Maroubra Speedway

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Maroubra Speedway, officially known as Olympia Motor Speedway was a motor racing venue in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia and was reported to have had a capacity of 70,000. [1] [2]

Contents

Opening

It officially opened with its first meeting on Saturday, 5 December 1925, [3] [4]

Among the competitors on that first evening were two women: [5] Marie Jenkins, of Melbourne, [6] in a Brecia Bugatti, and Mrs. J.A.S. Jones, [7] of Lithgow, in a Crossley Sports. [8] [9]

At the speedway's third meeting, on Saturday, 2 January 1926, Jenkins was the first woman to win a final race -- i.e., rather than just a heat -- at the speedway. [10]

                 MISCELLANEOUS (16 November 1927)
    The Maroubra Speedway has again been sold by auction, and this time realised a price of only £2500.
    The history of this speedway is interesting in view of the fact that its area, 70 acres, is leased from the Crown and the contract price for the track and other improvements that are built thereon was £34,000.
    In addition to this sum there is an extra amount of about £8000 involved in the installation of electric time-keeping boards and scoring room.
    The original company, after a few successful meetings, went into liquidation, and left a large amount of the contract price for the work owing to Master Builder Wm. Hughes.
    The Speedway was sold at auction to one of the original shareholders, J. S. Taylor, who paid £10,850 for it.
    The refusal of permission to conduct night trotting within the course, however, forced Mr. Taylor to sell to G. W. Taylor, who purchased the Speedway on Monday last. [11]

The Olympia Motor Speedway

The 1 mile banked concrete bowl was the scene of some large and successful race meetings before a decline in attendances saw the track close in 1927, but reopened many times in the 1930s. [1] [12] [13] [14]

Despite the banking being too steep to walk up, it was still not enough for the speeds achieved, and four competitors lost their lives going over the top of banking. Three others also died at the circuit, two of whom were motorcyclists.

The sensationalist media of the day dubbed it a "killer track" which did little to improve the fortunes of the venue. [15]

The speedway continued to operate sporadically in the 1930s but the meetings were not the large affairs held previously.

The track was used for club days, practice, and record attempts; [16] and was also used for testing. [17]

Demolition

By the 1940s the track was crumbling due to flooding and poor quality concrete. [18] In 1947, it was demolished, and a (1,100 dwelling) housing commission suburb was built on the site, [19] with a park, named Coral Sea Park, developed in what had once been the infield area. [20]

Streets in the new area — e.g., Astoria Circuit (USS Astoria), Chicago Avenue (USS Chicago), Lexington Place (USS Lexington), [21] Morris Place (USS Morris), Neosho Way (USS Neosho), Perkins Street (USS Perkins), Sims Lane and Sims Grove (USS Sims) — were named after Allied ships that had been engaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea. [22]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 "Olympia Motor Speedway, Maroubra N.S.W.". Archived from the original on 12 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Randwick City Council: Historic Suburbs: History of Maroubra.
  3. ↑ New Motor Racing Era Dawns with Maroubra Opening, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 9 December 1925), p.1.
  4. ↑ Opening of Maroubra Speedway, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 7 December 1925), p.14.
  5. ↑ Thrilling Races: Maroubra Speedway, The (Brisbane) Daily Mail, (Sunday, 6 December 1925), p.7.
  6. ↑ Woman Speed Motorist Narrowly Escapes Death, The (Broken Hill) Barrier Miner, (Monday, 9 November 1925), p.1; Maher, J.J. ("Pedal"), "Marie Jenkins, Australia's Lady Champion, Talks of Motor Thrills", The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 11 November 1925), p.10; Women on the Speed Track, The (Sydney) Sun: Women's Supplement, (Sunday, 29 November 1925), p.3.
  7. ↑ Nina Eva Vida Jones (1882-1966), née Harris, always competed as "Mrs. J. A. S. Jones"; and, in fact, she was often competing at the same meetings as "J. A. S. Jones" — John Alexander Stammers Jones (1870-1933) -- her husband.
  8. ↑ Who's Who on the Speedway, The (Sydney) Sunday Times, (Sunday, 3 January, 1926), p.7; [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28052979 Motoring News: Lady Motorist: Mrs. J. A. S. Jones, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Tuesday, 16 August 1927), p.6; Mrs. J.A.S. Jones had an Exciting Early Life, The Lithgow Mercury, Monday, 22 March 1954), p.4; Mrs JAS Jones Alfa 6C 1750 SS Zagato, Primotipo, 15 February 2018.
  9. ↑ Johnson, K. A., "Jones, Nina Eva Vida (1882–1966)", Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  10. ↑ Motoring: Olympia Speedway, The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 4 January 1926), p.7.
  11. ↑ Opportunity Report: Miscellaneous, Construction and Local Government Journal, (Wednesday, 16 November 1927), p.16.
  12. ↑ Maroubra Speedway: A Great Enterprise, The (Sydney) Sunday Times, (Sunday, 22 November 1925), p,8.
  13. ↑ New Track Record, The Shepparton Advertiser, (Thursday, 17 December 1925), p.4.
  14. ↑ Ward, L., "Drama and Tragedy at Maroubra", The Canberra Times, (Monday, 6 April 1970), p15.
  15. ↑ Sands Hotel: Local Knowledge: Maroubra Speedway: "The Killer Track" Archived 13 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "The Story of Silver Wings", p.3". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012.
  17. ↑ Master Chevrolet, The (Sydney) Truth, Sunday, 14 October 1934), p.11; Fatal Injuries to Speedway Rider: Crash at Maroubra, The Singleton Argus, (Monday, 15 June 1936), p.2.
  18. ↑ Drowned at Speedway: Man Tangled in Weeds, The (Sydney) Sun, (Monday, 13 February 1939), p.3; Man drowns in Lake: Rescuer's Narrow Escape, The (Sydney) Daily News, (Tuesday, 14 February 1939), p.2; Man drowned in Lagoon: Entangled in Weeds: Rescue Effort Fails, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Tuesday, 14 February 1939), p.12; Workman Drowned in Swamp, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Tuesday, 14 February 1939), p.7; Death Swim at Speedway, The (Sydney) Sun, (Wednesday, 1 March 1939), p.9; Drowned in Maroubra Lake, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Thursday, 2 March 1939), p.8.
  19. ↑ Housing Shortage, The (Bourke) Western Herald, (Friday, 20 January 1950), p.5; South Sydney Rail Link Proposal, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 31 Nay 1954), p.12; Housing the People: Large Scale Development Vital to Low Cost, The Biz, (Wednesday, 9 July 1958), p.26.
  20. ↑ Action by people saves Maroubra park, The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 28 March 1962), p.10.
  21. ↑ Sweeney, L., "USS Lexington: WWII aircraft carrier found 76 years after it sank in the Battle of the Coral Sea", ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 6 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Randwick City Council: Historic Street & Place Names.

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References

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