A brief photographic look at the life of another Aussie motorcycle racer on the "Continental Circus" 1965-1969.....

A good motorcycle racing friend of mine passed away at the end of October last year....Jack Saunders....

 Above items from the order of service at Jack's funeral....
He in turn was also a good friend of Alan Burt...who I've featured in this blog on several occasions..see the search facility on the RHS of the blog and type in Alan Burt......
Jack sailed for Europe in 1965 with a friend Ron Kirk and perhaps several others.....
Recently fate lent a hand....
An email from Stuart Frossell in California with some images scanned from slides which I recognised as Jack Saunders and others and a quick email back revealed more and the strange tale of Stuart's purchase of a large well kept box of photographic slides totaling over 2000 in number from an old gentleman at a swap meeting in Toowoomba, Queensland. The seller had obtained them from a deceased estate...some research revealed they were originally Ron Kirk of Sydney....he'd died some time back.
Ron was a friend of Jack Saunders and travelled with him to Europe on Jack's Odyssey to the "Continental Circus", that happy go lucky group of Commonwealth country motorcycle racers.....
See my post on Don Cox's book..."Continental Circus" detailing the 1950's era of this disparate group....
So this is far from a history of Jack's life, but a selection of photos from Stuart's slides and some black and white pics taken by me in Australia....
I thank Stuart for his contact and agreement to use the photographs...

Jack in Aden on the way to Europe, 1965

Ron  and Jack....

 ...at the Sphinx on the way to Europe...

Jack, #70, G50 Matchless on the start line of the 1965 Senior TT in the Isle of Man.Jack finished 31st just outside bronze replica time.
#69 is 499 G50 Matchless mounted H.H.Sommerhalder who retired on the second lap.
Jack, riding no.97 a 344 Aermacchi in the Junior TT,  failed to complete the first lap.

 Aussie Malcolm Stanton, 499 Norton Manx #73, second in line in the photo,at the start of the 1965 Senior TT, IOM. 
Malcolm retired on the 5th lap but came 24th in the Junior TT on a Norton in bronze replica time.
#71 is South African A.E.W de Kock also 499 Norton Manx mounted who finished 29th and in bronze replica time.

 

Things don't always go right for TT entrants.... Jack in his "lockup" likely back in England after the 1965 IOM TT...#70 is his 499 G50 Matchless Senior entry and the "bits" are his 344 Aermacchi...... you'll recall Jack failed to finish in the Junior and is working on the Aermacchi in the photo...

Some details from UK ACU Stewards reports and programs for the IOM TT races, 1965 and 1966 when Jack rode there.

 Caption on the slide says..."Jack, Gebby and Ted" on the Ferry, 1965"...
but unsure of where to...

Jack, Lance (who...) and Rae (who..), Mallory Park 1965.
After I posted this post on Jack I acquired from the UK some Mallory Park motorcycle race programs and the one for 26th Sept.1965 was the one thaqt Jack rode in with the photograph above...
John Robinson had kept them all this time and it was he who filled in the results...thanks John.
Small world....
Seems Jack failed to start in his heat of the senior race and started in his heat of the Junior race but was not shown as placed up to 12th...

Titled...."our camp, Le Mans 03.04.1966"

On the road somewhere...Aussies Eric Hinton and Jack Ahearn....

A race paddock "somewhere"...the slide is un-captioned....

"Lewis Young,and Mac, Czechoslovakia 1966"....

Franta Stastney, Brno Czechoslovakia 1967...

Colin Seeley, Brands Hatch 15.04.1967

 

Bill Ivy's Brands Hatch practice crash, 15.04.1967.

French domiciled Aussie, Jack Findlay, likely on a 250 Bultaco, Jicin, Czechoslovakia.

 The Aussie contingent at Boug-en-bresse circuit, mid France...Jack #12,D.Johnson and T.Gill..unsure of year.
Then he continued racing into the 1980's in NSW....mostly on his G50 and occasionally on a G45 he purchased on his return from Ron "Darby" Wilson always then with riding number #53.
A few pics taken by me...

