Catalina Island Grand Prix Returns!

By Richard Backus
Published on May 19, 2010
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Riders line up for the start of the 1956 Catalina Island Grand Prix 

The famed Catalina Island Grand Prix, held annually from 1951 to 1958, attracted thousands of spectators and hundreds of riders to Catalina, a 176-square-mile island 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. Like the Isle of Man in England, it was perceived as an elite event, and its success inspired BSA to name one of its bikes the “Catalina Scrambler.” Now word comes that racing will return to Catalina in December following a 52-year hiatus.

Last run in 1958, the race was inspired by the Isle of Man TT, which has been held on the Isle of Man 70 miles off the coast of England since its inception in 1907. The Catalina Island race was proposed to Catalina Island owner Phillip Wrigley with the idea of drawing more people to this little known spot off California’s southwestern coast. Wrigley liked the idea, and thus was born the Catalina Grand Prix. The first race was held in 1951, and in the years following it became one of the most hotly contested events on the West Coast, drawing superstars and emerging talents to vie for top honors as they blasted through the main port town of Avalon and up into the surrounding hills.

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