martinmauger

Indeed. Such an issue exists in Hull's surrounding area where there is literally so much spare land, one could easily run another league or two....

This production appeared very locally (Willerby a couple of miles away) and I totally forgot about it, probably due to a week of 'couhging & sneezing fun' due to the flu. I would reccomend those who can check it out though....

It's still alive, though you wouldn't know it at times due to the many folk asking "speedway, is it still running ?" or (more infuriatingly) "what's speedway ?". I too struggle to understand those that think £100+ is good value for a road race (bikes or cars) where you can see one corner and a bit of a straight (if one is lucky) from 1/4 of a mile away due to gravel traps. The competitors disappear for a minute or so and maybe swap places, though probably not, or not re-appear and the spectators have no idea how or why. Still no team of my own to support (sob) but still looking forward to the new season. Still can't foget about the sport or stop watching....

Seems like Mr Mole almost saved / re-opened tracks for fun, he certainly saved Hull in the winter of 1997. He deserves some kind of reward for his services to speedway....

Saw a prog the other nite about the early days of F1 and the lack of safety: at one point they were losing an average of one driver per month. Amongst other improvements the drivers demanded armco barriers at all circuits as some drivers had been killed when oping off the circuit and crashing in woods. Well at one GP, Spain early 1970's I believe it was, Emerson Fittipaldi didn't believe the armco was secure as it was attached to posts by bolts - no nuts - and bits of wire, he kicked the barrier and a lot of it collapsed. Emmo refused to race, he was either World Champion or at least GP leading points scorer at the time, but after sitting out most of qualifying the rest did eventually race. A driver crashed in the race and was killed, decapitated, as the armco barrier at one point was too positioned too high. Crashes still occur in F1, as they always will, but 99% of the time drivers stagger, if not walk away from enormous accidents which perviously they would not have survived and mercifully fatailities are almost unheard of....

Once when Soldier Boy supported his beloved Aces, in particular Peter Collins, at Hull (Boulevard) the announcer was so sick of the back and forth banter with SB (which he was defo losing) he annnounced "there is only one mouth bigger than yours and that is Falmouth !". Cue loads of laghter all round. Then it was announced "the next record is especially for our friend from Belle Vue" and proceeded to play "Run For Home" by Lindisfarne: "Chorus: Run for home run as fast as I can Oh-oh running man running for home Run for home run as fast as I can Oh-oh running man running for home." Etc. Cue loads more laughter - including Soldier Boy - who stood up and applauded with loads of thumbs up to the announcer. Long time ago, mid 1970's forget the score now but the SB incedent is still fondly remembered, good stuff....

Terrible accident and sadly ended Mark's carreer there and then. For a long time I wondered how he suffered such awful injuries as I always thought the Ipswich fence basically collapsed on impact due to the deliberately loose-ish panels. Air fences are huge faff to install, remove and store but an excellent safety improvment provided they remian in position. But I think the storage of deflated fences being a problem at greyhound stadia is a bit of an excuse as, having attended greyhopind meest, 80%+ of punters watch from monitors in the bars and watching outside the stand, even without a speedway fence with kickboards, you can still only see the head and back of the dogs. If Craven Park were still operating speedway, an air fence would be a big factor as it would almost certainly need removing between speedway meetings. The banking on the speedway bends was limited to only around 6-8" or so. One close season the banking was completely levelled off by person or persons unknown.....

When a rider is unfortunate enough to go into an air fence so many times it lifts and the rider goes under it, hitting whatever is behind so the fence may as not be there. A thought occurred to me the other day, HGV covers have a strap every 2ft or so, so perhaps more fixings would help stop air fences lifting on impact. A strap or fixing every 2 ft may not be practical but just an extra fastening in the centre of each panel would help. Prior to air fences tracks would be surrounded by boards or mesh fencing which may well still be present so if a kickboard was fitted aound the bottom of the solid part of the fence, even armco or just some kind of posts, then air fence panels with just an extra fixing in the centre would be more secure and so less prone to lifting on impact. Depending on how the 'solid'-type air barriers as used at Berwick, King's Lynn and soon to Glasgow are fitted, maybe an idea could be used from those. Like I said, just a thought....

Coincentally I recently watched Oxford v Hull 6 September 1996, a 48-all draw in no small thanks to Bobby 'Showtime' Ott being in brilliant form. Only rode 6 months or of that season but he was a rider who put bums on seats, cleared the bars & pits and was a popular guest.....

And at least one bidder did so with the intention to continue running speedway in Hull but was subsequently told by the landlords "to be perfectly honest, we've had enough of speedway, more trouble than it's worth". Despoite the offer of one seasons rent paid in advance (!). The only income available to speedway came from admissions (inc season tickets), proggies, advertising & sponsorship (of which we always had plenty), possibly car parking & rent of area for track shop. So it was very difficult for speedway to make a profit at Craven Park, hence the relatively high turnover of promoters.....

Same here. You can turn up at any track, walk up to almost anyone and ask about their team, this or that rider and after a spilt-second (if any) funny look, you've started a conversation. May it always be that way...

