‘Professor’ John Medley is the ‘Dean of the Faculty of Australian Motor Racing History’.
This is the first of three articles I’ll publish about the January 15, 1927 Australian Grand Prix – Australia’s first car GP – won by Geoff Meredith’s Bugatti Type 30 at Goulburn Racecourse. It recognises the pioneering leadership role that motorcycling played in the evolution of motor racing in Australia. Goulburn was at its front and centre. Understand this piece and you’ll understand how the first car GP in Australia came to be held at Goulburn Racecourse.
The article was written by John and published in the December 2011, fabulous ‘A History of Australia’s First Grand Prix’ edited by John Lackey. It’s reproduced in full with the caveat that the sub-headings and photo selection/captions are mine, Mark Bisset. Keep an eye on this piece in the next few days as I’m still adding photographs.
It’s hard to believe today, but motorcycle riders and motorcycle clubs pioneered motorsport in Australia. That was about 1901. Plenty of people still remembered the Kelly Gang. The T-Model Ford wouldn’t hit Australia in numbers for several years. And Gallipoli and the Anzac legend were a decade away. But while most four-wheeler drivers pottered about sedately on sunny Sunday mornings, motorcycle riders went racing, hill-climbing, trialing and long-distance touring. Motorcycle clubs were well-organised, well-run and quickly formed into state and national groups. It would be at least 20 years before car clubs even began to catch-up with motorcyclists.
Motor racing in Australia started on cycle-racing and horse-racing tracks, even on dog-racing tracks, often promoted by cycle-racers and horse-racers. Some of these tracks later became racing tracks for cars or motorcycles, or both cars and motorcycles. Some were used alternately by cycles, horses, cars and motorcycles. Some new tracks of this type were created. Track lengths varied – from less than 400 metres to more than 1500 metres. In shape, they ranged from round to D-shaped to rectangular. Cars raced on tracks of this style only. Motorcycles not only raced on tracks of this style, but ventured further – even before The Great War, motorcyclists raced on dusty or muddy rutted unsealed roads of immense length and varied shape and incline, sometimes over 20 miles per lap.
Goulburn…
A motorcycle race from Goulburn to Sydney had occurred as early as 1905. The closest cars ever approached this was in one-at-a-time inter-city record attempts or one-car-at-a-time hill climbs. There were no Australian road race courses for cars. Mostly, Australian cars competed in Trials (perhaps with sprints and hill climbs included). A typical pattern, the Tasmanian Automobile Club’s constitution said 50% membership cars/motorcycles, with each half competing and the other providing officials (and then reversed) until after the Great War, when the motorcyclists wanted more competition events, and the car members wanted touring events. The car members were concerned with politics and improving the lot of motorists, so the two halves split, the motorcyclists becoming in 1920 the Northern Tasmanian MotorCycle Club.
The first Australian road race course for cars was Phillip Island in 1928, oddly enough on a dusty, rutted, unsealed, rectangular course of 6½ miles, i.e. rectangular just like all its track forebears, but bigger. (Even Western Australia’s Perkolilli on a dry lake was only 2 miles around.) The motorcyclists raced at Phillip Island too, but typically to that rectangle they added a “varied shape and incline” section out to Rhyll and back. Another odd aspect of Phillip Island was that racing there was in Victoria, a state without as strong a motor racing record as some others. In NSW and Queensland, at that pre Depression period, motor racing in all disciplines was intense – on 4 wheels but particularly on 2 and 3, and most particularly in motorcycle speedway.
