Old Race Tracks

[stubuchanan]

Interesting thread, Bob. I recently interviewed Ginger Molloy who talked of having his first race at Seagrove and I wondered where it was (Ginger went on to become one of NZ's most successful ever motorcycle racers).

Don't know if you are still unsure of Seagrove's location -- as "Oldfart" said in a previous post, it is on the south shore of the Manukau Harbour, a bit east of Clark's Beach and Waiau Pa, a WW2 airfield built on reclaimed mudflats.

It was later used by DSIR(or whatever they are now) and Ak University as a Radio Research Station, with Antenna pylons erected on the runway which rather spoiled it for car and Motorcycle racing. The 1951 motorcycle TT races were run there on 1 Jan 1951 on a 4-mile all-sealed track involving runways, access roads with uphill and downhill sections. I think the cars ran mostly on the runways, but I have seen a few photos of cars racing with trees and bushes in background, so maybe they ran on other roads as well. Maybe someone out there can remember back that far - i.e. 1946-52ish.

Stu

[bob homewood]

No I myself know Stu ,I have been going out there since I was kid,back when the Manukau was more pure ,we used to go floundering out there ,then when I started work we had a lot of customers whose tractors and farm machinery we used to look after all round there ,got a couple of other stories but they probably belong in yards and yarns

[Trevor Sheffield]

Kia ora Stu,

I remember during my cycle racing youth, riding out to Seagrove just after the war, with a couple of mates to take in the motor racing. The races were held on a straight runway, back and forth around markers much like a beach race. All sorts of cars competed and the events started with straight sprints rather than races. The most impressive car was an Auburn straight eight roadster. I am fairly sure that invitations for the sprint events went out to anyone with a legally registered car and drivers license.

Unfortunately I wound up with a punctured racing tyre which I could not repair, but was lucky to hitch a ride back to the city with Laurie Powel, who was driving his V8 engined B4 roadster, with midget also used on the day, in tow on a trailer. I had to sit on the passengers knees and it was eye-water drafty above the screen. Laurie loved his B4 and pointed out that the Auburn was only slightly quicker even though it must have cost more than twice as much. At the time I recall that the B4 was quite a smart machine.

At the time I dreamed of owning and racing a sports car and was annoyed with the way MG and morgan examples were being driven so sedately and vowed that I could do better. I could see the opportunity for a bit of sideways stuff at the corner flags. It came to pass that later on I competed against Laurie in the B4 and was together with him, a member of the Northern Sports Car Club Committee.

Them was good days. Trevor.

[pallmall]

Last night at an historic speedway club meeting there was a DVD playing in the background with lots of old footage of Auckland motor racing in the fifties, included was quite a bit from Seagrove. Looks like a lot of the racing was sprints up and down the runways, but there were also shots of the access roads being used for races.

[David McKinney]

I want a copy of that DVD!

[pallmall]

I want a copy of that DVD!

So do I. Am working on it, will let you know.

[bob homewood]

Keep me in mind as well if you can ,thanks

[bob homewood]

Got sent this sent to me today about Seagrove,very pleased to know that I am still a young fellow !

Young Fellow for your information

Auckland's only sealed track back in 1949 was the Seagrove Aerodrome near Waiuku,it consisted of a pair of Runways meeting at about a 20 degree angle,and joined by a partly sealed ,parallel taxiway in roughly the shape of a boomerang.The taxiways were out of favour after Gordon Brown rolled Dr Ken Orr's Jowett Jupiter, doing neither a lot of good. The season opener was held in November 1948 and was run by the Competitors Car Club of Auckland on a very wet circuit

The Northern Sports Car Club event was a combined Sprint / Race meeting on February 20th 1949 which is possibly the meeting Mr Sheffield was talking about as Laurie Powell was there I also remember John Wilson being there in what they called back then a rare MG J1
Gordon Brown was another competitor who I think from memory got second behind Powell was a partner in the engineering firm of Brown and Nutall and he built quite a few specials as they called them back then,there may be more when I think about it

[pallmall]

The Gordon Brown accident in the Ken Orr Jowett is on the DVD I am waiting to get copies of, in fact at least both meetings mentioned above are on there. I think Gordon Brown may have been the source for some of the film footage on the DVD.
Gordon Brown also raced midgets back in the day and one of his cars was restored a couple of years ago and Gordon had a run in it, at the grand old age of around 85.

[Trevor Sheffield]

Gordon Brown's original Ford Ten Special, was in a way very special because it was featured in a magazine at the time and I am sure inspired the construction of the gaggle of similar cars which followed. I certainly took note when building my first car, even though I could not afford a Ford Ten engine.

What he built was a road going sports car and he used it as such for mundane tasks on a regular basis. It was fitted with a Ruckstell Ford Model T two speed differential, as a supplement to the Ford three speed unit. According to the magazine article, Gordon fitted a make shift dozer blade and used the car as a tractor to level the lawn of his newly acquired residence! In those days a car used purely for competition was out of the question. Any capital outlay was required to earn its keep. (Including hopefully the Port of Auckland LOL.)

