Reviresco

Love that Larry Ross quote Steve and can empathise in a way as, I could usually find my way OK to most places (apart from Dudley Wood) on my own, but finding my way back home, I seemed to find more difficult - particularly if my car's carburettor went, or I was stopped for speeding when my speedo wasn't working . I don't know why, but Larry Ross was one of my favourite riders that rode for a team that I did not support (another possible new thread there?) A bit like Dave Morton. No reason to like or support them, but I did and wasn't to mithered if they won a heat against 'my team'. 'Waiheke Aces' would know better than me, but when he was at Wimbledon, Ross always seemed to put his hand up to acknowledge his pusher (the guy who pushed the bike to help him start it, not a drug pusher) and always seemed to do some relaxation exercises on his way to the tapes, by rolling his head and shoulders and stretching his arms. Maybe just a habit he got into and he may well have stopped doing this by the time he went to Hyde Road. Are you there Waiheke, or are you back in Rio?

Is it something to do with a "ha ha" being a sunken wall or something like that? A wall that you can't see until you are at a top of a hill - or indeed, right next to the wall itself, one that is constructed for a purpose, e,g, to retain livestock, but situated so as not to spoil the view? If it is, then I still haven't a clue which stadium it is, but would take a punt at Station Road as, from memory you could park your car on a grassy knoll, but couldn't see the track from there and had to walk down to the track to be able to watch the racing. Can't remember when I last went there - probably 1986, when they were under the guise of the Long Eaton Invaders. Loved my visits there and a great race track. But as I say, I'm probably wrong.

I agree with your thoughts on CL. It may be harsh, it is early days, they are both great lads (with Darryl returning to speedway after a horrible injury a couple of years ago), there should be no doubt that they aren't trying, there has only been one PL match lost so far (although, five matches ridden overall, with one only won) and, it is the way the team was built. but both Reserve places must be under review - mustn't they? I am no team-building expert, although I would not have signed either Catagna or Ritchings (and that's not with the gift of hindsight), but there must be riders out there that would, to date, have performed better than the Witches current No.s 6 & 7? He has been mentioned before, and I don't know what his situation may be, but Kent's James Shanes could not do any worse at No, 7 - and would add to the entertainment levels. I was surprised that Ashley Morris wasn't retained from last year (I can't remember if he ever failed to ride to expectations). OK, it was probably mostly down to the way CL decided to build the 1 -7 this season - and it could be said that it paid off at Scunthorpe and Sheffield with the Witches earning away points. I see that Ash's MA is 1.20 higher than Castagna's, and with him being on a short-term contract now with Scunthorpe, it would be difficult to see how CL could bring him in, but if the opportunity arises and if the MA's allow, a change at No. 6 should, in my opinion, be made. Although, I suppose, after the hospitality during the pre-season Italian jolly bonding session, it will be even more difficult for CL to drop Paco. I would point a finger at whoever recommended both of them to Louis and/or CL's judgement of riders - which is disappointing and surprising given he appears to have his finger well and truly (tru7.com) on the speedway pulse - but then is it, given CL's CV on bringing in riders that are then discarded, developing riders under his charge and, the assets he has bought?

Really? I thought you might have meant that Paco will be there (at the back of each heat he's in) for ages, not in the team. Maybe early days still, but is it becoming a little bit embarrasing now? And a 5.00 assessed MA next season....? Looks like good performances from a lot of the lads tonight, but, as before, we only have to look at the Reserves comparative scores to see where the weakness is and the match was lost - of course this was how CL built his team and, the riders he chose. At least Saturday's weather looks like it won't be the cause of a postponement and we should see that rare beast of a Spring speedway meeting this season at Foxhall. Fingers crossed for a decent performance from all seven riders.

