Under the Chequered Flag
A member of Mayfield Club in Newcastle, PETER WILSON passed away recently, aged 83. He was among the first to make an Es2 Norton perform, making his own flywheel assembly and cams, and using his own swing arm design. All of this was in keeping with his qualifications as an engineer in the steel industry. As well as being a very competitive A grade Short Circuit dirt rider he was also well up at Bathurst, having a great race-long dice with Jack Davies on his BSA Gold Star in 1959, to come second to Jack. Along with Jack Sullings and Ivan Turnbull, Mayfield won the team prize that year. In 1960, he captained the Mayfield team to win the NSW Teams Short Circuit Championship at Salty Creek, on the Norton. In later years, he owned a 7R AJS, to fulfil his dream of a pukka race bike. Always quietly spoken, he was well respected in motor cycling circles.
Originally from Newcastle, NSW, JACK PRINGLE competed in Short Circuit racing and scrambles on an ex-Roy East BSA Gold Star before heading for the UK in the early 1960s. Linking up again with East, who was by then established as a top line scrambles rider, Jack became a regular competitor in the booming scrambles scene in England and on the Continent. There were many Australians on the UK scene at this point, including Ray Fisher, Tim Gibbes and Charlie West. Jack set up a tiny motorcycle workshop, servicing mainly off-road machinery, in South East London. In the mid ‘60s he, like most others, abandoned BSAs in favour of a new Metisse, which he built up from a frame kit using a Matchless G85CS engine. Unlike East, who returned home to Australia in 1969, Pringle stayed on, married a local lass and had two sons, Sten and Kurt. He passed away at Canada Heights in England on 15th May.
Aged 88, SIR JACK BRABHAM passed away on May 19 in Queensland after a long illness. Three times World Champion in Formula One, Jack actually began his motor sport career on motorcycles and remained a keen motorcyclist all his life. See the story on Jack’s love for bikes in this issue.