Exponential Growth of Motorcycle Speedway…
By 1925, motorcycle speedway was over 10 years old. By 1916, Toowoomba (Qld) had seen motorcycle speedway on horse race tracks (Clifford Park and Werrington Park), and later courses at Ipswich, Deagon, Maryborough, and Warwick. Brisbane Exhibition Grounds began 26 August 1916, closely followed by far-flung Townsville and Rockhampton, the latter under lights by 1925. Speedway racing was just as intense elsewhere, perhaps none more so than the Newcastle area, where there were tracks at Newcastle, Hamilton, Maitland and Cessnock. The serious promoters of this sport were about to promote it overseas, like AJ Hunting, and Jim Hoskins, as well as Keith McKay and Campbell & Du Frocq elsewhere – the beginning of speedway’s first Golden Era. Many a town had its speedway meetings, some with car events included. Some city speedways already had a weekly “speedway season”, usually over the summer.
As cars and motorcycles had initially run on cycle race tracks and horse race tracks, so the cars ran on motorcycle race tracks. As cars and motorcycles had initially had an event or two at cycle race meetings, so the cars had an event or two at motorcycle meetings. Sometimes the two disciplines ran separately, but it was invariably motorcycles first. There were certainly more motorcycle races than there were car races. The initiative appears to have been with the motorcyclists in a number of ways. Road racing on Phillip Island was initiated by motorcyclists, who invited the car people to join in. There were other invitations from motorcyclists to car people to join in.
Bikes and Cars…
The pattern as it developed is well demonstrated around the time of that 1927 Australian Grand Prix for cars at Goulburn Showground by the Motor Sport Calendar of 1926–1927 (NB E&OE. There is no guarantee of a complete list – one reason a definitive history of motor sport in Australia will never be written, we know that the record will always be incomplete).
The calendar, which is probably far from complete, shows more than 150 events or competitions from the beginning of 1926 to the end of 1928. Editor’s Note: For completeness, this calendar list is included as a chapter towards the end of this book (I’ve not included this list, Mark).
The calendar contains all events identified at the time of writing. Some known events are not included because of uncertainty about the date on which they happened, including Clayton (Victoria), Maribyrong (Victoria), Hartley near Lithgow, some events on the various Goulburn and Bathurst circuits, Lake George dirt track, grass track racing at “Inveralochy” (only the last including cars), Southport beach races(Q) for cars only. Some patterns emerge:
1. Motorcycle events and motorcycle competitor numbers exceed those of cars;
2. Motorcycles and cars ran together from time to time;
3.Car competition tended towards trials (sometimes with sprints/hill climbs included), motorcycle competition tended more towards speed;
4. Some states outnumbered others in the amount of competition- ample choice for competitors in some states, less so in others. State laws and local council laws re races on public roads may have been a factor;
5.There was no road racing for cars;
6. Central to the pattern is the rise and rise of speedway, so intense at that time, driven often by the professional promoters mentioned above. They and their riders were so keen and organised that there were multiple speedways in some cities; some were already racing under lights, and afternoon competitors at Toowoomba Speedway even flew with promoter AJ Hunting for their night racing at Brisbane on the same day.
The 1926-27 role of the promoters and the rise and rise of speedway is highlighted by their strong desire and action to export speedway to the UK, as suggested in the 1928 calendar items above.
History and geography played a part. “Marvellous Melbourne” of the 19th century had faltered a little with the droughts and depression of the 1890s and the slowing of the great gold towns of Ballarat and Bendigo. “Marvellous Melbourne” had then been one of the biggest cities in the world, the biggest city in Australia, the second biggest city in the British Empire, the richest city in the world, and 1901-1927 the federal capital of Australia. Activities initiated in Melbourne later moved elsewhere or were copied, including after 1913 the Victorian Motor Cycle Club’s motorcycle events labelled “grand prix” (at times run along Sydney Road to Kilmore).
