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Motor
Cycle Ice Racing is arguably
the most spectacular and dangerous track sport, where bikes with spiked tyres
race around oval ice circuits. The origins of Ice Racing are obscure, but the
first recorded meeting was held in 1925 at Eibsee (a
lake near Garmisch-Partenkirchen) in Germany. By the 1930's, meetings were being
held regularly on lakes in Bayern and the sport had also become popular in
Scandinavia and Canada. Unfortunately, WW2 put paid to further expansion of
the sport, but it was revived in the late-1940's by the Scandinavians. During
the 1950's, the Russians started to dominate the sport and this has more or less
continued to the present day. In 1963, the FIM (at the instigation of the
Russian Federation) introduced the European Ice Racing Championship. This
competition gained World Championship status three years later.
Scandinavia and Russia is still the home of ice
racing, with the majority of team and individual meetings being held there, but
ice racing is also held in Germany, The Czech Rep, Italy, Kazakhstan, The
Netherlands, Poland and even Mongolia! Furthermore, the introduction of
artificial ice and indoor tracks has meant that meetings can now be held in
those countries where it would not normally be possible to construct a natural
track. A modern version with motor-cross bikes is held
in Canada and other northern countries.
This is an ice racing bike used by the man on
the left to win the 1974 World Ice Racing Championship. He is Milan Spinka from
the Czech Republic.
It has a JAWA engine built in the Czech Republic by the man 3rd from left who is
Evzen Erban who currently owns the JAWA factory.
Second from left is Dave Gifford who writes the history of Waiwakaiho Speedway
on this site. Dave rode for the Glasgow Tigers and other UK teams in the 1960's.
The photo
left was taken at the World Long Track
final held in New Plymouth in November 2004 and organised by Ivan Mauger.
Far right is the web master, Max Rutherford who
drove 3/4 midgets, or TQ's, at Waiwakaiho and later worked
as a Formula 1
mechanic for Jackie Stewart and others.
More about them later.
On right
is
Bruce Cribb at the recent 75th Palmerston North Speedway 75th jubilee. He rode this
modern JAWA ice bike
on the clay track and attempted the outright
lap record, but missed by about 1 second. At Rosebank in Auckland a few days
later he did break their record. Bruce calls himself the "Worlds fastest Maori"
Bruce is also shown below on an early Jawa
in the display hall.
Saving the past -- for the future.
The picture
at right tells a story. That is Ivan Cartmell on who's family
farm the Penlee track was built in the 1970's. The sign in the middle speaks
volumes. The leathers on the wall were being worn by Kiwi-- Jack Hunt, while riding
in England. He had a bad accident and the handle bar of a bike tore his leathers
near the left shoulder on the way to leaving damage which paralysed his arm.
Jack returned to NZ and became manager at Taita Speedway. The leathers later
returned to England to be worn by another Kiwi. Photo taken in Ivan's private
museum.
SOMETHING ABOUT
CINDER-SHIFTING- By "Dusty."
This article appeared in the January 1948 Hutt Speedway News. (interesting
comment on where
speedway started---see also "Where
did Speedway start" page)
Hello, you Speedway fans. Meet your
roving reporter, who spends most of his time raking cinders out of his hair
because he will persist in getting a good look at Bill Bowe, Bruce Abernethy,
Les. Moore, Frank Boyle, Sid. Jensen and the other fellows who make the cinders
fly as they broadside around the corners.
How did this great sport-packed
sport start in any case? Well, it's generally assumed that the sport first saw
the light of day in Australia-from where some of the greatest dirt-track riders
have come-but this wouldn't win the 64 dollar question. No lady, though
Australians rank tops among Speedway riders (ask Les. Moore), they didn't start
this business. Nor did Cinderella. Her cinder shifting was done with a shovel,
not a motor-cycle.
Long before the sport was introduced into Australia there were motor-cycle and
car races on dirt tracks in America, but the tracks were a mile in circumference
and not comparable to the 440 yard track of today. But even America, where they
claim the "honour" of introducing jitter-bug contests, flag-pole sitting,
multi-marriages and such goings on, cannot justifiably claim the honour of
starting speedway racing as we know it today.
