Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125635
s ee ay • lust ra ia ty e Sydney ShoWll"olllld is nearly one th1rd of a mile. Most of the otbers are a Uttle Q\'er a quarter of a mile. The biggest Brlt1s1l track Is equivalent to the smallest A ussle tracld It a rider can get into the "g'l'oove" about three quarter track, some three feet ott the safety fence - and keep the power on without faltering, then it Is unlikely he will be passed by too many opponents. . A ustralian champion Jim Airey Is nigh Invincible at the Sydney Showground. He lcnows how the track should be ridden and he puts It Into practice. It the World Championship were to be held there, JIm would win It two years in three - dl!splte competition from the best riders in England, Sweden, Poland and Russia. Other leading A ustralian riders are John Langf1eld (Sydney); Greg Kentwell (Sydney), Gordon Guasco (Sydney), Jack White (Brtsbane), John Dewhurst (Vlc- Bull.co We lpeclallze In onl, Bullaeo Mitco Bultaco 7241 W. Or..cllt.e, ......a Park (714) 522'109 ~ • Sachs - Penton - CZ - Maleo Walt Axlhelm's Triumptt-Suzuki Motors 10.49 West 5t1l SL, Pomona, C.III. C7l4J629-8642 - USED PARTS ALL MAKES 40% TO 60% OFF ~ ,. YAMAHA DEALER T" Czechoslovakian team which toured Encland recently. counterpart. It bas pecullartt1es all Its own. But tDese pecaliarities han helped to make it the third JIlO$l popular speela.tor sport in the C/3UIliry. In Sydney, the major metrCll101U of the Dation, oo1y horse racine and &cbY Jscue football draw larger crowds. AtieDdaDces ot 40,000 people han been op:lted tor big ntcbta at the Sbowgrotmd wIIlle ordinary Saturday nJgbt meetings attr:act an aftl'llCl! of behoIeen 15 and 20,000 tans. In the other apital cltles -klY ·1JdIences of 10,000 are common. TIle Auss1e summer seuoo begins early in September - the Sydney Sbowground opeoed for bus1ness on September 13 atI8r a practice session the pr.ev1ous ~ aft8rDoon-andgoesrightthrough ~ a break unt11 about March. 9 In Austz'aUa the word "~y" c~s a mu1t1tude 01. slnsl In Europe the ~d lIWUes 0Il1y to solo m.otorcycles wIIich race on a clo&ed, c1reular dirt tDd< IIOt more lban a lb1rd 01. a mile in circumfereace. In America It can mean U)'tb1ng trom stoc.k cars to the real McCoy: 'A' cJass solo motorcycles such as DOW comPete at Whiteman stadium. In Eur~ meet1ngs COIl&1st at either strictly &010 molorcycles, or speedea ra, or stock cars, aDd there are usually about 20 races. But tn AU5S1e_•••! Here they an comblne to maJr.e IlP a dirt track meetinc l!Ilt1tled ., speedway" • Solos, sIdec:ar&, speedears, stock cars and many otbRr t.our 1Ibeel nh1cle& all ~ ta:cetber on the one mammotb ger leans as tar forward, and as low to the track as possible on the corners. Ever present is the danger of ha'rin&' his head struck by the t'rootwheel ofafollowing combination. On the short stra.lghts he must hop back onto the outt1t board to momentarily prevent the sidecar from running doW!) towards the inside of the track in a circle fashion. As tar as solos are concerned, Austral1a. started the whole thing back in 1926. Two years later a small band of Aussles traveled over to England and introduced the sport to the Old Country. The Porns Immediately went into rIPlures over It, and ever since Eacland bas been the mecca of true speedway racing. Strlctlyo;pesk1ng, "speedway" means only one thing_DIrt track solo motorcycle racing. Han&' the cars. Compared to 'A' class solos, they are but acircus! Solo rac1ng, as we lcnow it, came Into being when one Johnnie Hoskins bepn searching tor something new to keep the procraDl. Saloon cars are equlnJent to the American Idea ot stoc.k cars: production moCior' cars stz1pped down and hotied IlP for dirt l:ncl< rae1ac. Auss1e stoc.k cars are UIluaU7 pre-war "bomb" created specl.lly for wrecldDc. The m!dpt ot course, are aJoactbeUnes ot tile American otfenIwusers, etc. Stdeear& are ~ tbe most speclacaJar sectloD. The qc1e5 arlI powerfu1 ~, l,OOOcc H.R.D. VlDc:eat&. 