whowasthatberntpersson

Shame you couldn't make it Lunchy, several people I spoke to said the North Brizzzy round was the best racing they'd ever seen at that particular venue. The Junior concept worked a treat too, with good feedback....got to be better than watching the tractor go round hasn't it? June/July is the perfect time to travel up to NQ, old Whitey's got it sussed, perfect weather and very little chance of a rainoff. Yes its a shame you couldn't get a second teams meeting on the Sunday, its a fair distance for the NSW boys to travel for one meeting....A very good lineup too...

Thanks Lunchy. It was a good weekend for us. By the way when can we expect to see you venturing North of the border..well in your case North of two borders. Some pretty good action happening up this way.

This Saturday night Pioneer Park stage the Queensland Sidecar Championship, in addition to a top quality sidecar field promoters Shelly and Rhino Ryan have also organised a top shelf solo support program with impressive New South Welshmen James Holder and Korey Williams taking on the top locals. Junior racing commences at 5.30 with the big boys taking centre stage at 7pm. A super solo lineup is also planned for the Christmas double header on December 16th and 17th...Standby for some big news regarding these meetings.

Rounds three and four were held in South East Queensland on the weekend. Round three was held at the North Brisbane venue on Friday night where the North Queensland Juniors continued there dominance with a comprehensive 62-28 Victory. In the main event North QLD pushed all the way and were ahead three quarters of the way through the meeting, eventually loosing by just a few points. Standout riders were Scott Smith and Dave Booth for SQ and the ever improving Ricky Barney and guest rider (from NSW) Korey Williams for the North. Round four was held the following night at the Mike Hatcher Park venue on the Gold Coast, again the Northern Juniors won reasonably easily however the scoreline was closer. The main event went SQ's way, with a 20 point margin going the way of the home team. Again Smith and Booth stood out for the victors with Korey Williams and to a lesser extent Barney offering the only resistance for the visitors. For more info on the tour check out the Pioneer Park website http://www.pioneerpark.homestead.com/news.html

125's on full size tracks? Is this true? In Australia the 350cc bike has just been commissioned for racing, most under 16's continue to ride the 125's though with just a few of the bigger kids on 250's and now a handful with 350's. Only the 350's are ridden on full size tracks, everything else is on the junior tracks. I think the 125 bikes are fine until a kid gets too tall, then they really do need a larger frame. To be honest most who make the step up to the 500's from 125's cope ok. Kids here stay on the 125's because of the competition, more riders to race against.

Thanks Darrell, I was thinking about making the trip but I've left it too late now. The QLD number's 1, 2, and 3 have all nominated. Will email you.

Chopper, I know of a couple of Queenslanders who will be competing in the South Australian Under 16 Championship. Do you know how many locals are riding in this meeting? When the cutoff for outside nominations is? Any info would be much appreciated.

It was probably written after West Brom beat Arsenal so you've got to expect some form of delirium from the Baggie Heathen.

The first week of January looks good for a trip to South Australia/Victoria infact it looks very good.

Pioneer Park Speedway situated in Brandon just South of Townsville will host one of the biggest sidecar meetings in the world on Saturday 29th October - The North Queensland Sidecar Masters A magnificent field of Australian talent will be complimented by a very strong field of A grade solos. Current Australian Champions Koppe/Christopher will be amongst the favourites although picking a winner could be harder than winning the lottery with the likes of Gary Moon, Jason Aldridge, Wayne Munck, Darren Treloar, The Sewell's, plus plenty other real chances. The racing leading up to this meeting and also the Queensland Sidecar Championship on 12th November has been top shelf. This is a meeting not to be missed, but if you can't make it (Australia is a long way afterall) why not have a go at picking the winner, check out the Pioneer Park website and enter the competition by following the "latest news" link. The full lineup is; 1 Gary Moon / Simon Sinnott (Aust #3) 2 Steve Cracker / Keith O'Brien 3 Jason Alderidge / Ricky Dearness 4 Darrin Treloar / Jason Plaisted (Aust #4) 5 Josh Sinnott / Hamish Golding 6 Scott Christopher / Trent Koppe (Aust #1) 7 Ricky Laycock / Kim Laycock 8 Deon Lynd / Robert Thistleton 9 Stuart Firth / Steve Chivers 10 Chris Hughes / Jodie Donavan 11 Skin Chessells / Doug Shaefer 12 Russell Mitchell / Mark Strachan 13 Kevin Pittman/ Bernard Davis 14 Wayne Munck / Brodie Cohen 15 Bill Sewell/ Loueen Sewell 16 Dave Botterell / Peter Teale (Aust #2) 17 Michael MacKenzie / Robbie Wilson 18 Col Nichilson / Shortie The website address is http://www.pioneerpark.homestead.com/

