Canada speedway decline

[Guest]

The demise of speedway in Canada? This is part of the text of a message from my friend Tom Marriott in Canada:

"Sad to say but speedway in Canada is all but dead. No Speedway at Paris anymore (I can remember when 30 plus riders showed up in the 1990's).

"Welland now have three or four riders showing up for the speedway class in their limited race schedule.

"So far as I know there are no other speedway tracks running in Canada."

On the other hand Canadian Flat Track racing appears to be flourishing.

http://www.flattrackcanada.com

Edited September 8, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

As a follow up to the demise of speedway in Canada, other countries where the sport has failed include Brazil, Uruguay, Japan, China, Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia, Israel, Egypt, Ireland, Wales.

Edited September 8, 2019 by Guest

[iris123]

Was there a rider called De Javu riding in Canada, because I have a feeling we have been here before !!!

Add the fact earlier this year you said on the Flattrack activity thread Canada hold 6 meetings a year!! Hardly what you would call ‘flourishing’ !!!

Edited September 8, 2019 by iris123

[Guest]

3 hours ago, gustix said:

Canadian Flat Track racing appears to be flourishing.

http://www.flattrackcanada.com

Flat Track racing is also popular in Spain.

https://www.sideburnmagazine.com/dirt-track-rookies-spain

Edited September 8, 2019 by Guest
spelling error

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Add the fact earlier this year you said on the Flattrack activity thread Canada hold 6 meetings a year!! Hardly what you would call ‘flourishing’ !!!

Study the Link. Times have changed. Canadian Flat Track racing appears to be flourishing.

http://www.flattrackcanada.com

[iris123]

Doesn't matter. This isn't the Flat Track section. This all has nothing to do with the section. Just you again trying to put things in which interest nobody and in the wrong section

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Doesn't matter. This isn't the Flat Track section. This all has nothing to do with the section. Just you again trying to put things in which interest nobody and in the wrong section

You appear to be enjoying the initial Post which was to show the decline of speedway in Canada and the fact that an alternative form of track motorcycle racing was active.

[iris123]

Nope. Just reported the topic

[Guest]

It is sad to see the decline in interest for Canadian speedway. Over the years Canada produced some top class riders - probably the best known were Eric Chitty and Jimmy Gibb.

Quite a few other Canadians raced for British tracks over the years. Bill Mathews was another -at West Ham in 1947.

 Without research into their clubs and seasons they also include Crocky Rawding, Goldie Restall, George Pepper, Kyle Legault, Mike Tams, Bruce Venier.

Now it would appear that speedway in Canada is finished. A sad time for speedway worldwide as another nation seemingly is bowing out of the sport.

Edited September 8, 2019 by Guest

[NeilWatson]

I remember Chris Slabon, who so nearly took the World Junior Championship at Peterborough in 2001- thwarted by an engine failure in his last ride. The two reserves that night were Hans Andersen and Chris Harris!

[25yearfan]

Shaun Venables at Hackney and Belle Vue in the early 90's had potential!

 

Kyle Legault a few years back looked promising, then  disappeared!

 

Speedway in Canada seemed to almost go hand in hand with the speedway scene in the New York area. Whats happening out that way speedway wise?

[WembleyLion]

I went to a meeting at Welland in 2017 which was billed as Canada v USA but was basically a 9 race individual for 7 riders (4 from Canada and 3 from USA).

There were 45 races in total, mostly Flattrack and Speedway getting 9 races was as good as it gets.

The Speedway event was won by Jeff Orosz who had come out of retirement. I was fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time in the company of Canadian riders Kyle Legault (who rode for many years in the UK) and Nic Fafard who both told me just how Canadian Speedway has declined in recent times, so much so that the only racing in Canada in 2017 was the 9 races I saw - I was very lucky to be able to plan a trip to coincide with this event!

I don’t believe any Speedway racing took place in 2018 although there was some Speedway (a few races at one meeting) at Welland this summer.

In 2017 I also went to Walkerville in South Africa and experienced much the same as I had done in Canada with Flattrack again dominating the scene.

The decline in Speedway against Flattrack is happening much closer to home as well - Holland and Austria in particular!

 

 

 

 

 

[neil bv]

I called at the Welland track last December & the owner was there. I spoke to him briefly & he said that they held various bike events there in the summer but speedway was virtually none existent. It looked a great little setup although the safety fence was made of plastic bottles. The owner was still in touch with Kyle Legault who i remember seeing  flying around Stoke scoring an 18 point maximum.

[moomin man 76]

2 hours ago, NeilWatson said:

I remember Chris Slabon, who so nearly took the World Junior Championship at Peterborough in 2001- thwarted by an engine failure in his last ride. The two reserves that night were Hans Andersen and Chris Harris!

Indeed, but it was largely a flag of convenience, which led to Chris Slabon was riding under a Canadian flag. As far as I am aware, he grew up in Canada, but learnt his speedway in Poland. To be fair, if I was in his position, I would have done the same, as it would have been far easier to gain a nomination as a Canadian U21 rider, rather than go through the Polish qualifying procedures.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, WembleyLion said:

In 2017 I also went to Walkerville in South Africa and experienced much the same as I had done in Canada with Flattrack again dominating the scene.

The decline in Speedway against Flattrack is happening much closer to home as well - Holland and Austria in particular!

An intersting comment WembleyLion. Further afield Flat Track also appears to be making progress in Australia.

[Bavarian]

14 hours ago, moomin man 76 said:

Indeed, but it was largely a flag of convenience, which led to Chris Slabon was riding under a Canadian flag. As far as I am aware, he grew up in Canada, but learnt his speedway in Poland. To be fair, if I was in his position, I would have done the same, as it would have been far easier to gain a nomination as a Canadian U21 rider, rather than go through the Polish qualifying procedures.

Chris Slabon grew up and learned his speedway in Canada before he came over to Europe and rode in the Polish League (for Wroclaw I seem to remember). As far as I know, Chris has a Canadian passport, which entitles him to represent this country. He is the son of a speedway rider, the former world finalist Robert Slabon, who emigrated with his family from Poland to Canada.