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Post by administrator on Apr 4, 2009 21:43:29 GMT 1
I have been reading a review copy of 'A History of Speedway: The Dublin Experience' (George P Kearns). While it is devoted to motorcycle speedway in Dublin, there are several very brief references to midget car racing there in the late 1940s and 1950s.
There is also a photo of three drivers in cars - not recognised midget car models. But they look well-designed for the crossover period from the late 1940s into the early 1950s.
The main outlets for midgets would appear to have been Santry and Chapelizoid, but without crosschecking again, I think they are mentioned as also racing at Shelbourne Park.
Does anyone have more details on Irish midget car racing? ;D
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Post by stockcar54 on Apr 7, 2009 20:02:08 GMT 1
Some years before the last World war, a small group of enthusiasts, finding that motor racing was essential to life, but entirely outside their means, got together to see what could be done about it. The result was the formation of the Dublin Midget Car Racing Club. The idea was to build & race home made racing cars,when & where possible. The formula chosen was such that only large motorcycle engines could be used, with a maximum engine capacity of 500c.c & the wheelbase limited to 60 inches excluded the use of normal car chassis. In due course a small number of these cars appeared, most of them well finished, but all liable to mechanical troubles to be expected from unorthodox designs. Motorcycle engines mounted in a flexible car type chassis produced endless transmission troubles.
Many events were held, mostly on a grass track at Clondalkin & the sport attracted quite a following. Then shortly before the war, the committee in charge decided that reliability was more important than performance & that the solution was to change the formula to allow building from normal production car chassis & engines. The formula was changed to permit a maximum engine capacity of 1000 c.cc & a wheelbase of 72 inches. A suitable wheel & tyre size of 20 inches overall was found in the catalogue of a famous manufacturer & this was chosen as the standard wheel. Building started all over again & soon 9 cars were built, all based on the Austin Seven, shortened by 3 inches & fitted with neat single seater bodies. Grass track races were held at Clondalkin & Raheny & attracted large crowds. The little cars were remarkably lively & reliable & full justified the committee’s decision to change the formula.
The outbreak of world war 2 put a stop to all this & it wasn’t until early 1947 that the midgets came back out of the sheds 7 garages were they had stayed during the conflict. The shortcomings of grass track racing became increasingly obvious & although many races were held, it was clear that a permanent track must be found. At this stage one of the committee members who had an interest in a greyhound track got to work on the directors & soon a cinder track appeared. The club reformed under the title “The Midget Racing Car Club of Ireland” & advertised its first meeting at Santry Speedway in July 1948. at this time there were only 11 complete cars, some of them untested, so it was with trepidation that the organisers faced their first venture. However on the day about 6000 turned up, the cars performed well with everyone going home with the feeling that midget car racing was now established. Some good exciting racing was seen with some crashes but no driver was badly hurt & very little damage was done to these sturdy little cars. A championship was run through the seasons 1948/49 & was won in each year by Charlie Norton who was then given the number one.
Organisers became concerned about the track that began breaking up under the strain of so much racing. To add to this a prolonged drought was causing immense clouds of dust to cover both the racers & the spectators. advice was sought from the midget tracks of the USA. Information soon came that the solution was oil ! Huge quantities of sump drainings were sourced & spread onto the track, with amazing results. Not only did the dust problem vanish, but the track bedded down to a firm & reasonably level surface. Racing was resumed with increased speeds & more competitive racing. Racers then began to put Ford Eight engines into the Austin Seven chassis with again improved performance.
Another track Chapelizod opened for midgets in June 1950 with further meetings organised for July & August.
I hope this of interest.
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Post by thebaldeagle1932 on Apr 7, 2009 21:17:44 GMT 1
That's amazing information about Ireland. Thank you stockcar54. I feel that I have learned a great deal here. Excellent posting.
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Post by administrator on Apr 7, 2009 22:18:24 GMT 1
I have been reading a review copy of 'A History of Speedway: The Dublin Experience' (George P Kearns). While it is devoted to motorcycle speedway in Dublin, there are several very brief references to midget car racing there in the late 1940s and 1950s. There is also a photo of three drivers in cars - not recognised midget car models. But they look well-designed for the crossover period from the late 1940s into the early 1950s. The main outlets for midgets would appear to have been Santry and Chapelizoid, but without crosschecking again, I think they are mentioned as also racing at Shelbourne Park. Does anyone have more details on Irish midget car racing? ;D The comments on midget car racing in Ireland, as mentioned above in the book, are very sketchy. Just mere mentions of their existence - although the one photo is of interest. The cars do look good considering the sport's limited background in Ireland.
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Post by thirdturn on Jun 10, 2009 21:24:21 GMT 1
Is there still midget car racing in Ireland and where do the race and who drives them?
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Post by haflinger121 on Jun 10, 2009 23:07:12 GMT 1
thirdturn, I believe it still goes on but only as a form of grass track racing - a bit like autograss but with very different cars. I read quite an extensive article about it in a magazine some years back (sorry, can't remember which one). Also, on one of our visits to Tipperary recently, I believe somebody mentioned that their cousin/brother/boyfriend races with them. I also think I might have a rulebook for them somewhere around here. All a bit vague I know, but I do believe it still happens even if it's about as well advertised as an early '90's rave!
