Speedway In Durban, South Africa In The 50s/60s

[BluesBassmanuk]

 

Hello all

 

Just wondered if anyone had any historic details and anecdotes about speedway in Durban, South Africa in the late 50's and early 1960's. As I was about 10 at the time, the track in Allan Ford Stadium seemed large but I am sure it was a short track.

 

I used to go to watch the local team, Durban Hornets and, in those days, a lot of riders from the UK came over to South Africa during the European off season.

 

Durban Hornets managed to recruit some great overseas riders including: Freddie Williams, Alan Hunt, Ronnie Moore and Olle Nygren. (Could be wrong about the last two here due to Old Timer's Disease)

 

Other riders who rode for that team included: Roy (The White Ghost) Browning, Vern McWilliams, Hooky Bremner.

 

Other riders from UK who I saw in SA included Jim Gooch and I think Eric Boothroyd. Also I do remember Howdy Byford going up to the commentary booth to sing an impromptu song. In those days I had an autograph book to die for. Lord knows what happened to it.

 

 

When I came to live in the UK I went to Wembley to see the World Championship - sadly the year when another rider flattened Barry Briggs and injured his hand badly. Also used to go to watch Wimbledon Dons when Ronnie Moore was riding from them. Did Trevor Hedge and Reg Hickman also ride for the Dons?

 

I remember the night when Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken came to Wimbledon and stood quietly in the bleachers to watch. No PR circus, no sponsors, no photographers - just two honest Grand Prix drivers who had come for the thrills of dirt track speedway.

 

Would appreciate any contributions to fill in the many gaps in my memory about Durban Hornets and even The Dons.

 

 

Many thanks

 

 

BluesBassManuk

 

 

 

 

[britmet]

Have a look at http://speedwaychampions.com/SouthAfrica.aspx

 

If you can add any more info please PM me.

[Puma23]

There is South African League:

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/dmrpa.php

 

There are squads of Durban Hornets year by year and more other details.

 

There are scores of South African Championship:

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/indmrpa.php

 

There are scores of South African Open Championship:

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/oindmrpa.php

 

There are scores of South African Junior Championships:

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/mindmrpa.php

 

There is list of South African speedway riders:

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/biografia.php

 

And here is link to my site:

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/brytania/index.php

[britmet]

The track at Hoy Park Durban was indeed small.

Whilst the mecca of S.African speedway, Wembley, was 470yds Hoy Park was just 280yds. In the ‘53/54 season the t.r. was 55.9s by Ronnie Moore, and Wembley’s 75.6s by Freddie Williams.

Other tracks at that time were Springs, 320yds/62.2s F.W; Randfontein 320yds/62.0s Trevor Redmond & F.W; Bulawayo (SR) 470/72.3s(3-laps) Doug Lang; Kitwe (NR) 340/68.9s Bob Serrurier

The Durban track of the ‘90s, Kings Park, was 400mtrs.

 

n.b. Speedway data on SA can be a minefield from beginning to end:

Phil Bishop only ever toured SA once, in the ‘35/36 season, and took the National title at Malvern in March of that season;

Byron Bekker couldn’t have been SA Champ in ’99 at 12 years old in his first year of riding: he did win the U21 title in the following year, and in the subsequent, ie. in 2000 & 2001, not 3 times. Surprisingly he’s never been SA Champions, not in ’99 or ’09, primarily because he’s been riding in the UK since 2004.

[Puma23]

Hi Britmet

 

thx. for you remarks !

 

I got the all datails from Kenneth McLeod and Christian W. So, I put it on my site. You are sure that Phil Bishop was not in SA in 1932 ?

 

The emial is:

SOUTH AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIP Winners

(unofficial before the competition was given official blessing by the M.A. in

1989)

 

NOTE: * indicates South African Open Championship, in those years foreign

riders were allowed to compete for the South African Championship. In some

years during the 1970's, 80's and 90's two seperate titles for the SA

National (or SA Domestic Riders' Championship) and the SA Open Championships

were held in the same season. In those years, usually the Open championship

was considered to be the main event.

Since 1989, the SA National title is the one and only officially sanctioned

and internationally recognized championship. The SA Open has not been staged

since the 1995 season.

