COOPERS PLAINS (QLD)
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1956 - MONTY PETROLA TRACK
The Monty Petrola track was a Short Circuit coarse that was built by the Kedron Motorcycle club and opening in May of 1956.
Ekka Speedway Glory Days facebook pictorial feature
1956 - The competitors and spectators that raced at the anaugural meeting. Photo: Denny Lenton.
1956 - Denny Lenton on his 350 Ariel at the opening scramble meeting. Photo: Denny Lenton.
Denny Lenton recalls: It was on this day, May the 27th 1956, that the Kedron Motorcycle Club opened the Monty Petrola track at Coopers Plains after many years of running meetings at Nudgee. The track was named after Monty Petrola who had been a sidecar passenger for Sandy McCRae and had been killed in a road accident some months before.
This was the era of tracks being oiled to stop the dust and due to heavy rain on the Saturday night it turned the track to a mixture of oil and mud, The ACU Steward was going to cancel the meeting but the riders voted to change the event from a short circuit to a mud scramble, some of the riders that competed that day also competed at the Ekka, these included Tony Edwards, Billy Sewell, Joe Costin, Gerry Hussey, Ron Deagon, Owen Crute, "Rooster Bruce, Bob Hamilton and Kev Trembath, This meeting was also the first competitive day for the Gnats, these were the fore runners to the Tq,s that then led to Junior Speedcars, After the meeting the competitors had to help scectators out of the car park where many of their cars had been bogged.
I have included a photo of all the competitors on that day and also a photo of myself on a 350 Ariel, This was my first ever race meeting, note the megaphone exhaust which was allowed in those day.