The first record of
motor-cycle racing on a loose dirt surface took place at Pietmaritzburg, in
Natal, in 1907, just a little more than 40 years ago. It was only an up-country
meeting and the promoters would have been amazed had they been told they were
initiating a world-wide sport, a sport, that is attracting larger gates in
England than the national game of Soccer. Speedway fan clubs are the rage over
there. (What about it, Bruce Abernethy fans? What about making Bruce your pin-up
boy? We'll have his photo for you, soon).
Yes, that small town of
Pietmaritzburg introduced the sport that made world fame but never took on in
the land of its birth. Over there they like Rugby football.
It was in Australia that Speedway really boomed. In
the late summer of 1923 the management of the West Maitland (N.S.W.) showground
was having trouble in making expenses. The weather had been "on the coat," the
show had flopped and the running events didn't attract more than a small ate.
The manager was John S. Hoskins, later to become the big noise in Speedway
racing. Hoskins, though he didn't know much about motor-cycling, decided to
initiate Australians into a new sport of racing on a loose dirt track. He led
off the first race in an effort to make the show attractive. He crashed before
completing a lap, but the meeting went on and before long the spectators were
yelling for more. Their enthusiasm resulted in tracks being laid down in
practically every centre in Australia, and from Australia to England and New
Zealand.
So here's to good skidding. Oh, by the way,
Bruce Abernethy tried to emulate Les Moore on the
“Wall of Death" the other day. Bruce was all right until he tried stunting.
Then ... well, ask Bruce what it feels like to take a tumble from the Wall of
Death. So you won't talk about it, eh? . . . See you next Saturday night. You'll
know me by the cinders in my red hair. (end of quote)
Newspaper
cutting from Monday 20th March 1939, Manawatu Evening Standard
(See photo
at left)
A and P. ASSOCIATION.
THRILLS BY MOTOR-CYCLISTS AT PALMERSTON NORTH SPEEDWAY.
Noted now for its enterprise in introducing novel and spectacular show ring
attractions, the Manawatu and West. Coast A. and P. Association enhanced its
reputation on Saturday when it staged a special gala day with a view to lowering
the debt on the task of re-roofing the main grandstand at the Showgrounds.
Ideal weather conditions prevailed and there were large attendances at both the
afternoon and evening sessions. Always popular, the steer-riding exhibitions
provided feats of skill, while, introduced in the Dominion for the first time,
the motor-cycle chariot racing raised the crowd to a high pitch of excitement as
the daring drivers "burned up" the track at lightning speed.
The gate takings totaled £507, the figures for the afternoon being £370 while in
the evening the receipts were £ 137. The splendid display given by members of
the Manawatu-Orion Motor Cycle Club demonstrated the part which the motor-cycle
can display in outdoor entertainment. Led by Mr. Ernie Pink these daring young
men provided turns which were as spectacular as they were thrilling, and
indicated that assiduous training must have been carried out. The formation ride
would have done credit to an American motor-cycle police corps and in the
evening when the riders appeared with coloured headlamps, the demonstration was
particularly attractive. R: Styles performed a daring act by riding
through a burning wall at top speed, while an
element of humour was lent by a clown on a bucking motor-cycle and by the
appearance of "Sissy" the cow, also on a machine. Altogether the contribution to
the programme by the motor-cyclists was a highly creditable effort.
For the record the "chariots" were each towed by
a pair of Harley Davidson's.
Photo on
right was sent in by John Williams of Australia with the following
comment--"The purists
will
cringe but Midgets
had to start somewhere. How close this was to the beginning I
don’t know. 1915: Baby Vanderbilt Cup Race, San Francisco, held on 1mile trotting
track.
The picture below is of a FRONT DRIVE midget, which admittedly never raced but was built in 1949/50 to race at the Brixton Bell Block and Waiwakaiho tracks here in New Plymouth. Built by Bernie Bryan it featured a cut down Jeep front axle, Austin Seven engine mounted back to front and A7 front axle at the rear.
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