New Zealand is well known for its historical and famous citizens.   The population when I lived there between 1954 and 1956 was just two million people.   In 2008, the population was just over four million.   So many famous people have come from so few – Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Everest;  Ernest Rutherford, for splitting the atom;  Russell Crowe, actor;  Kiri Te Kanawa, opera singer;  Peter Snell, runner and three times Olympic champion;  Chris Amon, Grand Prix racing driver;  Bert Munroe, The Fastest Indian;  Bruce McLaren, Grand Prix racing driver and many, many more.    Regarding speedway, Christchurch must be the only city in the world to have produced three multi-times World Speedway Champions – Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger.   Ronnie being the first trail-blazer, was racing before the really big money that came in the time of Barry and Ivan.   Their racing careers also lasted much longer and they subsequently progressed into promoting speedway as the World Champions’ Troup. 

It was Ronnie’s father, Les, who built the Aranui Speedway at the request of the speedway promoters in Wellington.   Ronnie stormed on to the British speedway scene at Wimbledon in March 1950 at the age of 17 and qualified that year for the World Speedway Championship Final and scored seven points.   In 1954, at 21 years of age, he was World Speedway Champion for the first time.   His success as a twice World Speedway Champion, team rider and captain are well documented elsewhere.   All the superlatives belong to Ronnie – the original Wonder Boy who everyone still loves, super star, giant of the sport, legend in his lifetime.   He was a Wall of Death rider, a Grand Prix racing car driver and a gold prospector along with his father and Trevor Redmond.   In the winter of 1950, they dived for gold in Skipper’s Gorge which is over the snow-
capped mountains from Queenstown.   The Gorge is only 20 feet wide and the water flows as a torrent and is extremely cold from snow melting in the mountains.   Les wore his home-made diving suit with Ronnie and Trevor manning the air pump and holding the ropes to prevent Les being swept away.   They made a number of unsuccessful attempts before giving up.   It is said that at that time there was enough gold in the Shotover River to pay off the New Zealand National Debt.   It is also said that in the Gold Rush of the late 1800’s a dog fell into the River and came out with its fur covered in gold dust.  

In 1951, Les and Ronnie bought in London two 1930’s Alfa Romeo road-going racing cars from Roy Salvadori, a former Grand Prix driver.   (It has been reported elsewhere that one of the cars was a Lagonda).    The P3 Alfa won the Italian Grand Prix with Nuvollari at the wheel in the 1930’s.   The two Alfas were shipped back to New Zealand and won the New Zealand Grand Prix three years in succession.   Eventually they were sold.   Recently, the P3 Alfa changed hands in Australia for well over £1,000,000.   By 1954, both Ronnie and Les were racing Cooper Climax and I saw them both in action at the Ardmore Grand Prix in Auckland.   Racing on the same programme were Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) and Ken Wharton, Tony Gaze and Jack Brabham.   Regrettably, Les lost his life in a racing car crash in 1959.   He was just 48 years of age.

Ronnie married Jill in 1958 in London where the twins, Kim and Lea, were born.   Shani and Gina were born in Christchurch.   Jill died in 1985 from cancer.   Ronnie has seven grandchildren who keep him busy with his hobbies of gardening, sailing and driving his 4 x 4 Landrover into the mountains, plus of course overseeing his Junior Speedway Racing Track.

Ronnie took a break from speedway in 1957 and spent two years racing Grand Prix cars and Cooper Climax in particular.   He was back to speedway racing in 1959 which saw him win his second World Championship.   He retired from speedway in 1963 after a compound fracture of his left leg.   After spending the next six years in New Zealand, he was lured back to Wimbledon in 1969 at the age of 36 by Wimbledon Supremo, Ronnie Greene MBE (for services to the Fire Brigade Benevolent Fund).   He returned as Captain of “The Dons”, qualified for three more World Finals and won his first World Pairs Title with Ivan Mauger in 1970 at Malmo, Sweden.    Ronnie finally retired from British League competitive racing in 1972.   He raced only for Wimbledon, the team he captained for many years during his racing span of 22 years.  

In 1974, Ronnie was coaxed by Ivan and Barry to tour with their World Champions’ Troup.   It was at Newcastle, New South Wales, that Ronnie (now aged 42) crashed suffering severe head and internal injuries.   The surgeon drilled into Ronnie’s skull to relieve pressure on his brain and there was a 100 miles’ ambulance dash with Police escort to the North Shore Hospital in Sydney.   Ronnie was in a coma for a month.   It was many weeks before Ronnie could be repatriated to Christchurch for hospitalisation.   He had lost the sight of one eye, which did recover, and a total loss of hearing which has only partially recovered in one ear.  

Aranui Speedway was bulldozed more than 30 years ago and a new Speedway built at Ruapuna which was called The Ronnie Moore Stadium.   Later, the Speedway moved to a new venue and that is now called Moore Park. Ronnie's Training Track, Moore Park, Christchurch is shown to the left

It was many years since Ronnie had been to England.   In 1998, I had the idea of Ronnie coming to the Veteran Speedway Riders’ Association Dinner for March 1999 as Guest of Honour.   I telephoned Ronnie and asked him if I could arrange it, would he come. He replied that he would be there ‘like a shot’.   I put the proposal to the VSRA

Promoted by Barry Briggs and the Veteran Speedway Riders’ Association.

Wembley Stadium held a number of farewell banquets of sporting stars who had graced Wembley Stadium over many decades.   It was Barry Briggs who was first contacted regarding such an event for speedway racing.   Barry decided to involve the VSRA and I assisted along with others in the preparation and actual evening participation.   It was hoped that as many World Champions as possible would attend and a part of my remit was to organise their attendance including hotel accommodation.   Unfortunately, there was a fuel strike at this time which precluded the travel of Hans Neilsen and Eric Gundersen from Denmark and Anders Michanek from Sweden.   

Wembley September 16 2000 Alan Quinn & Reg Fearman with Sunday Dispatch World Championship Trophy.

But I was fortunate in that John Harrhy, the VSRA host for the ‘Rider’ Cup at The West Midlands Golf Club, Jack Taylor who restored the Atom Midget Car which Ronnie raced and in which he broke his collar bone at Wimbledon when practising in the mid-1950’s, and Pete Saunders sponsored Ronnie for the event.  

In all, there were 13 World Champions present, each sitting at a different table and later mingling with some 1,000 guests.    

My third and final arrangements to bring Ronnie half way around the world were  for him to be President of the Veteran Speedway Riders’ Association in March 2003.   The date of the Dinner, 7^th March, coincided with his 70^th birthday.   It also coincided with the Guest of Honour who I had arranged – Igor Plechanov.  It was a good chance for them both to get together.  

It was Ivan and his wife, Raye, who were delighted to sponsor Ronnie’s return air fare from New Zealand on this occasion.   The Dinner was extremely successful and drew a record attendance of three hundred and thirty four guests.  

Reg Fearman

January 2009