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Last Updated: Nov 28th, 2010 - 10:22:29 |
Larry Ross as an international speedway rider waved the NZ flag proudly in his career. He returned to competitive racing in his 50’s and has been
an inspiration too many hopeful young kiwi riders.
To live a dream is beyond many of us, but for some they can come true. The desire to become a speedway rider began back in the 70’s.
Ross on his return to the track has taken the challenge to the younger riders. Joining him also, was a valued friend and pit crew member, Stew (Stewie to his mates) Halligan. These young guys thought they were pretty good, but then this 50+ rider and his mechanic reappeared and cleaned them all up. They hated it. Larry Ross won the Burt Munro title, Moore Park Best Pairs twice, the MNZ Short Track title and finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the NZ Solo Championships following his return to the sport. The nine times NZ Solo Champion is still very much on the pace. He was also named the Motorcycling NZ Speedway rider of the year in 2008.
Larry’s son John was a very handy motor cross rider, (the sport Larry started in) and is concentrating on the road racing in the 600cc class. Interested, he had a go on Dad’s bike and before you knew, two fast uprights were replaced with two late model laydowns.
Inspired by the Moore Park Best Pairs concept where an experienced rider is teamed up with a new boy, Larry wanted to partner John in a Best Pairs meeting. It was an idea that grew after I originally wrote an article to try and diffuse the arguments while keeping some balance in the concept. No pairing should defend a title; they should be rotated each year. “Why not a father and son team?”
In only in his first real season of serious racing, John was paired with Larry in last year’s event. It was not without opposition though, but I persisted and said “if John does not ride with Larry now, under the concept we had at the time, he never will”. His progress in the class as a real rookie was rapid. Stewie Halligan was there in the pits working once again with a long time friend and his son.
Larry and John went on to win the Best Pairs last year and it really annoyed me that I was part of a committee who produced a blank program for the meeting. No official record of all the named pairings to record the event. I saw the emotion in Larry’s eyes as they both were presented with the Best Pairs Trophy. It was a memorable moment in NZ speedway.
John is relatively old in years to give it a go, being in his late 20’s but it is something the father and son have some enjoyment doing together before age becomes a barrier. John has a lot to learn yet. Other younger riders have much more experience but he has the drive. He is a racer at heart and Halligan believes that if John Ross was perhaps five years younger, he has the potential to be groomed further and could have gone overseas. The younger Ross does feel some pressure though. The weight that John has felt on his shoulders as he has a go at speedway is something only he can deal with. There is a lot of expectation especially when your Dad “is Larry Ross”. It is something he only admits to a chosen few, but he is giving it a good old shake never the less. Behind both of them is the other man, Stewie Halligan. He has had to get the oily rag out again.
Stew Halligan first started a working relationship with Larry over 30 years ago. Stew was an apprentice motor cycle mechanic at Paul Easterbrook Motorcycles in Papanui, Christchurch. The shop owned a Kawasaki 250cc bike which a young Halligan had to clean and prepare weekly. Larry Ross was the rider who raced it all over the South Island. It was 1974 when Larry started racing speedway on Saturday nights. He had a dream to follow Ronnie, Barry and Ivan into the sport.
Halligan remembers Barry Briggs contacting Larry, wanting him to go to England and try out for the Wimbledon team in London. Larry had four races and fell four times, but had the crowd behind him as he remounted and finished each race. Halligan recalls how Ross cemented his place in the 1st division team. He came home to NZ somewhat disappointed in his first year’s average, 4.75 he wanted a 5. The disbelief was soon dispelled as his parents took him down to Oreti Speedway in Southland in the families Rover car. Larry cannot remember how the bike got there, but he went on to win his first NZ title. A result he believes is simply because of the hard consistent racing in the Wimbledon team. He was far better rider than he gave himself credit for.
Halligan took on the role as Larry’s hometown mechanic at Ruapuna on Saturday nights for several seasons. In February 1979, Larry invited Stewie to join him in the British Speedway Scene as his fulltime race mechanic. Halligan recalls this as being a privilege of a life time. He was a mere 22 years old being actively involved in a sport he loved, and was now rubbing shoulders with some of the worlds best. Some of those elite names in the sport like Ivan Mauger, Ole Olson and Peter Collins were a few of many Halligan became close to. Larry and Stewie built a working relationship that ended when Larry retired at the end of the 1986 English season. It has been rekindled again as Larry has returned to the sport.
Stew Halligan is proud to look back and reflect on the fact that a professional approach to the sport both of them loved, helped keep Larry Ross in the top 10 of all the British Speedway Riders for many years which one could argue, was a very competitive era. Even today this professionalism is still there to see both on and off the track.
Halligan recalls one of his biggest thrills was being the team mechanic for the New Zealand Speedway team which won the World Cup in 1979. He also enjoyed being the spanner man for Ivan Mauger during his All Stars Farewell Series in New Zealand during the 1985/86 season.
Stew Halligan has a wish that New Zealand could produce future Speedway riders who could experience a taste of the great life Speedway has given to the likes of Larry and himself.
“Live your dreams” Halligan says, “They may come true”. “I have the proof”.
Media: Warrick Korstanje 10/11/09
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