whowasthatberntpersson

Just out of interest how many Junior tracks are there in the UK? I'm talking tracks that cater for the 125cc bikes. I'm travelling over to the UK with my Son who rides 125's in Australia and wouldn't mind organising him a ride or two if its possible??????? Any help is greatly appreciated.

It has been reported but unconfirmed that Pioneer Park speedway has been sold to a Brisbane based buyer who is known in speedwy circles (Any guesses?). This should strengthen the future of this potentially fantastic racing venue. The local calender or should I say "rumour mill" already had Pioneer Park penned in for a meeting on the 23rd April, I haven't heard anything to say this has been changed yet. The other venue in these parts "Brandon" run by the Ayr Motorcycle Club had a practice day last Saturday with a smaller than usual rider attendance probably due to the unsettled weather in Townsville, etc.. So the calender for the remainder of April reads; Saturday 16 April - "Brandon" (Normal Club Meeting) Saturday 23 April - "Pioneer Park (Solos and Sidecars) Saturday 30 April - "Brandon" (Junior Challnge, with a strong Junior lineup both local and Interstate with Senior Solo and Dirt Track Support races and QLD Cup for Quads) With the Tropical weather now easing the climate is perfect for a good day/night at the races. Today the sky is blue and we are expecting a maximum temperature of 31 degrees centigrade, forecast for tomorrow is mainly fine.

Blimey Tony you must of been a young un when you were involved in the speedway mail?

I really enjoyed my visits to Blackbird Road, the atmosphere in the main straight was electric during Leicester v Cradley fixtures, and I enjoyed the racing there. I'll never forget the last heat decider in 1980 when Rolf Grandstad? beat Bruce Penhall, didn't Rolf get badly injured shortly after?. A team of triers in the early eighties too. Personally i'd watch speedway almost anywhere, not sure where I'd go if I had to choose between Wolverhampton and Coventry though.....probably Stoke.

Obviously quite a few Aussies have British ancestry and for them the dream is alive. However I think we'd probably all be surprised at how many would be travellers don't. To the ones without any UK or EC connections the chance of giving the "big time" a shot is a distant dream. Back to basics I reckon, State and National Championship participation being a must........for World Championship qualification also.

The loss of handicap racing at various venues in Australia is definately seen by some as one of the main factors behind the decline in speedway solo racing. Speedway needs something different to draw in the neutrals, maybe more handicap racing would help. Watching some talented youngster trying to hold off an experienced top liner certainly appeals to me.

Without any shadow of a doubt my Highlight was just last week when my ten yaer old Son made his Junior speedway debut. Having said that the season hasn't finished in North Queensland so we could better that. Biggest dissapointment.It hurts me to say this but it has to be the inactivity of the current World Champion who in my own opinion could of done so much for speedway in Australia this summer.

In the late seventies Finn Thomson turned up at Cradley in a very small European mini van, I have no idea what it was but he had all his gear squashed in the back.

I actually witnessed some decent racing at White City. Although I never saw league racing there some of the Overseas and Intercontinental Finals were quite good. I know the track received bad press and I do remember it being dry and slick at times but the real racers had the room to have a go in particular the likes of Chris Morton and Bruce Penhall spring to mind.

No problem, get in touch and I'll help you out. Both tracks are a little out of town, heading South from Townsville, about an hour away, but they are very easy to get to (they are both on or just to the side of the Bruce Highway) which is the main Highway in and out of Townsville. Best to email me incase I miss a posting on here.

Diamond, Labrador is on the Gold Coast only a few minutes from the various attractions, Surfers Paradise, etc, and about an hours drive from Brisbane, a great little venue it is too.

Pioneer Park 9th April Brandon 16th April

Diamond, You may be in luck. Pioneer Park - Saturday 9th April (Traditional speedway solos and sidecars, plus Junior Solos) Brandon - Saturday 16th April (Dirt Track and Speedway, speedway is under lights) Email me for more details, locations etc.

Diamond, I'll get the dates for you shortly. My Son made his Junior Racing debut at Pioneer Park on Saturday night and I missed the announcement for the next meeting.

Standby for Pioneer Park and Brandon dates, both an hour out of Townsville. Pioneer Park is for sale but I believe it will continue operating.

Diamond, There are two tracks in the Townsville region running monthly at the moment, they both run on Saturday's (consecutive) usually. So you have a very good chance of seeing one in Mid April. When you say you will be in Queensland I'm assuming you mean North Queensland because its a very long way to Brisbane etc from Townsville. You can contact me via email at lwmorris@iprimus.com.au I'll get the dates asap. There is a meeting at Pioneer Park this Saturday 12th March so I should find out more then. Brandon runs next Saturday 19th. Get in touch when/If you are in the area.

Leigh Adams must be the shortest price in the history of the Australian Championship. The rest of the filed is quite evenly matched. Its a real shame Crump and Sullivan aren't competing...shame being the appropriate word.

He was at the Queensland Championships held at Gatton a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't the start marshall but the announcer did say he was helping out in some capacity. He did ride a couple of meetings on the Gold Coast a couple of years ago if my memory serves me correctly.

There's a meeting at Northgate this Saturday night I'll try to get more details then if not before.

Sorry to hear about the rainoff not having much luck down there are you? Looking forward to the next meeting though, looks like a pretty good lineup for the New South Wales v Queensland Solo Teams Meeting.

Keep the flag flying, just like your near neighbours in the Black Country. Speaking of the Brummies, very sad to hear of the recent passing of one of your all time greats Graham Warren, I had the pleasure of meeting Graham a few years ago and he spoke fondly of his time at Perry Barr.

Is there any chance this young prospect will apear in Oz title meetings? I would love to see him as well as Cameron Woodward who missed last season meetings because of some bad injury. I remember reports about Batchelor when he rode in U-16 meetings. Everyone seemed to be impressed. I also heared something about two Czech riders in Gatton. According to Ross Garrigan report those were Tomas Suchanek and Vaclav Verner. Any comments on them? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not quite Dexter. Vaclav and Jan Verner were with the two Czech's. I'll check my programme however one of them was very impressive, and reports suggest the other one (16 year old) was very nervous and not coping well with his temporary surrounds. Can't remember which was which though.

Scott looked pretty good, although he looks like he's gained a few pounds. I didn't see him in the pits after the race but whilst still on track he seemed to be taking a good look to see what went wrong with his machinery rather than doing the big "Dummy Spit" I really expected quite a scene considering what he'd lost and his short fuse..Maybe it all happened out of site? He made the gate in his semi and he wasn't going to get caught....I really felt sorry for him.

Thanks to Steve Magro who first reported this on the Aussie Speedway list; Three South East Queensland Tracks have agreed to a proposal re-introducing league racing to the area. I say re-introducing because there was a Queensland State League a few years ago. The three tracks are Northgate, Labrador, and Gatton and invites have been sent to riders who would form four man teams. The proposal was also confirmed by officials at the Queensland Title on Saturday night. Basically this is a last ditch effort to stop the decline of solo racing in South East Queensland, if this project doesn't get the support of riders its going to be a long ride home for the sport in our part of the world.

About time you wrote a book Bryn, you could call it Beer, Bikes, and Bundy.