 

1928 - Joe Sarkis

1929 - Stan Collins

1932*- Phil Bishop (England)

1935 - Cecil de la Porte

1936*- Phil Bishop (England)

1939 - Buddy Fuller

1946 - Buddy Fuller

1948 - Buddy Fuller

1949 - Fred Wills

1950 - Fred Wills

1951 - Bob Serrurier

1952 - Henry Long

1953 - Henry Long

1954 - Henry Long

1955*- Trevor Redmond (New Zealand)

1956*- Alan Hunt (England)

1957*- Henry Long (South Africa)

1959 - Henry Long

1960 - Neil Mortimer

1961*- Doug Davies (South Africa)

1962 - Doug Davies

1963 - Jimmy Chapman

1964 - Dennis Newton

1965 - Dennis Newton

1966 - Dennis Newton

1967 - George Glenn

1968 - Dennis Newton

1969 - Tommy Viljoen

1970 - Dennis Newton

1971 - Tony Jongvisscher

1972 - Vic Pretorius

1973*- Dennis Newton (South Africa)

1974*- Peter Prinsloo (Rhodesia)

1975*- Peter Prinsloo (Rhodesia)

1976*- Dave Gooderham (England)

1976 - Arthur Bruins

1977 - Arthur Bruins

1978*- Bert Harkins (Scotland)

1978 - Arthur Bruins

1979*- Peter Prinsloo (Rhodesia)

1980*- Steve Wilcock (England)

1980 - Alan Simpson

1981*- Denzil Kent (South Africa)

1981 - Alan Simpson

1982*- Denzil Kent (South Africa)

1982 - Alan Simpson

1983*- Dave Jessup (England)

1983 - Alan Simpson

1984*- Dave Jessup (England)

1984 - Alan Simpson

1985*- Denzil Kent (South Africa)

1985 - Denzil Kent

1986 - Peter Prinsloo

1987 - Alan Simpson

1988*- Rick Miller (U.S.A.)

1988 - Gary Prommel

1989*- Richard Knight (England)

1989 - Denzil Kent

1990 - Denzil Kent

1991*- Mark Loram (England)

1991 - Warren Meier

1992*- Gary Havelock (England)

1992 - Warren Meier

1993*- Deon Prinsloo (South Africa)

1993 - Noddy Naudé

1994 - Deon Prinsloo

1995*- Gary Havelock (England)

1995 - Deon Prinsloo

1996 - Deon Prinsloo

[Puma23]

About Byron Bekker. It was my mistake with SA Champs season 1999 but his father told me he was unofficial junior champion in 1999. I noted it in polish "Uwaga ! Mistrzostwa miały charakter nieoficjalny."

 

The scores from 2009 are corrected because I also put scores each round (1st, 2nd and 3rd). It is third round (12.12.2009). The final standing is "Klasyfikacja koncowa".

[britmet]

Information is from the same 3 sources, KMcL, CW, DB, direct, (incl’g copied emails to yourself in 2008,) with no loss in translation.

 

e.g. From KMcL: " Firstly, I've done extensive research on the 1929/30 and the 1930/31 seasons as well as 1934/35 and 1935/36. ….. The 1935/36 season ...... Bishop toured SA that season, along with Wally Lloyd, the only two visiting riders. This was Bishop's ONLY visit. He won the SA dirt track championship at Malvern in March 1936. This was the national title, NOT the open title. He is the only visiting rider to have won the national title. He must have been eligible because SA was part of the British Empire."

 

From DB: "CAREER HISTORY (BB): Started his speedway racing in 1999 and in 2000 went on to win the U21 South African Championship, the U21 Regional Championship and the best pairs in the premier division.

2001: Byron retained the U21 Championship, the Regional Championship and the best pairs and then added the Silver Sash to his winnings."

[britmet]

BlueBass, - Here are some Hornets' team line-ups for you to drool over:

 

Jan.'54: Dick Campbell, Bill Dalton, Roy Browning, Arend Hartman, Vern McWiliams, Peter Dykes, Gerrald Hussey.

 

'56/57: Alan Hunt, Jimmy Gooch, Roy Browning, G. Hickson, Vern McWiliams, Hookey Bremner, Dennis Motley, O.Watson, M.Jones, also rode Johny Gander, Graham White.

 

'57/58: Ove Fundin, Gerry Hickson, Vern McWillaims, Roy Bowers, Graham White, H.Bremner, Ken Goosard, also rode: Henry Long, Aub Long, Neil Mortimer.

[Puma23]

Durban Hornets

 

1953/1954

 

http://www.speedwayhistory.info/dmrpa1953.php

 

1954/1955

 

http://www.speedwayhistory.info/dmrpa1954.php

 

1955/1956

 

http://www.speedwayhistory.info/dmrpa1955.php

 

1956/1957

 

http://www.speedwayhistory.info/dmrpa1956.php

 

Squads 1952/1953

 

http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/zawodnicy_druzynowi.php?tabela=dmrpa&rok=1952&hierarchia=1&liga=South African National League

[BluesBassmanuk]

MASSIVE THANKS to Britmet and Puma23 for all those references. They are VERY gratefully received.