Yep, both good points. I have no idea, and I am unsure of the relevance here, and I'm not arguing against you BWitcher, but I wonder how many of the really bad injuries and, dare I say, fatalities in speedway meetings have been on the 1st turn of the 1st lap, compared to how many have occurred elsewhere in a race? Again, I do not know the facts, but I do not believe Peter Craven's fatal accident happened on the first bend and, indeed, it was as a result of another rider, Edinburgh's George Hunter, suffering an engine failure that led to him falling and Craven attempting to avoid Hunter and his bike, that led to Craven hitting the fence, resulting in injuries that led to his passing four days later. I am not old enough to remember handicap races in speedway, so this is the only similar scenario that I have to offer a comparison. I have attended the 16 Lapper at Foxhall on a number of occasions and, again most of the incidents that I can recall were not straight after the gate, but deeper into the race, with a faster 'handicapped' rider attempting to pass a slower rider starting off the gate. The one speedway fatality that I was unfortunate enough to be present to witness, was not on the first lap of that particular race. Due to the relative acceleration and gear ratios between all four bikes off the line, I would have thought it unlikely that the rider off the 15m 'handicap' would be within 5m of the other riders entering turn 1. The proximity of the riders would occur, later on in the four laps. As I said in my previous post, I am a supporter of SCB's proposal, and only suggested a reason why it may not be considered for approval. We might expect the 'better' riders who are carrying extra speed, should be able to pass an/other rider/s cleanly and safely - unless of course, today's 'rocket ships' are too difficult to manoeuvre safely and that the 'better' riders are just too used to simply 'gating and going' and are unused to overtaking, or only being able to pass their peers, on the occasions that they have been out-gated but have the speed and gearing to make a pass, rather than being used to overtaking a three rider mix of abilities?

My pleasure Jenga, and good to know there's someone out there who knew what I was rambling on about and was around at the time to share the same enjoyed experiences. Good Times. Thanks for the reminder of the Sheene / Roberts 'wave' and the Lotus Cortinas. If I remember correctly, most of the F1 drivers at that time didn't just drive the F1 cars, they hopped into saloon cars, F2, F3, anything with a motor and four wheels. A few met their end due to this too, including the great (over used, but deserved) Jim Clark, when I was 11 and a half. Gee, I cried my eyes out when I heard the news of his passing. Back to the Witches - is Paco in the last chance saloon tonight?

Apologies Witches fans, I jinxed the Heat 2 result. FGS, Paco, finger out lad. Your career in British speedway could be on the line here - along with CL's credibility in respect of his judgement on riders and building up an asset base?

That makes sense to me, SCB, and very well put. As has been said on many other threads, speedway in Britain is suffering a slow lingering death and is 'Boring', well this facility certainly used to put some 'spice' into a meeting and revved up the crowd a bit. Let's face it, anything to create an extra element of excitement, spectacle and entertainment must be a good idea. The danger element may be a consideration of course, in an already dangerous sport. I believe that some reports on the incident that led to the death of Peter Craven were that he started off a handicap in that fateful race at the Old Meadowbank stadium, all the way back in September 1963, but most accounts now suggest that he did line up alongside the other riders, but deliberately dropped his clutch after the other riders had left the gate, with the intention of "putting on a show" by cutting his way through the field. We cannot compare speedway to other sports, but I remember witnessing 'live' on TV, the terrible crash that took the life of Britain's Dan Wheldon at Los Angeles Motor Speedway in October 2011. Wheldon had agreed to start the 200 lap race at the back of the 34 strong grid, to attempt to win a $5m prize and, as Dan said himself, to "put on a show". Would these type of precedents, be reason for your suggestion to not even let the idea be considered again?

Is it the ground that the NSS was built on? Surely the sub-soil can't be that different to where Hyde Road and the Dog Track are? Admittedly, those stadia would have had bases down for some time before they attempted to stage a meeting. If there was something like an underground river, or a water spring causing the issue, surely this would have been detected before they started construction. If the situation wasn't mysterious before, it is becoming so now and it is becoming more likely that "Nessie" will indeed be found deep down under turn 3. "The Third Man" is a classic British film noir, in which the lead man investigates the mysterious death of a friend. Maybe "The Third Bend" will be made into a similar cinematic success. I can only offer my sympathies to the Aces supporter, particularly the ones who invested in season tickets, expecting to see not just EL, but NL matches as well. At this rate, they will have finished their away 'A' league fixtures before they have ridden on their home track. Has there ever been a situation like this before?

