iris123

This site has Nigel first riding in the league in 1970. I guess he was just a second half er when he went to France ? Obviously this troupe weren’t top riders, but I wonder if he had much experience at all or are there a few years missing from the website ? http://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/2442/nigel-rackett

If it was 1840s he might have met gustix, otherwise .......

Was a new crime series started in German tv yesterday with some good shots at Norden of some speedway and presumably a drone filming from way up above the stadium which I thought was quite impressive stuff. The rest of the programme was not so interesting !!! From 50 minutes in for a couple of minutes https://www.zdf.de/filme/ostfrieslandkrimis/ostfriesengrab-102.html

See there was a livestream from yesterday’s meeting and are hoping for the same in a few minutes too

Another crash almost marred the next final Cort appeared in. Lined up against West, Norman Clarkson and Stan Simpkin.Cort and West were out front, whist Simpkin got into a slight lead over Clarkson and fell, Clarkson in trying to avoid the fallen rider crashed into the fence and his machine bounced high and hit a small boy who was leaning over to get a better view of the racing. Luckily although he had some bad cuts and bruises it seems no serious damage was done. Cort went on to win, as Reg West also later fell, leaving Clem the last rider in the heat The next meeting saw the much awaited match race clash between Cort and West. It also saw a great advert for sportsmanship in the scratch race final. According to the report '... Cort, Cantwell, Simpkin and Denham to fight out the final and they staged a remarkable race. Cort sent his fast Douglas to the front at the gun and Simpkin tacked on. The Victorian was too cunning at the Aquarium bend, and Cort lost ground. Simpkin passed him shortly afterwards, but Cort did not allow him to get too far away, and he raced a length behind. Meanwhile Cantwell had drawn away from Denham and was racing 5 lengths behind Cort. It was when Cantwell turned into the straight for the first time that the fun commenced. Cantwell got his Rudge into a tremendous skid (he was riding very recklessly) and was unable to recover. So he staged a spectacular crash. Denham though was following and he appeared certain to hit either Cantwell or the machine, but with great presence of mind he threw his machine down. The crowds cries of dismay changed to cries of admiration at Denham's wonderful act. The race- and a furious one it was now, remained to Cort and Simpkin. The last named was riding with great daring and skill and he kept the Englishman at bay. It did not take them long to circle the track and when Simpkin "broadsided" into the straight the second time , two attendants, Denham and his machine were still on the track. Simpkin was doing easily 50 m.p.h at the time and Cort was only a length behind him. The Victorian did not see Simpkin and the attendants until he had taken the bend and then he was only a few yards away from them. Simpkin was quite equal to the occasion, however, and he too threw his machine down just in time. But Cort was still to be reckoned with for he had no chance of seeing the crash because of the dirt thrown up by Simpkin. When it did clear the Englishman was in an impossible position and he could not stave off a crash. He hit Simpkin's Rudge, in fact many of the onlookers thought he also ran over Simpkin, who was lying dazed on the track. Cort was thrown over the handlebars of his machine. but beyond a shaking, was uninjured. and was able to take his place in the re-start. Simpkin was in a worse way, and he was too ill to ride in the re-start. It was bad luck for Simpkin, who looked certain of success when he came down. The crowd had just recovered from those thrilling episodes when the re-start took place. Thistoo was packed with thrills. Denham's machine refused to go, being choked with dirt, so Cantwell and Cort were left to fight it out. It was a duel right from the gun and both dare-devils "let it go". Cort was riding recklessly and he gained an advantage in the back straight. He had too much pace on for the turn into the straight and he skidded wide. Cantwell took full advantage of this, and there was a roar as he cut through on the inside. Meanwhile Cort was trying desperately to avoid hitting the fence and also to get out of the skid, but he failed and another crash resulted. Cantwell, at this stage, showed great sportsmanship, for he could have gone on and won, but he pulled off the track and signalled that he was prepared to allow a re-start. Off they went again and this time Cantwell fell. The Victorian came down at the same spot. It was Corts opportunity to reciprocate Cantwell's sportsmanship and he took advantage of it. Another re.start was required- the 4th. Cort took the lead at the start, but he did not hold it long, for Cantwell, with a with a delightful piece of riding passed him on the dangerous Aquarium bend. There are very few riders who will attempt that at high speed, and the crowd showed its appreciation of Cantwell's skill and pluck. Once in the lead he resisted all Cort's challenges and eventually won a most hectic race by barely two lengths. Cantwell's time was one minute and 22 secs. The long awaited match race between West and Cort was wn by the Victorian in the deciding heat. The first heat was a thriller, the contestants racing neck and neck throughout the four laps. West was much more skilful on the turns and he showed "wizardry" in controlling his Rudge. But what Cort lost in the skidding he made up in the straights and so it was level pegging. Entering the straight for the last time West taking a big risk with his "broadsiding" got away and won by little more than a length in 1 minute 22s. The second heat was a repetition of the first with the positions reversed at the finish. Cort won this time by two lengths only. When the time came for the decider Cort was very tired and his riding lacked "fire". So West had matters all his own way and he won easily'