Big shame, never knew Bryn but saw plenty of his video presentations and he was very knowledgable and enthusiastic about speedway. RIP....

The good news is: we still have at least 3 leagues of speedway to watch in 2017 (with MDL, NDL, JL, etc), despite some of us still having no team of our own to support and quite a bit will be shown live on TV. Speedway isn't prefect, how far away depends on one's own opinion, but it's still a brilliant sport. Mostly. Well a lot of the time it is....

Not really sure, I've had the flu so haven't slept for 2 days (!). "These are all valid points except they are not really relevant for speedway because it's not seen as a Motorsport , it is and always will be a team sport on motorbikes , 90% of fans including ex supporters don't care about the bikes , my misses has been a fan of speedway since the 70s and has no interest in bikes what so ever , you go to superbikes or whatever and in the main they are petrolheads , the bike is king , listen to the commentators on superbikes it's all "he is on the new factory Yamaha with the new shocks blah blah bla " it's all about the bikes , speedway is all about the riders." The above is so true, I have mates who are mad, crazy about MotoGP, Superbikes, etc, but give me a blank look when I point out the racing is mostly dull with everyone following around the line for seemingly endless laps waiting a fall, mistake or EF. Though I DO realise they are going mostly 10/10ths on the limit, cranked well over at Ice Speedway angles. It still don't do it for me though.. True story: I visit road loving, Sky subbing mates on Saturdays * which just happen to (cough) coincide with Speedway GPS * and they would humour me in viewing the speedway until whatever came on at 9ish pm. But - the last few years when Woffy arrived, they really got into "that British guy in black with the tats kicking it to the foreigners", with all due respect to Chris Harris who did the best he could. Woffy's image defo helps - a missed marketting opportunity in 'lifestyle' type mags perhaps? Anyhoo, nowadays we all watch the GPs together from beginning to end and they actually look foward to them and either record or miss the other Saturday nite stuff they used to watch, evne the IOM TT. So speedway can still attract new fans, when the product is right. Agree with many points but my latest gripe is the endless, flipping re-runs, constant 'all 4 back' seemingly because "someone made a too good start". Riders, in any sport, cannot always be guarranteed to hit the first turn all perfectly in a line, someone will almost always make a better or worse start than the rest, that is when the racing / passing should kick in.....

In Hull we've had charity shops close (I realise they probably occupy otherwise empty premises but those premises have stayed closed), one branch of Halfords, supermarkets, branches of 'Cash Grabbers' style shops and recently a couple of petrol stations which had mini supermarkets attached. In this, the future City Of Culture. There are also empty shops in a couple of the larger shopping complexes, wherein there possibly lies one cause....

Good stuff Dean. I employed the same attitude when riding road bikes then motocross, me and my dad did most of the work ourselves, I / we saved loads and I learnt loads. No choice I had little money, but the 'rich dad crowd' existed who simply had to have the best, read flashiest, gear available. But it made them no quicker than anyone else, the only restriction to me being competive was how far I twisted the throttle , equipment monetary value was never an issue. A mate who races karts reports pretty much similar stories, it's always happened in motorsport prob always will. Bottom line: the stopwatch don't lie, in speedway it's mostly the proggie scorechart which tells all....

Thanks for the info, but I meant fans memories. My father doesn't recall much of Hull Angels' days at Hedon, 1948-49. There was zip to do in Hull on Saturday nites back then, some say nothing has changed. Being the youngest he would tag along with his brothers and sisters as it was their big nite out, sadly non-one kept programmes or bought mags of the day. Whereas in addition to proggies, 'Stars, 'Mails, Speedway Supporter (remember that), 5-1 magazines, Speedway Express, etc I kept almost all re-entry vouchers and even car park tickets from Hull Vikings' days at the Boulevard and Craven Park. The Hedon site was ploughed over a few years ago, the Boulevard was levelled in 2009ish and Craven Park squared off at one end, turns 3 & 4,a few years back. So there is next to no tangible evidence speedway ever existed in Hull, certainly nothing physical that I'm aware of. And it will probably surprise no one to learn the sport will almost certainly not be represented in the Hull 2017 City Of Culture. Don't get me started on that subject....

Speedway looks so much better at nite too, under decent floods. Also usually better racing...

My late uncle, mums side of family, told me he watched at Harringay in the 1930's when they were called Tigers. Unfortunately he mentioned this to me very late in life and he became really ill and passed away before I had the chance to ask him any more....

Some fair points, least it got everyone talking about it. I do read the grsstrack section, seen as I read the Star from cover to cover and back again, but pretty much skim through it unless speedway names are involved. It just isn't my top soprt. In some of the amateur events at Scunny they have flatrack section and road bikes. Indeed the one event I took my father to; last oval action Hull Angels 1949. (Ok he saw some beach racing with me at Filey, East Yorkshire in the late 1970's but 1949 sounds good). I finally wore him down and his interest was sparked purely by the varied bikes on dsiplay. But he throughly enjoyed it, talking my brother's ear off about it for ages, he enjoyed the speedway bikes too and will defo be back next year, maybe I could tempt him into attending a pukka speedway meet...

