Another Speedway Closes

[martinmauger]

No not another speedway track as we know it (Jim) but Rockingham Motor Speedway.  Someone at work asked me if a speedway track had recently closed, I asked of the sad list of 3 (or 4 Coventry at Leicester) "What Buxton, Lakeside or Workington ?", I was told "no, somehere in Northampton". Frustratingly I can't get links to copy & paste or work but type Rockingham Speedway and info & links should appear.  A shame and is oldish news and hardly relevant to the sport of speedway, except the site is to be some kind of 'vehicle hub complex', whereas I'd have bet money on it being sold for housing or retail.  Always thought the place was a bit of a white elephant TBH as with many existing, established race circuits (Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Silverstone, etc) there didn't seem to be a demand for a large 'stadium-type' facility, albeit with a large Indy Car-sized tarmac oval....

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by martinmauger
usual spelling, sigh

[Ray Stadia]

Looking at an article it seems the track was underused for the big money making events.The article I read, said there are many industrial units on the site, many involved in motor sports and the track will probably still be used for testing, auctions and de-fleet car storage etc. The new owners have said the use will still be automotive. I imagine the area has never been thought of as a motorcycle speedway prospect or we would have heard rumours?  

[adonis]

That Indy loop was once destined to be built round the outside of Brandon . mr kirimaa a german businessman bought into Coventry with that as the plan , sadly that was the beginning of the end ,because when he moved on he sold his share to Sandhu , the rest is history

[Dave Jones]

26 minutes ago, adonis said:

That Indy loop was once destined to be built round the outside of Brandon . mr kirimaa a german businessman bought into Coventry with that as the plan , sadly that was the beginning of the end ,because when he moved on he sold his share to Sandhu , the rest is history

I hope no one is" taken in" by this rubbish. 

 

[iris123]

Adonis posting bull rubbish shocker ???? 

[Tsunami]

4 hours ago, Dave Jones said:

I hope no one is" taken in" by this rubbish. 

 

Well I know a lot of people who were taken in by the same Mr Sandhu in 2010 and onwards. Where is his alternative track at these days ????.

[adonis]

27 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Well I know a lot of people who were taken in by the same Mr Sandhu in 2010 and onwards. Where is his alternative track at these days ????.

And I know   that there was once a plan to put a half mile banked oval  round the outside of brandon , the proposal meant taking the backstraight terracing out . and  the track extending out of each end of the stadium  to the end of the stadium footprint , the speedway would then be on the infield and the only viewing would be from the main grandstand .  there was an outline plan displayed at the time . sounds mad Don't it ? , well thats what everybody thought at the time . and the penny must have dropped with with the promotion because MR Kirimaa  the investor disappeared almost as fast as he arrived ,  there must be plenty of folk who remember the proposal , so Ill just wait until someone else posts . at least I wont be waiting with my foot in my mouth  ,like somebody else is

Edited February 20, 2019 by adonis

[Dave Jones]

1 hour ago, adonis said:

And I know   that there was once a plan to put a half mile banked oval  round the outside of brandon , the proposal meant taking the backstraight terracing out . and  the track extending out of each end of the stadium  to the end of the stadium footprint , the speedway would then be on the infield and the only viewing would be from the main grandstand .  there was an outline plan displayed at the time . sounds mad Don't it ? , well thats what everybody thought at the time . and the penny must have dropped with with the promotion because MR Kirimaa  the investor disappeared almost as fast as he arrived ,  there must be plenty of folk who remember the proposal , so Ill just wait until someone else posts . at least I wont be waiting with my foot in my mouth  ,like somebody else is

That "Indy loop"  at Rockingham as you describe it is almost 1.5 miles round, to fit that outside the Brandon track would have required the land  from half the village. I can't imagine how you expected that might happen.

The plan to build an oval around the shortened speedway circuit at brandon was only ever intended to accommodate the quirky little mini-sprint cars that Hans Kirimar promoted for a short period . It was never going to be an alternative for the Rockingham Race Track.

[Chris116]

The cars Hans Kirimar designed are called "Rebels" and they race on both shale and tarmac tracks around the country. Their 2019 fixture list has 23 dates including dates at Stoke and Mildenhall. The Rebels would never have been run on a track bigger than a quarter of a mile as with 750cc Reliant engines they would run out of revs long before the end of the straights. They are a contact class which are probably more fun to drive than watch although I have seen some very good races from them. 

[Dave Jones]

39 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

The cars Hans Kirimar designed are called "Rebels" and they race on both shale and tarmac tracks around the country. Their 2019 fixture list has 23 dates including dates at Stoke and Mildenhall. The Rebels would never have been run on a track bigger than a quarter of a mile as with 750cc Reliant engines they would run out of revs long before the end of the straights. They are a contact class which are probably more fun to drive than watch although I have seen some very good races from them. 

Thanks for the info, i had  Austin7 engines in my mind but couldn't be too sure.  I saw some demo races at Brandon around that time but the racing didn't appeal that much.

