Bavarian

https://www.speedwayclubhelzold.be/

I wonder if DISCOVERY/EUROSPORT consider Spain as one of their future new markets for the Speedway Grand Prix? By the way, the last speedway rider representing Spain in International events (he rode in a European Championship qualifiying round about five years ago) was Facundo Albin, an Argentinean with Spanish ancestors and dual nationality, who was based in Spain for a couple of years. He is now back in Argentina though.

Norwegian former FIM referee Tore Kittilsen died on October 7, 2022, at the age of 85. Kittilsen was the referee of the 1982 Los Angeles World Final (Penhall/Carter clash) https://www.nmk.no/informasjon/nyheter/vis/?T=Minneord om Tore Kittilsen&ID=32064&af=1&fbclid=IwAR1XIoQYNaHXS1O-HWF_H7VBbSqEHZnu5jfBxcANVCvut5q7f1MlTbhI5j0

Well, there were another two New Zealanders, who rode in Paris. That's Stewie St.George (though he rode at another Paris track at St.Ouen back in 1928) and Charlie Blacklock (1932/34).

In 1935 a New Zealander by the name of "Thomas" rode in a couple of meetings at the Stade Vélodrome Buffalo in Paris, France. He was in the line-up of nine riders on Sunday, September 1, 1935, for the "Championnat du Monde de Dirt Track", the unofficiall world championship, which was contested in Paris annualy from 1931 to 1935. He was referred to as Gene Thomas and as Clem Thomas in a couple of French newspaper reports, but the French press was never that accurate when it came to the correct names or the nationalities of the dirt track riders. It could very well be Wally. The only other New Zealanders that ever rode in Paris were Spencer Stratton and 'Mac' Sillick.

They promised a lot, but delivered very little. My interest in the SGP series has never been less than this year.

Well, I'd rather give it to Kai Huckenbeck, who is probably the better option right now. Smoli will be 38 in December, a bit late to make a comeback in the SGP series. But there is also talk that Nicki Pedersen might get a wildcard in 2023 to stir up the GP series again.

yes, indeed, if there are two SGP in Germany next year, it is rumored that either Huckenbeck or Smolinski would be given a permanent wildcard.

Bit shaky camerawork, but the ten minutes of this 8mm silent home movie of a USA v WORLD Speedway test match in 1974 at Costa Mesa, California, is nevertheless worth watching.

This artificial points system is really a mess. I don't like it at all. No one has a clue now durign the meeting re. the overall world championship points standings.

Meeting has started now with the heat races in the qualifying groups live results here https://online.speedwaylive.eu/volne-zavody/pardubice/zlata-prilba/2022-09-25/qualification.html

and this Odsal Stadium now - still a great place for speedway - the FIM should think again

I read that the East German authorities have acutally used the blueprint of the Pardubice track when they built the Wittstock track.

The Zielona Gora match has been brought forward to Saturday, so that Milik and Kvech can ride in the Czech Golden Helmet at Pardubice on Sunday.

There is rumour that DISCOVERY wants a German rider in the GP next year! Huckenbeck or Smolinski?

riders presentation ceremony is cancelled start delayed until 3:30 local time (2.30 UK time)

There might also be a couple of meetings in Poland agin this winter, but there are as yet no confirmed dates. But I wonder how much longer will the FIM continue to run it as an official world championship?

I would not give too much thought about this Polish newspaper report. It is more rumors than facts. Rostock seems rather unlikely, because there is already a SGP at Teterow which is pretty close to Rostock. This just would not make sense to stage two in the same northeastern corner of our land. Germany is a much bigger country. Frankfurt is indeed in a region where speedway is not unknown, as they do have a track not far away at Diedenbergen, and some grass track racing as well, but is fair to say that it is not a very common or popular sport in that region. But I guess that Frankfurt could nevertheless be a decent location for a Grand Prix, since it sits pretty much in the center of Germany and within a 300/400km distance from the speedway hotbeds in the north, east, and the south. Frankfurt is a big town, it has a big modern stadium with a roof. This would make it a good option. Berlin was not mentioned, but this is what I actually believe is the most likely option. It would certainly be worth another try. They already did it once, in 2001, but the occasion was absolutely spoilt by bad weather, cold windy and wet. They still had a rather decent attendance, but not enough to make a profit, and the promoter threw the towel in. Berlin should get a second chance, though. A big city destination, and Poland is pretty close. Another possibly good location, never mentioned so far, could be Hamburg. There are a number of modern stadia, although all withiut a roof. But the sport is well known in the region. Germany's very first speedway track was in Hamburg, and it was a huge success story, though a long time ago in 1929. Hamburg was and is Germany's gateway to the world, a very cosmopolitan town and not far from Denmark. Maybe worth a thought. Or go to the deep south of the country to Munich, which is Smolinski's home town. Bavaria has a rich speedway and long-track racing tradition. Remember, they staged the 1989 world final on an artificial track in Munich's Olympic Stadium and had close to fifty thousand people in attendance. The track was crap then, due to the fact that Bayern Munich was then playing there, and the sacred football pitch was not to be touched by the speedway track. So they had to build the track around the corners, which gave it a difficult shape and made the bends too narrow for good racing. Bayern Munich has long since left the stadium and now there wouldn't be any restrictions on the shape of a temporary speedway track at that place. There are some options, all better than what was taken up by BSI with the GP at Gelsenkirchen, which really was in a speedway no man's land, for in teh western region of Germany, speedway was and still is a sport more or less unknown. The Schalke Stadium had a roof, that was the only thing going for it. The initial excitement and razzmatazz of having a Speedway meeting at Schalke, tempted about 25,000 from all the other regions of Germany to go there - once ! That was a long way to travel and after tehy had seen it once, most of them did not come again in the second year. And we all know how this ended, with the second SGP there being called off and relocated to Bydgoszcz.

full stadium, great atmosphere

o.k. then that's not too bad

They give bronze medals for the winner of the 3rd/4th place finals. It is not true that Polish fans don't care, it is just the Torun fans who never really get behind their team. Empty seats are nothing unusual here. It was the same in the semi-final.

embarrasing performance by Opole 31-11 down after seven heats

Mathieu Tresarrieu is already confirmed as the new world champion of 2022