whowasthatberntpersson

The football link on my credit card bill got me too, then I remebered seeing the same thing when I subscribed to Backtrack.

Any news on the international inclusions? Cheers Poona. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Interesting question Poona because I've also heard Labrador will have a strong support solo field for the next meeting (Queensland Sidecar Championship) which will include Internationals. Does anyone have any idea what riders are heading Down under this year?

Must say how dissapointed I am with the non appearance (at this stage) of Jason Crump in this years four round Australian Championship. I understand the need for riders to have a break but this is real downer for Australian based fans. Last years multi round Championship was a success, Jason's inclusion as World Champion this year would of given the sport in OZ a bit of a boost. The Australian Championship had been losing its appeal for many years until last year when something different was tried, pity Jason can't do his bit to try to re establish this once great event on the calender.

Just wondering who won the Michanek Race jacket? That would be a very nice piece of Speedway memorabilia.

Does anyone know when the pre ordered books are going to be sent?

Absolutely, I think the glassware idea comes from Andy's trips to Eastern Europe (I'll call it the Roman Jankowski influence).....Andy, please explain.

Not this year Jeff, but I'm hoping to join you in the next year or two. Its definitely in my "Things to do" list.

I think Lunchy is talking about Glenn R? He's not a lecturer, I believe he works in IT. I agree with most of the points made, one thing though, here in QLD there appears to be an hidden agenda. To be honest we have sufficient tracks in the Brisbane/Gold Coast areas to suffice. What i have noticed is the lack of riders/rider nominations. I can't quite work it out but its not uncommon to see talented riders watching the action from the bar area. The three tracks, Labrador, Northgate, and Gatton do struggle with rider nominations. I see the problem areas as being; Politics Cost Noise Restrictions Lack of junior development in certain States Moto X Lack of Practice facilities Poor advertising of meetings Lack of media coverage (including TV, Newspaper, and Radio) Things that will help; Simplify rules and regulations, I'm often hearing of parents getting fed up with all the politics involved,..end result the Kid is taken from speedway. Give the beginners somewhere to practice. Bring down the cost of equipment.. engines, tyres, etc. Worthwhile competitions, rather than some of the crazy programming seen, sometimes the top riders hardly meet resulting in uneven races. Advertise and make a meeting appeal to newcomers rather than the handful of die hards who will turn up rain hail or shine. Finally make the top boys contest State and National Championships, the lack of interest in these meetings is appalling and has to have an effect in the overall scheme of things.. Why do i see Moto X as being a problem area? Compare the two; How easy is it to get setup in Moto X? A kid or an adult with a Moto X bike can ride almost anytime anywhere. Equipment is easily attainable. Etc Etc. So why can't we target Moto X riders? offer them an oppertunity to ride a speedway bike, who know's once they've had the thrill they may just stick with us. Just my thoughts, losing the GP after one attempt was a huge lost oppertunity to raise the sports profile, likewise losing the David Tapp orgainised Masters Series.

It was another generous gesture by Andy, well done mate, your efforts are obviously much appreciated. All the best for the upcoming events in your personal life too

I had the pleasure of meeting both of these fine Gentlemen prior to the Sydney Grand Prix. Bob Andrews has so much energy, he was running around trying to organise group photographs for me, and generally spoke so enthusiastically about his time in the saddle, hard to believe he's 68 years young now. Roy Trigg actually visited Dudley Wood whilst on a visit to the UK last year, I think most of us know what his thoughts were after seeing what has happened there. Two fine ambassadors who still love speedway.

Bernt Persson

That team is more recent than others that have been mentioned too. Then there's the likes of Simon Wigg and to a lesser extent John Boulger and Anders Michanek all world class. In the last 30 years i reckon a fantasy team made up of Heathens would take some beating. Belle Vue look tasty over a longer period though.

Maybe young Connor Penhall will lead the Heathens in a similar way in years to come. One can only hope.