[adonis]

2 hours ago, Chris116 said:

The cars Hans Kirimar designed are called "Rebels" and they race on both shale and tarmac tracks around the country. Their 2019 fixture list has 23 dates including dates at Stoke and Mildenhall. The Rebels would never have been run on a track bigger than a quarter of a mile as with 750cc Reliant engines they would run out of revs long before the end of the straights. They are a contact class which are probably more fun to drive than watch although I have seen some very good races from them. 

and he was also involved  with a v8 stock car series ,that rivalled formula 1 and eventually  merged with Brisca F1 . I stumbled on that this afteroon  while i was looking for the press release about the plan for the banked oval aT brandon . sods law I cant find it when i want it . but Ill keep searching .       managed to find this on Wiki  ,       Kirimaa was also  a championship wiining driver over many years ,  No mention on his bio of Rebels cars though ,strange that                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     A letter from BriSCA had been sent to the Hotstox drivers informing them that BriSCA no longer wished to be involved with the Hotstox as long as Kath Lomax was part of the organisation. Whether this stance was in support of Phil Haigh or as a direct reply to Kath Lomax's continued requests for proper treatment of the Hotstox at various tracks or because she resisted joining BriSCA is unclear. The Lomax's regrettably resigned from a formula they had been involved with for nearly 10 years. The whole committee then stood down and BriSCA requested that the Hotstox form a Board of Control to enable an easier integration into BriSCA. Plain and simply, BriSCA did not wish to work with Kath Lomax any longer and Kath honorably stood aside. The new committee was led by Hans Kirimaa.

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by adonis
because o found it

[Gemini]

14 hours ago, adonis said:

That Indy loop was once destined to be built round the outside of Brandon . mr kirimaa a german businessman bought into Coventry with that as the plan , sadly that was the beginning of the end ,because when he moved on he sold his share to Sandhu , the rest is history

So Linda and Martin Ochiltree selling to a known property developer get no criticism, just Sandhu?  I'd say the beginning of the end was when that happened.

[Humphrey Appleby]

19 hours ago, Ray Stadia said:

Looking at an article it seems the track was underused for the big money making events.

They hoped to get some of the big oval racing events, like Indycar and NASCAR, and I remember going to the first race there some years ago. Don't think those lasted long though.

I've been back a few times since for test days, but whilst its a great facility, it always seemed woefully underused. There only seemed to be 2 or 3 cars driving round the track at any given time during the week.

[adonis]

9 hours ago, Gemini said:

So Linda and Martin Ochiltree selling to a known property developer get no criticism, just Sandhu?  I'd say the beginning of the end was when that happened.

you can hardly blame them , when Sandhu  arrived  he was going to invest money which the stadium badly needed , but only once he was in did he reveal his true intention .  and all his subsequent promises to  ensure the bees had somewhere to race came to nothing , he never even looked at a single site , because he never had any intention of seeing the bees keep running . Only complete idiots believe he ever intended to see anythiung oithers than houses and money

[adonis]

6 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

They hoped to get some of the big oval racing events, like Indycar and NASCAR, and I remember going to the first race there some years ago. Don't think those lasted long though.

I've been back a few times since for test days, but whilst its a great facility, it always seemed woefully underused. There only seemed to be 2 or 3 cars driving round the track at any given time during the week.

BSB  used it but the tarmac shredded their tyres  so nobody wanted to ride there ,

 

[adonis]

6 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

They hoped to get some of the big oval racing events, like Indycar and NASCAR, and I remember going to the first race there some years ago. Don't think those lasted long though.

I've been back a few times since for test days, but whilst its a great facility, it always seemed woefully underused. There only seemed to be 2 or 3 cars driving round the track at any given time during the week.

BSB  used it but the tarmac shredded their tyres  so nobody wanted to ride there ,

 

[martinmauger]

I forgot about Rye House closing.  So including Coventry at Leicester, though it could be argued Coventry had already closed the year or so before, that makes 5 clubs lost in the last year: Buxton, Coventry, Lakeside, Rye House, Workington.  There's hope for them all (except possibly Lakeside at least in the immediate future) as the tracks still exist, but worrying just the same....

[Ray Stadia]

Buxton and Rye House are still being used for training, so that is a good thing. As for Coventry, Workington and Lakeside, more likely lost forever, I fear.  

[teaboy279]

Most admit I am slightly shocked I missed a big story Like Rockingham closing when it hit. Hadn't been there since an early ASCAR/Pop Concert combo. But was a fantastic facility. 

One that I always felt warranted a Speedway/Stock Car Stadium tucked up in a corner.

If they could of got a Nascar rnd there, then surely that would of sold out twice over.

[Gemini]

On 2/21/2019 at 9:23 AM, adonis said:

you can hardly blame them , when Sandhu  arrived  he was going to invest money which the stadium badly needed , but only once he was in did he reveal his true intention .  and all his subsequent promises to  ensure the bees had somewhere to race came to nothing , he never even looked at a single site , because he never had any intention of seeing the bees keep running . Only complete idiots believe he ever intended to see anythiung oithers than houses and money

So you are saying the Ochiltrees had no idea he was a property developer then?

"They wanted to turn Brandon Stadium into a housing estate. Instead Avtar Sandhu took it upon himself to transform a famous old fossil of an arena into a stylish and thriving sporting complex. Mixing business with pleasure is not always recommended practice, but for the charismatic Malaysian-born businessman, it has suddenly become a way of life.

Having made most of his money from the telecommunications industry, and shrewd dealings in the property market, he seems to have spent most of it indulging his passion for sport - whether hockey, cricket or, as in the last couple of years, speedway, stock-cars and greyhound racing. Sandhu, who also owns the Norfolk Hotel in Birmingham, purchased a 100 per cent stake in Coventry Stadium at the back end of 2002, buying out the Ochiltree family in the process.  He willingly admits he bought the stadium with the intention of bulldozing it and building houses on the 25-acre site. "I wanted it for housing, and to start with my offer was turned down even though I outbid everyone else," he explained. "The site was offered to an ex-speedway rider but that deal fell through, and they came back to me. I then bought it at a lower price than I first offered."