Sunday 30 September 2012

John Maxwell Love



"Why do I do it? You might as well ask a drunk why he drinks." The words are from Rhodesian champion racing driver John Love, who created an amazing record in winning the South African championship in six successive years from 1964 to 1969.

Bulawayo-born Love became a legend in racing in Southern Africa and had fate perhaps been kinder, he would almost certainly have joined the ranks of regular works drivers in the world Formula One Grand Prix circuit.

A crash at Albi, in the south of France on 10 September 1962, changed all that. After swerving to avoid hitting his friend and rival Tony Maggs, Love's car left the circuit and struck an earth bank. He suffered a crushed left arm and was in severe pain for several weeks as surgeons worked to heal the injury. When he eventually returned to Rhodesia, the arm was stiff and unresponsive and he was told his racing career was over.

But, typical of the man — Love was not born to be a loser — he refused to accept that racing was over for him and went to see a Salisbury surgeon. Five months and two operations later he was back behind the steering-wheel even though he had still not regained all movement in the arm.

It was this injury which forced him to channel all of his efforts into the South African racing scene where he was later to achieve such amazing results. A few weeks after the Albi accident he was to have been given a trial in John Cooper's latest car at the high-speed Monza track. The accident put paid to that.

But two years later came a very big moment in Love's career, one that caused a small sensation in British motor racing circles. No one was more surprised than Love himself.

John Cooper made a surprise telephone call to Love's Bulawayo garage and out of the blue offered him Phil Hill's place in the next Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Love had no hesitation in accepting the offer — he had waited so long for a chance in Formula One. He left for Rome with his old friend and team-mate in the South African Gunston team, Sam Tingle, with high hopes of performing well
enough to ensure a place in the line-ups for the American and Mexican Grands Prix which were to follow the Italian race.

Fate again took a hand and about a month later Love was back at home in Bulawayo, a very disappointed man. His practice for Monza went badly after a distributor drive broke when he had completed only four laps and he was scratched from the race, as spares were unavailable to repair the damage.

End of Pg 1

He was given another trial at Goodwood in England and Cooper said he wanted Love for the 1965 season, but that the petrol company which invested heavily in the Cooper team favoured approaching another driver. Some of the disappointment was made up for when Love won his first South African championship later that year.

Like many other drivers, Love started his career on two wheels. He raced on the oil-dirt surfaces of Umgusa and Coro Park with the men who nurtured Rhodesia's fine record in world motor cycling; men like Ray Amm, Frank Riley, Ken Robas, Charlie Harrison, Phil Snyman, Hymie Stanger and Colin Graves. World champions Gary Hocking and Jim Redman followed.

His motor cycling career started after he returned from service with the 6th South African Armoured Division in Italy. It was 1946 and his first machine was an ageing TT Rudge. Although he scored only moderate success, particularly in the 350 cc events on a Velocette, he soon gained a reputation for being a wizard with engines. "I love motors," he said. "I hate to see them abused."

His debut on four wheels was made in a little Cooper into which he had built a Norton 500 cc engine. The car went well but was tail-happy and almost brought about a premature end to Love's career on the old Belvedere track in a spectacular crash from which he managed to emerge alive and still determined.

Love continued racing in a Cooper with a variety of engines until he took over a Riley Special and, pushing the machine to the limit began to cause upsets against more sophisticated works machinery. By then he was firmly 'hooked' on motor racing and in 1959 he travelled to Britain with veteran driver Jimmy Shields in the hope of getting a works drive.

The eager Rhodesian found a place in what was then a new class, the Formula Junior, and began driving a front-engined Cooper for Ken Tyrell, who later ran one of the leading Grand Prix teams. He returned home after a hectic season,having gained valuable experience — the fields in Formula Junior were big and the competition was fierce. More important, Love came back with a contract to
drive for Tyrell the following year (1960) and in that European season he gained some notable successes.

He finished third in the Italian race, took a second at Copenhagen and scoreda victory at Chimay. He went on to take third places at Rheims and Albi — the scene of his fateful crash two years later — and finished second at the infamous Nurburgring circuit in West Germany after breaking the Formula Junior lap record by seven seconds.

Of his efforts overseas Love was later to say: "It was tough breaking into European racing. I struggled for years trying to get a toe-hold into the set-up there. But once I missed out, could not honour my contracts because of my accident, well, that was it. So I turned to home events."

His decision to stick to the Rhodesian and South African circuits was the beginning of a remarkable chapter in local motor racing. After the Albi crash, Love brought his car, a works Cooper-Climax, back to Rhodesia. But success did not come immediately to Love and his faithful mechanics and friends. Keith Starling and Gordon Jones.

Initially they were plagued by breakdowns and mechanical failures at crucial times. Moderate success came in 1963 and the following year, after responding to Cooper's invitation to race at Monza, Love missed two vital championship races.

But on his return, Love found that he still had a chance for the South African

End of Pg 2

title provided he won the last event of the season at the Johannesburg Kyalami track. With everything to gain and nothing to lose, the Rhodesian got out in front and stayed there, beating old rival Pieter de Klerk to record the first of his incredible run of South African titles.

Success had not come easily to John Maxwell Love but he could look back with satisfaction on years of sweat, strain, self-sacrifice and sheer hard work, and times when only his grim determination and enthusiasm kept him at it.

The 1965 season that followed was one of Love's best After a slow start — he gained only a solitary third place from the first three events — there was just no stopping him. He won sixteen races in succession with victories at Salisbury, Bulawayo, Lourengo Marques and ten events in South Africa.

Love's formula for success is simple. "I have always had a tremendous incentive to win a motor race. I go all out for a win and nothing else. 1 have never gone into a race saying to myself 'Hell, I cannot win this'. That is fatal."

Fitting tribute to Love comes from Pieter de Klerk, a man who often had to settle for second place: "You can be beaten by a lot of things in motor racing. You can be beaten by mechanical failure, by your own bad nerves and by pure bad luck. You can also be beaten by a better driver. If I must be beaten, I'd rather be beaten by John Love than by anything or anybody else."

What made Love's achievements all the more remarkable was his age. He was twenty-nine when he made the switch from motor cycles to cars and forty-five when he won his sixth successive South African championship. When he finally retired from racing in 1975 he was fifty-one and that was the end of a track record which will never be forgotten.

Love so nearly stunned the whole motor racing world in 1967 when, driving an out-dated four-cylinder car against the world's best in the South African Grand Prix, he led until the last lap when he ran out of petrol. He finished second, but made his mark. It was like a fairy-tale as Love, in his old Coventry-Climax, defied more modern and vastly more powerful cars around the Kyalami track.