1bey run clockwt.&e aDd hue a 1aD1llBd chassls. The l1den are sId1ltu1 tIJIlIO'W'ts in tbe art ot a1IdIac the ~0UIl machl_ arouad the aarrenr r1IlboD& ot dirt whOa the p"s-'&WS hue the mor.e da.llCerous JOb ot m.I..... l n t . '-lance. TIle PUSeD- !J :c' .... . .,." Mew Zesland. crowd amused at a country &g'l'lcultrual sbow. The place wu MaItland, in northern New South Wales, and the year -.s 1926. $' SCRAMBLER MOTORCYCLES By Peter White Australian speedway ditters widely trom Its AmertClUl and European I ' Hoskins hit upon the Idea of ractnc stripped down motorcycles around a circular patch of dirt. It was a gamble tbat certa1n1y pa1d 01.1 In a big way. TIle sport pneraliy suffered a alump In the fUt1es. The advent at televislon bad Us affect aDd crowds dwindled. Then in the &1xtles the speedcars em.erpd to I the fore with the appearance of such great Yank drlnrs as Bob Tattersall and Leroy Warriner. For the better part ot the sixties the midgets have been the m.ost popular section In A ustra.1Ia. ' The majority 01. interest, pub11clt;y and prize mooey centered on that section. But cractually, O'I'8r the past two years, the so1o& haft cUmbed back Into the rat1l\gs. Mainly thls can be attributed to ris1ts by an EngUsh team for Test matches, and also to the resurrence at Interest in America which resulted in Chuck Jones and De Wayne Keeter touring '(down UDder" last season. The appearance of Jones and Keeter stirred Immense interest allover the country, espec1al1y when they proved they were no slouches once they came to ertPs with our machines and tracks. Compared to Britain and the U.s .A. the tracks in A ustral1a. are very lar&'l!. The Claremont circuit In Perth is almost a hBl1 a m.Ile In circumference wh1le the 1101 W. Burbank BI.c!. Burbank. C.IH. 849-5907 or 84~"73a Ell•• 7 IAWASAr' Headquarters BEACH CITIES CYCLES 525 N. EI CamIno Rul San Clemente, Cattfomia C1l4l 492"5111 '" Rannle 1I0ore, New Zsalsnd. torla), John Boulger (Adelaide), CharUe Monk (Adelaide), GeoI.I Mudg'e(Adelaide), Chum Taylor (Perth). These men will form the nucleus of Australia's Test team to tackle EDg'land In the months ahead. Remember their names. They are world class performers who you will be reading about in weeks to come In Cycle News. And several of them you may even see In action In Southern Ca11tornla before too long. There are so many riders trying to obtain a start on the prOg'l'ams, and they are at sucb varying ablUt;y, that handicapping bas proven Inevitable. Usually there are seven starters In an event. One man atarts trom scratch and the others are spaced out at ten yard Intenals behInd him. The scratch mark 1& known as the "pte", and tboIIe who ride from there are maInly rank norices. The back mark can be up to 240 yards away - depending on the size 01. the track - and the riders wbo CO from there are e1as&1f1ed as "A" graders. Handicapping inevitably sbarpens a rider's reflexes but It is also the most clangerOll6 form of ractnc. Not 0Il1y are there more than enouch bikes on the track, but they are spread out with the riders at lesser abillty at the tront• Novices are always liable to make mistakes, and these error. can prove costly in the form at broken bonea and other injuries for the top riders wbo are follow1ac them. It only taUs the front runner to crash in front of a tight pack and you han a whole handful of ambula.nce case•• Which addS up to the tact that, in my opinion, the lop Australian speedway rider hu some extra tngredlent in his make up that no one ot any other nationauty can claim. To define it would be ludicrous. 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