hawkeyenz

Bradley Wilson Dean is saying on Facebook that he is heading back to the UK early in the New Year. No indication of plans mentioned though. He is not taking part in the NZ Solo League that is being run again this year. The reason he gives is his equipment that he sent home is now arriving in January. I presume he intends to ride in the NZ Championship meeting on the 24th January?

I remember when Martin Yeates had the 1974 season with Eastbourne and broke the Arlington track record in Heat 2. Happy days.

My kids love speedway. My younger boys are 12 and 10 and they've always come with me but my daughter 14 was always resistant as her Mum hates the noise and smell (My wife has many great qualities but how can you hate the smell!!!), my daughter came with me to the NZ Midget Championship this year under considerable protest. By the end of the meeting she was working out when the next one was!! We often take the kids friends and they have uniformly enjoyed it and wanted to go again but they can never get their parents to take them. There seems to be a missing generation that has no concept of what speedway is? In NZ you can't even blame the price as it is cheap entertainment. Often the third and fourth kid are free and you can always cobble together some 'Family Concessions' with strangers at the turnstiles if you are so inclined which will get 2 adults and all the kids in for about NZ $30 or about 15 quid.

They even had a bit of a write up in the April Sky Magazine about Greg Hancock being an inspiration to all sportsmen over 40!!! The first one is Sunday 19th April at 5am on Sky Sport 4.

It would be very doubtful. There are only three tracks that run solo / sidecar meetings regularly. It is a minority sport here and the big tracks in the large centres run cars. Think Western Springs and Ruapuna in Auckland and Christchurch. When we moved to Christchurch in the seventies from England, Ruapuna used to run mixed meetings with Solos, Sidecars, Sprint cars, Midgets and TQ's (3/4 Midgets with motorbike engines) Once they started using a clay surface you could no longer turn the bikes. Christchurch is only 350,000 people but has three tracks, often competing against each other for punters. Ronnie Moore is dedicated to bikes, Ruapuna the open wheel classes and Woodford Glen Stocks and Saloons etc. The spectator base at Ronnie Moore is mostly late forties or older who remember Moore, Briggs and Mauger!! At least this year Sky have the Grand Prix's on live and hopefully they will still run the Swedish League matches delayed.

I'm an Eagles fan now living in NZ and I'm really happy that Eastbourne have given Bradley a chance. Kiwis gave great service to the British Speedway scene and it is very hard for guys from here to get experience which will allow them to progress.

The Final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCSOyzsKTG4&feature=youtu.be

Bunyan stopped while leading his semi final. He was beaten in each of his first two heats but then seemed to have overcome some issues with his bike. Sims led the final deep into the third lap but made a couple of small mistakes to allow Sarjeant to move through to win even though he had exited turn 2 lap 1 in fourth place. Enjoyable meeting but it would have been good if the Auckland contingent were there to strengthen the field. Hayden Sims was unbeaten in the qualifying with some quick gating. Hopefully he can continue to improve and go further in the sport. I like Dale Finch as well. A real battler.

Delayed The showing with a Link seems to be at 4.00pm on Tuesdays. Sam Ermelenko one of the commentators.

Hi For all the kiwis on here. A heads up that Sky NZ are showing 2 hour complete Swedish League meetings. It's great to see some league speedway, maybe they'll pick up the Elite League or Poland next?

One of the problems is the crowd is heavily made up of older Kiwi's who know Mauger Briggs and Moore and can remember the glory days. Very few younger locals. Cost is prohibitive for attracting first timers and it's a shame the awesome racing this time wasn't replicated the first time they ran at the Springs.

I took my three sons up from Christchurch. Fantastic spectacle and the racing was superb. My first trip to the Springs and it was a real racers track. The crowd was decent but most people around us were 45+ from a generation that can remember Mauger, Briggs and Moore. There were quite a few Aussies and a small group of young Danes down in front of us. As everyone says NZ is no longer a motorcycle speedway power and the stuff at Ronnie Moore Park is light years short of what was served up on Saturday night. To get 25,000 in attendance you have to get younger people there and the ticket prices were similar to an All Black Test match so pretty steep for someone that has no idea what to expect.

If the Auckland GP was rained off on the Saturday would they retry to stage it on the Sunday? I'm just trying to organise my flights.

There doesn't appear to be any coverage on Sky NZ this year. It was on live last year. We have a program on Sky called 'The Dirt' which covers the Midget and Sprint Cars from Western Springs and in the last program they had a 3 minute segment on the GP so I'm hopeful they might cover it? Any Kiwis in the know?

Eastbourne beating Coventry 47 - 31 in 1980. They hardly won a match all year but scored a 4 - 2 in heat 10 and then 5 -1's in 11 - 13. Dave Kennett had a storming meeting scoring 10. Mitch Shirra was so frustrated he punched Kai Niemi in the pits sparking a brawl. Those were the days. For those of you who have fond memories of Arlington in the early 80's have a look at YouTube Easbourne Vs Wolves 1980. Great wheel to wheel racing and plenty of passing.