Among the other milestones in Love's career were his breaking of former world champion Jim Clark's Kyalami lap record with an average speed of 111,8 mph, the award of Springbok colours in 1967, his selection as Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year in 1968 and his selection as South African Motor Sportsman of the Year in 1970.

John Love will be remembered as the man who always wanted to be out in front — and got there.

- McDERMOTT.

End

Comments are always welcome, please enter them below or post them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com  and I will load them on your behalf.

To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)

Labels: , ,

Saturday 29 September 2012

Frederick William Garner



Archery was most likely first practised in Zimbabwe by the early Bushmen, using the bow and arrow as a means of getting food. But as a sport, archery made a belated appearance and even today commands limited interest from a handful of devoted followers, though overseas it is highly popular, there being six million archers in America alone.

The Salisbury Archery Club was founded by Mr. J. Peel Nelson in 1947, and has remained in existence since. Among the best early archers were Leslie Snowball and J. Wilson McArthur, the latter at one time being regarded as the best instinctive shot in Britain.

John F. Lawes, who arrived in the country in 1951, started shooting with a Doctor Rothman at Mpilo Hospital at Bulawayo. Later that year, several interested archers began shooting behind the Central Sports Ground on land belonging to the Hockey Board, among them a Major Sharp of Rosebank Farm. But the club folded after only a few months. Interest, however, was revived in early 1955 by Mr. Jimmy Jones who formed the Bulawayo Archers Club with eleven members. Top
Bulawayo archers in this period were Lawes, Bellington, Weepner, Jones and Aaron.

It was here in February 1956, that Fred Garner, who was to make a major impact on the national scene, began shooting. He stopped after a few months, only starting again in 1962 when his career began to blossom. Garner became one of two men — the other was Bulawayo's Lyle Heydenrych — to be the first official holders of Rhodesian archery colours. This was after the Southern Rhodesia Archery Association became a member of the Rhodesia Colours Board on 21 February 1964, and Garner and Heydenrych attended the Easter South African national championships at Port Elizabeth. Heydenrych (fifth) and Garner (sixth) shot Rhodesia into overall third place and both also made the FITA Star award for a score of over 1 000 — the first Rhodesians to earn this symbol of archery prowess. Garner, who was born at West Houghton, England, on 23 August 1914, came to Bulawayo in 1948.

The first full team selected to represent the Rhodesian Archery Association was : F. W. Garner (Bulawayo Municipal Bowmen), Lyle Heydenrych (Bulawayo Archers), George Mann, a paraplegic, and Neville Wright (Salisbury Archery Club).  This team competed at the South African nationals in 1965 with Garner finishing third in the men's championship to gain selection for the six-man Springbok team for the world championships at Vasterose, Sweden.

End Pg 1

At these championships, Garner was South Africa's leading performer, finishing 29th while his colleagues finished 40th, 46th, 61st, 81st and 92nd respectively. Garner is this country's first and only fully fledged Springbok archer. Also in 1965 Garner became active as an administrator and was elected chairman (a title changed to president in 1967) of the Rhodesian Archery Association — a post he still held in 1980. For good measure he became national champion for the first time in 1965.

It was at the 1966 national championships at the Bulawayo Archers' ground that Garner, the winner, broke the 1 100 FITA barrier for the first time in this country to establish himself firmly as the dominant personality in the sport. He was also third in the 1967 South African championships at Cape Town.

He attended the 1967 FITA (world controlling body) congress at Amersfoort, Holland, at his own expense and competed in the 24th world championships there. After ensuring Rhodesia was a member of the world body, Garner finished 70th out of 140 of the world's best archers.

The 25th world championships were at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in America in August 1969, and again Garner was Rhodesia's selection, this time finishing a highly commendable 17th out of 113 men from 30 countries.

After the 1971 championships at Salisbury, Garner (first) and Mrs. Pat Shepherd (second) were the only ones qualified to represent the country who were prepared to pay their own expenses, and so were chosen for the 26th world championships at York, England. Despite Britain's political quarrel with Rhodesia and the imposition of sanctions, both took their place on the line. However, owing to bad weather and only a few days practice, neither fared well. Garner was 80th out of 140 and Mrs. Shepherd 51st out of 80.

In 1972, archery was included in the Olympic Games for the first time since 1920 with a double FITA round to be shot in the English Garden at Munich. Pat Shepherd and Fred Garner qualified and were part of the Rhodesian team to go to Munich. They were poised to make history as the first Rhodesians to shoot at the Olympic Games and they practised assiduously over many months. But a political storm broke, forcing the entire team out of the Games on the eve of the competition.

End of  Pg

But this did not weaken their resolve to continue competing at international level and Garner and Mrs. Shepherd shot at the 1973 world championships at Grenoble, France, where Garner finished 38th out of 120. At the 1975 world event at Interlaken, Switzerland, Rhodesia sent a full men's team for the first time, comprising the now highly experienced Gamer, Lyle Heydenrych, Peter Ellis and
David Brown. Garner did best, finishing 63rd out of 131, while Heydenrych was in 100th position.

Rhodesia were denied entry to the 1977 world championships at Canberra, Australia, when they were refused visas by the Australian Government. In July 1979, the World Archery Federation, meeting in West Berlin, rejected a Soviet motion to expel Rhodesia by 29 votes to 17, and the only Rhodesian who competed in the world championships here was David Milne, who was placed 76th in a field of 95.

After being candidate international archery judges for several years, Roy Potter and Fred Garner were appointed full international judges at the FITA congress at Montreal in 1976. At this time, out of 54 member associations there were only 42 international judges from 18 countries.

The archer's standard is recognised by the star rating he wears. There are four stars — 1 000,1 100,1 200 and 1 300 — and the awards are strictly controlled by the world body, with the 1 300 FITA star the most prized award. There were eight 1100 ratings in Zimbabwe by the end of 1979. They were: men — Heydenrych, Garner, Masterton, Bryant and Milne; women — Shepherd, Stodart and Halkett. Ann Godwin was the first woman to qualify for the 1 000 Star and Pat Shepherd the first to attain the 1100 Star. Garner gained further notable success in the sport when he shot six golds (bulls) from 90 metres — a feat never before achieved in Zimbabwe.

David Milne became the first from this country to shoot at an Olympiad when he went to Moscow in 1980. He shot 2146 for the double F.I.T.A. round to finish 34th out of 38 archers.

