What began as Vic Noble's quest to renew his enduro racing bike, ended in setting up his own company and race team at his home in Tadcaster.

Vic and his brother, Gerard, have formed On Time Racing and have just announced exclusive import rights for HRD Motorcycles.

They are taking orders for the French-made bikes but will concentrate on an HRD racing team this year as a marketing exercise before they start selling the models in earnest in 1999.

The brothers have already selected championship riders Gary Lancaster, of Knaresborough, and Brian Green, of Stockport, to form their team which will enter the rugged tracks in the North of England and British championships on HRDs, starting with the Kielder Enduro in the Kielder Forest on Sunday, July 19.

Vic, 36, a quality controller with John Smith's brewery, Tadcaster, has been racing for six years . He said: "I was looking forward to changing my bike and was told by a development engineer about this fabulous French bike he had seen at the Milan show.

"I decided, why buy one when there is the possibility of doing a deal with the company? I flew to the HRD factory at Albi, just outside Toulouse and they were enthusiastic. They have never had a racing team before for the good reason that no one had ever asked!"

The bikes were originally made by First World War British fighter pilot Howard Raymond Davies - hence the initials - from 1924, were sold to Phil Vincent, of Vincent Motorcycles, in 1928 and when that great company crashed, it was bought by the Italians in 1957.

The new French owners, Mazeres Aviation, will give the brothers full factory backing for the race team which will compete in world rounds, the British championships, as well as the tough French Gilles Lalay enduro.

Brian will be racing a 250cc HRD GS, worth about £4,000 at market price, while Gary will race a 125cc HRD GS, worth £3,900.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.