So I was in a local mechanical business, and right by the front counter was a proper up to date lay-down Jawa speedway bike. Not what you see expect to see outside a proper speedway track!
So I asked the guy looking after me – “Who belongs to the speedway bike?”
“It’s mine”, he says. He said used to ride in Europe a bit…
Now I used to be a big fan of speedway back in the day, when I was fooling about with motorbikes. Phil Crump, Billy Street, Ivan Maugher, Nigel Boocock, etc. So I asked his name…
“Mitch Shirra”
“Mitch Shirra? – you are famous!”
When life moved on, I didn’t follow speedway so much, but around that time, Mitch Shirra was pretty much the Next Big Thing in Australian speedway.
Mitch was a pretty good rider who made a living out of racing motorbikes. He competed in the finals of the World Speedway Solo Championships in 1983, 84, 86, 87, 89, 91 and 92. He raced the World Speedway Pairs Championships seven times. He raced the World Long Track Championships in 1991, 92 and 93, including a second place in 1992 at Pfarrkirchen, Germany. He won the legendary Morgan Mile in 1986 in both Open and Speedway classes. His most recent notable win was a Long Track event in 2006.
Mitch was a professional speedway rider for 33 years.
We talked about bikes and racing, about speedway tracks and riders. Mitch said to me that he had a great life racing speedway bikes, and that there is nothing that he regrets about the path he took.
Mitch still rides competitively – just for fun. Mitch is just 63, living in rural NSW, and as fit and active as ever.
Shed on a One Acre Block 