The meeting at Pioneer Park on the 29th October should be an absolute cracker. With a fantastic field in the sidecar masters and solo support program. Looking forward to seeing the Holder clan again.

I'm sure Briggo was most dissapointed that Ivan Mauger beat Bernie in the runoff, Bernie was gaining on him though so another clinical inside move to force Ivan off the line would of done the trick

Simon must really love the warmth and hospitality that Australia has to offer. He's already made several visits downunder, he'll certainly add something to the Australian Final. I presume he'll be catching up with Mr Kwiksnax "Trevor Harding" who now resides on the Central Coast of NSW, so maybe looking good for a few rides at Gosford???????

Does anyone know where I can get a front tyre for a Junior bike, the new 19 inch proper speedway tyres?

Mick Poole Speedway Spares 02 43413888 or 0409 434133 ...

You'd be surprised at the win at all costs attitude Lunchy. Some of the 125's go like the clappers and I'm certain if someone comes out with something quicker there will be a glut of cashed up parents equal to the task. Of course there's the age old theory that you still have to ride the thing but it does help to have the extra speed.

I've heard this too, the shupa 4 valves will be legal from 1st January. There also appears to be an increasing number of thumpstar engines appearing. Anything that increases the expense is bad in my opinion. Unlike the Honda's where parts are easy to find I'm wondering how difficult and expensive it will be to maintain the new bikes.....will they be that much quicker on the small tracks anyway?

Matty Cheshire eh. No doubt related to Dave...how time flies by, I remember Dave arriving in England as a 16 year old in 1983? Last time I saw Dave he was broken down alongside the road en route to Murray Bridge along with the rest of the WA entourage on their way to the practice for the Australian Titles

This week will see the first two meetings in the North v South Queensland series. The first meeting is at Pioneer Park on Friday night (9th Sep) with meeting number two taking place the following night. Following on from the successful New South Wales tour these meetings look like being just as exciting with strong lineups for both teams. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing NSW youngster Chris Holder again, Chris is guesting for North QLD with his Brother James in the Southern side. Chris's clashes with the likes of Scott Smith on the super fast Pioneer Park circuit should be a treat. The Junior matches also look interesting with Australian number two Darcy Ward taking it to the locals who include the Queensland number one and two in their side.

Looks like he'll be ok, I heard on Sunday that he should be fit for the meetings on Sep 9/10.

As the first two Queensland State matches approach the North Queensland teams and team manager have been announced. Senior Team Roy Stout (Captain) Steven Reid Chris Holder (Aust U21 Champ-Guest rider) Ricky Barney Scott Mckenna Jeremy Linton Junior Team Josh Grajczonek (Captain) Nick Morris Clinton Dennis Mitchell Weismentel Tyler Moon Team manager - Gary Davey The team will have specially made race jackets and team shirts sporting the Rhino emblem, with the slogan NQ Rhinos on top with Pioneer Park "Home of the hard chargers" underneath. The first two matches will be held at Pioneer Park on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th September with the return fixtures in Brisbane on 4th November and Gold Coast on the 5th. The South Queensland team will be managed by Neil Gould with a very strong team comprising the likes of Scott Smith, John Oliver, Dave Booth, James Holder (guest), Jon White plus another (sorry unsure). The teams concept looks like expanding with New South Wales joining in the fun at some stage in the future. Its all very encouraging for domestic racing in the Eastern States, lets hope these initial meetings are a huge success with riders and fans alike.