He seems to come from a famous Motorcross family. His father was Bert Flood. If you do a search with "Gary Flood" Bultaco you will find heaps of interesting information. In 2009 he lived in Coldstream just outside Melbourne.

I think that Gary went back to Australia and rode Motorcross. I also found this: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedwayyears/1980.html A Gary Flood signed for Exeter but injured a shoulder in a pre-season challenge in 1980. I remember seeing him at Eastbourne in 1972. Crewe held us to 41-37 which was quite an a achievement. I think Phil Crump and Gary Flood scored 14 and 13 from 5 rides each. He scored 6 at Eastbourne earlier in the year but won his first race. He was a talent, no doubt about it. If it is the same person he is also a multiple Australian Motocross champion.

Have you seen this? http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofiary_%C5%9Bmiertelne_wypadk%C3%B3w_w_sporcie_%C5%BCu%C5%BClowym My Polish is nil but it looks like a list of riders that have died on the track. Both your guys are on it. Depressingly long list. The website given credit is www.motorcyclingvic.com.au but I can't navigate my way to anything useful.

Hi I'm in NZ but found this on the Web. =Don%20McKinnon&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=538&tx_ttnews[backPid]=95&cHash=dc2288698e"]http://www.ma.org.au/index.php?id=97&tx_ttnews[swords]=Don%20McKinnon&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=538&tx_ttnews[backPid]=95&cHash=dc2288698e Relevant portion. Lives were also lost to Speedway during the 1970’s. Lex Fielding passed away at Carina Speedway, Bundaberg in 1971. Also Don McKinnon lost his life at the Exhibition Ground in 1972 along with Swedish international Christer Sjosten in 1979. Unfortunately, Brisbane rider Terry Madden passed at NSW Lismore Speedway in 1974. Their memories will continue to inspire us all. It mentions both of your riders and they were in the Solo division. Hope that helps.

From the NZ Speedway Site. Solo Championships New Zealand - Moore Park - February 18, 2012 1NZ: Jason Bunyan 2nza, 2NZ: Grant Tregoning1nzi, 3NZ: Dale Finch 7c Grand Prix - Oreti Park - February 11, 2012 First: Jason Bunyan 2nza, Second: Paul Hayes 26i, Third: Dale Finch 7c North Island - Rosebank - March 18, 2012 First: Sean Mason 21k, Second: Jamie Moohan 14a, Third: Dylan Hancock 9a South Island - Oreti Park - January 28, 2012 First: Grant Tregoning 1nzi, Second: Dale Finch 7c, Third: Paul Hayes 26i NZ Under 21 - Rosebank - December 11, 2011 First: Dylan Hancock 9a, Second: Sean Mason 21k, Third: Bradley Wilson-Dean 4b It was run at Rosebank in Auckland but there is no results on their website.

Quite enjoyed the meeting. 50+ races. Not too much passing in the International series. Bunjan passed Tregoning in the first heat and battled his way through to second in the final. Tregoning and Aldridge were the best of the Kiwis. If they gated then the Internationals found it hard to pass them. Tregonings fall in his last heat cost him a place in the final. I guess the disapointing thing for me was the lack of improvement from last year in any of the locals who rode. There is still no-one apart from perhaps Tregoning able to mix it at Premier League level. The sidecars were entertaining and their were a few promising looking guys in the support events. There was one lad from Invergargill that got a start in the C Final and was competitive until he fell while second.

There is an article on Bill Buckley the man behind the GP in Auckland. It's interesting. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6156968/Sunday-profile-Dirt-track-genius The NZ scene is run down there is no doubt about that but for such a small country we have extraordinary success in many sports, including most motosports. I think the GP might open a few eyes to the possibilities of a career in Europe. Remember Denmark was hardly a hotbed of speedway until Ole Olsen's success. Most people under 35 in NZ would have no idea who Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs and Ronnie Moore were but a world class event might publicise New Zealands heritage in speedway and inspire some kids. We can but hope.

Moore Park calendar: http://www.moorepark.co.nz/calander.html I think the internationals are riding at Ruapuna on Saturday 7th January. So two meetings on successive nights in Christchurch. I hope it is on the big track and not on the training track on the infield.

More publicity in the paper. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorsport/6062928/Speedway-legend-Briggs-wants-NZ-support

They had Barry Briggs and Ole Olsen on the main TVNZ news last night. Quite a long segment in the sports news. Olsen in NZ to view the facilities. They were talking up a crowd of 25,000 - 30,000. The tickets are on sale and are priced reasonably for NZ sports prices. I paid more to see a League 1 game when we were on holiday in England in October. Barry broke his ankle riding in the Invercargill beach races last weekend. Not bad to still be competing as a 76 year old. I'm hoping to get up to Auckland for the meeting, looking for some cheap flights. I definitely concur on needing something to sit on at 'The Springs' as the concrete seats are very hard.