Jack and his brother Frank both appeared at the Hamburg Dirt Track in 1929 along with Ham Burrill, Len Myerscough and Claude Rye all Preston riders their exploits are featured here

The system was shown to be flawed when Gollob backed out and Harris took his place. Nobody was excited by that either, but nothing was done to rectify the problem. If my memory is correct

Found a report from Cort's Australian debut 14.12.1929 at Melbourne. Unfortunately there was a bit of a mix- up with his bike and he had no chance to practice, but won his heat and made the scratch final Lining up against him were Reg West, Con Cantwell and Fay Taylour Reg West led and over done it on the first lap and was challenged by Taylour and as West tried to hold the lead he skidded and fell. Cantwell hit Wests bike and also hit the deck. In the re- run Taylour shot in front, but made the same mistake as West at the same place and fell and West fell again in trying to avoid Taylour. It was said that West's action saved Taylour from serious injury. But she couldn't compete in the 2nd re-run, which West won from Cort and Cantwell The next meeting a week later Clem won the scratch final, but West seems not to have been in this one, having a match race series against Taylour. Cantwell clashed with Cort and fell and one of the following riders hit Cantwell, leaving Cort way out in front to win The meeting after Cort lost in the final to West, but got his revenge in an international triangle race with Ben Unwin finishing 3rd. Taylour having left Melbourne for Sydney

Also see a report that Eva Asquith rode in NZ in the winter of 1929/30

They will never be forgotten as long as someone keeps starting threads about them......John Hyam, you ask ? I think he has disappeared with the Atom Car somewhere here's a previous one

Indeed. One of those oft repeated topics of yours

No doubt Franky has seen better days, but he did have a couple of nasty spills last season and has only just recovered from his hand injury just before the season started. I guess it leaves a mental scare or two. But he had some fight in him in previous seasons. Pletschacher for me was the rider who used to get out the gate then drop back as one by one the others passed him

Seems my guess was right. Clem married Miss Francis Fegan(Feegan) from Victoria, Australia. They were married in Australia in early 1931

Bob Harrison was involved in the fatal accident that ended Clem Cort's life. He even spent a few days in a Uruguayan prison due to a misunderstanding

Some comments from Dick Case, to put his side of the story, which might clear up the whole puzzle Firstly he reported back 'Speedway racing has certainly got Germans going, and Max Grosskreutz and I are running meetings at Hamburg and Chemnitz and are opening at Cologne shortly. We have the enthusiastic support of the government press. Hamburg saw team racing for the first time a few days ago and the crowd got so worked up that 70 of Hitler's stormtroopers had a busy time trying to keep order. The local champion Rumrich has beaten both Grosskreutz and myself, while Roth, who comes from Stuttgart is another top-notcher' So he has a different opinion on the press to the Evans/Grosskreutz version. He gets it wrong on Hamburg seeing team racing for the first time, as international matches were held earlier and I am not sure about Chemnitz running in 1933. I know they had meetings in 1930..... Another report from Case, I think gets to the bottom of why they left early 'At the close of the '32 season in England he went to Germany to find out its dirt-track possibilities. After a few months reconnaissance he decided to go ahead and with M.Grosskreutz as a partner, promoted a meeting at Hamburg. It drew a crowd of 14,000, and was a big success. 2 German riders in particular, Roth and Rumrich showed real championship class, and prospects were good. But the Nazi papers stressed the fact that all enterprises in Germany should be controlled by Germans, and the next meeting was not nearly so successful. To get down to tintacs, Case went to Berlin. An official of Capt. Goerings (sic) department was quite frank. They had nothing against the sport, he said, but they, the foreigners, wouldn't be allowed to take their proceeds out of Germany' That for me is the crucial point and probably as near to the truth as we will get. That no matter how much of a success they made of the venture, they wouldn't be allowed to profit from it. So it made no sense to carry on