Bathurst and Goulburn were large country towns, not far behind their state capital Sydney in various ways, and in 1914 they took over/copied major motorcycle races from Melbourne. Just outside Goulburn 11″ and 13th April 1914, the Sydney Bicycle and Motor Cycle Club (established 1879) ran “(the) first annual interstate championship meeting” including “The Tourist Trophy Race of Australia”. Then on 3- 5 October 1914, at the urging of Bathurst Council and the (Bathurst) Kookaburra Motor Cycle Club, the NSW Motor Cycle Club with Auto Cycle Union permission ran a Grand Prix, northeast of Kelso towards old goldfields on a 15 ½ mile circuit referred to as Sunny Corner – a place now central to a huge trail bike festival. The 30-mile Goulburn circuit was Yarra-Breadalbane-Collector, also used in 1915 and 1919, using parts of the Hume and Federal Highways. The Goulburn events later moved to the Goulburn-Windellama-Bungonia Circuit (1924, the first Australian Grand Prix for motorcycles) and then the shorter 6.6-mile Parkesbourne Circuit for 1929 and 1930. Police confiscation of a beer keg is said to be one reason the Goulburn motorcycle events moved again in 1931- to Bathurst’s Vale Circuit, still maintaining the Easter and October weekends from 1914 (though there were meetings at other times). Did the 1930 police beer keg confiscation presage the infamous Easter Bathurst riots 40 years later?
Goulburn Take 2…
Goulburn motorcycle race organisers in 1914 invited others to join in. The “first annual interstate championship” included invitations to race motorcyclists (from NSW, Victoria, and South Australia) but also for trials motorcyclists to ride from, for example, Melbourne. As the events evolved over time, the invitation became even broader. From the Melbourne Argus 29th October 1919 – “A very comprehensive programme has been framed by the Motor Cycle Club of NSW for a racing carnival extending over the Christmas holidays, the venue being Goulburn, about 130 miles from Sydney. The club will first conduct a reliability trial over that course, and has invited the Victorian Motor Cycle Club to arrange a similar competition from Melbourne to Goulburn, a distance of about 430 miles, so that members can take part in several of the numerous contests to be decided during the carnival” … ” The reliability run from Sydney will take place on Christmas Day, and the day following there will be several races for solo and sidecar machines on a special course selected near Goulburn, having a circuit of 33 miles. On December 27, there are nine events listed, some on the road and some on the local racecourse, while on Sunday (December 28) a picnic has been arranged, the motors giving place to drags (Editor’s Note: drags were horse-drawn vehicles). The last day of the carnival (December 29) will be filled in with three events, including the 100 miles Australian Championship”
Like the Goulburn motorcycle race organisers, so too the Bathurst race organisers. From the Sydney Morning Herald, 16th February 1924: “The Sydney Bicycle and Motor Club has again been invited by the Bathurst Motorcycle Club to promote several motorcycle road races on the Bathurst-Kelso-Peel-Limekilns course at Easter time, permission to use the course having been granted by the local shire council. The club has arrangements well in hand, but regrets that permission is withheld for the proposed motor car race”.
“The Goulburn Motor Cycle Club has also agreed to cooperate with the Sydney Bicycle and Motor Club in organising road races on the Breadalbane-Collector Circuit in June next. The Sydney Club announces that it will make an effort to obtain permission from the local shire councils to promote the two short races for motor cars at this meeting. The committee hopes to be able to make a donation of 100 pounds to the local shire to defray the cost of preparing the road for the races.”
The motorcyclists’ courtesies were understandable: there were more motorcyclists, there were more motorcycles, motorcycles were less expensive, motorcycles were more adaptable and adjustable to varying conditions, motorcyclists were more keen on speed events, and they welcomed all and any to join in. Motorcycles were seen to be the domain of the working classes, while cars were the realm of the well-to-do. It is clear that it was the motorcyclists who created, initiated, invited, competed, repeated and established traditions, and over a range of endeavours and sites – including intercity speed attempts, road race courses, reliability trial courses, dirt, cinders or grass speedway tracks, beaches, banked concrete ovals, and even the local Goulburn Showgrounds.
First Australian Grand Prix for Cars
The traditional Goulburn activities of the motorcyclists created the underpinnings for that hot, dusty Goulburn day of 15th January 1927, the first Australian Grand Prix for cars. The motorcyclists’ traditional hard work, initiative, creativity, and clear intention to compete at speed showed. So did their traditional programme of events that day – shared events between cars and motorcycles, the latter called The International MotorCycle Derby.
