1929-1979

1929        – Western Springs Speedway opens for motorcycle races on November 30. 15,000 people attend the first meeting.

1930 – Irish woman rider Fay Taylour races at Western Springs on her down-under tour.

1937    – The first midget race is held at Western Springs on December 25. 12,000 spectators enjoyed the spectacle of what the newspaper of the day called a “thrilling new sport”.

1939    – English driver Bill Reynolds sets a one-lap record of 19.8 seconds.

1941    – March 15 sees the end of racing at the Springs for several years, owing to lighting restrictions while the war was on. Besides, the call to arms had left a shortage of drivers.

1944    – Midget racing started again in December.

1947    – Western Springs installs its own power plant, allowing more effective and reliable lighting.

1950    – Bill Lorigan sets a new one-lap record of 19.6 seconds

- On March 18, Pat Stark becomes the first woman to drive a midget on a track. She borrowed Ken Rogerson’s car, and her time over two laps was a less than dazzling 1 min. 25.4 seconds. In April, Pat Stark raced a two-lap challenge against Mrs Danny Mayson – Mrs Mayson was the winner.

1953 – The first TQ car race is held at Western Springs. The four drivers in the class were Johnny Missen, who built ’s first TQ car, Vern Davenport, Ron McKay and Ken Harris.

1954 – Stewie Armstrong wins the first New Zealand Three Quarter (TQ) Midget Car Championship, held at Western Springs.

1956  - Reece Facoory wins the first Auckland TQ Midget Car Championship, held at Western Springs.

1964    – World-beating New Zealand runner Peter Snell breaks his own 1 mile record at Western Springs with 3m 54.1s.

1964-65 – The first New Zealand Sidecar Championship held at Western Springs is won by Peter Thompson, with passenger Peter Stockdale.

1969 – The first Super-Modified meeting at Western Springs is held on December 6 and won by Bill Davies in car number 28. Gary Running built the first Modified in .

1978-79 – The Modified Sprint class was changed to Sprint Cars, reflecting the growth in popularity of the genuine sprint car and opening the way to international competition at Western Springs.

Back to News