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INTERNATIONALS - RHODESIA

Rhodesia v South Africa

1953 05.09 : Bulawayo Showgrounds, Rhodesia 34 South Africa 37
UNOFFICIAL Southern Rhodesia. Bob Raw (S A) © Doug Serrurier (S A) © 9
Johnny Bekker (S R) Bob Serrurier (S A) 8
Royal Show Handicap: Naude, James, Clark
Rhodesian Golden Helmet Match Race: Bob Raw beat Doug Serrurier
Dave Naude (S A) 10 Sonny James (S A)
Joe Blankfield (S A) 9 Harry du Toit (S A) 6
Toby Boshoff (S A) 8 Doe Luyendyk (S A) 6
Bert Clark (N R) Stan Paulsen (N R)
This match, the very first speedway meeting in Southern Rhodesia, was held at the conclusion of the Royal Agricultural Show, and the teams were a mixture of riders from South Africa (S A), Southern Rhodesia (S R), and Northern Rhodesia (N R).The above details have been researched by Ken MacLeod from the Herald (Salisbury) and the Chronicle (Bulawayo). The track was 470 yards long, and the 3-lap track record of 70.1 secs was set in the final heat of the match. The attendance was 12,000 - a record for a sporting event in Bulawayo, and a quarter of the town's population. The track appears to have had four distinct corners.
The first meeting in Northern Rhodesia was the Northern Rhodesia Open Championship at the Kitana Stadium, Kitwe, on 16.07.53. It was won by South African Bob Serrurier, who was resident in the country at the time, and who was a prime mover in these early efforts to establish the sport in Rhodesia.
Bert Clark, of Northern Rhodesia, became the first Rhodesian to ride in the UK when he rode for the ill-fated Edinburgh team in 1954.

1971 This series, for the "Southern African Team Championship" was between the Rhodesian Stars
UNOFFICIAL and a touring South African Select. The Rhodesian team had to be strengthened by the inclusion of
foreign riders.
Rhodesian Stars won series 3-0
06.02 : Bulawayo (Showgrounds) Rhodesian Stars 49 South African Select 28
07.02 : Gwelo (Newmarket Stadium) Rhodesian Stars 55 South African Select 35
10.02 : Salisbury (Glamis Stadium) Rhodesian Stars 42 South African Select 28
Team manager for this series for South Africa was Trevor Blokdyk. For Rhodesia Stars, team managers were Martin Lee (Bulawayo), Gerald Spanton (Gwelo) and Alex Hughson (Salisbury).
At Gwelo, Jessup established a new track record of 69.8
Rhodesian Stars Total South African Select Total
Bob Young (Aus) 9 - 11 20 Dennis Newton © 8 11 8 27
Zak "Abe" Koekemoer © 10 2 4 16 Vic Pretorius 7 3 4 14
Barry Duke (Eng) 15 - - 15 Bob Young (Aus) - 13 - 13
Dave Jessup (Eng) - 15 - 15 Oyvind Berg (Nor) - - 11 11
Oyvind Berg (Nor) - 14 - 14 Dave Jessup (Eng) 9 - - 9
Bill McMillan (Scot) - 14 - 14 Ettienne Olivier 2 5 - 7
Peter Prinsloo 4 5 5 14 Tommy Viljoen 0 3 3 6
Geoff Curtis (Aus) - - 11 11 Danie Fourie 2 0 0 2
Laurie Etheridge (Eng) 9 - - 9 Tony Jongvisser - - 2 2
Alan Harris 2 5 - 7
Bobby Beaton (Scot) - - 6 6
Jim Gallacher (Scot) - - 5 5

1st Test at Bulawayo 6th Feb
Rhodesian Stars 49 South African Select 28 Ht 1: Duke, Koekemoer, Newton, Pretorius 5-1 5-1
Ht 2: Prinsloo (nf), Etheridge (nf), Fourie (nf), Olivier (nf) 0-0 5-1
Ht 3: Young (nf), Harris (nf), Jessup (nf), Viljoen (nf) 0-0 5-1
Ht 4: Etheridge, Newton, Pretorius, Harris 3-3 8-4
Ht 5: Young, Prinsloo, Olivier, Fourie 5-1 13-5
Ht 6: Duke, Koekemoer, Fourie, Jessup (ef) 5-1 18-6
Ht 7: Newton, Young, Pretorius, Harris 2-4 20-10
Ht 8: Jessup, Etheridge, Prinsloo, Fourie 3-3 23-13
Ht 9: Duke, Koekemoer, Fourie, Olivier 5-1 28-14
Ht 10: Etheridge, Newton, Pretorius, Harris 3-3 31-17
Ht 11: Duke, Koekemoer, Olivier, Fourie 5-1 36-18
Ht 12: Jessup, Young, Prinsloo, Newton 3-3 39-21
Ht 13: Pretorius, Harris, Etheridge (nf), Olivier (nf) 2-3 41-24
Ht 14: Duke, Koekemoer, Pretorius, Newton 5-1 46-25
Ht 15: Jessup, Young, Etheridge, Newton 3-3 49-28
Star of the Day Championship: Duke, Etheridge, Jessup, Young
Abe Koekemoer 2' 2' 2' 2' 2' 10+5 Dennis Newton 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 8
Barry Duke 3 3 3 3 3 15 Vic Pretorius 0 1' 1 1' 3 1 7 + 2
Laurie Etheridge nf 3 2 3 0 1' 9+1 Ettienne Olivier nf 1 0 1 0 2
Alan Harris nf 0 0 0 2 2 Tommy Viljoen nf 0
Bob Young nf 3 2 2 2 9 Dave Jessup nf ef 3 3 3 9
Peter Prinsloo nf 2' 1' 1' 4+3 Danie Fourie nf 0 1 0 1 0 2
Not sure what happened in hts 2 & 3!

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1974 Rhodesia won series 2-0
13.09 : Salisbury Rhodesia 27 South Africa 21
14.09 : Bulawayo Rhodesia 36 South Africa 12
Note : The Rhodesia Herald named the teams for these matches as:
Rhodesia : Peter Prinsloo, Mike Ferreira, Pip Harris, & Ray Barclay.
South Africa : Dennis Newton, Louis Fourie, Danie Fourie, & Vic Pretorious
At Salisbury, Peter Prinsloo was only beaten by Dennis Newton in heat 5.
At Bulawayo, Mike Ferreira lowered the track record to 53.9 in heat 8 (all races at Bulawayo were over 3 laps)
At Bulawayo, other than through engine failure, Prinsloo, Ferreira and Harris rode undefeated.

Contributors : Christian Weber, Ken MacLeod, David Austin

© Brian Collins