tomcat Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) Hi all, Just sitting here thinking about the World Championship of years gone by. What ever happened to tracks that used to host rounds of the World Championships, like Frederica(sp) and the like. Seems a lot of these tracks have either not been used or have just dissapeared. If anyone can remember that far back on here, do you have any info. I wasn't too sure on where to post this, so stuck it in here, as it is to do with International Speedway in a way. Any info on whether tracks still exist or why they no longer run WC rounds etc would be appreciated. To be honest, I'm just getting plain bored with seeing the same old venues year after year for the SWC and SGP series. Maybe, if any of the old tracks are still running, they might be up to spec for the SWC or SGP. I know its down to the promoters to bid for these events, but surely there must be more promoters willing to take the risk than the few we keep seeing? Edited November 5, 2009 by tomcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) Fredericia no longer exists.I was talking to Stekkers or Erik Gundersen about that track only in the past year or so. Leningrad is another major venue that i guess has disappeared Edited November 5, 2009 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcat Posted November 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 Fredericia no longer exists.I was talking to Stekkers or Erik Gundersen about that track only in the past year or so. Leningrad is another major venue that i guess has disappeared Hi Iris, Thanks for the heads up on Fredericia, thats answered that one for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted November 6, 2009 Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 Just sitting here thinking about the World Championship of years gone by. What ever happened to tracks that used to host rounds of the World Championships I'd guess there are probably fewer tracks than in the past, and maybe the financial commitments need to stage WC rounds are higher these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted November 6, 2009 Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 Whatever happened to Boras in Sweden? - I only know it as the venue for early World Pairs Finals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsloes 1928 nearly Posted November 7, 2009 Report Share Posted November 7, 2009 Er, well Crayford in international Kent ( ) staged a qualifying round of the World Championship in 1981 (a round won by Barry Thomas ) so can I mention that now sadly defunct venue please!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted November 8, 2009 Report Share Posted November 8, 2009 And the Malmö track that hosted a World Final back in the 60s isn't the same venue that cureently hosts speedway in Malmö Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcat Posted November 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2009 (edited) Malmo... now there's a blast from the past. Reading on the GP section, about what BSI are asking, or reportedly asking, from track promotions/councils to run a GP or SWC round, then its no wonder that we have so few venues to use for these meetings. Its a shame as there were some very good tracks about in years gone bye. And yes Parsloes... you can mention Crayford with pleasure. Laurie Etheridge still rates as my all time fav Kestrel. Just quickly looking at British speedway in general. So many fans are saying they get bored with the same teams visiting 2, 3, 4 or more times a season. Maybe, just maybe one answer lays in the WC rounds. Back in the years when we had the One Off World Finals, we had a WC qualifying round at every Division One track and some Division Two tracks, why can't the FIM and SCB get together and sort this out. What I mean is, it would give EL tracks more fixtures, thus allowing a league fixture list of one home, one away, then a WC Qualifier, British Championship qualifiers, Semi's and then we have the British Final for one lucky track, move that around each year and share it, that fills in some more dates. Just an idea to try and alleviate the repeated appearance of EL league tracks. The PL seem to be doing ok, with the Prem Trophy, Shield matches and their Playoffs too. Don't see many PL teams moaning about seeing the same team too often in a season. And before anyone starts on about One Off World Finals being outdated etc etc etc, I only mentioned them due to the qualifiers, it seems the SGP is here to stay for the foreseeable future, but if we reinstated proper WC qualifiers, it would give more meaningful fixtures to fill the calendar. Other than that, its going to take a severe case of blackmail to get more Pl teams to move up.... but I digress from the main topic here...sorry. Anymore defunct or unused former WC tracks about? Edited November 8, 2009 by tomcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifer sam Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 (edited) All the W's - Wembley, White City, Wimbledon and West Ham. White City was demolished, Wembley was rebuilt without a speedway track and Wimbledon is still there but with unwilling landlords. What about West Ham? All the best Rob Edited November 11, 2009 by lucifer sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conkers Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Hyde Road staged numerous qualifiers and staged the 1974 World Pairs Final (maybe wrong on the year), and didn't Hampden Park in Glasgow stage a Qualifier - British-Nordic Final or something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 All the W's - Wembley, White City, Wimbledon and West Ham. White City was demolished, Wembley was rebuilt without a speedway track and Wimbledon is still there but with unwilling landlords. What about West Ham? All the best Rob west ham was demolished in 1972 to make way for housing. i remember my dad taking me there to the british final in 1970. we sat in the upper tier of the main grandstand with the wooden seats where you got a great view of the whole track. happy days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcat Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 White City, that was some stadium, fantastic, well it was to me back when I was young and fuelled by Methanol and Castrol R fumes.. Makes you want to weep, remembering so many famous old stadiums and their now sad demise. Never had the privilege of going to West Ham to see any speedway, but have seen plenty of pictures and heard a ton of great stories about the old place. Wembley to me, was the spiritual home of the World Final, a bit like it is for FA Cup Finals and the footy. The last Final I went to there, was the 1975 Final, when John Louis became the first Englishman to get on the podium since the late great Peter Craven. Hyde Road was scary, not dangerous scary, but it was such a big daunting track. Used to love watching my speedway there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 This great site on Danish speedway tracks has just been updated with info on the old Fredericia stadium.Well worth a look,not only at this stadium but the rest of the website Fredericia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 This great site on Danish speedway tracks has just been updated with info on the old Fredericia stadium.Well worth a look,not only at this stadium but the rest of the website Fredericia very interesting reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WembleyLion Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 very interesting reading. Hi Tony - yes indeed and did you look at the Korskro (sub menu of Esbjerg) picture showing the old long track that you once visited and the three newer tracks which have subsequently been built. The 80cc meeting I saw was on the middle sized track of the three. Regards Eddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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