martinmauger

So, it would have been 2018 (where does the time go) when I mentioned I picked up a leaflet advertising Santa Pod Raceway (drag racing) in a Hull Asda store. Well the other day I picked up a leaflet plugging Cadwell Park (road racing), maybe these leaflets are delivered to nationally to all Asda stores; Santa Pod is 110ish miles from Hull, Cadwell Park around 50 miles. I wonder if speedway would benefit form such a leaflet campaign, I seem to recall leaflets being produced, but maybe not widley distributed, when the 1999 Elite League was on SKY Sports with all fixtures listed. I read once that leaflet advertising realises a 2 1/2 % - 5% take up rate, if one is lucky. Though I'm not sure what the costs would be, but paraphrasing a well-known movie tagline: "Tell them and they may come, don't tell them and they won't since they won't know."....

As above, some good racing and close finishes, thoroughly enjoyed it. With rain threatening they quickly rattled through the heats, good call as we hit heavy drizzle 10 mins from the track....

The track announcer and Rob Godfrey on his roaming mic can (mostly) be heard ok, but for some reason whenever Roger Westby speaks he always seems muffled & unclear. Just sayin'....

I ws never gonna be able to make it but 'a little bird' who could confirmed some good racing on a chilly nite. So a good start to the season in the Borders then....

'I was there' too, rammed, packed it was....

Least they are finally getting on with the track work fascinating stuff, just need the 'Lego trucks' to arrive. One thought, would have been a lot easier and quicker if they just raced on the mini track in the centre green . I'm joking of course....

Sad news, enjoyed reading his speedway stuff RIP....

At Hull in 2005 each rider was issued with 2 fork covers & 2 rear wheel spoilers both of which carried the team sponsor who also featured on the front and back of the body colours and extensivley in the match programme. Just sayin'....

Always reckoned that if Billy (and everyone else that day) had not met Muller at Norden in 1983 he'd prob have been Champ that year, he was 2nd with Lee 3rd. And I also wish Penhall had stuck around a few more years to hopefully give Gundersen & Nielsen a run for their money. It's fun to compare rider & eras, but conditions are always different (bikes, tracks, competitions WF v GPs) so one ends up with 'if only's' & 'maybes'....

In 1997 one could have bought Hull's Craven Park stadium lock stock and barrel for, wait for it, just £600,000 - bargain mate ! A relatively new venue, built in 1989, in 1997 Craven Park was running speedway (yay!), rugby, thrice weekly greyhounds, and had many bookings in the function rooms and today with little alterations also hosts dance / excercise classes. This (together with speedway & dogs) would easily have fitted into the late Ian Thomas' mantra of 'not opening a shop for just one day a week but probably still paying rates for 12 months'. To say the least. Though understadably my interest in the activities at CP are nil there's zip chance of a speedway return as turns 3 & 4 had a blooming great stand built on them. Apart from that new stand and 99% disappearence of the speedway track (still a wee bit of shale here and there) the place looks the pretty much same as it did pre-2005, when speedway ended (sad). In fact the turns 1 & 2 area, especially the terracing, was knee deep in weeds the last time I looked. These days think the only activities taking place are rugby and the dance / excercise stuff. Sigh.....

I forgot about Rye House closing. So including Coventry at Leicester, though it could be argued Coventry had already closed the year or so before, that makes 5 clubs lost in the last year: Buxton, Coventry, Lakeside, Rye House, Workington. There's hope for them all (except possibly Lakeside at least in the immediate future) as the tracks still exist, but worrying just the same....

Big Al was a legend at Hull too, 1995-1998, many times he team-rode home 2nd strings & reserves....

Asking fans for help with pre-season tidying up is a common thing. At Hull , Craven Park there were promises of tea / coffee & biccies, with maybe fish & chips if the work extended past tea-time, sadly I was never able to join the fun as it was always on a week day. Two local girls regularly tidied up pits, changing rooms, etc. On one occasion help was requested to paint the safety fence, one enterprising chap turned up and painted the entire fence, kickboards on straights boards on the bends, all by himself taking some 8 hours. Refused any form of payment, now that's dedication. Also, pit accomodation for 2nd halfers was roomy, in front of the old dog kennels....