End of Pg

ZIMBABWE CHAMPIONS

MEN
1958 - H. H. Addison
1959 - N. J. Lottering
1960 - N. J. Lottering
1961 - N. J. Lottering
1962 - C. Wilde
1963 - C. Wilde
1964 - J. Lawes
1965 - F. W. Garner
1966 - F. W. Garner
1967 - L Heydenrych
1968 - F. W. Garner
1969 - F. W. Garner
1970 - F. W. Garner
1971 - F. W. Garner
1972 - A. Bryant
1973 - F. W. Garner
1974 - F. W. Garner
1975 - F. W. Garner
1976 - L Heydenrych
1977 - F. W. Garner
1978 - F. W. Garner
1979 - F. W. Garner

ZIMBABWE RECORDS
(as at 31 December 1979)

MEN
SINGLE F.I.T.A.
90 m — F. W. Garner: 1978 - 269
70 m — F. W. Garner: 1970 - 295
50 m — L. Heydenrych: 1976 - 305
30 m — F. W. Gamer: 1968 - 335
Total — F. W. Gamer: 1978 - 1 147

WOMEN
70 m — Mrs. P. Shepherd:  1972 - 256
60 m — Mrs. S. Stodart: 1972 - 289
50 m — M,. P. Shepherd: 1972 - 272
30 m — Mrs. D. Milne: 1971 - 318
Total - Mrs. P. Shepherd: 1972 - 1 107

DOUBLE F.I.T.A.
MEN
90 m — F. W. Garner: 1979 - 509
70 m — F. W. Garner: 1971 - 573
50 m — D. Milne: 1979 - 587
30 m — T. W. Gamer: 1968 - 668
Total — F. W. Garner: 1979 - 2 284

WOMEN
70 m — Mrs. P. Shepherd: 1972 - 508
60 m — Mrs. S. Stodart: 1977 - 559
50 m — Mrs. P. Shepherd: 1972 - 530
30 m — Mrs. D. Milne: 1978    634
Total — Mrs. P. Shepherd: 1972 - 2 208

— BYROM

End

Comments are always welcome, please enter them below or post them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com  and I will load them on your behalf.

To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)

Labels: ,

Friday 28 September 2012

Patricia Molly Pretorius

The elation that swept South Africa when that country won the 1972 Federation Cup — the world women's team championship of tennis — was justifiably shared in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

Alhough the inscription 'South Africa' went on the handsome trophy, the team was an all-Rhodesian one of Pat Pretorius (nee Walkden) and Brenda Kirk. After beating France in the semifinals at the Ellis Park Stadium at Johannesburg these two overcame the powerful British team 2-1 in the final to record one of the most notable triumphs in the country's tennis history. The two girls — Pat born at
Bulawayo and Brenda born at Fort Victoria — were representing their adopted country in the Federation Cup for the first time and they won it on home soil from a record entry of thirty-one nations. South Africa became the only country apart from America and Australia to win the trophy, first competed for in 1963.

It was the climax of an outstanding tennis career for Pat Pretorius — the supreme women's player produced by Rhodesia, for which country she won distinction on the international scene.

Born Patricia Molly Walkden on 12 February 1946 at Bulawayo, she matriculated at Eveline High School in her home town. Athletically built and sports minded, it seemed inevitable that she would emerge a champion in the family tradition — her father Lee captained Rhodesia at cricket and Pat followed her mother, Isobel, in gaining national hockey colours. While Pat went on to win tennis
colours and world status, her mother also later won double national colours when she became one of the nation's leading bowlers and won the country's singles title in 1979 at Salisbury.

It was clear while she was a junior that Pat possessed the vital ingredients to go far in tennis — fluent ground strokes, a strong backhand and a positive, attacking nature By the age of sixteen, in 1962, she had already risen to be third ranked player in the country behind Susie Smit and Joan Walker and it was little surprise that the next year she topped the list after winning her first Rhodesian closed singles title. As a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl she was the youngest open or closed champion
.
But in January 1963 she had given warning of her rapid rise when, not yet seventeen, she beat South Africa's world-ranked number one player, Renee Schuurman. 6-4.1 -6. 6-4 in a major second round upset at the Western Province championships at Cape Town. After winning her Rhodesian Open crown (and the doubles with Rita Martin) she again underlined her magnificent potential by winning the South African junior singles title — the first time a Rhodesian had taken this crown. Pat beat top seed Ingrid Frohling of Natal 4-6. 6-3. 6-4 ir the final

The young starlet ventured on the overseas circuit for the first time in 1964. retaining her Rhodesian closed title with an effortless 6-1.6-1 victory over Jill Russell just before flying out. She failed to qualify for the Wimbledon singles when she lost her third round qualifying match 9-7, 6-2 to a British girl. Miss A. Owen, but she was gaining valuable experience and was beginning to catch attention. Her play often provoked high acclaim and many critics predicted that she had the physical and mental ability to take the jolts of big-time tennis and that she would be able to stand the acid test of intense competition and pressure once she matured as a player.

The teenage Pat — always a superb ambassacress with impeccable court manners — and another young Rhodesian, Roger Dowdeswell, qualified for all three events at Wimbledon in 1965. Pat forming a highly effective doubles partnership with South African Glenda Swan to win their early matches. Earlier that year Pat had enhanced her reputation with a 6-2. 8-6 victory over Britain's high-ranking Christine Truman, the reigning South African champion. A report in the Bulawayo Chronicle said: "Miss Walkden's backhand driving and fine serving were too much for Miss Truman."

Rhodesia's first entry into the prestigious Federation Cup came in 1966, Pat Walkden (captain) and Joan Walker making up the team at Turin. They beat Austria 3-0 in a pleasing debut, but went down 3-0 to Italy in the second round.

However, Pat continued to make her mark by ending 1966 with her first South African Sugar Circuit title. In two stunning upsets on her way to becoming Free State champion, she beat Springbok number one, Annette van Zyl and then accounted for Britain's classy Virginia Wade in the final.

Another victory over Miss Wade followed a few weeks later in early 1967, when she won the Natal championship at Durban 6-2,9-7. By the time Pat turned twenty-one on 12 February that year, she had risen from a shy, promising schoolgirl to one of the top fifteen or so players in the world. Apart from her two Sugar titles, whilst on the circuit she also enjoyed the distinction of beating Annette van Zyl (then ranked sixth in the world) on three successive occasions.

She made her third visit to the European circuit in 1967. winning a West German tournament with an impressive victory overHelga Schultze, while in the same year she captained Rhodesia and teamed up with Fiona Morris (later McKenzie) but went down to the top seeded Americans in the first round of the Federation Cup in Berlin.

