PERTH (WA)
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CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1955
1955 - CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY. Stock Car Racing feature. Solo's. Sidecar's & Speedcar's 1st April 1955. |
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Speedway Gazette facebook Photo feature
1st April 1955 - Mick Geneve was well known at Claremont Speedway through his Solo Motorcycle and Speedcar racing, when he made the shift to the new Stock Car division. Photographer: unknown.
1st April 1955 - Miles Tomlinson WA Sidecar champion 1953-1954 1954-1955 pictured centre. Photo: Nola Whitehead collection.
Vintage Speedway Programmes Australia facebook Pictorial feature
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(Brad Mitchell collection)
1955 - RAY REVELL & JOHNNY PEERS. Speedcar's.
1955 - Ray Revell and Johnny Peers checking over Revell's Offy engine at a mid week practice
1955 - Ray Revell turning in some laps |
1955 - Johnny Peers takes advantage of the mid week run |
1955 - JOHNNY MOTTROM. Speedcar's.
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Photos: Ken Devine collection.
1955 - GORDON BELL. Speedcar's.
1955 - Gordon Bell makes some adjustments to his number 2 Chrysler flat head midget in the Claremont Pits while Stan Fairfield looks on - Photo: Rick Thompson collection.
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1955 Gordon Bell in the #6 Midget. Photo's: Ken Devine. |
1955 - Gordon Bell in the 55 speedcar on the outside of Mike Prenergas 8 at Claremont. Photo: unknown.
1955 - STAN FAIRFIELD. Speedcar'sThe story of Stan Fairfield as told through the pen of Helen Randell. Communications Officier at Resthaven Marion age care home. SA.In 1955 Stan Fairfield was racing around the big Claremont Speedway track in the Speedcar division. During a meeting one evening as Stan rounded Fowlhouse Bend, suddenly he found his way blocked by a fellow racer's car that had cut across the track.
The pair collided and in spectacular fashion, Stans Speedcar was catapulted into the air and crashed to the ground landing on its side.
Known for his bright yellow and black helmet and his racing check shirt, Stan knew that his girlfriend, Jeanette [later to
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Stan with his mate Gordon Bell |
become his wife] was there in the crowd would have locked eyes on his helmet as the events unfolded.
There was no roll cage, and just a single lap belt to hold you in "Stan says" luckily I was all ok. I was more worried about letting Jeanette know that I was uninjured. She always brought a few friends with here, so I had my own cheer squad in the stand. I climbed out of the car and climbed up into the stand to show her I was ok.
Stan started racing when he was twenty years old but his interest in the sport started when he was much younger. When I was about thirteen there was a group of five drivers from interstate who brought midget Speedcars racing to Western Australia "Stan says" This group helped establish this new class at Claremont Speedway. I would go to as many meets as i could, collecting autographs and soaking up the noise and smells.
31st December 1946 - The visiting team of Midget Speedcars that would inspire Stan to race Speedway.
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Once Stan turned fourteen he got a job at the track as a "trayboy" selling pies, pasties and sweets. It meant he had free entry and could watch the entire season. In 1949 he turned sixteen and started his apprenticeship as a motor mechanic.
In the early 1950's, The WA Speedcar Drivers Association built a small track at an orphanage for boys, known as Clontaft
The orphanage would use the track for running and cycling events and the speedcar club would race there cars there.
After some discussion I was convinced to join the pit crew of one of the teams, "Stan says". The next season i had the opportunity tobuy that car, So i did, 50/50 with a friend, it was a hundred pounds, it was all the money i had in the bank.
The plan was that Stan and his friend would take it in turns of racing the car each week however, Stan got his licence first and it took his friend several week longer to get his, it caused friction, and in the end, I paid him out, Stan says.
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1953 - Speedcars at Clontaft
1963 - Speedcars at Clontaft. George Higgs and Hilton McGee. |
Stan had a couple of good seasons and won a reasonable amount of prize money. This was lucky as after the major accident, this was needed to rebuild the car.
