OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA: 55TRACKS IN TIMEQUORN HALL
light being Longford the following March.
The 1955 season opened in October on
27th and was all about Max Stephens
with his new 350 and 500 Nortons, who
smashed the lap record by 2 seconds
with a lap time of 1min 5 sec in the➢Valleyfield, when a charted aircraft
brought riders like Ken Kavanagh, Bernie
Mack, Maurie Quincey, George Skinner
and Frank Sinclair to the isle.
The November 1953 Quorn Hall
meeting was billed as the Tasmanian TT
with another bumper crowd. The
meeting again showed the talent of Max
Stephens who defeated Dave Powell,
the Hobart pastry cook known as “Pastry
Dave”, to win the 350 class on his trusty
KTT Velo and the Unlimited on a 500
BSA. It was Stephens who World
Champion Geoff Duke approached at
Longford in 1955 to join him on the
International circus. Stephens couldn’t
afford to go and stayed in Tasmania. Reg
Leslie won the 250 class on his BSA, and
Powell on his new £600 Norton took out
the Senior after Stephens stepped off his
Velo. Riders like Don Thompson, Donny
Miller, Peter Thurley, Dave Perry, Peter
Ricketts, John Barrenger, Ike Chenhall
and Sam Hughes were also beginning to
appear on the result sheets.
The preview to the 1954/55 season
opener on October 31st showed how
much the local mechanics had also taken
to road racing and expanding their
horizons. New rider Laurie O’Shea was
entered on a 125 Bantam with a Walsh
conversion kit. Ex-pat Swiss rider Tony
Branderer had obtained hot up specs
from DKW for his Bantam. Another
Bantam converted by Alan Ikin was to be
ridden by Don Thompson, the Gough
Special was ready to go and the Brown
Bros. special was hoped to be ready. Dave
Powell again dominated although it could
have been different as Max Stephens had
purchased the ex-Quincey Manx Norton,
but he clipped another rider after a slow
start and sliced the front tyre. With no
spare available, he was out for the
remainder of the weekend.
Quorn Hall was now the warm up
meeting for each season with the high-Reports indicated this was the first time
mainland riders were to appear at the
circuit. Now mechanics were getting
interested in the racing as well, with
three specials mentioned. The Brown
Brothers in Devonport were building a
125 based on an early Overhead Cam
Velocette with their own designed crank
in an over square 52 x 55 bore/stroke.
Launceston mechanics, Bill Gough and
Trevor Jowett were yet to reveal their
creations, but it was known that the 125
Gough Special was using a new idea of a
swinging arm suspension attached to a
full loop frame.
For this meeting the TRRA conducted
some improvements to the concrete
surface of the runway. They tarmac-
sealed an extension to the northern end
and sealed some of the perimeter road –
modifications that tempted an influx of
top riders from the mainland. Saturday’s
races were the main championship races
with Victorian motor mechanic Ray Owen
the star of the day with winning rides on
his 125 CZ, 249 Triumph and 500 Norton.
He then bolted a sidecar on the Norton
and put younger brother Ron in to finish
second in the Junior sidecar, with
mechanical gremlins slowing him. In the
Senior he was to lead home local stars in
Dave Powell (498 Triumph) and Max
Stephens (348 Velocette). With the
championships won, Monday’s program
was devoted to support races with N.S.W.
rider John Astley (499 Norton) winning
the A grade race from local “Ike”
Chenhall (998 Vincent Black Shadow)
and Owen. The Clubman class was won
by Charlie Rice with his 498 Matchless.
For the March long weekend in 1953 all
attention was switched to the first meet-
ing at nearby Longford, signalling the
start of circuit racing proper in Tasmania.
This was a very big boost for road racing
in the state and the biggest influx of top
names since the 1950 Tasmanian TT at
Jack Bratt, Dave Powell
and Don Gorringe with
Powell’s new Manx Norton
in January 1953.Max Stephens flat out
on one of the straights.Start
& Finish
Line20
MPHStraw Bales20
MPHFencing
FencingTo Lake Leake Rd. 1/2 mileMotor
Car TrackQuorn Hall Circuit
Lap Distance:2.41 kilometres