Just seen this report on Joonas and how he is coping after a couple of operations. A pelvis and late last year a new knee https://www.speedweek.com/langbahngp/news/155159/Vierfacher-Champion-Was-aus-Joonas-Kylmaekorpi-wurde.html "Back then I broke my thigh and pelvis while doing flat track training, it was a horrific fall," said the Finn. «I then had two operations, but these did not produce a satisfactory result. Although I and a world-class medical team did everything, this injury meant the end of my career. » Kylmäkorpi, who lives in Andorra, now has two flourishing companies: one is responsible for the distribution of snus (oral tobacco); the Unic brand designs and manufactures special mountain bike clothing. He is always there with his buddies Leon Camier and Chaz Davies, both of whom are professionals in the Superbike World Championship. The last time I met him was at MotorLand Aragon in Spain at the end of November - again on crutches. "I got an artificial knee, now I should be restored soon," Joonas smiled. «Since March 2017, I could only run if I took morphine. Then I realized that I need an artificial pelvis. That was done then, now the rest. »

Now had it confirmed that I had the right family, and they did change their name during WW1

works fine for me !!!

Actually there could be a very interesting story behind their name. Not 100% certain, but think they were originally the Schutze brothers. Then during WW1 it was felt Schutze sounded too German and they changed it to a good English variation of the name. A lot of people did the same such as the royal family, plus others like the American ketchup family Heinz cut links with their homeland and stopped talking German. Wimbledon's Gus Kuhn also falsely denied that his family were from Germany. So it wouldn't be unusual. But I think I have stumbled across some correspondence from Frank stating that although their surname sounds German, their family have absolutely no links with that country as their father emigrated from Lauenburg in Schleswig-Holstein in 1857, and his grandfather and great grandfather also lived in Lauenburg and at no time were subjects of Germany, but that Lauenburg was part of Denmark at that time and also that his mother was also Danish.

Yes, a lot of things I had never heard about and a brief glimpse of his brother Frank, who was also involved in his speedway business. Frank was clerk of the course + manager at the Ekka and was also part of the tour of South America in 1930. Was talk of taking Fay Taylour with them, but I don't think she went. Frank was it say's quickly trying to get to grips with the Spanish language and it was going so well he thought he had a chance of being elected President, as they elected a new one every few months, so he said

Bit of Speedway on Ice US style. Anthony Barlow from the UK still competing

Well, it turned out to be a one-off. They have the same event, in fact the last one was a week or two back, but no speedway anymore involved But I do remember talking to Matten Kröger and he did say that both himself and Stephan Katt use a warehouse with a concrete floor to train in winter. Or they did do Similar to Dag Lovaas saying that he honed his skills by riding on frozen lakes

It is mentioned in the video.Have you watched it?

I was at an indoor meeting on concrete and it was absolute chaos. Think Tobi Kroner broke a leg....in one heat it ended up with only one rider and then he was excluded for poodling around and not RACING !!! As it was a two day event, by the second day there were so many gaps in the programme, because of injured riders it ended up a farce.

New venture for Denmark. First time for 37 years I think !!! http://m.kanalfrederikshavn.dk/index.php?id=482&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=95978&cHash=1b71126476e915759cee0b424f31f5c8 04.04.2020