Road Racing is Born - NZTT Waiheke Island.

Sid Moses 500cc Rudge . Winner of the first Waiheke Island New Zealand TT June 3rd 1931. Pic Butterworth Collection

New Zealand has a long history of road racing . However it wasn't until 1931 that the first proper road race was held here , this marked the beginning of the sport which still continues well into the 21st century. 

Motorcycle racing had been going on for many years , there were at least twenty horse racing tracks of around a mile in length that were being used to race on. But it was road racing which was wanted. The Isle of Man TT had been running for many years since 1907 , with New Zealand riders competing from time to time. Percy Coleman was the first "Official" New Zealand rider to be sent to the UK in 1930.

In the late 1920s The  Sports Motorcycle Club of Auckland (Now the Auckland Motorcycle Club) , with then secretary Mr Harry Fletcher as the main driving force decided that a motorcycle road  race that at least resembled in some way the Isle Of Man TT event be held. The idea was hatched that perhaps Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf would be suitable. 

Records show that Mr Fletcher and Mr Len Perry along with two other members met with a Mr Brown of the Town Board to discuss the idea. After three years of negotiations , the race was given the green light. 

Everything was transported to the Island on a Barge.

Now , while the race was to be run like the Isle of Man TT (as a time trial) , the Waiheke circuit itself was far from that of it's famous cousin in the Irish sea.  It was narrow , very rough had loose dirt surface and 6.75 miles in length . It was said that the only similarity was that both races where surrounded by water. 

All bikes and meeting equipment where carried by barge , and winched off the boat.

The New Zealand Auto Cycle Union decided that as it was now affiliated to the ACU in the United Kingdom , the rider who won the NZTT would be the first rider to be considered to represent New Zealand in the Isle of Man . Remember at this point Waiheke was the only real road race in the country. So riders who were sent over to the Isle of Man often had no experience with road racing at all other than Waiheke once a year.

 Pre-war New Zealand main roads were basic on the mainland let alone on an Island in the Hauraki Gulf . The road was in very poor condition for almost it's entire length from the start at Ostend through to Onetangi and up  the hill past Billings store then past a  vineyard down the hill to Ostend . Top speeds were between 80 and 90mph on the straights. Isle of Man style riding wasn't actually possible , as riders had to cut across gravel and grass strips down the centre of the road as quickly and as upright as possible to get around the course . 

There were eighteen starters that lined up on Kings Birthday weekend (now Queens Birthday) 3rd of June 1931 for the first race .Over a race length of 20 laps (135 miles) .The rider's starting position was drawn at random and had no relevance to practice times . It was not a mass start each rider was let away at predetermined  intervals  (Some records show 15 seconds other say 25 seconds). The first rider to leave was R. McLeod who got no further than turn one and went over a bank. F. Lindsay was the next to crash just outside the pits and rode the remaining race distance with bent handlebars , Len Perry just managed to miss Lindsay. Lee Coultard who was one of the favoured riders also crashed , but remounted to finish fifth .  

The battle for the lead was between Sid Moses and Len Sowerby . On the beginning of the last lap Sowerby was ahead on time , however he slid off allowing Moses to pull ahead. Sowerby  was first across the line , but it was Moses who took the win on corrected time in a race time of 2hours 45 minutes and 12 seconds. Only seven riders finished.

Sid Moses  would go on to win two more New Zealand TTs on Waiheke in 1933 and 1934  and would become the first Official New Zealand rider to finish an Isle of Man TT finishing 13th in the Junior TT in 1933 . 

The first official road race in New Zealand had been run , It proved that a properly controlled event along with co-operation from local bodies and councils could be held. However it was the financial hurdles that needed to be overcome. 

Syd Jensen chasing J. Cunningham 1948

The TT races on Waiheke continued until 1950 where they were moved to Seagrove Airfield at the south end of Manukau Harbour in 1951 and then was raced at Mangere street circuit in 1952 and throughout the 1950s , then Ardmore and Pukekohe and around may other circuits in New Zealand. The NZTT races are still held these days in Auckland at the Hampton Downs Circuit some 85 years after the first event.

Written for MNZ Inc:

Ian Dawson

Acknowledgement to Rod Coleman , Calum Gilmour and Maureen Bull.

Ten time New Zealand Sidecar Champions - Gordon Skilton and Ray Larson

Gordon  Skilton and Ray Larson lead Graeme De Malmanche and Gary Binyon
Photo .Evening Post 1969

Sidecar racing is often overlooked in the history of the sport of motorcycle racing in New Zealand. The realm of a few dedicated racers and their passengers , they none the less play an important part in the history of the sport.

Gordon Skilton was born in the small Wairarapa town of Pahiatua in 1938 . Born in to the motorcycle trade his father Bill ran a local motorcycle shop. Gordon served his time as a motorcycle mechanic apprenticeship with Plummer Motorcycles in Napier. There he watched brothers Biil and Len Plummer race sidecars , it was there he decided thats what he wanted to do.

In 1958 he purchased a Triumph Tiger 110 , and set about making a sidecar having purchased a sidecar chassis which bolted on to the side of the Triumph . In those early days sidecars were simply a motorcycle with a sidecar attachment bolted to it. This way Gordon could ride the bike on the street , then bolt on the third wheel to go racing. It was not that uncommon to have riders race the sidecar and solo races at race race meetings. 

Gordon's first race was at Wanganui in 1958. Dave Plunket was to be his passenger. The outfit was ridden from Napier to Wanganui with the outfit been made road legal. On arrival the pair stripped the machine  for racing , but crashed leaving them no way to get back to Napier until space was found on a truck.

In 1959 Ray Larson became Gordon's passenger. This would be a very successful partnership with the two of them winning ten New Zealand Championships . Their first title came at Wanganui where they road a new outfit which had a Manx Norton motor in an AJS frame.

The following year 1960 again at Wanganui saw the pair crash on the overhead bridge and the outfit some what bent on the concrete on the rail lines some twenty foot below.

Gordon and Ray at Porirua GP

In 1965 Gordon  sold the Manx and purchased an outfit from John Anderson in Rotorua. It was a Triumph Bonneville in a Manx Norton frame. This was modified to make it a lot more powerful. In 1971 a Norton Commando motor replaced the Triumph. 

Ray retired in 1971 and was replaced by Robin Haines . This partnership ended after a major crash at Levin in December 1971 . Robin retired from racing , Gordon recovered and ventured out in 1972 again with Ray Larson as passenger. They headed to Australia in 1973 , but were let down by machinery problems and failed to finish the Bathurst race. 

Returning to his family business which he had joined in 1963 , Gordon started to build a more modern machine , but the pressure of running the business left him very little spare time and he retired from racing.

He would go on for many more years running the family business in Pahiatua.

Gordons granddaughter Maxine kept the family name flying in sidecars in more recent years.

Written for MNZ inc by Ian Dawson. 

Thanks to Maureen Ball