squall Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) I've just got back from a fortnight in Menorca and was amazed to spend an hour last Thursday night watching highlights from the Nordic GP. The programme had Spanish commentary even during the races and went really in depth into the riders scores, etc. It was sort of similar to what they used to put on Channel 4 a few years back. Now for my point... I was in Menorca watching Spanish telly. Spain - what interest do they have in Speedway at all, let alone the GPs? I could watch a Speedway programme. Now I'm in Sheffield watching English telly. England (or Great Britain) - has two riders in the GP and has one of the biggest leagues in the world. The only way I can a Speedway programme is on the net! Edited October 19, 2009 by squall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) As far as I know, there is only one track, which is of training track quality, which was built by a couple of Brit ex-pat riders, near to the town of Murcia. I've not heard any news of it for a couple of years so I don't know if it is still running or if it became someone's "folly". There was an ex-Leicester fan who tried to run a "Speedway Bar" in Bennydorm, but that venture I believe was short lived. I don't think that the hot, dry, sandy, (Rye-House-esque?) conditions suit track preparation in the south of Spain. It would be interesting to see if that telly broadcast was a one-off or if they do speedway regularly on telly over there. Mind you, there will be a lot of MotoGP snobbery to get over for speedway to really take off in that country. Edited October 19, 2009 by uk_martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squall Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Excuse me Mr Mod but this isn't about Speedway IN Spain...just on Spanish telly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 As far as I know, there is only one track, which is of training track quality, which was built by a couple of Brit ex-pat riders, near to the town of Murcia. I've not heard any news of it for a couple of years so I don't know if it is still running or if it became someone's "folly". There was an ex-Leicester fan who tried to run a "Speedway Bar" in Bennydorm, but that venture I believe was short lived. I don't think that the hot, dry, sandy, (Rye-House-esque?) conditions suit track preparation in the south of Spain. It would be interesting to see if that telly broadcast was a one-off or if they do speedway regularly on telly over there. Mind you, there will be a lot of MotoGP snobbery to get over for speedway to really take off in that country. It's been well documented in the Speedway Star and on-line that Russell Paine had to abandon the Spanish project due to severe bureaucratic delays some time ago. The Benidorm bar indeed was also a business failure. There was a speedway track run on Majorca in the early 1970s at Son Pardo di Mallorca by a combination of Reg Luckhurst and Ian Hoskins if I remember correctly. The TV highlights package would be part of IMG's syndication of highlights of the GPs around the world. As Philip Rising has stated here this package is sold to many countries and it's encouraging to hear that someone has actually seen it . As for the UK the whole meeting could of course be seen live and in full on Sky. In the past the highlights programme was sold to Channel 4 and last seen a few years back at some ungodly hour between 1 and 6 am. Rob McCaffery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.