Broadford - Sunday 10th October

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

A gorgeous 25 degree temperature and clear blue skies greeted those who made the trek out to Broadford today for the first meeting of the year. As soon as I heard the sounds of revving engines and smelt my first whiff of Castrol R I remembered there is a place called heaven. In the beginning there were signs of expected rustiness but as the meeting progressed there was some remarkably good racing on what was later described to me by one rider as "a lovely smooth track".

 

There were a few minor problems (namely no announcer and no food truck !!) so I'll go with some ad hoc thoughts on the meeting. A major problem was no Bundy for the after meeting BBQ (note to Bryn - get that sorted soon mate) but new friends were made and old acquaintances were renewed so all was well in the end.

 

My awards

 

"Ride of the day" award - Ty Proctor for a stunning outside line for all of lap one to catch and pass Corey Gathercole, Gathercole had led into turn 1 from the inside gate but Proctor kept it screwed on and went round the outside on turn 1 & 2 to be level entering the back straight. He then kept the power on to go round the outside on turn 3 & 4 and was never headed after that.

 

"I'm exhausted" award (1) - Matt Jones who as well as entering the A grade solos also entered a bike in the classic solos section. Sadly for Matt much of the classic solo section involved riding around to the start, the bike expiring at the tapes, and Matt pushing it back to the pits. To be fair he did finish a couple of rides towards the end of the day.

 

"I'm exhausted" award (2) - Danny Young who featured both in the classic solos and as a passenger in the 250 cc sidecars. Not bad for a young'un !!

 

"Awww .... Bless" award - just to prove speedway is a family sport out here note down the hot favourite to be 2029 world champ - the currently 4 year old son of 1000cc sidecar pilot Steve Davies who did some demo laps on a 50cc peewee that was nearly as big as he is (that's the son, not Steve by the way). Despite banter from the crowd along the lines of "hey Steve, he doesn't take after you mate .... he gets off the line really well" nothing could wipe the smile from a proud Dad's face.

 

"I'm confused" award - me. I thought I was seeing double when "T Proctor" came out to do some demo laps when "T Proctor" had already raced in the A grade solos. The penny finally dropped when I realised that Toby Proctor was doing some laps on elder brother Ty's bike wearing an identical race jacket. Very nice tidy style the young member of the family possessed too.

 

All in all a good meeting with a very competitive 250cc sidecar section that more often than not had them "like a bunch of bananas" coming out of turn 2 on lap 1. Reports are there are quite a few more outfits set to take the track soon so picking a winner in that section could he harder than picking the winning numbers in lotto. Next meeting should be even better in the solos with the expected return from the UK of Chris Ferguson and Karlis Ezergailis plus the addition of Ash & Mark Jones who did not ride today. All in all I can't wait !!