Max Octavius Grosskreutz (27 April 1906 in Proserpine,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway – The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. – 20 September 1994) was an Australian

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

rider.

Speedway career

Grosskreutz finished third in the

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star (1888), The Star'', which was a London evening newspaper at that time. For the first year ...

in 1935, the forerunner to the

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

which began a year later in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. He won the

Australian Championship The Australian Championship is an upcoming Australian national second-tier men's soccer competition, to be run by Football Australia and the Association of Australian Football Clubs (AAFC). The annual tournament will initially consist of 16 te ...

at Davies Park Speedway in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1929 and again in 1936 at the famous Sydney Showground. He was also NSW State Champion in 1936 and 1946. He moved to the

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wit ...

in 1931. He stayed with the aces until the end of the 1936 season when he retired to manage the

Norwich Stars Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England, which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Origins and 1930s Speedway came to Norwich ...

. During this time he made forty-one Test Match appearances for Australia.Foster, P. (2005) ''History of the Speedway Ashes'', The History Press Ltd. He did however ride for Norwich during the 1938 Speedway National League Division Two and topped the league averages. In 1947, he made a comeback, riding for the Odsal Boomerangs and made three further Test Match appearances.

Players cigarette cards

Grosskreutz is listed as number 17 of 50 in the 1930s Player's

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible car ...

collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosskreutz, Maximillian Octavius 1906 births 1990 deaths Australian speedway riders People from Proserpine, Queensland Belle Vue Aces riders Lea Bridge speedway riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England White City Manchester riders Norwich Stars riders