Bob
19th January 2006, 01:17
As part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of speedway at Palmerston North, one of the guests will be Maurice Andrews. Andrews has a special place as he is the lone survivor of one of the strangest – and shortest lived at one meeting – events at the venue.
In 1935, Andrews and Laurie Burns turned up with Harley Davidson 794 motorcycles, welded together to form a chariot. Controlled by reins from the throttle to the charioteers, things didn’t go as planned "Unfortunately we didn't have brakes on them and when Laurie's bike headed to the wall, he couldn't control it. Laurie hit the fence pretty hard . . . that was the end of our chariot racing."
Andrews said it was difficult controlling the two bikes around the cinder track "We had reins from the throttle back to us in the chariot and and when we wanted to turn a particular way, we opened up one of them by pulling on the rein. When we wanted to stop, we just had to coast around the track until they stopped," he said.
Andrews, who will attend the 75th anniversary of speedway in Palmerston North this weekend is hoping it won't just be as a spectator. "I'd be keen to get on a bike and have a ride around the track."
In 1935, Andrews and Laurie Burns turned up with Harley Davidson 794 motorcycles, welded together to form a chariot. Controlled by reins from the throttle to the charioteers, things didn’t go as planned "Unfortunately we didn't have brakes on them and when Laurie's bike headed to the wall, he couldn't control it. Laurie hit the fence pretty hard . . . that was the end of our chariot racing."
Andrews said it was difficult controlling the two bikes around the cinder track "We had reins from the throttle back to us in the chariot and and when we wanted to turn a particular way, we opened up one of them by pulling on the rein. When we wanted to stop, we just had to coast around the track until they stopped," he said.
Andrews, who will attend the 75th anniversary of speedway in Palmerston North this weekend is hoping it won't just be as a spectator. "I'd be keen to get on a bike and have a ride around the track."