It may be an old one, Joe, but at least they have a raceable track and have hosted five meetings so far, one of which was a double header. There must be some major issue at the NSS that either we are not being told about, or the people responsible for it can't trace or solve. Not long until May now.

Thanks AO. Not great to hear about the continuing problems at the NSS though. Looks as if the Aces will have started riding their away Elite League 'B' fixtures before they've ridden any'A' fixtures at home. Well done Sky Sports for re-scheduling and gives us a chance to see the Pirate galleon in action on TV now and have a guess at how many points they will win by. Also good to be able to have a look at young Lambert and Huckenbeck too. Weather permitting, of course.

I see Bradley Andrews managed to stay on for four laps and picked up 2 points due to Chessell's fall in Heat 12. For those that went, was there any signs of improvement last night from the young Kiwi? Thanks.

For those that haven't seen this yet, the BSPA web-site has announced the following seven riders as confirmed to be riding in Qualifying Round 1 at King's Lynn on Saturday, 07 May, starting at 19:30:- Freddie Lindgren - SVEMO; Sam Masters - MA; Craig Cook - ACU; Jason Garrity - ACU; Robert Lambert - ACU; Brady Kurtz - MA and; Joonas Kylmakorpi - SVEMO Reserves: Lewis Kerr - ACU & Richie Worrall - ACU The line-up is also to include a New Zealand rider and both Statman and I have posted on here that Bradley Wilson-Dean had been nominated by MNZ, but his name is not included within the announcement on the BSPA web-site. Also, the original rider list on DutchGrasstrack's Original Post had 2 x ACU (GB) representatives, but 3 have been announced now. This is in line with the Supplementary Regulations for this meeting issued by the FIM. On this basis, the following have yet to be announced for Round 1 at King's Lynn:- 1 x AMA; 1 x ACCR; 2 x DMU; 2 x FFM; 1 x NMF; 1 x MNZ and; 1 X PZM It appears that the additional British rider that has been announced in the line-up for this meeting will take the place of the originally listed Finnish representative. The FIM Supplementary Regulations for the three other Qualifying Rounds show the line-ups to be: Round 2 - Slangerup - Saturday 07 May, at 14:15:- 2 x DMU; 2 x SVEMO; 2 x LAMSF; 1 x ACCR; 2 x MA; 1 x PZM; 1 x MFR; 1 x NMF; 1 x SML; 1 x ACU; 1 x FMU and; 1 x SML Round 3 - Terenzano - Saturday 07 May, at 20:30:- 1 x ACCR; 2 x AMZS; 1 x CAMOD; 2 x DMSB; 1 x DMU; 2 x FMI; 1 x FMU; 1 x HMS; 1 x MAMS; 2 x PZM and; 2 x SVEMO, and Round 4 - Abensberg - Monday 16 May, at 14:00:- 2 x ACCR; 1 x ACU; 1 x AMZS; 2 x DMSB; 1 x DMU; 1 x FFM; 1 x FMI; 1 x LaMSF; 1 x MA; 1 x MAMS; 1 x MFR; 1 x OeAMTC and; 2 x PZM

Is Rusty the contracted No. 8, Hunty?

How will Paco go on his return to Owlerton - or whatever its called these days? Can only see this being a home win by a bit of a margin, but if Danny and Sarj stick a good Heat 1 in .... but, then we have Heat 2.. Sheffield fans seem quite quiet on here at the start of the season. I guess they just knew that they had put a decent 1 - 7 together and are quietly confident of a good year ahead, injuries permitting. Stating the blinking obvious probably, but Howarth could be the link the Yorkshire Tigers needed to win something this season.

