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Bill "The Wizard" Wigzell,
as he was known, the wizard of Speedway
racing in South
Australia on both solo's
and cars was one of only
two speedway racers that
raced both the first
ever race meeting at
Rowley Park Speedway in
1949 and the last in
1979, the other being
Laurie Jamieson.
Bill went to school at
Wellington Road Primary
School where he finished
grade 7 and went to work
as an apprentice
Prosthetic Technician.
He loved messing with
cars, hotting them up
etc. so his boss at the
time suggested he meet
with Alex Rowe who
quickly snapped up Bill
as an apprentice
mechanic working with
race vehicles.
Bill then pitted for
Speedcar Racers from all
over the country at
Kilburn Speedway before
his first ever Speedway
meeting at the age of 18
in March 1949.
Prior to this he started
his racing career in
road racing on a motor
cycle at the age of 16
in 1946 and was racing
twice a week at both
Rowley Park Speedway on
Wednesday nights and
Kilburn Speedway on
Friday nights.
Bill was successful as a
Solo rider representing
South Australia all over
Australia.
Kym Bonython, Promoter
at Rowley Park asked
Bill if he would like to
race a speedcar built by
Sir Jack Brabham and
owned by Kym for the
1954/55 season.
Bill proved himself
right away that he was
to be a force on 4
wheels immediately
qualifying for the South
Australian Speedway
Championships during
that season.
In the following season
Bill Wigzell took out
the Chas E Sconce trophy
for Speedcar handicaps
along with other
features.
The following season
Bill had an accident at
work which kept him out
for the season. In the
1958/59 season he
struggled however,
the following seasons
improved where he had a
lot of success.
In 1965 Alex Rowe asked
Bill to drive the yellow
number 2 Ford Consul
powered Speedcar that
was later to be driven
by various drivers
including Colin Hennig,
Steve Stewart and was
then later powered by a
Mazda rotary engine
driven by Steve Hennig
at Speedway Park.
Bill finished third
behind Kym Bonython and
Dean Hogarth in the Rick
Harvey Memorial, then
won the Harry Neale
Memorial, the Golden
Fleece 50 lap derby and
the 40 lap South
Australian round of the
National Speedcar
Drivers Championship.
It was then that Zeke
Agars who was driving
the Kevin Fischer Super
Modified known as
"Suddenly" decided to
form his own team
leaving the seat open.
Kevin Fischer from
Fischer Ford of Murray
Bridge who originally
purchased "Suddenly"
from Graeme McCubbin of
Victoria offered Bill
the drive that was to
become a great team.
| 
Bill "The Wizard" Wigzell - A True "Gentleman" of Speedway in Australia |
Glen Dix on the side of Suddenly 88 at the last meeting at Rowley Park |
Bill standing
alongside
"Suddenly 88" at
the Rowley Park
25 Year Reunion |
Bill and "Suddenly 88"
(a 427 Chevy powered
engine) won his first
race at meeting number 3
and won 7 of the
remaining 14 feature
events for the season.
In 1970 he won the
Australian Super
Modified Championship in
NSW and then won 3
successive Craven Filter
National Titles in 1972,
73 and 74 along with so
many other titles in
both Super Modified and
Speedcars.
At one stage the
combination held every
lap record at Rowley
Park Speedway.
In 1979 Bill Wigzell was
awarded the Order of
Australia Medal for
service to the sport of
motor racing.
With the closure of
Rowley Park, Bill went
on to race at Speedway
Park in a Sprintcar
still winning various
races and then retired
in 1986 going on to help
Terry Wigzell (his son)
who is successfully
racing speedcars after a
successful Moto Cross
career. He was inducted into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame in 2008. Bill passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, 15th November 2012 aged 82 years old. He was survived by his wife and family. His funeral took place at the Murray Bridge Speedway, where he was a patron on Friday, 23rd November 2012. | Photos (Most Photos are Thumb nailed, so click on the photo to see it in a larger size) | | Bill - The Person: |  Bill in his younger days |  L-R: Bill, Glen Dix & Dick Briton |  L-R: Bill & Dick Briton |  Bill with his "Speedway Hall of Fame Trophy |  Rowley Park 25 Year Reunion L-R: Alex Rowe, Bill & Kym Bonython |  Bill with some of his Grand Children | | | | | | Bill - The Competitor: Solo Motorcycle Racing |  Bill on his Solo (Photo compliments of rowleypark.com) |  Bill involved in a accident | | | | | Bill - The Competitor: Speedcar Racing |  Bill in Speedcar No 22 |  Bill won a 4th Place in a Championship race |  Bill making an inside pass of Bob McMillan |  Bill passing under Kym Bonython as he was crashing into the safety fence |  Bill driving the Alex Rowe Supercharged Peugeot |  Bill driving the "Roadster" that he drove on bitumen speedway for a short time | | | | | | Bill - The Competitor: Super Modified Racing in "SUDDENLY 88", the car that made him famous |  Bill with the Fischer Family with Suddenly 88 |  Suddenly 88 in the showroom at Fischer Motors at Murray Bridge |  Bill in the well presented "SUDDENLY 88" |  Bill doing what he did best, in front of the field |  Suddenly 88 on display at one of Bill's Fan Days |  Bill in action |  Bill passing Phil Hereen on the outside |  Bill using all the power and "doing it" on 3 wheels |  Glen Dix on the side of Suddenly 88 at the last meeting at Rowley Park | | | Bill - The Competitor: Sprintcar Racing |  Bill in the Sprintcar before he retired | | | | | | Bill - The Patron at Murray Bridge Speedway: An Annual Event was named after him " Bill Wigzell Battle of the Bridge 410 Sprintcars" |  Presentation to the Winners |  Presentation to the Winners | "Bill Wigzell Battle of the Bridge 410 Sprintcars" Nomination Form & Race Details | |
