An early version of speedway was born at Maitland, New South Wales, Australia in 1923 when New Zealand rider Johnny S. Hoskins organised a sports charity carnival called the Electric Light Carnival, staged on the Maitland Showground.
Hoskins realised that there was a gap in the program of events and a couple of young, local motorcyclists told him that they were prepared to fill the gap by racing around the show ground’s grassy track.
Allan Roper on the Duggie he rode at that historic speedway meeting in 1923
However, they found that the surface was much too slippery and caused their bikes to skid dangerously, so they covered a nearby slag-heap with a coat of cinders and all was ready for the world’s first dirt-track race on a short circuit.
Hoskins quickly realised the great potential of the new sport and ran speedway at Maitland for two years before moving on to Newcastle in New South Wales.
The first permanent dirt-track was laid in 1926 at the Sydney Show Ground. Hoskins promoted speedway during the first season of racing there in 1926–1927.
The first Australian Individual Speedway Championship was held at the Newcastle Showgrounds. It is the oldest continuously running national speedway championship in the world having been run since 1926 with the exception of 1942–1945 when racing was suspended during World War II, and 1955–1961 when the championship was not held