Brilliant Orlov. That has just about made my morning. As that wonderful human being once said: "Play your didgeridoo, Blue, Play your didgeridoo, Ah, like, playing 'til I shoot thru, Blue, Play your didgeridoo. Altogether now." - Geez, were they really the words in that song, what a cultural masterpiece and, what a pervert?! We should have known then I guess about Rolf. In hindsight, maybe best to keep your didgeridoo under wraps for a while and not go waving it around on Thursdays. A slow burner of a season so far for you guys would be a kind description I guess. Romance should be a little ripper down at Reserve and help get his confidence back. Can't wait for Round 2 of this season's Tungate v Auty instalment, whenever that is due. They say a good little 'un can see off a big 'un, but I'm unsure whether that would hold true with Romance. Bless his little cottons . Without wishing any ill will on the Aces, I hope you do get something out of this meeting. Maybe Scott Nicholls will perform more as he did when wearing a Robins red crest, rather than how he's been going so far as an Ace this year, and offer you a chink of light. Whatever, hope its a safe and enjoyable meeting. * Now I've just realised that we have posted on the Duplicate Thread, doh! Were you the man who knows, when it came to instructions on how the Original Poster, could delete a Duplicated Thread, AO? Maybe you could copy and paste them on here to allow Hagon to clear out this thread? Many Thanks. *

Great idea Steve, but don't let 'tmc' know as he'll pilfer any profits we might make. Maybe, "Confessions of a Speedway Fan" or similar and when its turned into a film, we could get Robin Askwith to play the lead role. For sure, he wouldn't have simply dropped off those two girls that thumbed a lift off me on my return from the aborted trip to The Shay. He would've been shagging them silly on the hard (core) shoulder... (although the way you spelt Tales, we could use that and Askwith would fit perfectly ). Hope work treats you well. EDIT: meant to say, I loved your Cradley story. Dudley Wood was, I think, the most difficult speedway track to find in the UK, so I can empathise with the plight you suffered. At least he was a friendly Heathen. I was probably not concentrating very well, as I would've been shaking in my trainers, wondering what awaited a visiting supporter inside the stadium, having been briefed on incidents in the past and advised not to show any colours, and to take a neutral programme board (the Crayford one came in handy, I seem to remember). Never experienced any trouble there myself though mind. All well before sat nav, etc. and quite often done with a map on the passenger seat, with a few hand written directions to assist, or with the girlfriend / wife holding the road map book (never call it a road atlas) facing the direction you were driving in. This book of fan's travelling exploits, cars used, food sampled and distances travelled to postponed meeting is getting closer by the post I feel...

Well done Birmingham Speedway and the Shopping Centre. A number of other clubs could learn from the support shown to the fans with this situation and for the great PR on their web-site - no names mentioned, not even a club in Manchester...

Thanks Steve. Drivers these days don't know how lucky they are. Until I bought the GTi, all of my cars had characters. Mainly mean and moody. I think the Firenza (metallic gold) was the one of mine that had more water in the foot wells than in the radiator and screen wash bottle combined. The day all the engine oil blew out of its exhaust on the way to the Dartford tunnel, when I looked in my rear view mirror I thought, cripes, its got dark quickly behind me in the East, not realising that it was the plumes of black smoke the car was emitting. And the Magnum's speedo stopped working one day on the way to Foxhall, but I could tell when I was doing 70, because the gear stick started vibrating then and almost jumping out of gear. For some reason I drove back along the Ipswich docks and through town that night, rather than on the old by-pass. The windows were emblazoned with all the speedway stickers you could buy in those days - Happiness is 40 - 38, etc. I was getting bugged by the car behind tail-gating me, so when I got on the 50 mph dual carriageway heading to the A12, I accelerated, but not as fast as to make the gear stick vibrate, not realising the the car behind was driven by a cop who promptly pulled me over and breathalysed me. He seemed most upset that I proved to be sober and started giving me a real hard time, so when he asked me if I knew what speed I was doing, I quite truthfully said 'No'. When he asked why not, I quite honestly chirped up with - 'well officer, my speedo isn't working, but I knew I wasn't doing 70 as my gear stick wasn't vibrating'. I think he was so gob-smacked that he let me go, as long as I produced all my documents at my local police station within a week. You've reminded me also that I did indeed run out of petrol on the way back home one night on the A12 and had to be rescued by a chuckling RAC man, with his can of petrol. As you say, no 24hr service in those days. And also, being fed sandwiches and crisps by my then girlfriend and when I got out of the car and dropped all the crumbs, being swooped on my by a murmuration of starlings, looking for a feed - well, maybe not quite a murmuration, but enough to give onlookers a laugh. And another possible Thread: The furthest you have travelled for a postponed meeting. In Britain, I think mine would be: Newbury Park to Halifax in 1983 or 84. A round trip of over 400 miles (at least on a Saturday night). Got as far as paying for the car park, but forgot to take the car park ticket with me for the re-arranged fixture the following Saturday! I was travelling on my own then too, probably listening to Rumours and ELO on the cassette player. On the return journey, I was driving out of a service station and two young ladies jumped out in front of my car and waved me down. I stopped and they asked if I was going to London, as they were heading to a friend's party down there. So they hopped in and I dropped them off at Redbridge tube station. I doubt if anything like that would happen these days. I won't say what my furthest journey ever was for a speedway meeting, but it was a considerable lot further and more expensive than that. I used to go to Boston regularly in 1986 when Dave Jackson was riding there (along with Woffinden senior ?) as I'd got to know Jacko quite well, doped and oiled for him a few times and sponsored him for a £1 a point during the season. Lovely lad was Jacko and the Jacksons were a great family and I was lucky enough to stay in Darwin with them for a few weeks once upon a time. Apologies all, rambled on again - and miles off topic, sorry.

