Grasstrack racing.
I recently caught up with the previous owner of my Ariel Red Hunter motorcycle Jim Bell who is now in his 90s. A great guy with an awesome sense of humour and a great memory.
He showed me a photo album of motorcycle grasstrack racing at the New Plymouth racecourse in the 1920s and 30s containing photos he’d copied from an old album he was given many years ago.
Sadly he lent the original album to an enthusiast who never returned it, and the many images it contained that were not copied are gone forever.
Few exist of these glory days of racing at the New Plymouth racecourse.
Most speedway historians accept the fact that Johny Hoskins of Waitara started the very first speedway meeting at West Maitland, Australia in 1923.
Grasstrack meetings were held much earlier than this but the first actual speedway race meeting officially recorded started at Kilbirnie, Australia on March 9, 1929.
The two things that were hugely popular during the depression years were boxing and grasstrack motorcycle racing. A chance to become well known and the opportunity to make big money was the big draw card for many.
The earliest recorded unofficial racing at the racecourse I have was in 1913.
The first annual grasstrack race meeting at the racecourse hosted by the New Plymouth Motorcycle Club was in 1920.
These events drew large crowds. Gate takings in 1921 were 100 pounds in excess of the 1920 event, which showed the growing popularity. Several mishaps occurred on the track during the event. A man named R.J. Jones ‘‘Got a severe shaking as the result of his machine coming to grief’’ and Norton Moller’s machine seized the engine and he was thrown off.
These guys were fit and fearless and amazingly enough there were few deaths on the track.
The Egmont Motorcycle Races were held on the Hawera racecourse as early as 1917, when they held the first annual race meeting.
Races there in 1920 included ‘‘The President’s Handicap’’ for machines up to 5-6HP with a 1st prize of 20 pounds.
‘‘The Borough Handicap’’ was an open race for any machine and won by F. Sykes on a Royal Ruby.
A ‘‘Consolation Race’’ was for riders who had not won a race during the day had a prize of 6 pounds. This was won by S. Osgood on his 2 3/4hp Douglas.
Many of these machines were little more than a bicycle frame with a large engine. Indians and Harley Davidsons ruled the dirt in the larger classes and reading some of the newspaper articles of the era show some remarkably rare machines raced in Taranaki during these depression years.
Reading Standard was a top quality v twin motorcycle from the era made in America who built both road and race machines, Royal Ruby were popular in the smaller classes and one called a N.U.T was another unusual model.
Some familiar local names crop up in the old race results like Hugh and Harold Rowe, J.Crockett, F.Sykes and W.James. Prizes up to 20 pounds for 1st place wasn’t to be scoffed at. A lot of money in the day.
Leather flying hats were used to protect your head in case you came off and pot hat helmets eventually arrived. No such thing as leather jackets, many wore jerseys brandishing the maker’s name of the motorcycle they were racing. Leg and elbow protection was nill but there were boots on their feet which was some consolation I guess.