Tonight's the night for the riders in the 2005 Grand Prix series as the European Grand Prix is
staged at Wroclaw in Poland. Chris Seaward completes his assessment of the line up in the second
part of his Grand Prix preview.
Today seems a better day than most to add pictures of the Wroclaw circuit to the site. The stadium staged
the first ever GP round back on 20th May 1995 and it was also the venue at which Gary Havelock won
the 1992 World Final. Thanks to Andrew Davidson for the photographs.
"I feel I can go to Poland fully focused. I can't be more ready for it than now. I'll just go there and try to have fun and have a good time.
I rode at Wroclaw in the World Under-21 Final last year. It is a nice track, shaped like Swindon's, and I hope it will be good for me.
If there is a bit of dirt on it I hope I can do well. I'll just try and relax and do a few good laps. I get five rides, so I hope I can get one or two good ones."
Antonio Lindback on tonight's GP
Comment on the GP and the domestic scene can be found in Soundbites
Britain's Scott Nicholls kicks off his Grand Prix campaign tonight and has launched a new website
to co-incide with the first meeting of the series. The address is www.scottnichollsracing.com.
New website Speedway 4 U offers forums
for general discussion and for live updates. It doesn't seem to offer anything that's not available elsewhere
on the 'net but it certainly looks good. Hopefully it will find its own unqiue selling points in the months
ahead.
Simon Lambert's website is now live. You can keep up to date with the Boston
rider at simon-lambert.co.uk.
"I attended as a small boy the meets in Shelbourne Park. My hero was Ernie Roccio though I met Ronnie Moore too.
A great pity it's gone for ever it seems, but with rising demographics etc etc is it not possible to revive?
Anyway thanks for so many wonderful memories."
"Excellent website. I've been browsing the stadium pictures and wondered if any are available of Lonigo in Italy
and the old White City Stadium."
We don't have pictures of either of these tracks at present - would love to hear from anyone who does!
Time for another delve into the Speedway Plus archives. Do you remember the days when Workington
were a club in seemingly terminal decline and Ron Bagley shocked the speedway world by
taking them over? Find out more in "Bagley's Gamble".
Updated on 26th April 2005
Welcome to the first in a series of midweek site updates. These additional
updates mean we'll be using up material more quickly than ever before and
make your contributions increasingly important. If you'd like to submit
an article then email us at
speedwayplus@hotmail.com
The 2005 Grand Prix series kicks off in Wroclaw on Saturday. Chris Seaward
assesses the competitors in the first part of his 'Grand Prix Preview'. The
second part will follow on Saturday.
"Martin was tremendous, but I've had a lot of faith in him since the day I first spoke to him about joining Coventry. He's learning fast, he's getting Brandon weighed up and the fans love him."
Peter Oakes praises Martin Smolinksi after his efforts on Sky last night
Many more quotes can be found in Soundbites
Updated on 23rd April 2005
Bruce Penhall captured the imagination of the general public in a way
that no rider has since. His talent and charisma gave the sport a very
marketable personality, although sadly his career was truncated when he
opted to join the California Highway Patrol. Steve Johnson has written
a biography of speedway's very own 'blonde bombshell' and we're delighted
to publish an extract today.
The Lismore circuit in New South Wales was used as a venue during David Tapp's
ISMS series a few years ago. These pictures are courtesy of Andrew Davidson.
"Billy is a Witches legend and he was a brilliant rider. He had a flair about him and a big
hunger to win things. His biggest wish was to be crowned world champion, but it did not happen.
I can remember meeting him at Foxhall Stadium when he arrived as a 16-year-old and he went
on to become an adopted son of Suffolk and serve the club so brilliantly.
I still miss him and know a great many of our fans do as well."
John Louis on Billy Sanders who died 20 years ago today
All this week's quotes are in Soundbites
Adam Jennison is the webmaster behind a new photography site that aims
to showcase the talents of track photographers. It will also afford fans the
chance to purchase pictures online. The address is
www.gbstockphotography.com.
Nick Barber's exclusive range of souvenirs and memorabilia can now be purchased
via his new website at www.enjaydesigns.com.
Wimbledon's Keith Yorke, given a ludicrous Grade 11 rating this season, has
got a personal website that can be found at www.freewebs.com/keithyorke.
The VSRA are making good progress with their efforts to open a museum dedicated
to speedway. Alan Hodkinson brings us up to date with the latest state of play.
You'll be getting twice as much 'Plus' for the next few weeks as we'll
be introducing a second weekly update. This will generally happen on a
Tuesday evening when we'll bring you even more photographs and articles.
"Thanks for the Programme Generator. I have been ill for many years, so unable
to visit Belle Vue, or any other tracks to see Jason Crump ride except the once
for the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy. Used to follow father Phil all over the
country from his days at Crewe Kings, so was good to see him at BV.
Thanks again, the Generator worked a treat."
"As an impressionable 11 year old in 1976 I used to support Cradley up until
1989 or so. Great times once Dan McCormack brought in Penhall, Gundersen etc.