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 9, 2012 19:34:17 GMT 1
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Post by tobyhalter on Sept 9, 2012 22:14:24 GMT 1
Wonderful. I watched the first two youtube items but had a malware warning on the third to decided to use caution and didn't proceed further. Are these cars still racing in Ireland and where. How come they haven't tried the "proper' small oval promoters across the Irish Sea. It looks like something to be encouraged. Are the Grand Prix Midgets in touch with them? Might be an idea to book them on to a forthcoming event where the Grand Prix Midgets are run their in a couple of separate races - provided they can guarantee as reasonable field of course.
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 11, 2012 18:00:02 GMT 1
Hmm, sorry about the malware warning Toby, I never got that and so far, don't seem to have come to any harm by viewing it.
I don't think they've got in touch with the "proper" ROI promoters because they are happy doing what they're doing and don't want to go any more 'up market'. That would inevitably lead to more sophisticated (i.e. more costly) cars and indeed, tyres, since both Rosegreen and Waterford are paved ovals. Similarly, they would not be a good match for Grand Prix Midgets either. The GPM wouldn't rate those rough grass tracks while the 'grass racer' midgets would get slaughtered on tarmac.
Nevertheless, I find it interesting that the class still exists as an almost direct descendant of the early midget racers, even if they have wandered off a long way from what we would really think of as 'midgets' nowadays.
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Post by tobyhalter on Sept 11, 2012 22:38:47 GMT 1
I really am out of luck on this. I now get a message when I try to click on that Safari cannot find the server. Maybe I will try firefox?
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Post by tobyhalter on Sept 11, 2012 22:41:09 GMT 1
I really am out of luck on this. I now get a message when I try to click on that Safari cannot find the server. Maybe I will try firefox? Firefox can't find the server although this was after the site reference appeared on google search. Never mind: are there any names for the leading drivers please?
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 12, 2012 11:22:00 GMT 1
Toby, I have tried to go back into that website myself and now it just comes up as "web page unavailable". I'd say the server has gone down, which may be a temporary thing, or the club simply haven't paid their subscription! It all looked a bit haphazard the way it was being run. Even their forthcoming events section just said "there are no planned events" when I clicked on it. None of the sites I found mentioned anything about leading drivers or any names. Even if they had I'm not sure they'd mean much to us. However, all is not lost. Have a look here: www.facebook.com/pages/Midget-Racing-Car-Club-Of-Ireland/130868903613759?viewas=0&sk=app_6261817190This shows that they are still racing and who is leading the points in the various classes.
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 12, 2012 11:50:05 GMT 1
As we seem to be on an 'Irish kick' at the moment, thought I'd re-produce the following. It comes from a book I found in a charity shop recently, Irish Sport 1950-2000, edited by Ian Foster. (Manticore Books Ltd 2002).
"Ireland has Midget racing too. In England, Midget racing is buried within the overall ambit of stock-car racing and Ireland too, has stock-car racing, but the Midget Racing Car Club of Ireland (MRCCI) stands on its own, affiliated to the RIAC. To quote the RIAC rule book: 'The Midget Racing Car Club of Ireland was formed in 1936 by Dudley Colley, Count Cyril McCormack, Cyril Murray, George Reddy and Leo Manthorpe. They were a group of well respected gentleman in the motor and horse trade and one of their main ideals was to keep the sport inexpensive...they enjoyed many seasons racing in front of large crowds on cinder surfaced tracks in Raheny, Santry, Chapelizod, Portmarnock and Shelbourne Park...After the war a son of one of the founder members returned from the USA with a Bantam car. This was quickly adopted for Midget Car Racing and with a group of already organised competitors from Co Wicklow the basics were laid for the sport as we know it today.'
The original cinder tracks disappeared in post-war industrial development and the sport moved to compete on grass which is how it survives today. All the cars use rear wheel drive which ensures the classic tail-sliding technique that is a feature of this form of sport worldwide. Front engines can be as big as 1200cc but rear engines are limited to the 850cc Mini. These are mounted in a single-seater car which is shorter than a Mini; just a 6ft wheelbase and a maximum length of 9ft. The MRCCI holds some 8 meetings a year between April and September and there is also a Junior championship."
You will note that some small parts of this history are at odds with the information previously provided by Trevor Chater (stockcar54) and I know who's research I'd rather trust! Trevor has always been a stickler for accuracy with such things but I don't know how far we can trust the info I've given here. The names of the founding members might prove interesting however, as indeed might some of the locations given for early tracks, a couple of which I'd never heard of before.
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 12, 2012 11:59:15 GMT 1
First of several American-made Bantam Cars I found. I quite like to think of this being stripped down as a midget, but think it more likely to have been the pale green one! Attachments:
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 12, 2012 11:59:52 GMT 1
Another possibility. Interestingly, Bantam were also the original producers of the Jeep and not Willys Overland as I'd always thought. However, I'm assuming it was not one of these which formed the basis of early Irish midgets, seeing that they were not four wheel drive. Attachments:
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