Great mates.... Jack with Alan Burt, both on G50 Matchlesses.

Jack and Alan, Nov.1976 at Amaroo Park on the northern outskirts of Sydney, this time both on G45 Matchlesses...

Again Nov.1976 at Amaroo Park....my Carey headed/Smith framed MAC behind Jack's G45. Jack rode my MAC for a year or two after I retired with good result. 

"CIRCUS LIFE" by Don Cox...a book review on a just published history of Australian Motorcycle Racers in Europe in the 1950's....

“It is a world which survives only in black-and-white photographs, and in the memories of the people who were there: the world of European motorcycle road-racing more than 50 years ago, in the 15 or so years after the end of World War Two.”

 Thus Don Cox introduces us to a fascinating photographic and literary journey with the men and occasional women who travelled half way around the world to the hub of motorcycle road racing with often only a mate or wife for company ...to take to the road in a converted truck as their "motorhome", camping in the paddocks of the race circuits through the UK and Europe...being part of the "Continental Circus" - a happy go lucky band of motorcycle racers.

For us from the antipodes reading this book, the it seems the Anzacs have arrived again.

"Circus Life" as Don so aptly named his voluminous, long overdue story, has been a love that has consumed him for some 8 years...

As we discussed when I visited him at his home the other evening to borrow the copy I've used for this review.....supplies of the book are imminent into Sydney, with a book launch on 9th October 2012, but more of this later.....
When do you have all the information? 
When have you interviewed all who were there or had photographs to share?

Judging by the copy I've seen, Don has got it together right now....

 

Don Cox has been known to motorcycle enthusiasts for many years now, publishing several books and writing articles for  Australian motorcycling journals including "Two Wheels"...and I mentioned these in an earlier preview of "Circus Life"

I'm looking forward to reading the whole book, the over 500 pages, in detail when I purchase a copy shortly, having to regrettably return Don's pre-release copy after a day.

How to get a copy?

The RRP for the book is AUD$99 with postage within Australia of $12,

Plimsoll Street Publishing Pty Ltd now presents…
Circus Life, Australian Motorcycle Racers In Europe In The 1950s
Stocks will be in the Sydney mailing house by the first week of October.
Ordering is easy!
Please email circuslifebook@gmail.com and include your mailing address.
How to pay…
Via Paypal. circuslifebook@gmail.com is the account name.
Or, directly to the Plimsoll Street Publishing account, BSB 032 298 account no. 348961. Please put your name in the Description box.
Or, send a cheque/money order in Australian dollars to: Plimsoll Street Publishing Pty Ltd, PO Box 356, Haberfield, NSW 2045
AUD$99 plus AUD$12 post & packing; handling for books in Australia, mailed from Sydney.

Don has made arrangements for those in the UK and presumably Europe to receive a posted copy from the UK, but you need to email him first on.....

 circuslifebook@gmail.com

He will reply with the postage costs to you and payment will be to his Paypal account as above....

So, lets have a brief peek at some pages from the book....a whetting of the appetite as they say....

 

Amusing incidents such as below bring a chuckle, but also show the last serious use of a works Velocette engine,gearbox and front brake from 1952 factory racers to historians.

Harry Hinton jnr and Eric Hinton....

Washing day in the paddock.....

“The experience of the New Zealand Riders largely matched that of the Australians on the continental Circus in the 1950s, right down to sharing digs at Rose Villa in the Isle of Man. The only noticeable difference was that the NZers sailed to England via the Panama Canal rather than Suez, and travelled further than the Australian to race in Europe.

The Shakey Isles produced an extraordinary number of internationals per head of population, with many success stories…”

 I've said before that if I was restricted to one motorcycle book on my bookshelf it would be Phil Irving's Autobiography, a book always beside my bed that is often opened randomly and read before I retire for the night....

There looks like another  serious contender...looks like two volumes beside me from now on....!