A race would usually include about half a dozen competitors and the bigger races were six laps of the 640 yard track. Around 1,000 to 3,000 fans would pack the stands.
A race would usually include about half a dozen competitors and the bigger races were six laps of the 640 yard track. Around 1,000 to 3,000 fans would pack the stands.
The mud on the Claremont track was terrible; Stan says. It would get kicked up from the tyres and cover all parts of the your body. I got to the stage I was wearing three pairs of goggles - each on top of the other - so when one pair was too muddy, I could take them off and then have a clean pair ready to go. In another move to reduce the mud getting onto his face, Stan added a peak to the front of his helmet - the first of the racers to do so.
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In 1956 Stan sold the car and went to Singapore where he had taken a two year contract. I was going and Jeanette, who was studying nursing, was going to meet me there later Stan says. However before she qualified, she decided that nursing was not for here, and without her qualification, she was unable to work in Singapore, Also it was a time of political upheaval so in the end I stayed only six months before moving back home to Australia.
While in Singapore, Stan met a man in the bar who recognised his surname. When i was young my farther was in the Air Force in Darwin; Stan says. After the war, he chose not to come back. My parents got divorced when i was eleven years old, so i didn't know him at all, but, here I was in Singapore with a man who knew him, and through him I eventually got back in touch with my farther.
On returning back to Australia, Stan joined the racers again, competing in the final
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West Australian artist Rod Waller capture's a great cartoon of the West Australian Speedcar racer. Stan Fairfield. |
event's of the 1957 - 1958 season, taking over from a team owner who was unable to drive due to ill health.
Driving the car in the 1958 - 1959 season I did very well, and won the aggregate points trophy as well as the Feature Race Trophy for the season; Stan says. I was presented with a canteen of cutlery. It was very nice and worth a bit too.
For the 1958 - 1959 season, Stan's boss had purchased a rolling chassis, and Stan rebuilt the car using a Vauxhall Vagabond engine, which was new to speedway at the time. It took a long time ti iron out all the bugs; Stan says. I was still driving with the large handicap I had earnt the season before, so i wasn't finishing well at the start, but by the end we had the car running properly and I was winning prize money, so that made us happy.
At the end of the season, in March of 1959, Stan and Jeanette took a holiday to Adelaide, meeting up with Stan's farther, who he had now been in contact with. We drove from Western Australia including the 1,200 km trek across the Nullarbor; Stan says. My farther suggested I should go up to Woomera where there was plenty of work, especially as a mechanic. Four drivers had been killed in the previous season, and my wife was pregnant it felt like it was time to give up. Stan took a job as a forman in a workshop and then in the same role at a new service station that had opened. While in the town, he was the President of the Go Kart Club at Woomera staying connected to his racing passion's.
In 1968 he took a job with International Harvester as a field Service Representative. He worked for them for eleven years before moving to Ford for two years, and then back again, He then took a new job at Case Construction Equipment.
Stan and Jean were married for 31 years until sadly, she died of a brain tumor. The couple had three children together. Stan married his second wife Elizabeth in 1989, and they lived across the road from Resthaven Marion for 34 years. We didn't have to move far; Stan laughs. The couple moved into Resthavaven Marion toward's the end of 2022. Sadly Elizabeth died in 2023. These day's Stan believes motor racing, especially the Supermodified's are only for the triple millionaires, he laughed. I enjoyed my stint they were nice people to mix with. I was at an impressionable age, and i was a bit of a show off - it suited me well.
1955 - CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY. STOCK CAR RACING. Solo's. Sidecar's. & Speedcars. 15th April 1955.Noel Hodge win's the Stock Car's.while Roy Lynch wins the Speedcar's |
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Ken Devine pictorial feature
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Vintage Speedway Programme's Australia facebook Pictorial feature
(use controls to pause - forward or reverse 30 images)
(Brad Mitchell collection)
1955 - WEEKEND MAIL NEWSPAPER. Reported.
1955 - CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY. Stock Car Racing feature. 7th October 1955. |
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