Couldn't tell you for definite when the fixture on 03 July will start, but this weekend the Raiders meeting starts at 6pm, so you would have plenty of time to catch a train back into London. On Sunday, the journey out usually takes about 40 minutes, while the journey back into the City can take 50 minutes. The track is an easy walk from Rye House train station. (To be honest, you're best not to have a car for a London trip.) If you do decide to go, you should visit the Rye Fish Bar at the track, and give Ashley Morris a cheer. In my opinion, Hoddesdon is a great little race strip. Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip and the weather treats you well.

You compile a terrific post Gresham. I may not agree with all of it, but still a brilliant post.

Not great fun at the time, for sure, Steve. The good old A12 used to go through Chelmsford in those days and had the wonderful 'Army & Navy' roundabout which was always a bottleneck. As I worked in London, then caught a train to Harold Wood, or wherever I was then living in Essex, it was fingers crossed for no problems with the trains, then a quick change of clothes at home and then hop in the car for the 60+ mile journey. I was always tight on time. (There was a flyover put on the Army & Navy roundabout, but they built it the wrong way and didn't take the A12 traffic over it?!) It was also before the advent of the Orwell Bridge and the southern Ipswich by-pass so, when the A12 ran out a few miles south of Ipswich, I had to then get on the old Town by-pass, that basically avoided the town centre, but it was still an ordinary 30mph suburban road. The number of times I scooted into Foxhall Heath and heard the opening of 'The William Tell Overture", over the PA to signal the riders were at tapes for the 1st Heat, are too many to count. (I think there has been a Thread about music you associate with speedway and that plus the fantastic "Walk in the Black Forest" that they played at the end of the Foxhall meetings, are two that always bring back great memories - and of course "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines" and the theme to "The Magnificent Seven".) The best thing about the journey back from Foxhall in those days was the burger van that was located just south of the 'Army & Navy' in Chelmsford. Don't know what it was about them, but definitely the best burger van burgers I've ever eaten. Yum Yum. My mouth is watering, just at the thought. (Worst burgers were at The Shay, I swear that once, after buying it, taking a bite, finding it inedible and dropping it on the floor, the little bugger of a burger moved itself during the meeting and by the end of the Second Half it must have been at least 30 yards away from where I had dropped it!) If I was going to an 'away' midweek match, I would take my car into the City, park it up and drive out through London down along the Embankment, Earls Court and out onto the M40 for Oxford, M4 to Reading, M3 to Poole or wherever, though I must have taken the afternoon off to go to places like Exeter. Following speedway certainly improves your UK geography and knowledge of road systems. I'll see your Morris Marina 1.8 TC, and raise it with my first car, which was an Austin 1100 - XWC 209F - British Racing Green - four door. Even had a radio. A lovely little car - until the brakes went on the way back from Kingsmead. Maybe that's why it wasn't one of my favourite tracks - plus the fact it's in Kent (spit). Upgraded to a 'K' reg Vauxhall Firenza, to emulate the great saloon car driver, Gerry Marshall. That blew out all its oil on the A2/M2 again on my way to the Dartford Tunnel. and then broke a drive shaft on the A12. Then a Vauxhall Magnum (not the ice cream lolly) - GLX 144N and that was the other one that had a drive shaft break on the way to Foxhall - a match against Halifax, I think. Eventually gave up with cheap second hand cars and got a loan to buy a new (only time ever) Golf GTi (LMP 334W), that I did 100,000 miles in and which Billy Sanders enjoyed driving back from King's Lynn once n 1982 when he had dumped his sponsored car in the Saddlebow Road car park. (I remember when he had a Lada, when he was at Hull and he was given an Austin Princess one year with the Witches. A bit different from the sponsored vans and motor homes the guys use today.) Sorry, rambled on there a bit, but we might have unearthed two possible new Threads for consideration, the 'best and worst food at speedway' and, 'what was the first transport/car that you used to go to speedway'... (Iris' may have been his pedal bike .) EDIT: Should have said that I remember well the Marble Arch fun and games - plus Trafalgar Square kept you on your toes too, especially the black cabs on there...