In December 1967 and January 1968, Pat flashed a warning that she would again be a strong contender en the world circuit when she won two South African Sugar titles. When she beat American Carole Graebner 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 ir the Western Province championships at Cape Town she was appearing in her third successive final of the summer, confirming the promise that had brought her to the fringe of the world's top ten. In Cape Town, Pat also teamed with Annette van Zyl to win the doubles 6-1. 6-3 against the experienced British pair. Nell Truman and Winnie Shaw.

Eut the young Rhodesian was now in a serious dilemma. Most of her competitive tennis was played in South Africa and there was strong pressure :rom that country for her to seek citizenship and wear the Springbok blazer. With Rhodesia a political outcast from most of the world because of the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) she was encountering problems overseas when travelling on a Rhodesian passport.

And so it was that while playing in the 1968 South African championships at Johannesburg in March, Pat accepted South African naturalisation papers and was lost to Rhodesian sport. She had been forced into sporting exile by political circumstances and also by the limited opportunities in her own country. Pat was immediately awarded her Springbok blazer when she was chosen together with Maryna Godwin (who later married Mike Procter) to play in a Test series against the Australian pair, Margaret Smith (Court) and Karen Krantzke.

By nature a sensitive, unassuming woman, she worried about what her countrymen would think of her and this shone through in a telephone conversation from Johannesburg with a Press reporter in Bulawayo immediately after making her decision to become a South African.

"Do you think people in Rhodesia will understand?" she asked. "If I'd stayed in Rhodesia, my tennis would have been in jeopardy through the travel restrictions of a post-UDI passport. But 1 haven't left Rhodesia, my home is still there and I'll be home as often as I can. Give my love to the people I know in Bulawayo . . . I hope they'll understand why I've made the biggest decision of my life. Although they'll call me a South African from now on my heart will always be in Rhodesia."

Rhodesians still regarded her as one of their own and continued to folbw her career closely, taking great pride in her 1969 Wimbledon feat of shattering British hopes by beating Britain's number one Virginia Wade 7-5,6-1 in a majorshock on the hallowed centre court. She beat the third seed in seventy minutes to reach the last sixteen in front of 15 000 people, including the Prime Minister, Mr. Harold Wilson. It was her most notable moment in tennis and a London report said: "It was a triumph of tenacity. The South African saved three set points in the first set before the match turned in her favour." The Bulawayo girl then bowed out next round 6-3, 1-6, 8-6 after holding match point against experienced Australian Lesley Bowrey.

There was talk of Pat turning professional in America in 1970, but this never materialised, and in 1971 she was married to Free State's Quentin Pretorius in Bulawayo, whom she had met on the tennis circuit in 1963.

Then came the momentous year of 1972 when Pat Pretorius and Brenda Kirk, two young Rhodesians playing for their adopted South Africa, shocked the world by winning the Federation Cup against all odds. For Pat, now twenty-six, it was the climax of a proud tennis career which saw her plunge into world class with memorable victories over players like Wade, Ann Haydon-Jones, Van Zyl, Graebner, Judy Tegart, Fran?oise Durr and Christine Truman. Pat Pretorius was, indeed, one of the great Rhodesian sportswomen.

- BYROM.

End

Comments are always welcome, please enter them below or post them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com  and I will load them on your behalf.

To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)

Labels: ,

Thursday 27 September 2012

Adrian Bey



When ADRIAN BEY, at the age of twenty-five, was named 1963 Sportsman of the Year for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, it climaxed a memorable year for him personally and an historic one for Rhodesian tennis. The tanned, well muscled Bey was part of that history-making when he teamed with Frank Salomon to crush the Netherlands 4-1 in May to give Rhodesia the distinction of being one of the few countries to win a Davis Cup tie in their first year of entry.

On the eve of the team's departure, Bey consolidated his position as the country's top player by retaining his Rhodesian closed title with a swift 6-3,6-1,6- 3 victory over big-serving Basil Katz at Bulawayo. His confidence high, he set off with Salomon and Roy Stilwell, with Don Black non playing captain, for warm-up tournaments in Britain before moving to The Hague for Rhodesia's Davis Cup debut.

Later that month, Bey and Salomon made a brave bid in the second round tie against Sweden at Stockholm, going out 2-3, but both gaining the distinction of beating Jan-Erik Lundqvist. It was a creditable display, because Sweden were European Zone finalists in 1962 and Lundqvist had not been beaten in Sweden for over two years.

At Wimbledon in June 1963, Bey heightened his reputation by reaching the last sixteen of the men's singles for the second time. He outplayed a leading American, Allen Fox, former Italian champion, Beppo Merlo, and the American veteran Herbie Flam, to repeat his notable success of reaching the last sixteen in 1960. Bey remains the only Rhodesian to progress so far in the singles at the world's most prestigious tournament. In his bid to reach the quarter-finals in 1963, Bey fell to Chile's Louis Ayala, while in 1960 he stumbled to Manuel Santana of Spain.

All this made Bey a worthy winner of the John Hopley Memorial Trophy on the last occasion it was made on a Federal basis to the country's supreme sportsman. It was also the first time a tennis player had been selected as winner.

When he emigrated in March 1974 to take up a coaching post in America, Adrian Bey had carved out an impressive tennis record. Almost unbeatable on his home courts in his hey-day, he played in three Davis Cup teams (1963,1964 and 1968) and won three Rhodesian open and eight closed singles crowns between 1958 and 1971.

Rhodesian-born Bey attended Salisbury's Prince Edward School which won the national inter schools Mim du Toit tennis trophy eleven times in succession from 1954 to 1964 — a proud record initiated in the Bey era and carried on by high-calibre players like Frank Salomon, Hank Irvine, Roger Dowdeswell and Brian and Clive Kileff.

Bey won his national junior colours in 1955 and was the country's junior champion that year and also in 1956 to signify clearly the emergence of a bright young star. At this time big Brian Rooke reigned as king of the courts, winning the country's first closed championship at Easter 1955, when he teamed with Susie Smit to take the mixed doubles as each won the triple crown.

In 1956 it was gratifying to see a Rhodesian win the national open championship despite a strong entry from South Africa. He was the big-hitting Basil Katz of Bulawayo who ousted Rooke as the nation's top-ranked player with the young Bey coming into the list for the first time at number three. It was in 1956 that another leading Rhodesian player, Don Black, came close to causing a major sensation at Wimbledon when he held four match points against the Australian maestro. Ashley Cooper, but lost the match. Cooper went on to win Wimbledon in 1958.

