GETTING THE LICENCE

Back in the 1960s a race licence applied to both entrants and riders. As it was assumed that a woman applicant would only be an entrant, authorities granted Peggy Hyde an Open licence despite her not ticking either of the two boxes on the form. The Winton meeting entry list just had the riders’ initials noted so it was assumed that M J (her real name was Margaret, Peggy was a university nickname) and J R Hyde were brothers. They kept a low profile at the back of the pits. “Racing in D-grade, I set my fastest lap in my first race,” Peggy recalls of the experience of riding the lightly modified T20, which by then had 25,000 road miles on it. They shared the bike and the same set of leathers. “My husband managed to achieve the same lap time as mine by the end of the day.” With her natural racing talent on show, it was only a matter of time before authorities realised “MJ” was a woman. Next season her Open status was replaced with a licence restricted to 250cc, despite favourable stewards’ reports about her riding ability. “I wasn’t happy with this at all and bypassed the state committee to put my case to the national committee,” she says. “I asked the question, was the decision made because the state committee was composed all of men? “A letter came back with an apology and an Open licence. I did not realise at the time that this was a world first in road racing. Overseas women either had to compete in separate events or were extremely restricted to the size of motorcycle they could race.”