I had two drive shafts go, on two different cars, on the A12 en route to meetings at Foxhall. Had the butterfly valves in a carburettor stick open just after leaving the bottom of the M11 on the way back from a midweek meeting and started hurtling towards the Gants Hill roundabout (I think) at greatly increasing speed. Luckily thought to turn the engine off, brake and head into a bus lay-by. Also had the brakes fail heading to a roundabout after exiting the Dartford Tunnel on the way back from Canterbury. All in the late 70's. Cars weren't built like they are these days, and I couldn't afford expensive motors, starting my working life in London on £666 per annum. Good times though.

Thanks Colin and all the best for having the situation resolved soonest. Thanks for the info about the unofficial site too. If things don't change soon, the Aces will have ridden all of their 'A' home fixtures before they start their home programme. Never known a start to the season quite like it, but people more knowledgeable than me would know if otherwise. At least the team that was assembled looks good on track and Scott is in form. Just need to get Joe Jacobs going now. A competent rider, but a big ask after a year out, to get a No.7 berth in the EL. Best wishes.

Apologies for my flippant remark, Colin and my suggestion that Nessie may be lurking down there. No mal ice intended (though I had thought that the "N" in "NSS" may stand for "Nessie" ). Q: What is the unluckiest monster in the world? A: The Luck Less monster - well, she would be if she surfaced at the NSS about now, imagine the barrage of refund requests and litigation she would receive. What I have found "mysterious" is the Belle Vue web-site, or rather the apparent lack of an open & honest update of the current situation to be found on it. Apart from some kind posters on here who have relayed some of the information they gleaned from the recent Fan's Forum, there would have been no update provided for us "outsiders" - like Manchester equivalent of sassenachs. A fan's forum is all well and good if you can attend it, or information is disseminated from it to the general public. Fair enough, if this situation simply affected Belle Vue's fans, but it doesn't as a number of other, general speedway, fans were affected (probably more so) and, some may say the sport in Britain as a whole. Maybe not "mysterious" but, for me, disappointing. If the Belle Vue management cannot put a statement out for legal reasons, then why not make that their statement. I would have thought that their web-site is the major medium for public communication and, apart from announcing meeting cancellations and a brief statement about ticket refunds (together with details of a coach being sent to Coventry), the actual ongoing issue has been skirted around on there, in my opinion. I am a speedway fan, have loved my trips to Belle Vue in the past (particularly in the Octobers of 1976 & 1984) , am interested in what is going on and, simply, have a reasonable request for being kept in the loop. I am though, as I said, simply a fan of the sport I suppose.