 

I hope I have enough years left in this life so that I can read every last word and piece together more memories of those great days.

 

Sadly I never kept programmes of Durban Hornets meetings and my (often hazy) recall is mainly of incidents and characters in the 1950's.

 

Roy Browning was certainly a character. With his white leathers he became known as "The White Ghost" and had a motor business in Durban (probably buying and selling used cars) called White Ghost Motors. He was a very popular rider.

 

I do not remember seeing the Kiwi, Dick Campbell, ride for Durban Hornets but often saw him driving racing cars at hill climbs and at Roy Hesketh and Westmead circuits in Natal. He was a fearless, hang-the-tail-out driver of 500cc cars like Keifts and Cooper-Japs. (Is that where the engine from his speedway bike ended up? LoL)

 

Freddie Williams was the hero of all boys my age. He seemed to be a quiet, thoughtful man and, on reflection, had superior track craft to most other riders. I had not realised that he rode for and skippered other teams in SA until I read some of the references you quoted.

 

We liked Alan Hunt a lot too and the photo of him with Buddy Fuller also brought back memories. They seem to be standing just in front of the crude hut that served as the commentators booth at Alan Ford Stadium. I remember that at the start of a meeting, the riders would line up in the pits in their respective teams and then march around to the start line to the tune of "Anchors Aweigh".

 

So far I have not spotted Olle Nygren's name in the references but I am sure I saw him race in Durban in those days.

 

I sure have a lot of catching up to do this winter! It is going to be "an interesting read".

 

Again, many many thanks to Britmet and Puma23

 

All the best

 

 

BluesBassManuk

[britmet]

MASSIVE THANKS to Britmet and Puma23 for all those references. They are VERY gratefully received.

 

 

So far I have not spotted Olle Nygren's name in the references but I am sure I saw him race in Durban in those days.

I sure have a lot of catching up to do this winter! It is going to be "an interesting read".

Again, many many thanks to Britmet and Puma23

All the best

luesBassManuk

 

Yes, you'll see Olle in the detail MRC table, as an unsuccessful challenger in 54/55, 55/56 and 56/57

[Bavarian]

Yes, you'll see Olle in the detail MRC table, as an unsuccessful challenger in 54/55, 55/56 and 56/57

Nygren was a Pretoria Eagles favorite.

[britmet]

There's now a new website with current and historical data from South Africa, including results of this Easter weekend's Cape Revival tour.

 

"Speedway South Africa", www.speedway-sa.com

[Split]

I've never seen speedway in Durban but was fortunate enough to see the Johannesburg leg of the World Champions series in November 1975. I found this report at:

 

http://www.speedway-...Years 26-31.pdf

 

WORLD CHAMPIONS SERIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

IN 1974 former world champions Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger had formed their own touring troupe of

speedway world champions, and took them to America, Australia and New Zealand. The possibility of taking

a mini-troupe to South Africa came to life late in 1975. Briggs had ridden in South Africa before – back in

1953 with the touring New Zealand team on one of those special Trevor Redmond package tours. The

proposal to do it in 1975 came from Buddy Fuller, who was keen and convinced that the world champions

speedway series with half-a-dozen of the world’s superstars would not only draw big crowds but help

establish interest in the sport again.

A DREAM CAME TRUE

IN November of 1975, the dream became reality and a massive crowd of 11,000 spectators saw the world

champions’ troupe on their initial S.A. appearance and the return of speedway racing to the Wembley

Stadium in Johannesburg. The track, recently laid on the tarmac car strip, was in superb condition and there

was plenty of good racing to please one of South Africa’s biggest ever speedway crowds. John Louis, a

member of the World Cup winning England team of 1973 came out on top to win this first round of the African

WCSS. In the final he beat the reigning world champion of 1975, Ole Olsen of Denmark, the four-times world

champion Ivan Mauger of New Zealand and the world long-track champion Egon Muller of Germany. The

appearance of Briggs had led to a revival of the S.A. Golden Helmet Match Race Championship. This was

last staged nearly 20 years ago when Briggs last rode in South Africa and had taken the title with him. Now

he was back and was challenged by Olsen in Johannesburg, who won after Briggs had motor problems.

Results: JOHANNESBURG (November 7, 1975)

Qualifying heat scores: Mauger 10, Olsen 10, Louis 9, Muller 4, Briggs 3, Autrey 0.

