Photo of #230 K Statzinger on 125cc Puch for the Austrian Trophy Team at ISDT 1967

K Statzinger on Puch 125, that excellent  Austrian team performance frightened Eastern Bloc Teams expecting to cruise to a win.!

Photo of #138 J Jasansky on 402cc Jawa of Czech Vase ‘A’Team ISDT 1967

J Jasansky’s highest performance in special test just 2.16 points from maximum bonus.

Photo of #9 W Gorulko on 250cc Kowrociec for Russia at ISDT 1967

Russian W Gorulko retiring 4th day on his 250 Kowrociec, pictures tell stories.

Photo of #142 Fritz Selling on 350cc Greeves ISDT 1967

Fritz Selling on 360 Greeves with his father standing by him, he retired on day 4.

Photo of #93 Torsten Andersson on 350cc Husqvarna of Swedish Trophy Team ISDT 1967

Torsten Andersson Sweden Trophy man on the Husqvarna 350, always a great competitor.

Photo of #219 V Leasak on 175cc Jawa of the Czech team at ISDT 1967

V Leasak 175 Jawa of Czech team made it home to Silver medal with gearbox problem.

Photo of #326 W Pogajnis on a Russian 50cc Riga at ISDT 1967

W Pogajnis with a little Russian 50 ccc Riga retires with gearbox problem.

Photo of #233 L Specht on 125cc Zundapp for West German Trophy Team ISDT 1967

The certain runner up spot for Czech Trophy contestants came to grief when an exuberant Petr Valek using 175 Jawa fell off with 2 laps to go & could not restart, so Czechs went to 3rd.  A delighted Austria took second spot.

The Final Score: Results

Speedtracktales wishes to thank Marc Pétrier of FIM Information Resources who has facilitated the scanning of the FIM archive of ISDT results material and is allowing us to make it available here as a public service. Download a copy of the original Results and Stewards Report at the link below.

Download Stewards Report for the 1967 ISDT here

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Artefacts and Collectibles

Photo of a souvenir ceramic bowl from the 42nd ISDT 1967

Hasrro Esmarch has this superb ceramic Souvenir,

Photo of event Pin Badge ISDT 1967

Treasured item from Brian Catt’s Attic!!! thanks Brian.

Where are they now?

Photo of Llandrindod’s Billy Mills Royal Enfield Bullet of the ISDT 1967

An article on the history and the bike, Billy Mills gave his machine an impressive debut in the 1966 Welsh Three Day Trial, where he won a Gold Medal, and in 1967 he took it all the way to the Polish ISDT. His week began badly, when he lost 20 bonus points for a slow start, but as the days wore on, the machines of the more fancied runners (including Roy Peplow’s Triumph) failed one by one, while the Bullet kept faultlessly thumping away, and Billy’s expert riding kept a clean sheet. At the finish, the handful of points forfeited in the first few minutes of the event – six days earlier – initially appeared to have denied him the ultimate award, but an appeal was successful and he was given the coveted Gold Medal he so richly deserved. full article on the bike at Morton’s Classic Bikers Club