Cemetery Circuit

02/06/2026

1981-90: 12 meetings – total 40
The golden years of the Marlboro Series were never going to last for ever, the reality was it was a lot of fun to come to New Zealand to race, and the money was good too, but it wasn’t guaranteed. Worldwide riders were demanding and getting start money. It would have been a bridge too far to find the resources to match this, even if Marlboro sponsorship had stuck around.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, motorcycle sales were at an all time high and production racing became stronger and more popular than classes running pure racing machinery. The formidable Wellington Motorcycle Centre Race Team was hard to beat, but it was challenged by quite a few teams along the way. Cigarette money was gone but hard work by local man Don Cosford saw various major sponsors over time, including Pan Am, Countrywide, Brut 33, Wynns, Taubmans and Suzuki New Zealand.

Suzuki has been loyal and is still at the forefront of the Cemetery Circuit support four decades later in 2020. Thank you Suzuki.

Four two day meetings ran in this decade, with the 1986 and 1987 meetings having a staggering thirty-five races each, featuring live television coverage.

Wanganui built bikes were winners here too. The Steve Roberts built monocoque machines, including the ‘Plastic Fantastic’ cleaned up the big races, and later in the decade the Roberts built Sidecar took several wins driven by Wellington’s Andy Kippen. Robert Holden had his first win on the Wanganui Circuit in 1982. Classics and Bears also became regular classes during the meetings in this decade. Two meetings were run in June, 1988 and 1989.

by Graeme “Spyda” Staples

26/05/2026

1971-80: 11 meetings – total 28
Cigarette sponsorship was huge, and the demographic of the public following the motorcycle racing was pretty much who they were targeting. Backing at the Cemetery Circuit started with Rothmans then we had the Marlboro Series and international competitors flocked here to race. New Zealand’s Suzuki network was based in Wanganui and owned by Rod and Bob Coleman. The Colemans, along with Ron Grant, brought some world leading Suzuki’s to do battle here, and the rest of the world were watching. The northern hemisphere was in it’s winter so there was no racing, just Rolf Harris and his mates to watch on TV.

The new models often made their world wide debut here, if they won, they were the bikes to order for the years racing. The Japanese factories clicked onto this and we had world leading battles right on our home turf for a number of years. American Pat Hennen, a protege of Ron Grant, was the King of the Castle. Don’t think at all that the locals were pushed aside, they were strong and many were noticed by foreign teams and riders helping quite a few launch their international careers.

by Graeme “Spyda” Staples

20/05/2026

The Whakatāne 33-year-old has arrived safely on the Isle of Man after a frustrating British Superbike weekend — and a couple of nights staying with TT legend John McGuinness.

17/05/2026

1961-70: 7 meetings for a total of 17
For three years motorcycle racing didn’t run on the Cemetery Circuit, from 1963-1965. It would seem that there was some objection to people blasting full throttle through a cemetery.

So first ‘away game’ was a race around a circuit at Moutoa Gardens, a motocross ran instead of the traditional road race at Christmas 1964, then in 1965 the Matarawa Circuit was brought back into action. This had been used a number of times in the late forties and early fifties, but this time it was ridden clockwise, rather than anti-clockwise as in the olden days.

A welcome return to the Cemetery Circuit in 1966 saw business as usual, although by the end of the decade the British bikes had lost their grip on the trophies. Spanish Bultacos scored victories in both the lightweight 250cc class as well as the ‘Senior’ 500cc race and several Japanese brands were on the money too.

Internationals were now competing on a fairly regular basis. A pair of Australian Sidecar teams rode in the 1962 meeting. Reigning world champion Rhodesian Jim Redman popped over and rode too and at the end of the decade American based British rider Ron Grant came to Wanganui and started something pretty incredible for us all.

1969 Joe Lett, Ron Grant, Ray Dumpleton

15/05/2026

14/05/2026

Cemetery Circuit – the first 70 meetings
by Graeme “Spyda” Staples

1951-60: The very first 10 meetings
As a part of what was then the Wanganui Carnival, the Wanganui Sports Motorcycle Club decided to run a Motorcycle race on the one-mile (1.6 kilometre) downtown set of roads that in time would become known as the Cemetery Circuit. In those early days the meeting was known as the Christmas Carnival Road Races, when the Carnival folded it became mostly known as ‘Round the Houses’. The big race of the day, the 500cc class, was a thirty-lap race. 500cc may not seem like a big bike in todays terms, in those days they were at the top of the food chain in motorcycle racing world wide.

Sidecars were added in 1952 much to the delight of the crowd, to many this is still the highlight of their day out on Boxing day in Wanganui.

There were no Japanese bikes back then, British bikes dominated the results in the first decade, although local rider Bob Coleman won in 1956 on a German NSU and Auckland’s Peter Stone scored a victory on a Czechoslovakian Jawa in 1959.