Bavarian

Brian Burford's 4-page story of the first Speedway Test Match is a very good read in this week's Speedway Star. Great historic pictures, too. I love my Speedway Star.💕

NEW WESTERN SPRINGS SPEEDWAY BOOK OUT NOW! Western Springs Speedway - An illustrated history of Speedway racing at Western Springs Stadium - the beginnings until 1980 By Richard Haynes Only available at https://jamesselwynphotos.com/store/books/wsbook/ Or See James before racing, with payment ready at: WS 1st March, BP 8th March or WS 22nd March Limited numbers. Get yours now. Only $75 + Courier Over 7 years in the making 548 pages (2.6kgs!) 3000+ images including hand painted images, bringing to life and colour, cars and scenes, never before seen by generations. A lavishly illustrated journey through the first 50 years of racing at the iconic Western Springs Speedway. The book chronicles the first motorcycle speedway meeting that took place at Western Springs in December 1929 and the first meeting featuring midget cars in December 1937 all the way up to 1980. This 548-page coffee table volume provides a living record of the history of racing at Western Springs. The book is arranged in chronological order, year-by-year, and covers solos, sidecars, midgets, TQ midgets and supermodifieds/sprintcars from their beginnings until 1980. It contains over 3000 photos and over 750 of the black and white photos have been colourized in order to bring alive racing back in the day. An unmissable item for the New Zealand speedway fan and indeed any speedway/motorsport book collection.

Thanks bigdave but of course I had not included that third generation youngster Billy Forsberg, grandson of Dan. The four I wanted to know if they were brothers or not, were all of a similar age and were all active speedway riders in Sweden in the 1950s. Of those four, only Dan and Birger are entered in the Speedway Riders Index, but there is no info on the other two, that's Roger Forsberg and Kai Forsberg, who might never have ridden in the UK.

In the 1950s there were (at least) four Swedish riders by the name of Forsberg. I wonder if anyone knows if they were brothers? The most prominent is Dan Forsberg (born 25.3.1934), who rode in two World Finals (1952 and 1957) and was a league rider for Birmingham in 1953, 1954 and 1957. Then there was Birger Forsberg (born 25.9.1930, died 31.8.2007), who rode in England for Rayleigh (1957), Poole (1958 and 59) and Ipswich (1960). The third one is a Kai Forsberg, of whom I don't really know much, other than he emigrated to Australia. And there was even a fourth Forsberg, a rider by the name of Roger Forsberg. Who knows more about them?

In any recognized team sport there are official records of international caps. This is part and parcel of the game, and in this respect speedway used to be no different to any other team sport. Peter Oakes always included the number of international caps for each rider in his Yearbooks. It would be interesting to know the numbers for our current riders, but sadly I could not find out. Where are they to be found? I wonder if there is still someone out there who keeps record of the speedway riders' international caps? Too bad, if nowadays no one cares about it.

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/miscellaneous/test-match-win-for-gb/ https://www.fimspeedway.com/news/lions-roar-to-test-triumph-in-california

USA - 35: 1 Max Ruml - 7+1 (0 3 2 1 1') 2 Broc Nicol - 4+1 (1 F 2 1') 3 Austin Novratil - 1 (1 0 - - ) 4 Billy Janniro - 5 (0 1 2 2) 5 Luke Becker - 9 (X 1 X 2 3 3) 6 Alex Martin - 4+1 (3 0 0 1') 7 Slater Lightcap - 4+2 (2' 1 1' X) 8 Wilbur Hancock - 1 (1) GREAT BRITAIN - 55: 1 Daniel Bewley - 8+1 (3 2' 3 0) 2 Dan Thompson - 11+1 (2' 3 3 1 2) 3 Adam Ellis - 11+1 (3 2' 3 3) 4 Leon Flint - 8+1 (2' 3 0 3) 5 Tom Brennan - 10 (3 2 3 2) 6 Jordan Jenkins - 5+2 (1 1' 1 2' X) 7 Ashton Boughen - 2+1 (X 2' 0 X) Heats: 1. Bewley, Thompson, Nicol (t/15m), Ruml. 1-5 2. Martin, Lightcap, Jenkins, Boughen (f.exc). 5-1 (6:6) 3. Ellis, Flint, Novratil, Janniro. 1-5 (7-11) 4. Brennan, Boughen, Lightcap, Becker (t.exc). 1-5 (8-16) 5. Thompson, Bewley, Janniro, Novratil. 1-5 (9-21) 6. Ruml, Brennan, Jenkins, Nicol (f). 3-3 (12-24) 7. Flint, Ellis, Becker, Martin. 1-5 (13-29) 8. Thompson, Nicol, Lightcap, Boughen. 3-3 (16-32) 9. Brennan, Janniro, Jenkins, Becker (f.exc). 2-4 (18-36) 10. Ellis, Ruml, Nicol, Flint. 3-3 (21-39) 11. Bewley, Becker, Thompson, Martin. 2-4 (23-43) 12. Ellis, Jenkins, Hancock, Lightcap (f.exc). 1-5 (24-48) 13. Becker, Brennan, Ruml, Bewley. 4-2 (28-50) 14. Flint, Janniro, Martin, Boughen (f.exc). 3-3 (31-53) 15. Becker, Thompson, Ruml, Jenkins (f.exc). 4-2 (35-55)

