100 YEARS OF EKKA SPEEDWAY HISTORIAN TONY WEBB REVEALS HOW DIRT RACING SAVED THE brisbane SHOWGROUNDS

On October 16, 1926, commercial speedway was born at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground—a centenary met with institutional silence despite speedway gate receipts historically keeping the Showgrounds afloat.

BRISBANE, QLD 

Exactly one century ago today, the template for global motorsport was forged on the dirt oval of the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. On October 16, 1926, entrepreneur and promoter Albert John (A.J.) Hunting staged the event that codified modern commercial speedway: four competitors racing anticlockwise on a loose-surface oval enclosed by a safety fence within a stadium arena, running under formal Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) regulations.

Today, that 100-year milestone arrived without a formal memorial or civic acknowledgment from venue custodians. Renowned speedway author and historian Tony Webb—who spent over two decades researching the sport’s definitive history—has broken the silence, setting the historical record straight on how dirt oval racing built and preserved the very venue that later shut its gates to the bikes.

Exhibition Speedway, 1926. Photograph courtesy of Tony Webb.

The Birthplace of Modern Speedway

While Australian motorsport folklore often debates early exhibitions in rural New South Wales, the documented origins of commercial speedway as an international stadium spectacle trace directly to Brisbane. Through extensive research that formed the speedway archives at the State Library of Queensland—curated alongside fellow researcher John Williams—Webb has long cataloged how A.J. Hunting established the modern standard right here in the capital.

"Forget the myths of Maitland and other fairy tales, even the Queensland State Library recognise the Ekka is the holy grail of modern day speedway with their extensive archive," Webb stated on the centenary. "Four riders; anticlockwise on an oval loose surface fenced track within a stadium under ACU rules, nothing's changed except we lost the birthplace. Anyway here's a toast to Albert John Hunting, the father of modern day speedway, a man ahead of his time."

 

Hunting’s formula at the Ekka became an export that conquered the sporting globe, filling 100,000-seat stadiums across Europe and the UK throughout the mid-20th century. Yet 100 years from that opening night, the sport sits without a functioning solo bike oval in the city where it started.

"In the Midst of Legends": The Men Who Carried the Torch

The living history of the Exhibition Speedway has long been safeguarded by those who bled for it on the track and in the control booth. A decade ago, during the 90th anniversary of speedway at the Showgrounds, Webb gathered alongside the central architects of the Ekka's golden era.

Documented in Webb’s landmark publication, 90 Years of Speedway at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, that anniversary brought together key figures including longtime Ekka official Don Poultney—the instrumental figure behind preserving the venue's historical records—alongside three Australian champions and track titans: Barrie Watt, Bill Goode, Blair Shepherd, and Gus McLure.

Reflecting on that gathering of racing pioneers, Webb recounted:

"In good company here with three Australian champions and the great Ekka official Don Poultney, the man who was behind the Ekka book," Webb recalled. "In the midst of legends. Where the stories? I was told get out there and listen!"

 

Those stories encompassed decades of high-octane drama, packed timber stands, and the legendary machinery—from open-wheel midgets and sprintcars to unbraked solos and roaring Vincent sidecars—that made Saturday night at the Ekka a rite of passage for generations of working families.

The Arena That Speedway Built

One of the greatest historical ironies of the Ekka’s centenary is the financial debt the Showgrounds owes to speedway racing. Throughout his twenty years of speedway research—encompassing best-selling historical works including Speedway Tonight: The Story of Davies Park, Worldwide Speedway Adventurer: The A.J. Hunting Story, and Deagon: A Place in Speedway History—Webb meticulously proved that speedway was the financial backbone of the Showgrounds through severe economic depressions and changing city landscapes.

While popular myth credits agricultural shows with the preservation of regional grounds, Webb pointed out that regular motorsport promotions kept the gates open and the infrastructure maintained across decades of civic shifts.

"One hundred years of speedway at the Ekka and hardly a murmur from the Custodians of the place where commercial speedway was born on this day October 16, 1926," Webb noted. "Surprising really. The Ekka survived not on the sheep's back and the annual show, but on the back of speedway promoters and thousands of fans. The rent and admission ensured the stadium survived, but speedway did not."

 

The Centenary Crossroads

One century after A.J. Hunting laid the clay and lit the lamps at Bowen Hills, the legacy of the Ekka stands divided between quiet bureaucratic amnesia and an uncompromising grassroots community that refuses to forget.

With grassroots advocacy groups like Nomad Dirt Culture stepping directly onto the historic timber bleachers today, the message from the Queensland motorsport family is resolute: the tracks may have been closed by council sales and red tape, but the century-old soul of speedway cannot be erased.

Through the rigorous historical documentation of researchers like Tony Webb and the unyielding voice of the paddock, Brisbane's standing as the birthplace of modern speedway remains permanently written in stone—and etched in the dirt.

PHOTOGRAPHY & ARCHIVAL CREDITS:

• Front Cover — Modern Feature Inset: 2017 FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Champion Jason Doyle competing for Team Australia (No. 3). Included to illustrate the direct bridge from the 1926 Brisbane origins to Australia’s ongoing dominance on the world stage. Photo courtesy of Jason Doyle via Instagram (@jasondoyle69— instagram.com/p/DcxoY0lMKFA).

• Front Cover — Historian Feature: Author and speedway historian Tony Webb at the official Davies Park Speedway memorial.

Historical Documentation Note:

Historical records, programs, and photographic collections regarding A.J. Hunting and the Brisbane Exhibition Speedway (1926–present) remain accessible via the Tony Webb and John Williams speedway research collection housed at the State Library of Queensland.