Maurie Quincey

Old Bike Australia, 01 November 2019

In the early 1950s, MAURIE QUINCEY was probably the most successful road racer in Australia, thanks to a string of wins that began in 1947 on a basically standard 3T Triumph. Even then, as a teenager working in his father Perce’s electrical contracting business, Maurie’s approach to racing was meticulous; his bikes always immaculately turned out, and he neatly dressed, polite and unassuming. The purchase of a new KTT Velocette in 1949 really got him noticed, and brought the first of nine Australian TT wins, but when he acquired the 350cc and 500cc Featherbed Manx Nortons brought home to Melbourne by Ken Kavanagh in late 1951, he became well nigh unbeatable. As a result, he was nominated for the Australian team to the Isle of Man in 1952, but declined in order to concentrate on his growing motorcycle dealership. By 1954 he again dominated and this time accepted the nomination, completing a season on a pair of new Nortons. With his wife Betty, Maurie again sailed for UK in 1955, and was loaned a semi-works Norton for the Senior TT after he had finished an excellent 5th in the Junior TT earlier in the week. However in the race, the Norton broke a conrod at the 33rd Milestone, casting Maurie off at top speed. He was lucky to survive that crash, but the injuries put paid to his season. Back home, he was racing again, and winning, within seven months, but another crash at Phillip Island in December 1957 convinced him to retire from motorcycle racing. He was not finished with motor sport however, and went on to a successful career in cars, at one stage holding the Outright lap record at Phillip Island in his Elfin 600. Maurie Quincey passed away on July 16, 2019 aged 90, at the aged care facility where he lived with Betty, his wife of 66 years. Their son Ray, born in 1954, also went on to an international motorcycle racing career until he was seriously injured in Belgium 1978, leaving him a paraplegic.