No not another speedway track as we know it (Jim) but Rockingham Motor Speedway. Someone at work asked me if a speedway track had recently closed, I asked of the sad list of 3 (or 4 Coventry at Leicester) "What Buxton, Lakeside or Workington ?", I was told "no, somehere in Northampton". Frustratingly I can't get links to copy & paste or work but type Rockingham Speedway and info & links should appear. A shame and is oldish news and hardly relevant to the sport of speedway, except the site is to be some kind of 'vehicle hub complex', whereas I'd have bet money on it being sold for housing or retail. Always thought the place was a bit of a white elephant TBH as with many existing, established race circuits (Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Silverstone, etc) there didn't seem to be a demand for a large 'stadium-type' facility, albeit with a large Indy Car-sized tarmac oval....

Some F1 fans and many drivers' wives / girlfriends used to do this, maybe they still do, record each car for every lap of a 70ish lap race covered....

New regs on qualifying with transponders; another case of a simple sport made (unnecessarily) complicated. Transponders; a good idea to time races accurately & spilt dead-heated riders, but individual laps times are really just for interest only. Starting number and therefore gates picked at random still the best, fairest method IMO, I mean heat details are rcorded but does anyone record who arrived at turn1 in what position and then whether they were overtaken or not during a heat.....

Also in 1977, I still vividly remember when at the Boulevard Gordon Kennet passed the team-riding Bobby Beaton & Frank Auffret turning a Hull 5-1 into a 3-3. GK went around the outside of Frank and as Bobby looked ahead entering the 1st bend, he looked around in time to see Kennet slip inside as neatly as you like. Grr , blooming good bit of riding though. Then there is the WTC Qualy meet at Reading in 1979, it's on Youtube, when GK is battling the late Kelly Moran - and the mud - after both had lost their goggles. By 'lost their goggles' I don't mean out of tear offs; both had literally lost their racing goggles. Kelly was wearing a full-face helmet whereas Gordon wore an open face + monkey mask, which he had pulled down, so was copping the spray full in the face....

Ah yes, 'Mr GM' had an idea for a new speedway engine. Anyone know what became of this venture ? I'm sorry, it's Friday afternoon, he did get the marketting, production, supply etc more than a bit right though.....

Seem to recall Nicholls almost won at Cardiff one year, made the final but broke the tapes. Ok, he may, and may not, have won anyway (against the likes of Adams, Crump, Greg, NickiP, TRick?) but theoretically he had a 1 in 4 chance....

You're right there Phil, more than decent circuit. Keep saying to myself "self, you really MUST get across to Belle Vue sometime" ....

Maybe still a few ripples locally from the opening meeting ? I only mention that being a possible reason as there have been letters about it in the Speedway Star in the last couple of weeks. Always said it from day one: brilliant achievement just building the stadium in the first place....

A speedway bike under ones arm almost. Also a 'little bird' told me riders would take 'off-road' bikes (motocross) particularly to Eastern European countries and returned with the same number of 'off road' bikes (now speedway) having made a beneficial swap due to the exchange rates and relative cheapness of speedway bikes, mostly JAWAs. At some point customs officers learnt the difference between motocross and speedway bikes so the habit came to a halt....

There used to be a guy at Hull, Boulevard who wore goggles and stood right up against the fence on turns 1 & 2. You could do that in those days, if it were your bag, no 2 metre safety zone. My Nana lived just around the corner from the Boulevard and I popped in to see her on Wednesday nights, she often told me many times how "you dad and aunties and uncles would be black from the speedway (Hull Angels 1948 / 49) on a Saturday night covered head to foot in cinders, they looked just like crows"....

Thanks for replies, I'll check it out. Bit like I read of one rider asking mates to bring engines onto aircraft in sports bags as hand luggage but carry them with one hand and somehow pretend they didn't weigh a ton ....

That's interesting never knew that, always thought the Poole footie pitch was left undisturbed by speedway meetings. The same method was used at Hull, Craven Park, as the grass was slightly higher than the speedway track on the corners. The track was carved out and laid in 2 - 3 weeks, I watched them do it when college allowed, they were pretty lucky with the weather and it has to be said it took the best part of a season for the surface to 'settle down' though. At the Boulevard, the rugby pitch was the same level as the speedway track on the corners so artificial turf was used and along the straights. A mate who drives a digger for a living assures me he can "carve out a track in an afternoon, no problem", though levelling the area, banking up the corners and laying shale and getting it to bind will prob take a good few weeks....