Why? Because the motorcyclists had already used up the “Australian Grand Prix” title, and would use it repeatedly pre-1940- at Goulburn, at Bathurst’s Vale Circuit, Bathurst’s Mount Panorama, and at Phillip Island. Embedded within that tradition, looking back and looking forward, sat Goulburn 15th January 1927. That the motorcycle events moved later from Breadalbane, from Windellama, from Parkesbourne, even from Inveralochy, Goulburn Showgrounds, and Lake George was Goulburn’s loss, but they moved, and carried with them the grand titles of Australian Tourist Trophy and Australian Grand Prix, to the Bathurst circuits, and to Phillip Island too – where their descendants remain today. (Today, some of their descendants also race at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park). Quite rightly, many suggest that it is at Phillip Island’s modern MotoGP that 1927 Goulburn’s (and all the other Goulburn events) heritage lies. Bathurst’s proud motorcycle heritage is an even clearer line of origin and obligation. Much is owed to the humble motorcyclists by the rest of us. One of Wayne Adams’ lessons for us in “The Racing Boys” is that here in Goulburn lie the true origins of Australian Motorcycle Racing. In 2009, at a Wakefield Park motorcycle race meeting, one public speech acknowledged “Goulburn as the birthplace of national motorcycle racing in Australia”.
Much may be owed to the motorcyclists, but they were treated poorly. The motorcyclists were first Sydney-Goulburn, first on the beaches, first on speedway, first at the Goulburn circuits, first at the Bathurst circuits, first at Phillip Island, first to use such terms as Australian Grand Prix and Australian Tourist Trophy, first to launch competitors onto the international stage…Yet, the well-to-do and increasingly influential car people treated them poorly aided by history, economics, public relations, compliant media, and unusual policing. Some may point to the motorcycle genocide perpetrated by the car people, the media and the police at the motorcyclists’ Mecca, Easter Bathurst, but let us not forget that ultimately it was the car people with their concrete walls that killed Easter Bathurst for motorcycles – yet the motorcyclists had arranged in the first place for them to be there. There are many other similar stories elsewhere in Australia’s motorcycle racing history.
Geoff Meredith, Bugatti Type 30 2-litre straight eight on the way to winning the January 15, 1927 Australian Grand Prix at Goulburn Racecourse from Jack O’Rourke’s Frank Parle owned Bugatti Type 39 1.5-litre straight eight.
Centenary celebration planning is well underway in Goulburn, everything you need to know is in this website. See you there! https://goulburngrandprix.com.au/
Tony Johns and I wrote this epic on the March 1928, 100 Miles Road Race – two races actually, one started at 11am and the other at 2pm – at Phillip Island. I had planned to follow this May 28, 2020 article with a piece(s) on the 1927 AGP shortly thereafter but a paucity of photographs meant it wasn’t a flyer. The same mainly lousy photos are still around but judicious use of the AI tools turns them into something of vague use. Anyway, better late than never, Inconvenient Truth as the long time lost ’27 AGP is to many. The next Goulburn piece will be about the race weekend, competitors and their cars. See 1928 AGP here:https://primotipo.com/2020/05/28/1928-100-miles-road-race-phillip-island/
Credits…
John Medley ‘In Praise of Motorcyclists’ article published in ‘A History of Australia’s First Grand Prix’ Editor, John Lackey, first published by The Golden Era Auto Club in December 2011.
Yamaha Motor Co Collection, Goulburn Cycle Club, Goulburn Post, K Hay, Kalgoorlie Argus-P Dwyer, goulburngrandprix.com.au, defunctspeedway.com.au.
Note that the colour image of the 1927 AGP started life as a very poor monochrome photograph that’s been colourised by the goulburngrandprix.com.au people…and then sharpened by yours truly with the WordPress tool, therefore E & OE as the lawyers like to shove in their letters sometimes…
Finito…
primotipo... 