The Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally is a rally held annually in Oturehua, Central Otago in New Zealand.
The event is held every year over the weekend on which the Queen's birthday is celebrated, usually the first weekend of June.
Organised by the Otago Motorcycle Club, the event attracts around 2,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from New Zealand and abroad. The rally gets its name from colloquial expression "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" because the venue is extremely cold, being within 50 km (31 mi) of Ophir where New Zealand's coldest-ever temperature of -21.6 degrees Celsius was recorded. To warm up rally-goers, the site boasts what is described as 'the biggest bonfire ever'.
2010 was the event's 30th anniversary. [1] Two and a half thousand riders pre-registered for the 40th and final event in 2021. The final event was intended to be run in 2019, but was postponed due to lockdown. [2]
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned by the Wheatcroft family, is currently under lease by MotorSport Vision until 2038. It has a capacity of 120,000, and is also the venue of the Download Festival.
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Māori, Scottish, and Chinese heritage.
Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France, took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England, is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905.
A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared artificial ice.
The Hollister riot, also known as the Hollister Invasion, was an event that occurred at the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA)-sanctioned Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally in Hollister, California, from July 3 to 6, 1947.
Sport in New Zealand largely reflects the nation's colonial heritage, with some of the most popular sports being rugby union, rugby league, cricket, association football, basketball, horse racing and netball, which are primarily played in Commonwealth countries. New Zealand has enjoyed success in many sports, notably rugby union, rugby league, cricket, America's Cup sailing, world championship and Olympics events, and motorsport.
The Undie 500, originally named the Under 500, was an annual student-run car rally between Christchurch and Dunedin, New Zealand with multiple stops at drinking establishments along the way. The name comes from the original rule that a vehicle is purchased for less than NZ$500, and optionally decorated.
"Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is a colloquial expression used by some English speakers to describe extremely cold weather.
Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since 2021, events have been added in DeLeon Springs. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area for the 10-day event. The festivities include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals. The event is usually held on the first full week of March and contends with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as the most popular motorcycle rally in the United States.
Laconia Motorcycle Week is an annual motorcycle rally held in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States. The rally originated as a motorcycle Gypsy tour in 1916 as, the New Hampshire Lakes Region became a popular riding destination for early motorcycle enthusiasts from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal. The popularity of the rally led to the formation of the Loudon Classic motorcycle race in 1934 which, became one of the most prestigious races in American motorcycle racing, second only to the Daytona 200. The scheduled events included races, shows and a motorcycle hill climb competition. The rally traditionally takes place over nine days in June, always the 2nd and 3rd full weekend. The rally was the largest annual gathering of North American motorcyclists until it was overtaken by the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally during the 1970s.
The Otago University Debating Society (OUDS) is a debating society established in June 1878 and is the oldest society of the University of Otago, the first university to be founded in New Zealand. Echoing trends in Australia and the United States, in the latter decades of the nineteenth century debating was seen as an important talent for New Zealand's thought leaders, and was one of the three sports in the New Zealand University Games from 1902.
A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at the end of the ride.
Motorsport is a popular spectator sport in Australia, although there are relatively few competitors compared to other sports due to the high costs of competing. The oldest motorsport competition in Australia is the Alpine Rally which was first staged in 1921 followed by the Australian Grand Prix, first staged in 1928. The most widely watched motorsport category is Supercars, especially at the Bathurst 1000. Other classes in Australia include Australian GT, Formula 3 and Formula Ford, Superbikes, as well as various forms of speedway racing.
The township of Oturehua is in the Ida Valley of the Maniototo, in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand.
The Race to the Sky is an annual automobile and motorcycle gravel hillclimb to the summit of a mountain in the Cardrona Valley of New Zealand. The race was held every year from 1998 to 2007 for two days over the Easter weekend as the Silverstone Race to the Sky, and returned in 2015 as the Repco Race to the Sky.
Black Bike Week, also called Atlantic Beach Bikefest, Black Bikers Week, and The Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, is an annual motorcycle rally in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area, held on Memorial Day weekend. Called a "one-of-a-kind event" and "an exhibitionist's paradise" by Jeffrey Gettleman, Black Bike Week is "all about riding, styling and profiling," in the words of Mayor Irene Armstrong of Atlantic Beach, South Carolina.
The Whitianga Festival of Speed was a motorsport festival held in the seaside town of Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand in 2009 and 2010. The festival hosted a multitude of events including the New Zealand Helicopter Championships, Offshore powerboat racing, Aerobatic Displays, Off-road Vehicle Demonstrations, Jet ski racing and bespoke events such as Rally Car Vs Helicopter racing. The event was free for spectators.
Hayden Paddon is a New Zealand rally driver. He was PWRC world champion in 2011 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2021.
The Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally is an annual motorcycle rally held in Australia by the Bikers Australia club since 1985.
Motor sport in New Zealand can be traced back to a least 1901 when the Pioneer Cycle Club held a three-mile handicap race which included both motor bikes and cars. Since then it has developed and now almost all types of motor sport events are represented.