Whanganui Cemetery Circuit 2022 (and 2023)

„The NZGP at Ruapuna - Christchurch - is next week „

That was the race where I met John Britten first time in 1990, later I visited him in his home and wrote an artikel for the German Mo magazine
 
I remember, it was the first time where I saw a PC connected to a bike to review the practice performance and he was there with a white Daimler 280 SL pagode convertical. I asked John which engine he was using,Ducati?? And he answered all self made and the bike just was doing wheeles at the short track 😂….That impressed me very much and was the reason I visited him later at his house. Sorry he passed away so early.
 
We had 2 actual road race circuits in recent memory in NSW, for I think one year or maybe 2 there was street racing in Wollongong, and Obvasly Mt Panorama at Bathurst is now completely lined with Concrete walls for the Cars. Zero chance of any bike racing ever again. Sometime in the 1960s, all racing came under a Law called The Speedway Act and it was administered by The Police, public safety was the word and lots of motorsports were outlawed. This Gov Act was always quoted when I was young. I think Western Oz still has street racing at Collie. I found the following article really interesting, it seems the La Mon disaster had worldwide effects on all forms of racing.
forums.autosport.com

NSW Speedway Act - The Nostalgia Forum

NSW Speedway Act - posted in The Nostalgia Forum: This Act of the NSW Parliament was enacted in 1958 following the death of two spectators at Mount Panorama when a car crashed into the crowd, and also some Sydney Showground Speedway deaths. It was originally the Speedway Public Safety Act and...
forums.autosport.com forums.autosport.com
 
No more street racing in WA.
Collie has a dedicated circuit now. Many of the country towns had a race event in the 70s. I left Perth in 1978 so not sure when it was outlawed
 
I saw street circuit road racing at Albany in Western Oz and about 3 years later raced the street circuit at Bunbury. Hated it! No place for drum brakes, even my powerful TX 4LS. Flat out down a straight, max braking into a 90 suburban street corner with concrete gutters then repeat two more times with a fast kink joining two of the corners. Boring and dangerous.
 
piranha-bro2 said:
I saw street circuit road racing at Albany in Western Oz and about 3 years later raced the street circuit at Bunbury. Hated it! No place for drum brakes, even my powerful TX 4LS. Flat out down a straight, max braking into a 90 suburban street corner with concrete gutters then repeat two more times with a fast kink joining two of the corners. Boring and dangerous.
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I don't blame you. I don't like boring road circuits any more than boring race tracks.
And talking of boring and dangerous, that just about sums up riding/driving on UK 'smart' motorways....
 
Andy said:
A lot have been binned here, but a few still remain. Whanganui of course, but also Greymouth and Invercargill… any others Greg?
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No. That's it at present. We had Methven locally till a fatal a couple of years ago. I actually chose the layout for that as the locals came to me for advice. PB2 would have liked it as it had a mix of corners. The rest of you would have loved it as it had a pub in the middle - and two on the outside. Local business loved it as Methven is a ski town and it was held at Easter - out of ski season here.
CAMS - the SI Classic and post Classic club ran it. Made money too. If someone comes up with another possible SI street circuit there's still a lot of experience and goodwill in the club. Probably 50/50 as to doing another.
I actually now live on the start line of another street circuit - New Brighton in Christchurch. Seaside suburb where CAMS ran a street circuit in the 90's. Best known as the circuit where the Irish raced when they came out. With Joey. Second year it ran, the surface started breaking up. Council didn't have the budget for a resurface.
That was what killed Wyndham circuit at the Burt Munro and forced the move to a new circuit in Invercargill. Pic is my last visit to Wyndham. Ran this guy on a GS1000 in pre 82 and FZR600 in pre 89. Won both. Blow up the pic and look at the surface. Guy in background is going wide on loose gravel.
 

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No tapes. The heavy metal getting away. The Commando rider far left thought he had the last race won. Kev #56, got the GS completely sideways at high speed down the side straight - on loose gravel. Thought all he had to do was miss the crash and he was in. Kev saved it somehow.
Despite the title it is the same year as the other pic. The start/finish straight was the best bit - except for outside the pub.....
 

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That loose surface would give me the heebie geebies… Bit short sighted of the council not to reseal it, must’ve been due anyway!
I’m always impressed when I see the amount of work that’s done to prepare a street circuit, and the consequent disassembly. Whanganui streets are reopened by the following morning, there must be crews working all night.
 
The Wyndham Lions club were the locals helping the Southland M/c Club. They'd been told for several years that the circuit needed upgrades.
Pretty sure it was the 10th running when the surface went away. Mate of mine was the SMC organiser and he told me that after that meeting there was a conference where he simply told them it was resurface or lose the event. They were pretty blunt refusing. Effectively calling his bluff as Wyndham was Burt's home town and they thought they were bulletproof.
By the time he got home there were messages on his phone from Lions or similar clubs from five other Southland towns offering circuits.

Four months later a SMC member who owned a road sealing business came to the comittee and said "You know that new business area I've just done the streets for - I reckon it would make a great circuit" Haven't personally seen it but I'm told it is a good one.

Wyndham always had one major safety issue. The Lions club always parked a flat deck trailer outside turn 1 as their own grandstand. Right where you wanted an escape road. When I did CoC, I asked would they move it if I refused to start the meeting. Told that had been tried before and failed.
 
GregT said:
No tapes. The heavy metal getting away. The Commando rider far left thought he had the last race won. Kev #56, got the GS completely sideways at high speed down the side straight - on loose gravel. Thought all he had to do was miss the crash and he was in. Kev saved it somehow.
Despite the title it is the same year as the other pic. The start/finish straight was the best bit - except for outside the pub.....
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Greg, the GS and the Lawson colour Kawasaki have strange odd square things hanging off them. What’s the story with them?
 
chrisk said:
Greg, the GS and the Lawson colour Kawasaki have strange odd square things hanging off them. What’s the story with them?
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If you're looking at crank height and right side as you look at the pic. Kawa is I think crash protection on that side of the motor.
GS is a tube over the crank end merging with silver duct tape on the riders boot.
If that's not where you mean, I'm lost
 
GregT said:
If you're looking at crank height and right side as you look at the pic. Kawa is I think crash protection on that side of the motor.
GS is a tube over the crank end merging with silver duct tape on the riders boot.
If that's not where you mean, I'm lost
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My mistake, bikes 24 and 21
 
I watched it there back in Feb, where I caught up with your mate Greg, plenty of good spectating with an easy walk around the track. Quite a long straight where the big boys could open up and a couple of nice corners, although they had to get a little inventive to create any really tight stuff. And a GREAT surface 😁
 
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