Sales fails and famous flops
The race program began with the 125cc race, and Quincey, nursing his bruised foot, started from the rear of the grid and waited the required 10 seconds before he could receive assistance to push start. It made no difference to the result however, with Quincey screaming through the field to finish 12 seconds ahead. Thereafter he packed up his unused Nortons and went home, which was a great blow to the meeting. Next came the 250s, and all-rounder Ray Owen, who mixed road racing with speedway, grass track, scrambles and hill climbs, shot into the lead on his trusty T70 Triumph immediately to win by 17 seconds from Ray Wason’s Velocette.
With a big entry, the Junior C&D event was run as two heats and a final, which was cut from 12 laps to four because of failing light and won by John Armstrong’s Velocette. After two heats, the 4 lap final of the Senior C&D, held in misty rain, went to Ariel-mounted Geoff Whitlock. Instead of separate events as programmed, both sidecar races were run as a combined event over 8 laps with Frank Sinclair’s Vincent in control until the rear sprocket sheared, letting Bernie Mack’s Norton through to win both classes easily from South Australian
Laurie Fox on his Norton. The feature solo events began with the Junior A & B over the full scheduled 12 laps, and was a highly entertaining affair eventually won by Cec ‘Jumbo’ Prior on his 7R AJS after a dice with Keith Campbell’s KTT Velocette that ended with fading brakes on the Velo. Third after another close battle was Ivan Tighe’s 7R AJS. The Senior A & B was the final race of the day and began at 5.45pm under heavily overcast skies with the camp’s light ablaze. With the 12 laps reduced to a 4-lap sprint, it gave Prior a ‘double’ for the meeting when he beat
home George Campbell’s Matchless and Ray Cresp’s Triumph.
It had been a trying day, weather-wise, but reportedly most riders enjoyed the circuit, which had a reasonable surface with a straight that allowed the engines to be given a decent head of steam. But it remained a one-off. Australia at the time was involved in the Korean War, which despite prophecies of an early end, dragged on until mid-1953, with military installations such as Puckapunyal reverting to intense training and high alert status. Which did not include motorcycle racing. Amazingly, given that the base is still operational and home to a heritage museum, not a trace exists in the official archives regarding the meeting. Some photos remain, but in compiling this article, all our efforts to secure a copy of the Official Program came to zero. Even the local newspaper, still operational in Seymour, drew a blank. It’s as though ‘Pucka’ never happened.