In 1926 Johnnie Hoskins took his Speedway show to Sydney's Royal Showground. Very fitting that Newcastle Showground held the first National Speedway Championship anywhere in the world. It was very successful, so Newcastle Showground held the championship again in 1927. Visiting English and American racers were common, for they were highly paid showmen, often winning a year's salary in just one night. Ironically it was won by American rider Cec Brown. The first Australian Motorcycle Speedway Championship was held at Newcastle Showground in 1926. However, its first recorded motorcycle race was much earlier in 1908. Speedway riders, Sydney, 9 February 1946, by Ray Olsen, Pix Magazine photographer.Īfter Maitland, Newcastle Showground is the second oldest Motorcycle Speedway track in the world. The Newcastle Herald reports the Grand Opening on 14 November 1925 attracted an audience of 42,000 at that time it was approximately one-third of Newcastle's entire population. Johnnie Hoskins became the Secretary of Newcastle Speedway Ltd. These events were very successful and led to the construction of Newcastle Speedway off Darling Street, Hamilton. These pioneers introduced the Speedway signatures of No Left Footpeg and the Steel Shoe, ironically fashioned from worn coal shovels, manufactured in this Steel region.įollowing the success of Maitland, Speedway meetings were conducted at Newcastle Showground in 1924. Motorcycle racing under lights was a huge success and its promoter was New Zealand-born John S. This track had a motorcycle riding entrepreneur as its Secretary and his personal account has him inviting his friends and their associates to do a few laps one Sunday morning, the noise attracted the attention of the Showground committee and approval to race at the "Electric Light Festival" was won. One track that staged speedway, amongst others, was at the West Maitland Showground, whose first speedway meeting was staged on 15 December 1923. Motorcycle Speedway can be traced back to the early 1920s. By the early 1920s, Johns' style of cornering was followed in the United States - where it was called "Short Track Racing" - by riders such as Albert "Shrimp" Burns, Maldwyn Jones and Eddie Brinck. It was said that he would ride the entire race course wide open, throwing great showers of dirt into the air at each turn. On 13 November 1905 motorcycle racing was held at the Newcastle NSW Rugby Ground, a distance of approximately 440 yards.Īmerican rider named Don Johns was known to have used broadsiding before 1914. There is evidence to show that meetings were held on small dirt tracks in Australia and the United States before World War I. The early history of speedway race meetings is a subject of much debate and controversy. ![]() Domestic speedway events are regulated by FIM-affiliated national motor sport federations.Ĭol Stewart races his speedway motorcycle wearing a leather helmet. A variant of track racing, speedway is administered internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Speedway is popular in Central and Northern Europe and to a lesser extent in Australia and North America. ![]() There are now both domestic and international competitions in a number of countries, including the Speedway World Cup, whilst the highest overall scoring individual in the Speedway Grand Prix events is pronounced the world champion. On the straight sections of the track, the motorcycles reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). Competitors use this surface to slide their machines sideways, powersliding or broadsiding into the bends. Racing takes place on a flat oval track usually consisting of dirt, loosely packed shale, or crushed rock (mostly used in Australia and New Zealand). ![]() The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only one gear and have no brakes. Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
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