OBITUARY
Photo : Brian Hopping
Photo : Brian Hopping
Top left : In the early 1970s , Suzuki had a powerful presence in New Zealand racing . Here Dale Wylie ( left ) confers with Geoff Perry . Left : Dale Wylie ( 48 ) and Geoff Perry ( 10 ) battle for the lead in a Ruapuna race , with Yamaha ’ s Trevor Discombe ( 3 ) just astern . Right : Wylie prepares to race the Tommy McCleary-entered Dick Lawton-prepared Norton Commando of Percy Coleman Wholesale . You have to love the numbers ...
attention to the handful of big money events where a top 10 finish was still a lucrative payday . In so doing he managed to get enough budget to contest the Singapore GP mid-season , a race he had won in 1973 on the Suzuki TR500 . The trip to Singapore became legendary . From Montreal in Canada , to London , and then around the world to Singapore — with the engine , brakes and as many other parts that would fit , squeezed into their carry-on luggage , with the frame and exhaust pipes boxed up and sent as check-in luggage . He finished second to another Christchurch racer , John Boote , then returned to the USA , the same way he had gone out . “ Dale was frugal and his motto was ‘ get it for free and never pay to get in ’, recalls Mike Sinclair . “ He became this way as a result of being a pro rider as early as 1970 — in New Zealand ! That was quite an achievement . When racing is the only form of income , frugality is essential — and he was a master .”
KIWI RIDER 31