Guest Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 (edited) I would be interested in regard to HISTORICAL speedway in Spain. Thank you. Edited October 24, 2022 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 Have a look at this, John; You had quite a bit of input on this subject... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 I can't vouch for the veracity of the following, but one of our posters once put this on the Speedway Forum. I hope it helps. "Speedways (sic) been tried many times in Spain and failed. A group of Spanish riders even toured the UK in the early 1930s. Post-war there was speedway in Madrid in the late 1940s, and other attempts with teams led by former England international Ted Gibson in 1949 and 1953. There was also another attempt by Wally Mawdsley to promote a track in Madrid in the 1980s. Mainly from what I understand the Spaniards don't like speedway because there are not enough riders in a race and the races are not long enough. I was told this by Spanish family in-laws who went to the1980s meetings in Madrid. As a contrast, Flat Track offers longer races (more laps) and more riders - and that formula is developing quite well. In fact, an indoor track in Barcelona has staged a major Flat Track event several times in recent years and plans are already going ahead for the next event towards the end of this year. I understand there is a 400m track in San Sebastian, Northern Spain, which has hosted international Flat track racing. It could be a venue to consider for a possible one-off speedway meeting to AGAIN test Spanish interest? An interesting starter in the 2016 Flat Track event at San Sebastian was German rider Karl Maier who once rode on speedway for Birmingham. To try and stage a Speeday GP in Spain would generate no interest. The Spanish do not like the sport as very early Posts in this thread indicated before Flat Track commentary took over. From what I understand the Spaniards don't like speedway because there are not enough riders in a race and the races are not long enough. I was told this by Spanish family in-laws who went to the1980s meetings in Madrid. As a contrast, Flat Track offers longer races (more laps) and more riders - and that formula is developing quite well. In fact, an indoor track in Barcelona has staged a major Flat Track event several times in recent years and plans are already going ahead for the next event towards the end of this year. The last active Spanish rider I can trace is Alberto Sirvan, who rode for several seasons in France in the mid-1950s." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 (edited) 48 minutes ago, norbold said: I can't vouch for the veracity of the following, but one of our posters once put this on the Speedway Forum. I hope it helps. Doesn't look like John is interested, does it? Edited October 21, 2022 by chunky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 Seem to recall Reg Luckhurst showed some interest in getting speedway noticed many years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bavarian Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 I wonder if DISCOVERY/EUROSPORT consider Spain as one of their future new markets for the Speedway Grand Prix? By the way, the last speedway rider representing Spain in International events (he rode in a European Championship qualifiying round about five years ago) was Facundo Albin, an Argentinean with Spanish ancestors and dual nationality, who was based in Spain for a couple of years. He is now back in Argentina though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 9 hours ago, chunky said: Doesn't look like John is interested, does it? He has "liked" it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 Does bring up one interesting point. The flattrack meetings. Are they still being raced ? Wasn't Kylmäkörpi in one at least ? Think one, maybe more, were cancelled due to Covid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 What did you think of norbold's info, John? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 9 hours ago, steve roberts said: Seem to recall Reg Luckhurst showed some interest in getting speedway noticed many years ago? I can remember this but it came to nothing. In fact was on holiday in Spain about the same time and none of the tourist people had any clue about it either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 There is this, which mentions Reg... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted October 22, 2022 Report Share Posted October 22, 2022 2 hours ago, wealdstone said: I can remember this but it came to nothing. In fact was on holiday in Spain about the same time and none of the tourist people had any clue about it either I must look it up but in an edition of "Backtrack" a few years abck there was a story about a rider from the UK attempting to get things rolling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Downes Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 Wasn't the rider who tried to get a track running in Spain in the 80's/90's Lee Paine? - I'm sure it was an ex-Arena Essex Junior/Reserve who was trying to get one started but was defeated by Spanish building laws? Happy to be proved wrong if someone has more accurate information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 (edited) Think it was later than the 90s and Russel Paine ? I know the local authorities were causing problems, but also thought a break in and loss of lots of equipment was also one of the straws that broke the camels back 2005 Edited October 23, 2022 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 45 minutes ago, iris123 said: Think it was later than the 90s and Russel Paine ? I know the local authorities were causing problems, but also thought a break in and loss of lots of equipment was also one of the straws that broke the camels back 2005 Yes that name's familiar. Must look out the edition of "Backtrack". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, steve roberts said: Yes that name's familiar. Must look out the edition of "Backtrack". Haven't managed to locate the article but I did come across Reg Luckhurst's involvement in Majorca (co-promoter Ian Hoskins) where a Marshall Pugh was the top rider to emerge during the short period speedway ran at Son Pardo? Edited October 23, 2022 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 Yes, I have a Son Pardo badge. Guess Reg brought a load back for Eddie Toogood to sell at Plough lane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 (edited) Back to the Flat track. It seems the Superprestigio ended in 2017 as far as i can find. And might have had no speedway rider participating. Freddie was in the year before. Can't find anything since, and looked at the Jordi Arena website, and nothing planned for the next year According the the wiki site, a meeting was planned for Paris in 2018, but was then pulled as the organiser announced not enough interest from MotoGP riders https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superprestigio_Dirt_Track It was announced this thursday that this year's Superprestige will take place in Paris. With the event scheduled for December 15th, in UArena, Johann Zarco will be one of the protagonists of this weekend, even because the rider will try to fight for the victory.When asked about this theme, the rider said he will look to be ready for the race, although he recognizes that the favorite is Marc Márquez. However, the frenchman doesn't guarantee that he will not give up, even because he will be racing at home and will have all the support of the public present.'The event was in Barcelona for five years and this year it will be good to race in Paris. The favorite for Dirt Racing is Marc Márquez. Let's see if he's in good shape this winter. I will be there and I will train during the season to be there. I'll try to have a better level. I think it's going to be a good thing', Zarco argued at the press conference. https://www.motorsport-total.com/motogp/news/geringes-interesse-der-motogp-piloten-superprestigio-2018-abgesagt-18110705 The above, looks like Spanish Flat Track..........which isn't really what we call Flat Track Edited October 26, 2022 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bavarian Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 An english language tv report of flat track racing in Valencia, Spain, in 2016 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.