Happy 100th Birthday, Motocross! The Birth of The Sport: March 29, 1924
On this day 100 years ago—March 29, 1924—an off-road race was held on Camberley Heath in England, called the Southern Scott Scramble. Motorcycling had become very popular in the years before and after the First World War, and during the war motorcycle messengers became critically important on both sides of the Western Front. Motorcycle competitions were just getting started when the war broke out, including the Scott Trial in the spring of 1914, named after a man named Angus Scott, who built and sold motorcycles. The war started later that summer, and such events were put on hold.
After the war ended in 1918, motorcycle competitions of skill and agility (trials) became popular in both England and France. Sections of each trials event were "observed," meaning there was a time element and limits on some sections, as well as penalties in some sections for a rider touching the ground with his feet to stay upright. However, organizers of what started out to be the Southern Scott Trials decided that the one held on Camberley Heath would be scored strictly on speed. In other words, the first rider to cross the finish line after two laps around the long course was declared the winner. And because the event would not have observed sections, the ACU sanctioning body for British motorcycling ruled that it could not be called a trials event. So, they called the race around Camberley Heath a "scramble" instead, a term that the French would soon change to moto cross. And just like that, our particular form of motorcycle sport was born. Races like the infamous Isle of Man TT were already popular before the war, but off-road events? Not so much. The first winner?
Years ago Bryan Stealey, the original managing editor for Racer X Illustrated, decided to dig a little deeper into the history of this first motocross event, which would be won by a man named A.B. Sparks on a Scott motorcycle. He flew to London and then hitched a ride out to Camberley and went digging into the archives of the local library, newspapers, history books, and more. He then wrote the definitive history of that first race—the Southern Scott Scramble—for the magazine. On this 100th birthday of that event, we wanted to share Bryan Stealey's epic feature "A Rare Old Scramble at Camberley Heath" right here:
