whowasthatberntpersson

Rockhampton has been cancelled because of the bad weather. No rearranged date has been released at this stage.

Still no official word if and when this meeting will take place. Word has it that Gosford originally applied to stage this meeting however the last i heard was it could be going to Newcastle. Apparantly its in the hands of MA now which I hate to say could mean ...well anything could happen. This meeting is supposed to take place next month and the Gold Coast has already put in place another big 350 meeting scheduled for 29th March, which it is hoped will not clash with the Australian event if it does take place. There also seems to be some confusion over where the 350's can race, although some of the MA sanctioned events have been on large tracks (Sydney Showground, Mt Gambier, etc) so hopefully the kids can ride without the initial restrictions at many of the larger venues.

Another two meetings on the Queensland Speedway calender this Saturday night 16th February 2008. Rockhampton Showgrounds - Queensland Sidecar Championships and Solos / The solos are split with four North Queensland based riders in one pool and four locals in another. Gatton Showgrounds - Mixed car / bike meeting.

Despite the poor weather (lots of rain) leading up to this event we still had a top night of racing in very warm humid conditions (but it thankfully stayed dry) This was a mixed car / bike show with Solos, Sidecars and Junior solos. It was also the very first meeting at this venue for the juniors, the track having been put down fairly recently. The solo section was won by veteran Brisbane rider Craig Hyde, Craig had a spell in England in the late eighties and showed he can still ride a bike with a close points win against two North Queenslanders - Damien Koppe (Son of former British based rider steve Koppe (Canterbury, Exeter, etc) and Scott Mckenna. Hydies first ride on the ex Scott Nicholls bike was outstanding, Craig missed the start by a long shot and worked his way through the field with some fine outside moves. The juniors also produced some good racing racing on a track that did break up badly. Nick Morris was dominant in four of his five races having shed a chain whilst leading his first. This ended up costing him as he was pipped to the post by young Matty Day and also Hayden Barr who had his best meeting ever. My first visit to this venue and I have to give it a big thumbs up, good facilities although the pits were crowded with all the cars, good turnout of fans (a local told me they were all going stir crazy because of the weather) so that could explain the large numbers. Good racetracks and it must be said the big track did hold up well despite the car racing, its a huge circular track well over 400 metres. The organisers handed commemorative engraved silver platters to all the junior competetors, a very nice gesture. The Showground Society are hoping to get permission to run once a month. Called into North Brisbane Speedway for a practice on the way home, after a six hour drive. A good turnout there too with Glasgow based Trent Leverington having a spin prior to heading back to the UK.

I see your point BFD, however its pretty obvious that the 350's have been a star attraction just lately. Sounds like the promotion had some kind of axe to grind by not having them on...buggered if I know for sure but thats what I reckon.

I may be wrong but I think the current lack of senior riders in SA (and Queensland) is due to the lull we had in junior racing. There were a couple of years when no riders were progressing due to the lack of junior racing, particularly in SA but other States are suffering just the same. As an example, Queensland hardly has any senior riders in the South East (a few more in North Queensland but they don't all travel to compete in the bigger meetings) The juniors are currently strong in QLD (and building in SA) however most of the kids are under 14, so no new senior riders are on the horizon after the likes of Darcy Ward steps up. Hopefully most of the kids will jump on the 350's and stay with the sport, otherwise we will have a period where very few riders are coming through. Which brings me back to the point Junior Fan made, why would Gillman foolishly (in my opinion) refuse to have 350's on at the National Championships (when all other tracks did), when they have hardly any senior riders locally - not really looking after the future of the sport in SA are they? For the record the top juniors in SA are; Arthur Sissis (12) - four years away Robert Branford (14) Two years away Robert Medson (almost 14) Two years away and in Queensland Darcy Ward - 16 in May (the only rider ready to step up) Tyson Nelson - 14 Nick Morris - 13 Clinton Dennis - 15 in March Victoria is similar (Only really Sedgy, Munro and Barnfiled), NSW have a few coming through (Poole, Kurtz, etc) but its similar in all States.

http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?19/01/2008.PPS

Fear not my Red Breasted friend. I do believe Kozza had a slice or two of bad luck, besides that Mildura is as far from Kings Lynn as you are ever likely to get, in distance, and track shape. Kozza is an all or nothing type of rider and Kings Lynn will suit him down to the ground. Mildura takes some mastering, quite a few in that field have local track experience.

Off topic I know, the skipper loaning his pleasureboat is only slightly different to borrowing a 350. Actually its not entirely off topic because I would of had to sell the 350 and 125's to pay for the damage had he hit the bridge, you are indeed a brave man Captain Trackman.

Whoops think I've been told. Forgot all about the dinghy thinghy. Forgive me/us and please put it down to the inner most thoughts of burnt roast beef..honest ref the woman had the roast on the go and we had to make a fast getaway...well we did have a ref in our corner so no arguments their Capn (Deckhand 2 R Perks).....the meeting ran overtime. Our maiden voyage on the good ship shaleshifter was indeed a pleasurable one. Like all new deckhands we did need some guidence particularly on disenbarking...thanks for the debrief and our next performance (unless we are replaced) will be improved, remember we were only battling for that resrve birth. On board entertainment was brought to us by Captain Trackman, titled Speedway "The way it should be" Our Capn hammered home the rights and wrongs of our cinder sport whilst the dulcet tones of the onboard entertainment system battled with the V8 superboats and the sound of the Gold Coast's waves for second spot. We must of been moving, having left Mick Doohan behind, and becoming a tiny dot on the horizon. By the way Mrs Capn Trackman took a couple of taccy sub outings, and our No 1 is now fighting to retain his spot in the Great Britain/Expats Pleasureboating Team.

Trevor has just been intervieed on Radio Fremantle http://www.radiofremantle.com/index.htm click on archives/Saturday/1100 to listen again. Severe back injuries, back brace for around three months, Broken L12, T1, T2. Dr's have ruled out racing for 6-7 months. By the way there was an Aboriginal rider in the Ron Johnson Memorial lineup last weekend, does anyone have any details on this Guy? (Where he's from, racing background, etc)

Tonights meeting promises to be a cracker, quite often in the past the Under 21 Championship has overshadowed the Senior Title. Its hard to look past Chris Holder but I don't think its a certainty by any means. We've also got the 350cc Under 16 Championship this year, which should be another brilliant meeting. I think I'll have to organise my holidays a little better next year.

Just listening to the weekly speedway show on Radio Fremantle at http://www.radiofremantle.com/index.htm I met two of the hosts Nev and Phil in Perth last weekend, two true Gentlemen and dedicated speedway followers. The work they a doing to promote speedway is to be applauded. If you haven't listened to the show yet, its on every Saturday at 1100 Western Australia time (1200 Queensland, etc) Keep up the good work and thanks for the coverage of the Junior and Senior national Titles.

We'll be flying home from Perth in a couple of hours. Some thoughts on the racing at Pinjar Park over the past week. A large track by junior standards produced great racing, there was enough room to pass, an observer from the jawa factory in the Czech Republic commented that he saw more passing in one race than a whole Czech meeting.... I know of three engine blow ups, I think we all expected more than that. Most of the riders struggled to find the right balance with gearing in practice, the bigger kids more so than the little uns like Arthur, Nick and local lad Cameron Heeps, I don't think riders like Todd Kurtz and Darcy Ward really showed what they could do because of their size, although Robert B was right in amongst them and he's just as big. Easy to see why Tai Woffinden adapated so quickly overseas, he spent a lot of time practicing on this track and that would of taught him how to turn a bike on a sixpence. Thanks to all the locals for putting on a great meeting and nice to catch up with Dave Cheshire, who still has fond memories of Cradley Heath, Rob Woffindon, Neil Machin, Mick Mckeon and the Radio Fremantle duo Nev Risely and Phil Paddon.. Finally congratulations to Arthur who was in a class of his own, his speach after the pairs event was a classic... This was the final junior meeting for several of the competitors who will now concentrate on the 350's or 500's. I think its fair to say that Australian speedway has a bright future if these kids continue on.

One has to find the right balance Bryn. Racing comes first though.

Give it time Captain Trackman, give it time. Tis the Deckhand Whowasthatberntpersson, waiting for the call to keep the scurvey away and scrub the deck of the good ship Pommyvessel.....and to check out the scenic delights of the surrounds.

So who's going to be in WA for the four days of track action? Furthermore who is up for some socialising, looking forward to my first trip to Western Australia since 1990. Hope to meet a few new (and old) faces over there, I hear the Swan Valley wineries (and breweries) are worth checking out?.

Cheers, looking forward to seeing both the juniors and seniors on the track. Was talking to Mich Shirra today, he speaks very highly of the track over there.

Any idea who's riding in the Ron Johnson meeting?

Yes Arthur replaces the unfortunate Taylor, and I'm pretty sure he'll give them all something to think about. As far as I know there are now eleven in the qualifyer. With the top four from there meeting on the 17th joining the twelve who are seeded directly to the big event on the 18th There are four Queenslanders in the qualifyer, so with three already seeded directly, theoretically there could be seven Queenslanders in the sixteen rider field.

Yes alive and well, and dreaming of a track return for the Black Country Boys. I'd love to be there for the opener. Do you go to local meetings Tony? Where are you from? Speaking of race riots, I'll never forget passing through Leicester on the way back from Kings Lynn in 80 or 81, the place was like a ghost town, everything was boarded up.

I'm all for a 350cc Championship also. Obviously the 350 bikes are a stepping stone and a good one at that but the racing is so competetive there may as well be a championship. Was talking to Jason Crump in Brisbane today, he stepped off the 125's as a 14 year old, he said he was just too big, and that is true of many junior riders. As an example of how the 350 class has improved things already, Jason gave an example of one rider stepping off a 125cc bike at Mildura and jumping straight on a 500 after turning 16 the following week. The problems will arise as inexperienced juniors step off the 125's and onto the 350's before they are ready, in my opinion that will happen sooner rather than later and will probably take a bit of gloss off. The current crop on the 350's are without exception all pretty talented riders but some kids may make the jump before they are ready. I guess that could easily be the case with the 500's anyway.

Was listening to the commentary on Radio Fremantle last Saturday, they were talking about the 350's in between rounds but the reception wasn't too good and I missed a lot of what was being said. They were talking about the possibility of running an Australian Championship for the 350's, but I'm sure I heard one of the commentators disagreeing with this concept. Any thought? I can only see good coming out of more competetive 350 meetings.

I went a few times in the early eighties. Very impressed with the late great Toni Kasper and Bo Petersen in 1981. Even more impressed with the Hawk's choice of guests against Cradley that year (Bobby Schwartz) - what were they thinking. Always enjoyed the racing at Waterdon Road and a good atmosphere. If I remember correctly one of our visits coincided with some kind of hostage scene in London, police everywhere on the way back to the motorway. Always interesting driving past the pubs after the meetings (getting close to midnight I reckon) there always seemed to be something going on around there. Then there were the Hackney legends, Bangor and Barry Thomas are two that spring to mind, as a kid I was facinated by Thommo's stance at the tapes, very unusual technique if I remember correctly. Still got the 1981 Thames TV Trophy on video, good example of the racing at Hackney.

Mine was coming through loud and clear but just as I started typing it buffered. Fingers crossed for a great broadcast, certainly the best start so far.