Its the gaps between races that has long been a problem. Its one of the reasons speedway has had difficulties attracting new fans. Lets face it who wants to sit or stand around for extended periods during races, do the maths, if a meeting lasts for two hours with only twenty minutes of racing or on track activity thats a lot of minutes with nothing happening. My local track in Australia (Pioneer Park in North Queensland) incorporates sidecar racing, Junior speedway(Under 16's), and stock bikes in the main program. I think its fair to say that if they had 15 speedway races without the extras people wouldn't believe they were getting value for money. Strange as it may seem even with the many extra races the local meetings still finish around 2200.

It has been confirmed that the Holder brothers Chris and James will be making the very long trip to North Queensland courtesy of Pioneer Park owners Shelly and Rhino Ryan. The brothers will ride in two meetings at Pioneer Park, the first on Friday 9th September and then the following night Saturday 10th. The two brothers will be split one joining the North Queensland team (Chris I believe) and one joining South Queensland. The teams will be made up of either five or six riders (TBA). I also believe Chris and James will be competing at the Mike Hatcher Park Speedway on the Gold Coast in the very near future. Its an exciting time for the sport in North Queensland, here's a list of upcoming events; 27th August - May Steel Memorial (Brandon) Annual event in memory of the many years service this lady gave to North Queensland speedway. This meeting usually see's some old timers don their leathers with riders like Merve Jenke and Peter Christopher mentioned. From all accounts Jenke stole the show last year. 28th August - North Queensland Team Practice (Pioneer Park) 9th September - North Queensland v South Queensland (Pioneer Park) - Meeting one in the Junior and Senior Solo teams challenge 10th September - North Queensland v South Queensland (Pioneer Park) - Meeting two in the Junior and Senior Solo teams challenge 17th September - Dirt Track / Speedway meeting (Brandon) 24th September - Mick Poole's Junior Training Day (Pioneer Park) 8th October - Queensland Under 16 Solo Title (Pioneer Park) - Qualifying to be conducted during the September meetings with top 8 from NQ and top 8 from SQ 15th October - Dirt Track / Speedway meeting (Brandon) 29th October - North Queensland Sidecar Masters (Pioneer Park) - Top quality sidecar field including current Australian champions and placegetters. 12th November - Queensland Sidecar Titles (Pioneer Park) 28th November - Dirt Track / Speedway meeting (Brandon) In addition to the above plans are currently underway to re introduce solo racing to the Edmonton Speedway in Cairns, former rider Dennis Cavil is in the process of finalising riders for an appearance possibly in the first week of September. The top local riders face a very hectic schedule right through the winter months with many also competing in dirt track events.

Pioneer Park have a meeting scheduled for this Saturday night the 13th August. This will be the third meeting for new promoters Shelly and Rhino Ryan and follows close on the heels of the hugely successful Queensland v New South Wales series. Racing starts at 6pm with Junior and Senior Solos and Sidecars, Stockbikes and Formula 200's. In other North Queensland news; Mick Poole will be conducting a Junior (Under 16's) coaching clinic at Pioneer Park on 24th September. The day is due to start at 0900 continuing until late afternoon. The North Queensland v South Queensland series is now confirmed with the first two meetings at Pioneer Park due in September (9th and 10th). The Northern teams are due to be announced this weekend. Pioneer park will stage the Queensland Junior Championships on October 8th, the top 8 from the North and South will compete with qualifying for the Northern kids during one of the September meetings. Next meeting at Brandon will be the annual May Steel Trophy on 27th August, this meeting usually see's quite a few of the elder Statesmen donning leathers, riders like Merve Jenke who can still cut the mustard with the youngsters. May Steel was involved in speedway racing in North Queensland for many many years and this meeting is held in her memory. For more info on Pioneer Park speedway check out the website http://www.pioneerparkspeedway.com

Main Man, I have sent you a private message re contact details.