WCSS-Final: Louis, Olsen, Mauger, Muller.

S.A. Match Race Championship: Olsen (challenger) bt. Briggs (holder)

 

TWENTY-four hours later, on Saturday, the action switched to Durban

Edited April 20, 2012 by Split

[speedyguy]

MASSIVE THANKS to Britmet and Puma23 for all those references. They are VERY gratefully received.

 

I hope I have enough years left in this life so that I can read every last word and piece together more memories of those great days.

 

Sadly I never kept programmes of Durban Hornets meetings and my (often hazy) recall is mainly of incidents and characters in the 1950's.

 

Roy Browning was certainly a character. With his white leathers he became known as "The White Ghost" and had a motor business in Durban (probably buying and selling used cars) called White Ghost Motors. He was a very popular rider.

 

I do not remember seeing the Kiwi, Dick Campbell, ride for Durban Hornets but often saw him driving racing cars at hill climbs and at Roy Hesketh and Westmead circuits in Natal. He was a fearless, hang-the-tail-out driver of 500cc cars like Keifts and Cooper-Japs. (Is that where the engine from his speedway bike ended up? LoL)

 

Freddie Williams was the hero of all boys my age. He seemed to be a quiet, thoughtful man and, on reflection, had superior track craft to most other riders. I had not realised that he rode for and skippered other teams in SA until I read some of the references you quoted.

 

We liked Alan Hunt a lot too and the photo of him with Buddy Fuller also brought back memories. They seem to be standing just in front of the crude hut that served as the commentators booth at Alan Ford Stadium. I remember that at the start of a meeting, the riders would line up in the pits in their respective teams and then march around to the start line to the tune of "Anchors Aweigh".

 

So far I have not spotted Olle Nygren's name in the references but I am sure I saw him race in Durban in those days.

 

I sure have a lot of catching up to do this winter! It is going to be "an interesting read".

 

Again, many many thanks to Britmet and Puma23

 

All the best

 

 

BluesBassManuk

 

The renowned Norwegian star 'Basse' Hveem was another 1950s favourite with Durban Hornets. He was the first Norwegian to get a 'Top 20' place when the 'Speedway Star' used to have a World Ratings list at the end of the year.

[Guest]

Dave Collins was an Englishman who emigrated to South Africa in circa 1947-48 and took up speedway there. I am also trying to get confirmation that in the early 1970s Collins switched to midget car racing in South Africa and competed in meetings at the Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg? In the South African speedway league Collins was a member of the Durban Hornets team.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Guest

[Guest]

Some famous South African post-war riders who raced at various times in British speedway although not all of them were involved with the Durban Hornets club. Click the SOUTH AFRICA title to bring forward the article.

http://www.speedwayplus.com

Edited June 26, 2016 by Guest

[Guest]

By John Hyam

I became interested in Keith Harvey in May 1946, the year that I discovered speedway. He was signed by New Cross and the item by Jim Stenner in the London 'Evening News' surprised me. It said Harvey, the pre-war captain of the 1939 Crystal Palace team, was to make a come-back for New Cross at the aged of 50 years. I was then 13 years old and my father was just 44 - I could not believe there was a speedway rider anywhere older than that!

Harvey was a South African who started riding speedway when he arrived in England in 1928. He was a well-known motorcycle rider in his homeland - he took part in a 500-mile race sometime in the early 1920s and was among the finishers in a snowstorm.

I next read an item on Harvey in a book by Eric Linden. This said he did not get on to a speedway bike until he was 32 years old, but in the sport's early days had been 'one of the showmen legtrailers' at Stamford Bridge. Pre-war he also rode for teams including West Ham, Wimbledon and Birmingham.

In 1939 he rode for Crystal Palace in their brief spell in the National League Division Two. When they closed in mid-season he signed for Norwich, to whom he was allocated in the post-war rider pooling in 1946 but never rode for the Stars. In 1946, as a New Cross rider Harvey varied between being the first reserve and sometimes in the full-team, where most times he was partner to Ron Johnson. Harvey started the 1947 season as a New Cross rider, but the advent of younger riders like Ray Moore, Jeff Lloyd, Ken le Breton, saw him drop down to the second-half. He made his last appearance before retiring in June that year.

Eventually, Harvey returned to South Africa and lived in Durban, where he was a frequent visitor to the pits of the famous Durban Hornets. In pre-war years he was probably South Africa's best known speedway rider. Ironically, Harvey never raced on a speedway in his homeland.

Keith Harvey died in 1972 and was buried in his home town at Verulaam.