Great looking cover page of the SPEEDWAY STAR w/e February 1, 2025

“It will be a special occasion going there as World Champions in the USA’s first ever home Test Match and I’m sure it will be a fantastic event.” Great Britain boss Rob Painter admits it will be a “special occasion” as they take on the USA in a test match in California this Saturday, live on BSN. 𝙁𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 bit.ly/usavgbpreview LINEUPS: Team USA: Luke Becker, Max Ruml, Gino Manzares, Billy Janniro, Slater Lightcap, Broc Nicol, Alex Martin. Team GB: Dan Bewley, Tom Brennan, Adam Ellis, Leon Flint, Ashton Boughen, Dan Thompson, Jordan Jenkins.

𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙊𝙉 𝘽𝙎𝙉 𝙉𝙀𝙓𝙏 𝙎𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝘿𝘼𝙔! We're just days away from the first ever test match on BSN, coming to you LIVE from sunny California! USA and Great Britain go head-to-head at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway next Saturday, and stream passes are available for purchase now. The fifteen heat Test match will also be followed by a five heat 'Rider of the Night' individual, featuring all 14 international stars. USA v GREAT BRITAIN Speedway Test Match Sat 1st Feb Live @ 8.30pm (UK) https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk/

Barry Briggs celebrated his 90th birthday on December 30, 2024 https://www.thepress.co.nz/sport/360533895/colourful-career-barry-briggs-new-zealands-last-surviving-speedway-world-champion?fbclid=IwY2xjawHvIllleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdHhOTwcSkuPuOp57BeS0cIJ0evhCOmntXjYGQZNmq989q5YWxLDvgcsvQ_aem_EgCaMi8tc6Gb92i_NsUSRg

Great Britain announce JORDAN JENKINS as the seventh rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

Great Britain announce DAN THOMPSON as the sixth rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

Great Britain announce ASHTON BOUGHEN as the fifth rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

Great Britain announce LEON FLINT as the fourth rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

That is interesting, because that is just four days after both Tella and Killmeyer rode in the unofficial World Championship of 1933 in Paris. Killmeyer finished fourth in that meeting, behind the new world champion Fernand Meynier of France. Two Australians, Bluey Wilkinson and Billy Lamont were second and third, Twelve international riders competed for that 3rd Dirt-Track Championship of the World, staged at the Stade Velodrome Buffalo, Montrouge, Paris, on Sunday, October 8, 1933: line-up: Bluey Wilkinson (Australia, world champion of 1932), Billy Lamont (Australia), Fernand Meynier (France), Leopold Killmeyer (Austria), Walter Ryle (Denmark), Ejnar Knudsen (Denmark), Juan Vinals (Spain), Mac Sillick (New Zealand), Walter Butler (Germany), John van Hulzen (Holland), Mohammed Tella (Abyssinia), Emile Beranger (France). Final result: Fernand Meynier (France) 1st, Bluey Wilkinson (Australia) 2nd, Billy Lamont (Australia) 3rd, Leopold Killmeyer (Austria) 4th.

That's interesting. When did he ride at Wembley, what date was that? More on Mohammed Tella aka Gene Tella, even a picture of him, can be found here on the BSF https://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/topic/87534-10-favorite-abyssinian-riders/

17-year old speedway rider Mario Häusl and his parents paid a courtesy visit to the Seychellois Minister of Sports on January 2, 2025. https://www.nation.sc/articles/24603/seychellois-motor-racer-mario-husl-calls-on-minister-zialor The visit on Thursday even made it into the Seychelles national 8 o'clock News (begins at minute 12:20 in the SBC News video)

Great Britain announce ADAM ELLIS as the third rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

Great Britain announce TOM BRENNAN as the second rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

Great Britain announce DAN BEWLEY as the first rider selected for the USA vs GB Test Match in California.

GB SPEEDWAY TEST MATCH VS USA IN CALIFORNIA THE GREAT BRITAIN speedway team take on the USA in an official test match at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California, on Saturday, February 1. https://gbspeedwayteam.com/news/gb-announce-test-match-vs-usa-in-california