The Roaring Season

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/150-stories-in-150-days/7995871/British-drivers-pleased-with-road-race

I think the Lycoming with Ralph Watson was there the next year 1957!

Milan Fistonic wrote:The Lycoming engine in Ralph Watson's Special

Indeed Milan, I had to re-title the photo as had all the details - here is the programme cover - the Sports Car Race entry list and my own photos of the car and engine at Dunedin in 1984 with Ralph Smith.







That engine 30 years later ..


A sad day for the car after a contretemps in 1962 at Wigram.. from Art McKee archives..Forrest Cardon driving.
on its second set of number plates the yellow and black -last of the old style.
Previous [ original plate ] was was Cream and Burgundy " 427.793 " ]



And .. a scruffy but fast Lycoming in the hands of Jim Boyd, at Waimate in 1966 - with new Registration - permanent plates were in .. Flamboyant and FAST ..a great guy all round.
Allan Dick photo -



In Steve Holmes new Book is a story on the Lycoming ..

Another shot of Jim Boyd in the Lycoming

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!

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.

Roger Dowding wrote:Indeed Milan, I had to re-title the photo as had all the details - here is the programme cover - the Sports Car Race entry list and my own photos of the car and engine at Dunedin in 1984 with Ralph Smith.

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That engine 30 years later ..
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A sad day for the car after a contretemps in 1962 at Wigram.. from Art McKee archives..Forrest Cardon driving.
on its second set of number plates the yellow and black -last of the old style.
Previous [ original plate ] was was Cream and Burgundy " 427.793 " ]

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And .. a scruffy but fast Lycoming in the hands of Jim Boyd, at Waimate in 1966 - with new Registration - permanent plates were in .. Flamboyant and FAST ..a great guy all round.
Allan Dick photo -

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In Steve Holmes new Book is a story on the Lycoming ..

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

stubuchanan wrote:Motor-bikes have also been raced at Drury, New Lynn,and Manukau City but the last 2 not in the "nostalgia" era.

Stu

anyone know whereabouts in drury they raced?

Steve Holmes wrote:Gerald, Markec asked me to post these for you, said you'd enjoy them.

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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?

Can anyone remember a dirt track or speedway track in or somewhere near Karori in Wellington.

Trevor Sheffield wrote: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

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.

Allan wrote:Can anyone remember a dirt track or speedway track in or somewhere near Karori in Wellington.

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

jellywrestler wrote:anyone know whereabouts in drury they raced?

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

Milan Fistonic wrote: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.

i won on the long track at an NZACU national points meeting in 1990,

stubuchanan wrote: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

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

jellywrestler wrote: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

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.