[pallmall]

I want a copy of that DVD!

Check your PMs David, I need an address to send it to.

[Milan Fistonic]

Does anyone have any information about this event advertised in the February 1963 Auckland Car Club Bulletin?

Did it take place and if so, where was the track located?

[pallmall]

Does anyone have any information about this event advertised in the February 1963 Auckland Car Club Bulletin?

Did it take place and if so, where was the track located?

No it didn't take place. The intended track was along Arthur Street to a hairpin turn at the bottom into Beachcroft Ave to Church St, but I can't remember where it went from there to get back to Arthur St, it may have been Norman's Hill Rd or Selwyn St.
It was never going to work, and really was a bit of a pipe dream, but at the time every town seemed to want to hold a road race.
A bit of the planned roads have changed now, particularly the Arthur St- Beachcroft Ave Junction, but even back then was an impossibly tight hairpin bend.

[Milan Fistonic]

Thanks pallmall.

This event must have taken place as the programme I have has results written in for two of the four races scheduled.

The names are a bit hard to read but the circuit used the roads around Mount Atkinson. The intersection at the left of the circuit is where Woodlands Park Road joins the Senic Drive by the Filter Station. The road across the bottom is the Senic Drive but is called Exhibition now Senic Drive on the map. The junction on the right is where Atkinson Road joins the Senic Drive, Titirangi Road and what was View Road (now Kohu Road).

I lived just a couple of miles down Titirangi Road at that time but don't recall anything about the event. I was only 10 in 1952 and it wasn't until I was taken to the 1955 NZIGP that I got bitten by the motor racing bug.

[bob homewood]

Going away back to that time ,there was also a article about the Onehunga one I can remember in one of the daily papers about it ,Auckland Star or Herald possibly ,I think around the time that Ardmore went and Pukekohe came about there were also more than a few pipe dreams floated around about different places ,like the Domain ,I think the proximity to the Auckland Hospital amongst other things killed the Domain one

[bob homewood]

Milan,yes the Titirangi Motor Cycle Road race ,at least two of the older Bike racers from that day have told me about it ,one of them just recently

[pallmall]

As the Ardmore days drew to a close through the shifting of the Aero Club and operations from Mangere to Ardmore there were many suggestions on where to hold the NZGP prior to Pukekohe being chosen. Amongst them was the use of part of the roads that had been used in Mangere for the Motor Cycle TT races. I think the plan was to use part roads in the Ithumatao area at the end of Ascot Ave and along Orurangi Rd with some purpose built track to complete the circuit. Later there was talk of a complete purpose built circuit on the Ithumatao Penninsula where the scoria quarries were situated and I guess at that time lots of other sites around Auckland were being looked at for a motor racing circuit. I believe even Seagrove was considered for the replacement track.

[Milan Fistonic]

Funny you should mention the Mangere TT track. I was just about to post this map of the circuit from the 1954 NZ TT programme.

The roads used were Ascot Road acroos the top, Oruarangi on the left, Ihumatao Road across the bottom and Westney Road on the right. A lap covered 6.2 miles and both the Senior and Junior TT races covered 17 laps. I remember that most of Oruarangi road was unsealed but can't recall how much of the rest was tarsealed.

[pallmall]

By the time of the last one held, which must have been 1961 or 1962, the whole circuit was sealed. The earlier events I went to, probably from about 1958, the unsealed bit was Oruarangi Road to the bridge, and a short section after the bridge until the Marae. Earlier I understand some of Ihuamato Road was also unsealed.
About 50% of the circuit is still as it was, it terms of where the road goes, the remainder is quite different. When the second runway earthworks resume much more will change.

[stubuchanan]

By the time of the last one held, which must have been 1961 or 1962, the whole circuit was sealed. The earlier events I went to, probably from about 1958, the unsealed bit was Oruarangi Road to the bridge, and a short section after the bridge until the Marae. Earlier I understand some of Ihuamato Road was also unsealed.
About 50% of the circuit is still as it was, it terms of where the road goes, the remainder is quite different. When the second runway earthworks resume much more will change.

I remember driving or being driven around the Mangere circuit, probably not before 1960, and the section of Oruarangi Road near the Pa or marae and the group of state houses(Maori Affairs Dept) was still unsealed at that time, although the rest of the lap was sealed. It would have been a very nice circuit for cars, quite fast I would think, if maybe a bit narrow.
Somewhere I have a newspaper clipping about the Onehunga circuit that never was, if I find it I will post it here. I recall it had one or two steep or nasty bits, perhaps like the Victoria Park V8 track that wasn't.

Motor-bikes have also been raced at Drury, New Lynn,and Manukau City but the last 2 not in the "nostalgia" era.

Stu