Douglas Racers in SpainWe have previously seen pictures of some of the exploits of Douglas riders and machines in Spain on the forum, in this thread started by Leon on the 1932 TT Douglas motorcycles;
https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=5444.0Earlier this year I was looking through Archived British Newspapers at Douglas advertisements and came across a reference to a racing success in Spain by Vicente Naure. Some searching in the Spanish Archives revealed a number of newspaper articles and pictures of the exploits of Vicente and other Douglas riders in many events, mainly in the mid to late 1920’s.
My investigations so far have been slightly thwarted as some articles can only be viewed in person in Spain (...makes things a little difficult !.... -:) ) and some newspaper scans are of poor quality, but I think I have found enough pictures to at least start this new thread off.
I am hoping that some of our fellow Spanish Douglas enthusiasts will be able to contribute to this thread (hint, hint !) 😊. I apologise in advance for any dodgy translations – if you spot any errors please correct me !
To kick things off we have a group picture of the Douglas team and their machines at Subida a las Perdices, a hill climb in
Barcelona oops, Madrid. From left to right we have Baltasar Santos (350cc so possibly OW or OB?), Frederico Sagario (500cc RA), Zacarias Mateos (750cc OB), A.G. del Busto (750cc OB) and Vicente Naure and passenger (OB outfit either 600cc or 750cc?). There appears to be a sump or two on the OB framed machines so some of the engines are possibly of RA origin. This picture was published in Madrid Automovil, February 1926 No.14. but the attached picture (of better quality) is from this website;
https://www.motociclismo.es/historias/carreras-retiro-otro-gp-espana_190461_102.htmlIt is interesting to note the gearchanges on the left side of the tank rather than the right as we would normally expect to see and also RA style brakes and possibly a sump or two on the non RA machines. Naure’s OB appears to have the standard front OB dummy beltrim brake still in place as does that of del Busto. All front brakes appear to be disconnected - hard to see? There are a couple more pictures of these machines coming up so identification of some of the features and modifications may become a bit easier.
A website which has some interesting information on Vicente Naure’s motorcycle racing career and life can be found here;
http://www.pilotos-muertos.com/2010/NaureVicente.htmlInteresting to note that Vicente was a starter in the 1925 IOM Sidecar TT on a Douglas and possibly ran as high as 3rd.
Cheers
Hutch