First Sidecar Racing In S.I.
Motor-cycling in one of its most spectacular forms will be introduced to the South Island for the first time on Easter Monday.
The event is the inaugural Canterbury sidecar championship to be held during the New Zealand grand prix meeting at Ruapuna Park, Templeton. Six “chairs" have been entered for the race, which will be run in an anti-clock-wise direction over five laps of the mile circuit, and several of the leading competitors ■ in the Dominion will be 'coming down from the North
Island to give the racing a solid boost. Leading contender for the title will be the outstanding Napier combination, F. Sollitt (rider) and R. Yates (passenger). They are regarded as the leading sidecar pair on North Island circuits, where this form of racing has proved exceptionally popular. Another Napier team, G. Watson and D. Beere (passenger), has also entered, and a good battle should develop. Watson’s machine is one of the largest entered, a 650 c.c. B.S.A, while Sollitt and Yates will be mounted on a slightly smaller but very fast 500 c.c. Norton-
The entry of the Wellington combination, C. Calder
and A. Robert (passenger), and the Dunedin team, R. Atkins and T. Brown (passenger), give the field a national flavour. Calder will be riding a 500 c.c. Norton and Atkins a 650 c.c. 8.5. A., similar to that entered by Watson.
Two teams will carry the Canterbury flag—G. Smith and M. Butler (passenger), and K. McCleary and I. McGregor- The former will be mounted on a 500 c.c. B.S.A. combination and the latter on a 500 c.c. A.J.S.
All four are very well known personalities in South Island motor-cycling, and notwithstanding their lack of experience at this branch of the sport, they-could do well.
“We have been trying to push this because it is veryspectacular.” the grand prix organiser (Mr T. R. McCleary, snr.) said, yesterday. He said that the Canterbury Auto Cycle Club was very grateful to Sollitt and Watson for bringing their combinations down from Napier for the race for they would certainly lose financially on the trip. They had a chance of winning a £lO first prize, but it would cost them two or three times as much in travelling. However, they were both keen on seeing sidecar racing introduced to the South Island and that was their main reason for coming, Mr
First Sidecar Racing In S.I.
Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30725, 14 April 1965, Page 19
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in