My only real issue with the Star is the coverage of grasstrack racing, does anyone know how many readers are interested in this discipline of oval sport. Not knocking it at all, I have been to grass & sandtrack meets but the mag is the Speedway Star not Speedway & Grasstrack Star. Surely grass & sand racing would be better suited to, say, Motorcycle news. E.g. years ago there was a tabloid paper format publication, much like Speedway Mail, called Trials & Motocross News, dunno whether it's still published. Oh how newsagents would try to palm that one onto me as they couldn't be bothered searching for my 'Star or 'Mail. "But it's still motorbikes" used to be their last plea before the trouble of needing to look under the counter. Also with the grasstrack coverage taking time out until the new year I'd like the 'Star to cover the amateur scene. Ok it's 'only' amateur guys & galls, but you do get some real competitive racing, there are fewer spills than you might imagine and this is where the next MDL, NJL, National league, etc riders will likely originate. The amateur scene is well worth a look as it's free entry, it is at Scunny, and it's a joy to behold how they rattle though 60+ heats in 4 hours....

I've followed this with interest as the GTR is a new engine to speedway and it's configration of double overhead camshafts (DOHC) compared to the single overhead camshaft (SOHC) in the GM & JAWA engine. I haven't seen figures for maintenance cost V existing engines but it seems to be favourable. Not knowing the regular costs of new GM, JAWA & GTR engines, for my own interest I compared some figures, though maths isn't really my strong point so feel free to check the figures . The last few weeks Speedway Star has carried an ad for 500cc GM engines, priced at 3,480 EUROS + VAT. As of today, 1 EURO = 0.838533 GBP. So the advertised GM of 3,480 EURO =2,918.84GBP + VAT @ 20% 583.8GBP = 3,501.80GBP. Based on above figures the new GTR engine, at £4,800 is apparently £1,200 more, with the deal offered to / by SGB. £1200 would probably pay for a couple of services, assuming a blow-up or seizure hasn't occured requiring many components. And we still don't know for sure the maintenance costs of the GTR, and the frequency theyb are required, V GM & JAWA. Just saying.....

Also stock, well bangers / demolition derby events at least, there is guarranteed action & incedents. Never been to the stox yet, have always meant to go, a mate told me it can be more difficult to follow at first with so many cars on track, different coloured roofs for different classes, etc but it's flipping brilliant. Or words to that effect . Going slightly off tack, it's always been a puzzle to me why road racing (motorcycles) is so massively popular, biker mates think I'm weird cos I am not mega into it. Passing relies on someone to move off line, make a mitsake, stop or spill, with everyone queueing up behind awaiting for such an event. Been to many bike meest on tarmac, good stuff but it don't do it for me the way speedway does. Ok I appreciate that racing on tarmac, cars and bikes, the competitors are 'on the limit', and high speed processions do happen in speedway but are over quickly before another race comes ones way. But one (of many) things I love about speedway is the option of taking different lines and that passing around the outside is usually more than possible. Now that blows my biker mates mind ....

"Nothing compares to getting a Speedway bike sideways...have complete admiration for the guys that do it well." Almost nothing....No, you're right nothing beats it, a couple of years since I spread some shale but I can still remmber every detail like it was yesterday. Well it's a sport as people comete against each for for some kind of reward, but it's also an entertainment otherwise no-one would bother turning out in all weathers, sometimes at great inconvenience and over huge distances, to watch it. Or log on here to discuss it. Most sport in Hull gets all the help it needs: the council sold off the local, unique (read monoploy holding) telephone & internet company and the proceeds paid for the KCom Stadium for the use of Hull CIty & Hull FC. Hull KR negleteted to join the party as it was beneath them. But the council didn't bother asking the general populace what to spend the windfall on. And despite pleading poverty, the council managed to find £600,000 to pay for some kind of cycle track, a 'road loop' or some such, for serious and leasure cyclists. Can you tell I'm neother interested nor impressed . Next on the list, apparently, is a new arena so the ice hockey team, who have changed their name more than most folk change their socks, can continue to perform badly. Speedway, preictably, received zip help form the council, financial or othewise, despite acheiving more succes than the 3 ball game teams & the puck hitting team combined . And Belle Vue, and probably (possibly) Swindon, have done extremely blooming well indeed getting a stadium built especially in those location(s) as no way in heck would either project happen in Hull, not even if Bill Gates, Donald Trump, etc bank-raolled it . Sigh....

It'a primarily a sport as riders race in the various competitions for legitimate championships, it's also enrtertaining as heck on so very many levels. Me also though I only go back as far as the 1980's, I also had a Kawaski 400 once. Whenever I bump into biker mates they are eye-poppingly amazed I've had a few rides on a speedway track myself, on a 500 with no gears or brakes, and got it (slightly) sideways. It was something I simply HAD to do and wanted to since when I was 'no but a lad' but was unable to ride for a long time for various reasons. So what was it like ? As absolutely flipping brilliant as you can imagine it to be and more. Much, much more . Now I cannot spare the time for any more spins but I don't regret it for a split second and if time, and let's face it money, become more available then I'll be back on-track in a heartbeat. For me speedway still rules ...