Thanks for posting the pics Andy.

For such a high profile event details of the solo part of proceedings are certainly very sketchy. I've heard the rumours about demonstration races etc. Seems the promoters don't care about the die hard solo fans who would make an effort to get to this event if there wasn't so much uncertainty surrounding it.

This is terrible news, I was only talking to a young lady recently, she's just started riding and guess where she was doing her training? With the closure of Bibra Lake following the huge loss of Claremont I guess this leaves speedway in WA pretty thin on the ground? I know Dave Cheshire was having some success with training schools, wonder where this will leave our friends in the West.

RIP Cyril. Although I can't remember him as a rider I do remember him as the manager of Wimbledon Dons, still have some old programmes with his pieces in. Hope he enjoyed his final years in Tenerife, riding his motorcycle round the coastline.

I remember reading about a couple of old fellas still having a spin on the Californian scene not so many years ago. Both approaching seventy. Tom Castagnola was one, I have spoken to his Daughter via the net recently and I believe ha has finally called it a day, interestingly Tom was also a preacher.

I remember Jerzy Rembas, didn't he ride well in a World Final at Wembley, always think of him as being ok. Same with Cieslak, when he rode for White City.

Reminds me of Erik Gundersen's arrival in Britain, living in a dingy flat above a butchers shop in a not so nice part of Wolverhampton, must of given him all the inspiration he needed. He prepared for the 1981 World Final whilst living there. Imagine some rising star preparing for a World Championship in conditions like that these days?

Ever heard of Jack Milne............... Ryan? World Champion '1937' (1st Jack Milne USA and New Cross, 2nd Wilber Lamoreaux USA and Wimbledon 3rd Cordy Milne USA and Hackney Wick. In front of a Wembley crowd of 85,000) I think Ryan was trying to point out that Scott Autrey's success had a huge influence on American speedway resulting in the likes of Penhall, Schwartz, Sigalos, Cook, Morans, Preston, Gresham, etc, etc, giving Britain a try, Jack Milne's success probably didn't have quite the same effect. Without a doubt Jack Milne enjoyed greater individual success, but did his success prompt the invasion of talent the same way that Scott Autrey's did? Before my time, but i don't think so. It was only after Scott's success that America could produce a seven or eight man team capable of holding their own against England in England, probably no coincidence there, although the Ivan Mauger/Barry Briggs inspired World teams that raced in California in the eiarly seventies probably got the momentum going also.. Scott also started his British career at one of the largest/fastest tracks around, not sure where Scott started his American career but you don't get much different than Exeter and Costa Mesa.

Don't forget the new Sydney Showground has already hosted a speedway event, Australia v USA. Can't remember the exact year/date though.

Very interesting. Please tell us more.

To put it into perspective the track was graded after every 6 races (4 solo and 2 Sidecar) that adds up to around six minutes of action followed by the grades, the first track grade seemed to take much longer than the rest but there is no doubt that there were too many. People were whinging about the delays, some of these people were hard core speedway fans, if you can't keep them happy what chance have you got with a casual one off observer?.. It was an ideal opportunity to attract a few new fans, the delays and other pitfalls probably haven't helped in that respect, something to work on, lets be positive. I have seen much better racing at Labrador, but its often the case when the top boys ride anywhere, less mistakes less overtaking, etc, etc, no excuses though the track wasn't at its best.....maybe because of the grading, but the racing was very fast and we got to see the best Aussie final lineup for many years. I would say Sir Lunchalot's crowd estimate is closer to the mark than Big and Beefy's, I didn't notice too many people leaving before the final race either. The crowd was pretty much what I expected. I enjoyed the night anyway.

What a list of races, there have been so many classics over the years though, some of them not in high profile meetings. One that is often talked about but doesn't have video footage is the Peter Collins v Anders Michanek clash during the Belle Vue v Reading KO Cup Final many moons ago, not sure if it was the decider, apparantly they passed each other on just about every turn..