Gordon Guasco
| Born |
24 November 1940 Sydney, New South Wales |
|---|---|
| Died | 16 November 1970 (aged 29) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Nickname | GG, Horse |
| Nationality |
 Australia
|
| Current club information | |
| Career status | Deceased |
| Career history | |
| Great Britain | |
| 1964 | Sunderland Stars |
| 1964-1966 | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| 1969-1970 | Poole Pirates |
| Team honours | |
| 1969 | British League Champion |
Gordon Guasco (born 24 November 1940 in Sydney, New South Wales - died, 16 November 1970 in Sydney) is a former Australian motorcycle speedway rider who was a favourite at both the Sydney Showground Speedway and Liverpool Speedway. Guasco also rode in the United Kingdom between 1964 and 1969 for Sunderland, Wolverhampton and Poole.
Gordon Guasco, known as "Smut" to his childhood friends, grew up in Horsley Park, then considered "the bush" but now a suburb of Sydney. The son of an Italian immigrant, Gordon attended Liverpool Boys' High School but left at the age of 14 to enter a sign writing apprenticeship.
His employer was a man named Des Lawrence who was also a well known Sydney speedway photographer. After Guasco started racing, it was Lawrence who suggested that he adopt the horse as his emblem to exploit his initials of "GG" (a long held nickname for horses) and Horse was to be Guasco's nickname for the length of his racing career.
Gordon Guasco, who raced cycle speedway in his youth, started his senior speedway career at the Kembla Grange Speedway on the NSW South Coast in 1962 when he replaced rider John Hook in a handicap race and starting off scratch (pole) won in what was considered a reasonable time. Within just four months Guasco was starting as far back as 120 yards and challenging top riders Bob Sharp and Jim Airey for wins. Only a year after his first race he was the sole rider starting at the back of the field in handicap races (150 yards) with Sharp off 120 and Airey from 90.
In only his first start from the 150 mark, Guasco was forced to lay his bike down to avoid rider Bob Jameson who had fallen. Unfortunately for Guasco his laydown hardly slowed him and he slid into Jameson's bike and tumbled over it. He suffered a severely lacerated hand when it caught the bike's chain and also injured his leg. His injuries kept him out of the 1963 Australian Solo Championship, for which he was one of the favourites to win as it was held at the Sydney Showground.
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