Les Francis on his Triumph Thunderbird

Les Francis on his Triumph Thunderbird being awarded a trophy. c. 1950. Sellicks Beach.

One-mile speed trials were first held around 1913 by the Levis Motorcycle Club at Sellicks Beach (a beach south of Adelaide, in South Australia). The last race was held in 1953, though a few revival races have occurred since. The surface at the beach consists mainly of pebbles covered in a sand layer, which results in a fast track for a race that is almost entirely straight, with just one hair-pin turn between two long straights.