A lady named Kathryn Tomlinson made contact with the Club via the website to share information about her Grandpa Joe who was a member of the IMTC.

Joseph Holroyde lived in Ripponden near Halifax, West Yorkshire and Joe was part of the British team which went to the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin as part of a motorcycle event.

The motorcycle rally was held in July 1936 in the days leading up to the Berlin Summer Olympic Games, the last held before WWII.  Called the Internationale Olympia Motorrad Sternfahrt (which translates as star ride, where participants converge from various locations to a central meeting point), competitors were private riders from various European countries and each country took a different route to reach the destination – Berlin. 

The British route was believed to be London - Paris - Bratislava - Prague - Dresden - Hamburg – Berlin; more than 1500 miles. In Berlin competitors had to do six circuits of the "AVUS" - the legendary racetrack which now forms part of the A115 motorway.

Each member of the team rode the rally on his own bike and there was no expense or sponsorship for the competitors; it was entirely at their own expense. However, once they arrived in Berlin, competitors were guests of Der Deutsche Automobil-Club (DDAC) and were billeted for three days at the New Palace in Potsdam - the former imperial residence of the Kaisers.  Joe and his fellow team members were presented with a bronze medal and other commemorative souvenirs. 

It is apparent this 1936 rally to Berlin in which Joe participated was effectively the birth of the FIM Rally.  90 years ago, the FICM (Fédération Internationale des Clubs Motocyclistes), announced a new international event, an annual rally of motorcyclists of various nations and in July 1936 the inaugural rally was centred at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.  The ACU officially invited IMTC to arrange the entry of British riders and a special appeal was printed in the magazine calling for the support of members.

The purpose of the event was to unite all motorcyclists interested in the 1936 Olympiad in a common meeting.  The contest was open to all kinds of motorcycles but only members of a club in any country belonging to the FICM, excepting members of German clubs, were eligible.  The entry fee per vehicle was 20 Swiss francs.

Reports say the rally brought together a total of about 100 participants from 11 countries. The winner with an overwhelming score was the team from Estonia. To commemorate the 90^th anniversary of this achievement, a vintage motorcycle tour from Tallinn to Berlin took place in June 2026, retracing the original 1936 rally route.

The war interrupted the FICM rally. It was reborn as the FIM rally and the first post-war rally took place in 1950 in the Netherlands.

Thank you Kat for telling us about Grandpa Joe Holroyde and his participation in the 1936 rally.