Bey progressed to the second ranked player in 1957 and hit the top spot in 1958 after winning the first of his eight closed championships at the age of nineteen. He had polished his game by going overseas for the first time in 1957 along with Basil Katz, Roy Stilwell and Francis Rink. Katz and Bey played in all events at Wimbledon and Stilwell participated in the doubles.

Bey was accepted into 1959 Wimbledon without qualifying. Before leaving for overseas he went on an arduous warm-up tour of South Africa, where he was ranked number four. He established this unofficial ranking by winning two provincial titles and recording a straight sets win over the fourth member of the Springbok Davis Cup team, Ray Weedon, while winning the Eastern Transvaal title.

As the sole Rhodesian representative at the 1960 Wimbledon, Bey again distinguished himself by reaching the last sixteen, though in 1961 three Rhodesians played on the hallowed grass courts — Bey, Black and a highly talented new young star, Roger Dowdeswell.

Among Bey's finest hours were his victories over the Italian stars, Nicola Pietrangeli and Beppo Merlo, at Salisbury in April 1962. Rhodesia won this Alitalia Cup, Davis Cup-style match 3-2, with Stilwell partnering the classy Bey.

Also in 1962 Bey gave Rhodesian tennis a major boost with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Britain's Mike Sangster — a Wimbledon semifinalist — at Salisbury Sports Club. The crowd of more than 1 000 was thrilled as the local boy fought back from near oblivion to victory against one of Britain's top-liners. Bey had been down 1 -4 in the first set, looking tense and moving slowly, while his backhand gave away point after point. He looked set to crumble, but proved one of his best qualities as he fought back and reversed the temper of the game.

Bey and Frank Salomon, who were bitter rivals for years and fought many absorbing duels, teamed up for the 1964 Davis Cup, sweeping aside Israel 5-0 but losing 0-5 to Italy in the second round, Salomon taking Merlo to the fifth set.

Typical of the Bey-Salomon confrontations was their Rhodesian closed final at Bulawayo in March 1964 which Bey won 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in a two and a half hour marathon. But the following month Salomon gained a measure of revenge by beating Bey in the Salisbury Sports Club final 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. It was the first time Bey had been beaten by a Rhodesian in at least five years and
he seemed strangely lethargic and out of touch. It was a triumph Salomon was to repeat later in the year in the Mashonaland event, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

But in 1965 Bey was back to his sharpest, beating Keith Diepraam 6-2,6-2 in an unofficial South Africa-Rhodesia match at Salisbury and winning both the Rhodesian open and closed titles and regaining the Mashonaland crown by overwhelming Hank Irvine 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 in just forty-five minutes. His first open title came with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win over Gordon Forbes of South Africa. Bey again demonstrated his fighting spirit by coming back from 0-4 down in the second set and facing Forbes's lethal service and volley attack. Bey transformed the spellbinding final by taking the next thirteen games.

The calm, calculating Bey continued his mastery in 1966, thrashing Salomon 6-0,8-6 in an hour in the Rhodesian closed final — making an unprecedented five titles in a row. Two weeks later Bey and Salomon embarked on Rhodesian tennis's toughest assignment — a two-day Davis Cup style amateur match against the Australian super-stars Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle at Salisbury Sports Club.

Emerson had won Wimbledon in 1964 and 1965, while Stolle had lost in the Wimbledon final for three years in a row. The dynamic Emerson outplayed Salomon 6-3, 6-4 on the opening day, but Stolle had to summon all his skill to sneak a 3-6, 9-7, 6-4 win over Bey. Next day Salomon recorded his finest hour by beating Stolle 6-3, 6-3 while Emerson thrilled the 1 700 crowd by sweeping Bey
aside 6-3, 6-1 in thirty-five minutes. But the Aussies were made to fight for the doubles, winning 10-8, 3-6, 6-4.

A month later Salomon took the Mashonaland crown with a nerve-racking 6-2, 13-11 triumph over Bey, who, however, recovered his form a week later to retain his national open title with another victory over the top-seeded Springbok, Gordon Forbes, this time 8-6, 6-4, in a repeat of the previous year's final.

Bey played little competitive tennis in 1967, hoping to fade out quietly. But with Rhodesia accepted for the 1968 Davis Cup he was persuaded to come back for the 1968 Rhodesian closed championships. The thirty-year-old Bey proved he was still lord of the courts by beating his old rival Salomon 6-0,5-7,6-4 in a tense final and being named captain of the Davis Cup team scheduled to play Sweden at Bastaad. It was a tie that was beset by problems and brought many moments of high drama.

Radical Swedish students promised to sabotage the match as a protest against racial policies and armed police kept a round-the-clock watch on the tennis club.

While front page headlines of a Bastaad newspaper proclaimed: "Tennis war — in face of alarm, police say they are ready for anything," Rhodesia nominated only Bey and Salomon for the tie starting next day. Bey was to face Ove Bengstenand Salomon was to meet Hans Nerell in the opening singles draw.

But the Swedish militant students won the day and the match was called off before it started when the courts were besieged by about 1 000 demonstrators. This ended in pitched battles between police and firemen and the students, who broke through the main gates and pelted the courts with bags of oil, stones and bottles.

Said Swedish captain, Mats Hasselquist, "We do not intend giving the Rhodesians a walk-over."

And so the tie was organised in France in complete secrecy. The Rhodesians quietly slipped out of their Bastaad hotel for an undisclosed destination. The tie had been scheduled to start on 3 May, but eventually got underway two days later at the Bandol Tennis Club near the French naval base of Toulon.

Bengsten gave Sweden the lead with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Bey before Salomon levelled for Rhodesia by defeating Nerell 2-6,6-4,7-5,1 -6,7-5. Next day the Swedes easily won the doubles 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 in fifty-two minutes in a match only attended by a small group of reporters.

The reverse singles saw this strangest of 'cloak and dagger Davis Cup ties end in 4-1 triumph for Sweden, with Bengsten beating Salomon 6-1,6-3,6-4 and, with the tie lost, Hank Irvine replacing Bey for the final match to lose 6-2, 7-5, 3-6,3-6, 3-6 to Nerell.

But Bey had a proud personal record to preserve back home and in April 1969 was seeded first in the Rhodesian closed championships. Since he first won this title in 1958 at the age of nineteen, he had not been beaten in this tournament, only relinquishing his title in various years through non-participation.

However, this time he faced a serious challenge to his supremacy as he had been seen in little competitive play since returning from the dramatic Davis Cup tie. Frank Salomon meanwhile was in peak form and had just won the Mashonaland crown, thus it was surprising he had not been top seeded.

