Austral Wheel Race
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Austral Wheel Race | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Established | 1887 |
| Held | February |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Victoria |
| Type | Handicap race over 2000 m |
| Data | |
| Editions | 107 |
| First Winner | H. Lambton, AUS |
| Most Recent | Ben Kersten, AUS |
| Most Wins | Stephen Pate, AUS, (4) |
| Cycling in Melbourne | |
| Around the Bay in a Day | |
| Austral Wheel Race | |
| Bicycle Victoria | |
| Hell Ride | |
| Melbourne Critical Mass | |
| Melbourne's Bike Paths | |
| Anniversary Outer Circle Trail | |
| Bayside Trail | |
| Capital City Trail | |
| Dandenong Creek Trail | |
| Darebin Creek Path | |
| Diamond Creek Trail | |
| Knox Trail to Upper Ferntree Gully | |
| Kororoit Creek Path | |
| Gardiners Creek Trail | |
| Maribyrnong River Trail | |
| Merri Creek Trail | |
| Moonee Ponds Creek Trail | |
| Mullum Mullum Creek Trail | |
| Ringwood to Belgrave Trail | |
| Upfield bike path | |
| Upwey Rail Trail | |
| Warburton Rail Trail | |
| Williamstown Cycle Trail | |
| Western Ring Road Path | |
| Yarra River Trail | |
The Austral Wheel Race is the oldest track bicycle race in the world still occurring, with a history stretching back to 1887. The Austral race is widely regarded as Australia’s greatest track cycling event and is colloquially called the Melbourne Cup on Wheels and held in Melbourne, Australia. Like the Melbourne Cup horse race it is a handicap event where riders are assigned handicaps according to ability over a series of heats. The finals are run over a distance of 2000 m.
The race in 2004 and 2005 was held at Vodafone Arena in February. The first race in 1887 was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground over a distance of 3 miles (4800 metres), with first prize of a grand piano valued at 200 pounds. Other venues in Melbourne to host the race include the Exhibition Track, the North Essendon board track, the Olympic Park Velodrome and the Brunswick, Coburg and Northcote velodromes.
Malvern Star Cycles, a leading brand in bicycles in Australia throughout the twentieth century, had its origins in the race. In December 1898 a young bicycle mechanic and professional cyclist by the name of Tom Finnegan won from a handicap of 220 yards, holding off the backmarkers with a foot to spare. The prize money of 240 sovereigns enabled him to establish a suburban bicycle shop, Malvern Star Cycles, which later became a household name under the business acumen of Bruce Small.
Corruption tinged the event in 1901 when American, "Plugger" Bill Martin won from scratch, amid allegations of race fixing by John Wren. According to a report in The Age in 1903 referring to the 1902 race: "one of the judges appointed to officiate at the Austral Wheel meeting was called upon to resign, because he had a monetary interest in the result of the Austral Wheel Race."[1]
In February 2005 Ben Kersten won from Scratch in a time of 2min. 06.10 sec. at an average speed of 57.09 km/h.
[edit] Prize Money
Prize Money for the event has varied, roughly following the fashion for cycling and cycling sports. From the initial first prize of a Grand Piano, to monetary prizes of 240 sovereigns in 1898, 1050 sovereigns in 1902, to a low point of $1500 during the 1970s, increasing to $5,000 in 1982, and now exceeding $18,000 in recent stagings of the event since 2000.
[edit] Past winners
Past competitors include many distinguished Australian and international track cyclists, including World Champions, Gordon Johnson and Steele Bishop, Sid Patterson, Russell Mockridge, Danny Clarke, Brett Aitken, Gary Neiwand and Shane Kelly. The record for the most wins belongs to Victorian Stephen Pate with four victories: in 1988 from scratch, in 1991 from -10 metres, in 1993 from -20 metres and his most recent 1999 win, from scratch.
In 2000, Gary Neiwand, one of Australia's greatest sprinters, was liberally handicapped on 70 metres for the millennium edition of the event, and won comfortably.
