50 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
dire warnings over the PA system, I was over that
fence in a flash to scoop up a sticky, battered prize.
For anyone wanting a panoramic view and not
averse to sitting in the open air, there was the tiered,
bleacher-style seating of Machinery Hill, while for
those of finer sensibilities there were the Ernest
Baynes and John Macdonald Stands. Dad and I were
usually on Machinery Hill, close to the primitive
arrangement under a section that served as The Pits.
This was a world of sound, fury and mystery
forbidden to the public, but you could get a glimpse
through the open but well-guarded gates. As a
bonus, when a bike or car needed to have a short
low-speed “tuning run” they would use the roadway
at the back of the Pits and Machinery Hill and you
could get up close to these wondrous machines.
The Solos and Speedcars ran in an anti-clockwise
direction, while the Sidecars ran clockwise. There was
always a full programme to satisfy one and all and in
time this was expanded to accommodate what are
today known as “Compact Speedcars” and expanded
again with the arrival of Stockcars. The first Stockcars
were set up for blatant biff and barge, sporting great
bull bars and roll cages. To add to the general
mayhem and provide some added shrapnel to
what was the forerunner of the Demolition Derby,
44-gallon drums were placed around the inner verge
of the track. Appearing at the end of the night’s
racing, Stockcars were enormously popular. A number
of riders and drivers such as Sandy McCrae and Allan
Belcher would enter their own Stockcars to cap off
the night with some light relief.
I of course had my heroes of the two, three and
four-wheeled kind and as a regular treat, Dad would
buy me a souvenir photo of my choice. Against all the
odds of time, divorce and moves, that collection of
almost 40 photos survives in my possession, intact
and pristine. Amongst them is a shot of prominent
Solo rider Keith Cox. It’s clear that I had met
the great man in my boyhood, because
it’s signed on the back “to my speedway
supporter Gary from Keith Cox.” I met
Keith again many decades later
while attending a vintage
Speedcar event on the Ekkatrack. Keith was in his eighties by then but had ridden
some demo laps on a vintage Solo and was still
riding a scooter daily. As I chatted to him at the end
of his demo run, someone asked him his secret to
still being on a bike at his age. His answer? “Son, I
never got off.” Sadly, Keith passed “under the
chequered flag” a few years back.
The iconic track survives as part of the greater
Brisbane Exhibition complex where the annual
Show – colloquially known as The Ekka – is staged.
The complex has undergone considerable redevel-
opment and although that magic oval remains
intact, it no longer hosts such spirited or resonant
action as a pack of Solos, Sidecars or Midgets
locked in gladiatorial combat.
Speedway action has now moved to the suburbs,
with cars of all sorts at Archerfield Speedway, and
Solos and Sidecars out at the Mick Doohan Raceway at
Banyo. How long these situations can be maintained is
questionable. The Doohan track is at least in an indus-
trial precinct beside the Gateway Arterial Road, so
perhaps it’s safe for the foreseeable future. Archerfield
however may be less secure. Despite it also being in
an industrial area and on the boundary of Archerfield
Airport, urban creep is sounding alarm bells that such
activities may be banished to more remote realms.
The texture of Speedway has moved on a bit too, at
least in respect to the cars. The struggling privateers
of the Fifties, operating on the smell of an oily rag,
have been replaced by huge pantechs loaded with
spare everything needed to get a mangled Sprintcar
back on track for the next heat. It’s perhaps a bit less
evolved where the bikes are concerned.
Regardless of changing times, I still attend both
venues because it’s too deep in the blood now and
even though there’s not perhaps that same raw
edge of childhood memory, there’s still a very basic
aspect visible in the minimal spectator facilities and
rudimentary Pits that conjure up the “paddock” of
early racing venues. In my seventies now, I continue
to ride and those words of Keith Cox “Son I never
got off” have become my personal mantra to keep
at it, however many years I may clock up. ■‘EKKA’ SPEEDWAY
LEFT English rider Ron
Mountford, who died in 1993,
had a 22-year history in the
British league and was a
regular Ekka visitor.
RIGHT Gary Edgar’s favourite rider
Keith Cox, who autographed
the rear of this print.
BELOW LEFT Popular sidecar star
Jim Davies with his Norton.‘Chook’ Hodgekiss
with his fearsome
twin-engined JAP.