Bey, now a professional coach, was no longer eligible for Davis Cup selection and thus lacked that incentive. Salomon had only twice beaten Bey in competition — once in a Mashonaland championship and the other in a Salisbury Sports Club event — and now had a great chance to take that tally to three and establish himself, for the first time, as Rhodesia's top player. He had been in this closed final six times, winning only at Bulawayo in 1967 when he beat Roy Stilwell.

The carrot in this national tournament for Rhodesia's eager young players was a trip to Lisbon to meet Spain in the Davis Cup.

Neither Bey nor Salomon encountered any difficulties in entering the final to set up another of the needle clashes which always attracted capacity crowds.

This time there was no stopping a super confident twenty-six-year-old Salomon who swept aside his old rival 6-3, 6-4 in just fifty-five minutes to signal the end of Bey's long and vice-like domination of Rhodesian tennis.

It was a surprise when the thirty-one-year-old Bey, who played in only two tournaments all year, was placed on top of the national gradings for 1969. The ranking was proved to be incorrect in early 1970 when Hank Irvine became Mashonaland champion by beating Bey 6-4, 6-4 in the final, repeating this triumph a week later to take the national closed title 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

With Salomon and Irvine pressing for recognition as the country's top player, the national newspaper, the Sunday Mail, set up a special four-man challenge series to settle the issue in April 1970.

The prize for the winner of this round robin Champion of Champions series was $125 — at that time the highest ever offered in Rhodesian tennis. It was an intriguing event with no outright favourite.

Bey, now thirty-two, had the edge in experience and court craft, while he was renowned for his fighting spirit. He had beaten Frank Salomon in the semifinals of the national closed before losing to Irvine, who went into the Sunday Mail tournament with two successive wins over Bey — a feat no Rhodesian had achieved since 1958.

But Irvine, a superbly fit twenty-six-year-old, proved his form was red-hot by first mastering Bey 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 and then disposing of Frank Salomon 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 and Alan Salomon 7-5, 8-6, 6-2 to earn the title Champion of Champions. Bey took second place when he beat Frank Salomon 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Bey was still far from washed up and again won through to the final of the national open championships at Bulawayo in September 1970, showing his tenacity with a marathon 4-6, 8-6, 10-8, 3-6, 6-3 win over South African Lou Sylvester. However, he lost 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to another South African, twenty-two- year-old Collen Rees in the final.

The year 1971 was to climax Bey's illustrious career. He helped Rhodesia beat South Africa in a Test at Salisbury with a straight sets singles win over Dennis Matthews and a doubles victory with Irvine.

Then at Bulawayo in April 1971, Bey won the national closed title for the eighth and final time with a decisive 7-5, 6-2 victory over Frank Salomon.

One who watched Bey emerge from a novice schoolboy through to a champion, was former national champion Brian Rooke, who was a master at Prince Edward School and undertook hostel duties at Jameson House, where Ian King, then national junior champion, and Bey were boarders.

Rooke recalls: "It did not take long for Ian to get me out on to the courts and I soon became aware of a somewhat serious-minded fourteen-year-old who never seemed to be far from the action.

"I will never forget what ranked as some of the happiest times of my life when, together with Ian, Brian Ashley-Cooper, Adrian and that legend among schoolmasters, 'Fussy' Wootton, we used to play doubles matches.

"It was the next term, however, that I got my first real insight into the human resources that lay within Adrian. In between rugby practices he reached the finals of the under-15 singles to play Carl Richardson, who had a good eye but a frail physique.

"I had worked quite hard with Carl during the term and on the morning of the finals I placed a number of half-crowns with members of staff predicting that Carl would beat Adrian. I was proved to be correct and felt happy for Carl who was a shy young lad who needed a boost

"That evening I returned to Jameson House well after lights out when there was a knock on my door and Adrian was standing there. He simply said: 'I'm sorry sir, I see I have got to practise'. It was this sense of humility, combined with determination, that played a big part in Adrian's subsequent success.

"I remember at the Western Province championships at Cape Town in 1956 he accounted for Eastern Transvaal's Cookie Hammill in the under-21 event. Hammill's father was a Runyonesque character and I recall him saying to me: 'Your boy is a thoroughbred'.

"In later years it was a tremendous thrill for me to win the national closed doubles title with Adrian in 1962 and successfully defend it in 1963. He was like the Rock of Gibraltar playing men's doubles on the left court and never panicked, no matter how depressing the situation."

ADRIAN BEY'S CAREER

RHODESIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men s singles: Katz Cup (Rhodesian closed) — 1958,1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971.

Men's doubles: Goldberg Cup (Rhodesian closed) — 1958 (A. Bey, I. King). 1962 (A. Bey, B. Rooke). 1963 (A Bey, B. Rooke). 1964 (A Bey, F. Salomon). 1970 (A. Bey. D. Irvine). 1971 (A. Bey, A Fawcett).

Mixed doubles: A. Sanders Cup (Rhodesian closed) — 1969 (A. Bey, S. Hudson-Beck).

Men's singles: Rhodes Challenge Cup (Rhodesian open) — 1965, 1966, 1969.

Men's doubles: Wilson Fox and Maguire Cups (Rhodesian open) — 1962 (A. Bey, F. Salomon). 1967 (A. Bey, D. Irvine). 1970 (A. Bey, D. McKenzie).

Mixed doubles: Hillyard and Eaves Cup (Rhodesian open) — 1965 J. Walker).

DAVIS CUP
1963 — D. Black (capt), A. Bey, F. Salomon, R. Stilwell.
1964 — A Bey (capt), F. Salomon.
1965 — R. Stilwell (capt.), R. Dowdeswell.
1968 — A. Bey (capt.), D. Irvine, F. Salomon, R. Stilwell.
1969 — B. Rooke (non-playing captain), D. Irvine, A. Salomon, F. Salomon.

INTERNATIONALS
1971 — v. South Africa. Men: A. Bey, D. Irvine, F. Salomon, A. Pattison.
Women: Miss D. Allen, Miss F. Morris, Mrs. M. Procter.

BEYS DAVIS CUP RECORD
Played 14, won 6, lost 8.

- BYROM.

End

Comments are always welcome, please enter them below or post them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com  and I will load them on your behalf.

To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)

Labels: ,

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Anthea Stewart



 When the strong-running eighteen-year-old left-inner, in her first year out of Salisbury's Queen Elizabeth School, crashed home her fifth goal of the match, it was clear a new Rhodesian women's hockey Springbok had arrived.

