A quote from Jim "Flat out on the back straight at Puke, it fires every alternate lampost", I never realised there were lamposts down there!
A quote from Jim "Flat out on the back straight at Puke, it fires every alternate lampost", I never realised there were lamposts down there!
Last edited by Oldfart; 05-16-2019 at 06:35 AM.
The same was said of the Horsley/Kelly Puff...
It had crook rings in one cylinder, so gave off a puff at every fourth firing.
Originally Posted by Roger Dowding
A Supplementary Edition of the book,“Ralph Watson Special Engineer” will be exclusively available here very soon and sales will contribute donations towards The Roaring Season. The book provides absolutely correct and exact technical details covering the Lycoming Special as well as its history.
Watch this space. LOL
anyone know whereabouts in drury they raced?
one wonders how long Bryndwr went for, it started in 1950 and word has it that it didn't survive that decade, there must be some old racing programs out there that will tell part of the story, classes that were run etc?
Last edited by jellywrestler; 07-22-2019 at 10:36 PM.
Can anyone remember a dirt track or speedway track in or somewhere near Karori in Wellington.
As mentioned on Trevor's thread about the Ralph Watson - Special Engineer " book - mine arrived today -
Much reading to do - haven't bought two Motoring books [ Steve Holmes book as well ] in a week in years, and today the latest
" NZ Classic Driver ' as well.
not aware of one, in the welly area there was kilbirnie and taita in the hutt valley. any flat land out karori would likely have been a prime spot for building? try Retrolens aerial maps, select a date span and that narrows down the options, a bit labourious trying to search but well worth the effort.
does anyone out there know when pukekohe first used turn one as it is today? the original circuit turned left at the end of the grandstands dissapeared and then joined in at the right hander onto the back straight. Around 66 they run the circuit around the outer of the horse track to essentially what it is there now,shortening the lap by 700meters. The internaughty tells us one year there was one track, then the next the next, but i reckon it would have changed over some time during the years, hence my question please.
I have previously posted when the "old" circuit was last used, they did carry on with both for a period, Jellywrestler, so hopefully someone can answer both our queries.
The Club Circuit, formed when the new piece of track was laid, was first used on October 22 1966.
The first race meeting on the short 1.75 mile circuit was held on November 5 1966.
The long track continued to be used for the long distance saloon car races. A national race meeting was held on that track on April 6 1975.
Thanks Milan, I figured if anyone knew it would be you
It gets a mention in the Auckland Motor Cycle Club history (Seventy-Five Years on Two Wheels by Dr Calum Gilmour) but only just. It was "out the back of Drury" and included unsealed roads - not uncommon with motor cycle races of the time.
It was seen as a possible replacement for the Mangere circuit, for the Tourist Trophy. but this didn't happen. The TT was run at the NZ GP meeting at Ardmore in 1962, and as a separate meeting at Pukekohe in February 1963 and at the NZ GP meetings in later years.
Lake Bryndwr
I think this circuit was used only in 1957. I have read an article on the Lake Bryndwr track, or perhaps a thread on this forum, with photos of racing there.
Hope this may be of help to you.
Stu Buchanan
i won on the long track at an NZACU national points meeting in 1990,
just read that book last week, was lucky enough to buy a copy within a couple of hours of looking for one, better still it was local, and the only confirmation of one happening at Drury was the fact that Dick Waterer had ridden there. i'd be interested on where the info came that it included unsealed roads, i'm doing some research and like stuff to be as right as possible, also enjoying chasing this stuff up and chatting to old timers who took part
Last edited by jellywrestler; 08-07-2019 at 09:22 AM.
dug a little deeper, a 2.7 mile circuit in the early sixties, anyone the wiser now as to where it was by any chance?
Mt Maunganui hosted car and bike race meetings on Totara Street in the mid sixties immediately prior to Baypark being built in 1967/68. They were hugely well attended meetings and included several top motorcycle riders at the conclusion of the European GP season - 4 times World Champ Hugh Anderson on his works Suzuki a highlight. I heard it said by one of the organising committee some years later that if they had ran those meetings for just a few more years they could have afforded to buy the chunk of land in the dunes that Baypark was bought on but the BOP Motorracing Association pressed on with ambitious plans to build a purpose built track.
Prior to that the racing was held on the Otumoetai streets where the "Trust Hotel" later Bureta Park were. Before that they ran motorcycle races at Te Puna using Armstrong, Te Puna, Snograss and I think Borell Roads, some of it unsealed. You can still drive these rural roads and get an impression how fast it would have been.
The bikes ran two races at each of the International car meetings run at Totara Street in 1963 when world champ Jim Redman rode his Honda 250 four, and '64, then ran a motorcycles-only meeting there in 1965, dominated by the Hamilton rider Bryan Scobie who went on to race cars in latter years. After Te Puna, the motorcycle club had run two meetings in Tauranga around a tight circuit comprising Dive Crescent, Marsh Street, Cliff Road, Monmouth Street (right past the Police station !), Willow Street and McLean Street, featuring international riders and a good crowd, in January 1962 and '63. As well as the bikes-only Totara Steet 1965 meeting, the club ran a couple of standing- and flying-quarter mile sprints in Totara Street.
The triangular Otumoetai circuit, comprising Vale Street, Bureta Road, Ngatai Road and Chapel Street ran in January 1966, with Anderson aboard his world championship-winning 125 Suzuki, and Jan 1967, then Bay Park opened in December 1967 and that was the end of the popular street circuits around Tauranga. Good fun while they lasted, and very popular with the holiday crowds.
thanks for that gary, coincidentally a brochure from hugh anderson turned up in the mail today with those circuits on it, and the tauranga airport one, been on to aerial maps of the day and found where the airport one was, not much left there now, here's a glimpse of what's left of one of the straights. fascinating stuff. https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.668...7i13312!8i6656
Does anyone know anything about this that I found on the internet recently?
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