Speedway: Full throttle and fearless

Speedway fanatic Terry Beresford, 74, broke two ribs last year after losing his methanol-fuelled machine on the backyard Carterton track of his old mate Ivan Cartmell.
His machine was a fully restored 1939-1946 500cc Victor Martin beast that, like all speedway bikes, has no brakes. His mate, 72, runs a 1949-1950 JAP and hasn't let Terry back on the track since his spill.
"He frightened me when he came off. But I hope we get a little wobble [ride] again soon."
The two men were founders in 1969 of the now-defunct Penlee Speedway that spawned the Penlee Pirates, who drifted full throttle - left turning only - throughout the seventies.
Both men carry an obsession with the motorsport that neither has yet laid down.
Terry first fell for speedway as a 12-year-old growing up in Britain, and Ivan was forever entranced by the "sounds and that terrific smell" as an 11-year-old denied entry after being taken for a night at the races in Palmerston North.
This week a booklet tracing the heyday of Wairarapa speedway at Solway Showgrounds was published, for which the two Masterton riders have been waiting for three years.
Wide Open! The Solway Speedway was written by Kiwi speedway historian Alan Batt, and Terry and Ivan have poured their experiences and recollections into the slim volume.
Speedway in post-World War II New Zealand boomed, and tracks dotted the country to which spectators flocked in their thousands.
Wairarapa fans could travel to Palmerston North or the Hutt, and a grass track was established at Solway in the late 1940s.
The 20,000 Club in Masterton - formed by businesspeople seeking city status for the town by reaching a 20,000-resident population - drove construction of the Solway Speedway in the early 1950s.
The proper oval cinder track, at the "playground of the Wairarapa", as Solway was dubbed by a hopeful A&P president, attracted 2000 spectators for a trial run on January 22, 1953. The facility was officially opened seven days later and was changed to a lime track in the mid-1950s.
The Solway Speedway was at one time reputed to be the fastest 440-yard track in the world.
Kiwi speedway legends were made and maintained at Solway, including Bruce Abernathy and local hero and "lady's man" Harry Mangham, Terry said.
"Solway missed the boom time of speedway, and the bikes slowly lost out at that track to the midget cars, TQs and stockcars.
"I can still remember the crowds, you know, and the utes with couches in the back where the whole family could sit and watch from their own little grandstand."
Terry and Ivan met over a challenge about watering the track at Solway and after striking up a friendship decided to establish Penlee Speedway together at Ivan's family farm on Norfolk Rd, south of Masterton.
The track remained open and well patronised before being shut down at the close of the 70s, Ivan said.
The two old mates are each now awaiting a similar volume on the history of Penlee Speedway that Mr Batt has promised to complete.