Kōrero: Motor sport

Watch this newsreel clip of the 1947 Motorcycle Grand Prix at Cust, in Canterbury. The Grand Prix was held at Cust every Easter from 1936 to 1940. Racing stopped during the Second World War so the 1947 race was the first for several years. Huge quantities of used engine oil were used to damp down dust on the unsealed open-road track. The 1947 race was won by Syd Jenson of Palmerston North on a Triumph Tiger at an average speed of 62 miles (100 km) an hour. V. Laws of Dunedin was second, more than a lap behind. Another noted competitor was Jim Swarbrick (known as 'the flying milkman'), who rode at Cust from 1939–58 and won the senior (over 350 cc) race three times.