That 5-0 win over Border climaxed an outstanding first South African inter provincial tournament for the tenacious Anthea Allin (now Stewart) in 1963 at Port Elizabeth, where Rhodesia finished third. The teenage sensation, as she was labelled by the Press, and a second Rhodesian, wing Marlene Harding, were chosen for the Springbok team to go to Towson, Maryland, in America for the 1963 International Federation tournament — the 'Olympics' of women's hockey with about 400 players from 24 countries participating.

When Anthea Stewart retired from big-time hockey after playing all three Tests for South Africa against America in 1974, she had played in 25 internationals — every Test possible during the years she was chosen. She had achieved every honour the game could offer her and she was unquestionably among the finest players in the world in her era.

But the success story of this bubbling personality did not end there, for in July1980 she played a significant role in the nation's biggest sporting fairy-tale when she was coach to the Zimbabwe women's team that won the Gold Medal at the Moscow Olympics. And because Anthea had played half a game against India she was rewarded by being presented with one of the magnificent sixteen Gold Medals — the first ever struck for women's hockey in an Olympiad.

At the International tournament at Leverkussen, the Springboks lost only one game out of seven and so brilliant was the young Rhodesian that she was chosen by all the hockey writers there as a member of their 'World XI'. This was not only recognition as one of the best forwards at the tournament but also as one of the eleven best women's hockey players in the world in 1976. Springbok captain Angela Harrison was also in that 'World' team, while among the South African team at the tournament were Rhodesian Yvonne Robinson and the former Rhodesian Enid Spence, who had moved to the
Transvaal.

In July 1968 Anthea Stewart played a major role in the Rhodesian team's outstanding performance when they won the A Section of the South African inter- provincial tournament at Grahamstown — a feat comparable with Rhodesia winning the cricket or rugby Currie Cup (still unfulfilled dreams). Not only wasAnthea top scorer at the tournament, but she was one of only four players (out of almost 350) given an A grading. Yvonne Robinson's team clinched the title —Rhodesia's fourth triumph since 1933 — with a resounding 4-0 win over their closest rivals, Southern Transvaal.

Rhodesia's team at Grahamstown was: Denise Woodiwiss, Felicity Robertson (nee Hearn), Aileen Coetzer, Judy van Rensburg, Jill Morris, Robin Scott, Anne Esson, Beverley Forder, Georgie Lindeque, Diana van Zyl (nee Craig). Rosemary Southgate (nee Bevan), Yvonne Robinson. Anthea Stewart.

Then came 1969 — a grand year for Rhodesian women's hockey when the South African inter provincial tournament was staged at Salisbury Sports Club in June-July. It was only the third time the tournament had been held in Rhodesia, and the home team captained by Robin Scott (later Stewart), emerged thewinners. It was the second time Rhodesia had won the title two years in succession.

The team consisted of: Denise Woodiwiss, Felicity Robertson, Diana Fynn, Jill Morris, Robin Scott, Anne Esson, Aileen Coetzer, Rosemary Southgate, Diana Craig, Yvonne Robinson, Anthea Stewart, Cerise Lindeque and Beverley Forder with team manageress, Eunice Walls.

From the trials immediately following the tournament, Anthea Stewart and Yvonne Robinson were selected for the Springbok team which played Wales in South Africa in August of that year. Anthea was also chosen for the Springboks to play Australia in 1970, but had to withdraw for family reasons.

After a break while she raised a family, Anthea — who is married to Rhodesian diver Rob Stewart — returned to serious hockey in 1974 and played all three Tests in which South Africa made a clean sweep 8-0, 6-0 and 5-0 against America.

Fellow Rhodesians Denise Woodiwiss and Robyn Harley became new Springboks and also played in all three internationals, both excelling. Woodiwiss, who first played for Rhodesia in 1963 and gained her first Springbok trial in 1969, did not concede a goal in the series. She is also a Springbok softballer. Robertson scored in every Test and when the Americans drew 3-3 with Rhodesia at Salisbury she added another two goals to her Test tally of four.

After being world rated in 1967, it was mystifying that Anthea Stewart should not gain a place among the five finalists for the Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year award — won that year by Springbok Test cricketer Jackie du Preez. However, she was a finalist the following year, when motor racing champion John Love won the John Hopley Trophy.

Rhodesia has been one of the strongholds of Southern African women's hockey since first entering the South African inter-provincial tournament in Grahamstown in 1933, when Dolly Keey's team finished a creditable fourth. Women's hockey has been played in the country since the early 1900s, the first club being formed at Bulawayo in 1906. Rhodesia's Springboks down the years have been:

Rosa du Preez (later Hinde) — 1930 Empire Tournament in South Africa. Right wing.

Eileen Den (now McCluskey) — selected for the Springbok team to tour England in 1939. The team did not travel due to the outbreak of war and she never gained official colours. Centre half.

Sally Poole (nee Longbottom) — 1953 International Federation tournament at Folkestone, England. Left half.

Fern Dreyer (now Webster) — 1954 for Springboks in South Africa. 1956 I.F.W.H.A. in Australia. Centre forward.

Margot Boileau (now Oosthuizen) — captain of 1956 Springbok team to I.F.W.H.A tournament in Australia. Left back.

Joyce Gerrard — 1956  I.F.W.H.A. tournament in Australia. Right inner.

Joan Ringer — 1959 I.F.W.H.A. tournament at Amsterdam, Holland. Left inner.

Marlene Harding (nee Ferreira) — 1963 I.F.W.H.A. tournament in America. Selected for Springbok team to visit British Isles and Holland in 1965 but withdrew. Right wing.

Anthea Stewart (nee Allin) — 1963 I.F.W.H.A. tournament in America, 1967 I.F.W.H.A tournament in Germany. Played v. Wales in South Africa in 1969. Selected v. Australia in 1970 but withdrew. Played 1974 v. America in South Africa. Left inner.

Enid Spence (now Bush) — Toured British Isles and Holland in 1965. Selected v. Holland in South Africa in 1966. Centre forward.

Yvonne Robinson — 1967 I.F.W.H.A. tournament in Germany. Played v.Wales in South Africa in 1969. 1971 v. Holland in South Africa. 1973 v. New Zealand (2 Tests) and Germany (1 Test) in South Africa. Centre forward and right wing.

Elizabeth Chase — 1976 in South Africa v. Holland (3 Tests). 1977 in South Africa v. West Germany (2 Tests). Centre forward.

Denise Woodiwiss — 1974 played v. America in South Africa (3 Tests). Goalkeeper.

Robyn Robertson (nee Harley) — 1974 played v. America in South Africa (3 Tests).

Ann Grant (nee Fletcher) — played 1978 International Wanderers in South Africa (3 Tests).

