rusky

OK. Hoyland was where he lived whilst riding for King's Lynn. But he was born & grew up in sheffield only moving once married

You are right that Pete didn't ride for Sheffield, but was pretty pally with most of the tigers of the time, particularly Reg Wilson, and used to watch at Owlerton when his other commitments allowed. He actually grew up in Sheffield ( Would it be Hoylake or similar, where his dad - Edward- had a milk round business). I lost touch with Pete a few years ago, but I'm fairly sure that he went on to own a local shop in Sheffield at that time

Well to be honest, I think that the Daily Express have done a sterling job with this Grand Prix. There was an on line report at Express report which was pretty good, but the report in today's edition of the paper (Monday) was very very good for a National, including 2 pictures in its virtual 1/2 page coverage. Its good to note as well that the photo's in the paper were not mikepatrick.com which suggests that they had one of their staff photographers their which in my opinion is pretty impressive - The 2 pictures being one of JC with the trophy, and a racing shot

LT.. if its the St David's hotel & Spa, its a bit dammed flash (5*). We did stay there in 2003 as we got a cracking deal on lastminute.com @ £100 for 2 nights room only. The rooms were absolutley enormous and had excellent views. The SPA also was good, and they have some excellent bath robes although a little expensive... The building itself has an impressive Atrium that goes through the middle of the hotel, in fact it could be described as cavernous - lots of echo for an air horn in the early hours as my mate found out !!

Last Saturday's GP was recorded in HD (Don't know about transmitted in HD though) and was shown on the temporary HD screen that was in use at Ullevi after the stadium screen failed on the Friday.

You can try this for a google translation: Google Link

Possibly the case for the attendance, the 17,500 was paying customers as I understand

Water WAS put on several times through the day, but the weather (well into the 20's with a strong breeze) was drying the track as soon as the water was added. They were able to do a bit more preperation on the track later on as there had to be a significant delay in proceedings as the TV company had to transfer to a different satellite - You need to remember that TV controls the racing schedule in its entirity

the weather on the Saturday was definitley a contributing factor to the track, with relatively high temperatures and a strong wind, meaning that as soon as the water was put down it dried straight away.

By all accounts the track did stand up well as the 4 riders tested it. There was no obvious rutting or break up. The suggestion was that the base was very solid

Having been there once for a WC round -( after suffering a blowout in the fast lane of the Brussels Ring Road in the morning rush hour) I couldn't believe how close the houses were to the track, so neighbours complaining I can understand. Everybody associated with the track was extremely friendly, and they did put on a good event at the local Hotel, the night before the meeting

Think that he is actually talking about the cut outs. There was an FIM release a while ago saying that several bikes had cut outs which did not meet this years rules during machine examination in Russia the other week.

Good pic's Conkers, but your website really needs to be Firefox friendly

Have to say that some of those pic's are very, very good. Do we know much about the photographer, Bob Martin ?

Have driven there several times, and its about 900 miles from King's Lynn to Prague, and takes about 16 - 17 hours driving time ( in a van), plus the ferry / shuttle. If you are used to driving it is dooable in one hit as the roads are pretty good on the whole once you get on the continent.

Steve Chilman is still a regular spectator in East Anglia. He still takes an active interest in the sport being spannerman for several of the Russian riders when they are in the UK - numerous of those riders have been known to lodge with him as well. He is also a big supporter of both Grasstrack & Ice Racing

I seem to remember that this was an 8.7 track in terms of sprockets (I'm sure that was what Per Jonsson used around there), which would make it pretty big, although I couldn't tell you the exact measurement, I for one think that this would be a good venue for a GP, as like Cardiff, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Gothenburg it was a location in which you could make a really good weekend of it. It certainly had a good atmosphere when the world final was there - I remember there was a flower parade organised to coincide with the final.

Absolutley correct, he was born on Saddlebow Road itself and did make some appearances for the Diamonds. He did run his own Fish & Chip business in Gaywood King's Lynn, which grew into Gerry's Pizza restaurant on the Saturday Market Place in King's Lynn

I had it in mind taht they were either late 81 or early 82, but not sure. The big question is, does it have an external oil feed ?

Groningen has superb nightlife with an incredible array of bars. The thing I would say is don't expect things to start livening up much before midnight, and conversely don't expect it to wind down much before 4 - I can assure you that you will never have seen so many people on the streets at 4 in the morning as you will here. The good news is that the Febo is still open at that time so a portion of Fries & Mayonnaise is easily obtained A really good standard hotel in the middle of Groningen, about 2 minutes walk from the very centre of Groningen, Grote Markt, is the Best Western Cityhotel. This hotel is immediately opposite the casino. Its a very modern hotel, with very friendly staff and their own secure parking (if you ask for it). The rooms are of a very good standard We have stayed there several times now, and never fail to be disappointed

Having been to Bysarna a few times, and having stayed at Larbro on numerous occasions I can tell you its not that far, about 20 -25 minutes from the existing track. Knowing some of the people involved with the club over the years, I can tell you that the preferred option is to stay in Visby, but as in England the problem that they face at the moment are primarily enviromental issues, primarily noise.

The Magneto Weslakes used by Pete Smith, Richard Hellsen & Co were used around 1977 - 1978 if memory serves me right. The feeling was the same on the 'British' Mag engines, in that they were exceptional from the gate ( I believe that was the reason for Jawa sticking to the mag on the 897 also). Rickard still has his magneto Weslake I believe, not sure when he last had it running though

I think the numbers were very small, probably no more than a dozen or so. They were killed off by the magic boxes becoming more reliable and more importantly, affordable

They were a conversion by a guy called Derek Hobson (I think) in Penistone Yorkshire. Reg Wilson, Pete Smith & Rickard were the only ones who I can remember using them. They were around at the time that battery & coil were the major ignition source on the weslake, the magic boxes had just started to make an appearance but were hideously expensive (Derek made those as well). The magnetos used actually came from Concrete mixers, and produced a spark that was far stronger & consistent than either a box or battery/ coil setup. Derek used to re-wind his own magnetos in his garden shed ( I think he serviced all of Guy Allots mags, as well as mags from all of the speedway parts suppliers), and had all sorts of 'heath robinson' test equipment, as a youngster it was a fascinating place to visit

Nearly right SCB, its an FGM conversion. FGM is manufactured by Flemming Gravesen, Rune's engine tuner & friend