| Austral Wheel Race Winners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Winner | Handicap |
| 1887 | H. Lambton | 210 yd |
| 1888 | Dick Davis | Scr |
| 1889 | J. Mullins | 140 yd |
| 1890 | Tom Busst | Scr. |
| 1891 | Arthur Turner | 240 yd |
| 1892 | H. Lambton | 200 yd |
| 1893 | Gordon Woodward | 270 yd |
| 1894 | Alf Middleton | 180 yd |
| 1895 | A. Crisp | 250 yd |
| 1896 | Charles Kellow | 15 yd |
| 1897 | Jim Carpenter | 85 yd |
| 1898 | Tom Finnigan | 220 yd |
| 1899 | Frank Beauchamp | 150 yd |
| 1900 | Charles Forbes | 30 yd |
| 1901 | Bill Martin | Scr |
| 1902 | Murray Auger | 240 yd |
| 1903 | Fred Scheps | 160 yd |
| 1904 | Jack Clarke | 150 yd |
| 1905 | J. Sandberg | 170 yd |
| 1906 | Harry Thomas | 20 yd |
| 1907 | A.C. Colvin | 60 yd |
| 1908 | M. McPherson | 150 yd |
| 1909 | A. H. Piano | 40 yd |
| 1910 | Frank Corry | 140 yd |
| 1912 | W. Priestly | 60 yd |
| 1913 | P.B. Henry | 60 yd |
| 1920 | Ern. Tamme | 50 yd |
| 1921 | Lou Clifford | 120 yd |
| 1922 | Jack Fitzgerald | Scr |
| 1923 | Dick Ford | 120 yd |
| 1923 | Pidge Davis | 200 yd |
| 1925 | Frank Corry | 140 yd |
| 1925 | Eric Giboud | 60 yd |
| 1927 | Bowie Stevens | 70 yd |
| 1927 | Cecil Hannerman | 160 yd |
| 1927 | Cecil Manners | 245 yd |
| 1929 | H. "Fatty" Lamb | 30 yd |
| 1936 | Keith Thurgood | 100 yd |
| 1936 | Harry Webb | 70 yd |
| 1937 | Jack Gardiner | 205 yd |
| 1938 | Jack Middleton | 120 yd |
| 1939 | Clinton Beasley | 90 yd |
| 1940 | Norm Stevens | 20 yd |
| 1941 | Ken Stewart | 60 yd |
| 1942 | Mick Bradley | 160 yd |
| 1944 | Norm Munro | 90 yd |
| 1944 | Tas. Johnson | 30 yd |
| 1945 | Tom Shillito | 160 yd |
| 1946 | Pat Devine | 120 yd |
| 1947 | George Bull | 130 yd |
| 1948 | Bill Kirkham | 120 yd |
| 1950 | Byron Bonney | 120 yd |
| 1951 | Kevin Marion | 105 yd |
| 1952 | Doug Jennings | 120 yd |
| 1953 | Tom Fitzgerald | 140 yd |
| 1954 | Alan Geddes | 130 yd |
| 1955 | Ron Murray | 100 yd |
| 1956 | Don Meharg | 130 yd |
| 1957 | John Robertson | 100 yd |
| 1958 | Neil Geraghty | 100 yd |
| 1959 | Vin Beasley | 100 yd |
| 1960 | David Good | 100 yd |
| 1961 | Fred Roche | 40 yd |
| 1962 | Sid Patterson | Scr. |
| 1963 | Fred Hellyer | 110 yd |
| 1964 | Sid Patterson | Scr. |
| 1965 | Kenton Smith | 135 yd |
| 1966 | Bill Dove | 150 yd |
| 1967 | Vic Browne | 65 yd |
| 1968 | Merv. Andrea | 230 yd |
| 1969 | Charlie Walsh | 50 yd |
| 1970 | Bill Stevens | 35 yd |
| 1971 | Frank Daly | 135 yd |
| 1972 | Geoff Edmonds | 20 yd |
| 1973 | Gordon Johnson | Scr. |
| 1974 | Ivan Collings | 90 yd |
| 1975 | Craig Price | 130 yd |
| 1976 | David Allan | 70 yd |
| 1977 | Danny Clark | Scr. |
| 1978 | David Sanders | 50 m |
| 1979 | Laurie Venn | Scr. |
| 1980 | Daryl Benson | 90 m |
| 1981 | Laurie Venn | Scr. |
| 1982 | Steele Bishop | Scr. |
| 1983 | Phil. Sawyer | Scr. |
| 1984 | Terry Schintler | 80 m |
| 1985 | Allan Rackstraw | 80 m |
| 1986 | Danny Clark | Scr. |
| 1987 | Simon King | 110 m |
| 1988 | Stephen Pate | Scr. |
| 1989 | Grant Reynolds | 150 m |
| 1990 | Danny Clark | Scr. |
| 1991 | Stephen Pate | Minus 10 m |
| 1992 | Bert Glennon | 120 m |
| 1993 | Stephen Pate | Minus 20 m |
| 1994 | Ashley Harding | 140 m |
| 1995 | Tony Hughes | 80 m |
| 1996 | Troy Clarke | 45 m |
| 1997 | Matthew Atkins | 100 m |
| 1998 | Shane Hodskiss | 75 m |
| 1999 | Stephen Pate | Scr. |
| 2000 | Gary Neiwand | 70 m |
| 2001 | Mark French | 80 m |
| 2002 | Darren Young | |
| 2003 | Darren Young | |
| 2004 | Zak Dempster | |
| 2005 | Ben Kersten | Scr. |
