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UK speedway slowly dying


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10 minutes ago, chunky said:

Aye... Give 'em a bike rack, some black leathers, a pair of cricket gloves, football shirt and socks, and a neckerchief, and they're good to go...

And a boiler suit for when it rains...:D

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32 minutes ago, chunky said:

Aye... Give 'em a bike rack, some black leathers, a pair of cricket gloves, football shirt and socks, and a neckerchief, and they're good to go...

Them were the days!

When I gave speedway a go at King's Lynn we were shown a box and told to muck thru' and find the appropriate clothing...think I found matching boots?

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1 minute ago, steve roberts said:

Them were the days!

When I gave speedway a go at King's Lynn we were shown a box and told to muck thru' and find the appropriate clothing...think I found matching boots?

Sounds about right!

Did you also cut a piece of tyre for a knee pad?

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59 minutes ago, chunky said:

Sounds about right!

Did you also cut a piece of tyre for a knee pad?

I did. Fell off many times! I've now got nostalgia and neuralgia, but I've kept my leathers and boots. They are black of course!!! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Was at the Isle of Wight last night, went a long way to put my faith back in speedway, Barry and martin understand the importance of the fans, great slick show geared towards the fans, meeting was marred by a horrific crash involving Chris mackett and Tim Curnock which resulted in a meeting being abandoned and the air ambulance being called , hope the guys are ok but that aside it is a fantastic slick show and very good value for money 

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4 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Was at the Isle of Wight last night, went a long way to put my faith back in speedway, Barry and martin understand the importance of the fans, great slick show geared towards the fans, meeting was marred by a horrific crash involving Chris mackett and Tim Curnock which resulted in a meeting being abandoned and the air ambulance being called , hope the guys are ok but that aside it is a fantastic slick show and very good value for money 

Blimey is that the same Tim Curnock who used to ride for the "Cheetahs" junior team back in the early eighties together with a certain "Buster Chapman" ? I know that he was still riding on the grass up until recently.

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Yes steve roberts it's the same Tim Curnock. He races sometimes at Lydd speedway track in Kent and goes very. One of the the very good veterans that get to ride down there.

Photo of Tim leading Gary Ohare

Tim Curnock Gary Ohare.jpg

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19 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Was at the Isle of Wight last night, went a long way to put my faith back in speedway, Barry and martin understand the importance of the fans, great slick show geared towards the fans, meeting was marred by a horrific crash involving Chris mackett and Tim Curnock which resulted in a meeting being abandoned and the air ambulance being called , hope the guys are ok but that aside it is a fantastic slick show and very good value for money 

This Chris Mackett, I assume?

https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/1813/chris-mackett

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9 minutes ago, frigbo said:

I think so, I see him at various meetings but not sure of his speedway background but the age fits and he is from that neck of the woods 

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Watching the GP from Cardiff tonight. Shame about the track the most positive thing I took from the meeting on TV was Scott's interview with top gears Chris Harris. He seemed genuinely impressed & the comment perfect blue print for a evening of motor sport at least shows there is something positive.

 

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3 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Watching the GP from Cardiff tonight. Shame about the track the most positive thing I took from the meeting on TV was Scott's interview with top gears Chris Harris. He seemed genuinely impressed & the comment perfect blue print for a evening of motor sport at least shows there is something positive.

 

perversely, and this is my interpretation of what he said and I don't know who he is, but what he seemed to like was exactly what was wrong with the track. Riders struggling to hang on to beasts of machines was his comment I think. When for me speedway at its best is like ballet not a bucking bronco.

but yes I understand Top Gear is a popular show so he is probably influential.

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6 minutes ago, enotian said:

When for me speedway at its best is like ballet not a bucking bronco.

When I watched speedway as a kid, one of the big attractions for me was watching all those he-men struggling to control a bucking bronco in deep dirt! And they managed it. You have to appreciate ALL aspects of the sport, but mostly the control - even when control seems impossible. The power of the bikes these days does make it physically impossible, which is why they can't race on dirt...

Edited by chunky
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15 minutes ago, chunky said:

When I watched speedway as a kid, one of the big attractions for me was watching all those he-men struggling to control a bucking bronco in deep dirt! And they managed it. You have to appreciate ALL aspects of the sport, but mostly the control - even when control seems impossible. The power of the bikes these days does make it physically impossible, which is why they can't race on dirt...

but that wasn't the problem tonight though was it.  too much dirt.  it was an unfit track. rutted up making it extremely difficult to slide the bike. I'm sure it wasn't the sort of spectacle the organisers would have wanted.

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52 minutes ago, enotian said:

but that wasn't the problem tonight though was it.  too much dirt.  it was an unfit track. rutted up making it extremely difficult to slide the bike.

The fact is that the bikes react the same to dirt, ruts, holes etc; they just take off...

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22 hours ago, frigbo said:

Yes it is Chris Mackett. Below is a photo from the VETS meeting at Lydd in 2018, Chris Mackett in Blue, Graham Knowler ( aother ex Canterbury) in Yellow.

178.jpg

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10 hours ago, chunky said:

The fact is that the bikes react the same to dirt, ruts, holes etc; they just take off...

and I imagine riders/bikes of yesteryear would have struggled to slide on that track. we can't keep blaming the bikes for every ill.  Sport is about being fitter, faster, stronger, skilful or more intelligent/fearless than your opponents. yes there has to be regulation of the machinery but the clue is in the title 'speed'way, the whole ethos is to go faster. this isn't a tortoise and hare sport the hare should always win. and we see how thrilling the sport can be when the riders are given the right surface to perform.

different if the bikes have become unrideable on all tracks but to an extent that's self regulating as the riders wouldn't use bikes they can't ride.

look at football. I love the retro matches from the 70's but the standard was rubbish because the pitches were awful. fast forward to 2022 and now Coventry are cancelling fixtures because their pitch isn't good enough, I bet its way better than what teams used to play on. but the authorities have realised that the sport should be played on surfaces that reward skill over chance or strength. Speedway should be no different.

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