BYROM.


Comments are always welcome, please enter them below or post them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com  and I will load them on your behalf.

To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)

Labels: , ,

Sunday 2 September 2012

James Albert Redman


Ray Amm started it Gary Hocking furthered it and James Albert 'Jim' Redman, of Bulawayo continued the proud record for Rhodesia in world motor cycling.

An up-and-coming star when Hocking was dominating the world championship, Redman so impressed talent scouts from the Japanese Honda firm that he was offered a works ride. There was no stopping him on the multi-cylinder Japanese four-stroke machines in the early 1960s. His dominance, particularly in the 350 cc class, was almost total.

The Redman-Honda combination began in 1960 at a time when the Japanese firm sought entry to the world market for their products. It was a time when British manufacturers dominated the market. Five years later the Japanese company had proved a point and it was in no small way due to the skilled riding of Redman.

By the end of 1965, Redman had carried off six world championships and three Junior Tourist Trophy titles for Honda.

His rise to the top began in 1962 when he captured both the 250 cc and 350 cc world championships a feat he repeated the following year when he capped a great performance by also winning the Junior Isle of Man TT (up to 350 cc).

World 350 cc championships fell to Redman in 1964 and '65, and in both years he also won the Junior TT. His 1965 Junior TT win was a history-making affair when he became the first man to achieve a hat-trick of doubles in successive years. The Junior TT is composed of two races — a 250 cc and a 350 cc event Redman won both races in 1963, '64 and '65. His 1965 350 cc win was also unique in that he was the first rider to achieve victory in the class at an average speed of over 100 mph.

By 1964 Redman was a household name in Rhodesia and gave all the local riders who competed at the Marlborough circuit at Salisbury and the Kumalo track at Bulawayo, something to aim for.

Additional honours which came Redman's way in 1964 were an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list and in November, he was elected Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year after having been a finalist in 1962 and '63.

At the time, Redman was in Tokyo carrying out tests for the Honda factory but an old friend, Rhodesian champion motor-racing driver Jimmy de Villiers, accepted the John Hopley Memorial Trophy on Redman's behalf. His MBE was awarded for 'his services to his country in sport'.

Redman's achievements in the 350 cc class were made all the more remarkable by the fact that at no time did he have a team-mate to back him up until Honda recruited Alan Shepherd late in 1964. At the time, Redman was beginning to show an interest in turning to four wheels and Honda were experimenting with a racing car. The Rhodesian hoped Shepherd would take over the motor cycling
load.

He was thirty years old at the time and by his own admission he felt he was in a rut and getting bored with the routine of visiting the same countries every year and racing on the same circuits.

"It's not nice to slide down the hill again after hitting the top," Redman said in an interview at Durban in 1964. "But a car driver can go on longer than a motor cycle rider. I don't know why. It just seems so."

But he did carry on the following year to claim his sixth and last world championship. It was a dramatic year. The Rhodesian crashed in the Ulster Grand Prix and broke a collar-bone. He returned to South Africa shortly after the accident to embark on a get-fit-quick programme in the hope of preventing his Italian rival, Giacomo Agostini, from snatching the championship for MV Augusta..

Redman missed the Finnish Grand Prix but cabled Honda that he would be fit to ride in the Italian event at Monza. Honda replied saying they had no bike available for him and Redman then cancelled his travel arrangements. Honda mechanics arriving at Monza found that a bike had been flown from Japan to Milan for Redman, but by then it was too late.

The mix-up let Agostini through to win the Italian Grand Prix and Redman's fourth successive 350 cc world championship hung in the balance. Both riders had thirty-two points and there was only one race left — the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in October.

Fate was kind to the Rhodesian after the earlier blows. Agostini was forced to withdraw from the race with engine trouble after eleven laps and Redman went on to finish second to Britain's Mike Hailwood and claim the championship.

That fourth world title made Redman and Hailwood the only riders to claim four successive championships since 1949. Hailwood won his championships in the 500 cc class in the same years as Redman. Agostini went on to win in five successive years in the 500 cc championship from 1966-1970.

The Redman domination came to an end in 1966. His grip on the 350 cc class began to slip when he had to withdraw from the West German event to contest the 500 cc event on a newly designed Honda. Feeling unwell and hampered by a broken throttle cable, he could only finish third in the French 350 cc event and in July he crashed and broke his left forearm in Belgium. At the time he was leading the 500 cc championship.

By August, Redman had not recovered sufficiently to compete in the Ulster Grand Prix and by November he had made up his mind to retire after a farewell appearance in the seventh Rhodesian Grand Prix at Kumalo in his home town of Bulawayo in December.

In mid-1967 Redman was firmly established in retirement in Durban running an agency for the Japanese motor cycle company Yamaha. "I retired," he said, "partly because there was nothing left to win. I felt I was past my peak and from there on could only go down. There was no pressure on me to retire. In a nutshell, the time had come."

The six-times world champion had every right to be happy in a new life away from the tension and danger of the World Grand Prix circuit. He had come a very long way from the young man who, disgruntled with life in London, had emigrated to Rhodesia and landed up at Bulawayo in 1952 with five shillings in his pocket.

During the years in which he raced on the world circuit, Redman had an average of three spills a year, most of them at speeds in excess of 100 mph. When each season started with the TT races on the Isle of Man, he used openly to admit wondering whether he would see the week out.

It took guts to continue after a crash, but guts were something Redman never lacked. After four years of racing in Rhodesia, he made up his mind to follow the paths that Ray Amm and Gary Hocking had taken and in 1958 he went off to Europe. He found it hard but stuck to his task. After marrying a Durban girl, Marlene, he returned to Europe in 1959 and was spurred to greater effort by having a family to support. Then came the offer from Honda and he never looked back.

The MBE which he was awarded in 1964 was actually only presented to him in 1972. Every time a date was set for the presentation by the Queen, Redman was elsewhere for a big race. The decoration and papers were eventually sent to Rhodesia but were mislaid after UDI. Eight years later, Redman was tracked down in Durban and received the award from the British Consul-General after it had been found in Salisbury.

In 1974, Redman, who had become a senior director with a South African chemical company, bought a country resort hotel at Mooi River in Natal, and was as much established in the business world as he had been in motor cycle racing.

Redman's world championships 250 cc:
1962, 1963.

Redman's world championships 350 cc
1962, 1963, 1964, 1965.

Redman's TT junior titles: 250 cc:
1963, 1964, 1965.

Redman's TT junior titles: 350 cc:
1963, 1964, 1965.

-McDERMOT

To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)

Labels: , ,