The 1981 World Final at Wembley was the best meeting I ever went to. So sad
Cradley is gone now, these guys were my heroes and I still have fond memories
of these times, but I could have swung for Penhall when he announced his
retirement on the rostrum in 82 and we lost the league title after that. Arrr
great days!"
"Super article Robert, Living in Canada it's good to see an article on our most
famous rider. Eric's son and Grandson live here in Ontario and I know they will
enjoy the article. It's a shame we don't know more of the other pre and post
war Canadians that made their way to Britain.
Eric was I believe an active member of the Riders Association and made a record
with funds going to the association. I also received a photo of Eric and a
Cheetah which Johnnie Hoskins had him race (never a dull moment with that man!)
The injury which Robert refers to is I believe when Eric rebroke the leg he
broke in Australia. I received the following note from his son on how he
recollects his dad's retirement.
'Dad retired finally I think it was 1952, he in his younger days wanted to
become a jockey and just loved riding, he took my sister out one weekend and
tho' not dressed for it got on a horse called "Skylon". All was well until the
horse reared, slipped and came down with my Dad's left leg underneath it.
Result - the same leg broken that he broke in Aussieland and that was that. One
night in the third lap he just veered off into the pits and said that was that,
as I have said I was in the pits and it was quite the night bikes and all
equipment were sold next day and his career came to a stop.'
As usual if anybody has information on The old Canadian riders please let me
know. I have received quiet a bit so far and would like to once again thank
everbody for their input and generousity.
Updated on 16th April 2005
West Ham legend Eric Chitty was one of the best speedway riders to ever
emerge from Canada. Robert J. Rogers recalls his career in this new article.
Our tribute to Eric Chitty continues with a gallery of pictures. The pictures
come to us courtesy of Eric's son Raymond. There are seven pictures in all and
they will appeal to all you nostalgia buffs.
"We know we have to dig deep and every member of the team is doing their utmost to try and change things. I am trying to improve my own performance, but I have never been the quickest of starters to a season, and it normally takes me a few weeks to find my feet."
Scott Nicholls of Coventry
All this week's quotes are in Soundbites
The 'submit an article' competition has now closed and the prize
draw was made this morning. The lucky winner was...
Philip Dalling
We'll be in touch Philip to find out your address.
Thanks to Norman Clark, Rod Young, Harry Ward, Chris Seaward,
Robert J. Rogers, Steve Johnson, Steve Trickett, Ron McNeil and Bob Ferry
who unluckily missed out. All the submitted articles will appear on the
site in the weeks ahead.
The competition is over but we always welcome unsolicited contributions
here at Speedway Plus. If you'd like to share your thoughts, memories
or research with our readers then drop us an email at
speedwayplus@hotmail.com.
Tony Smith is hoping to get in touch with Sid Sheldrick - can you help?
Roger Stevens needs someone to confirm whether programmes were ever issued
for a couple of meetings - can you help?
Bob Ferry is looking to buy a copy of "The Champions Book Of Speedway No.5, by Richard Bott" -
do you have one you'd be happy to sell?
John Hyam has some supplementary questions on French speedway - do you have
the information he needs?
Lyn McPherson wants to invite John Jackson to the Halifax reunion. Do you
have contact details for Jacko?
Boston's Ben Powell has launched a new website and it looks good. The
address is www.benpowellracing.com.
The extremely promising James Wright is also now online. You can check out
his website at wrightyracing.co.uk.
Updated on 9th April 2005
The Marketa Stadium in Prague is one of the regular GP venues. We have pictures
of the track supplied by Trev Picken and Vladimir Kovar.
Would our promoters benefit from studying the methods employed over the
Atlantic? Harry Ward believes so, as he explains in his new article 'Time to Copy Speedway
USA Style'.
LAST CHANCE!
The fantastic "World Speedway Champions of the 1980's" DVD (above)
could be yours if you win
our "Submit an Article" competition. Send us an original article on any
speedway subject (clubs, riders, competitions, personal memories) and your
name will go into the hat for our prize draw.
All articles submitted will be considered for publication on the site and one
lucky winner will receive a brand new copy of this nostalgia DVD.
Closing date for entries is Friday 15th April 2005. The winner will be announced
here on 16th April 2005.
N.B. The DVD is only suitable for use with DVD-R compatible players.
Soundbites brings you reaction from riders, managers and promoters to
this week's events. This week we have comments from Ryan Sullivan, Ross Brady,
Scott Nicholls and Alun Rossiter amongst others.
"As a Diamonds fan I can remember Keith having a superb spell for us including an 18
point maximum from reserve. He certainly entertained me and at the end of the day that
is what I pay my money for. In 7 man teams, not everyone can be a star but KB tried
which is more than can be said for some of the foreigners currently clogging up the
middle order of many a Premier League team (no names, no pack drill)"
"A brilliant article. I have thought the same for years.
I have always thought that there is a distinct lack of effort from promoters to actively
go out and promote speedway, there is a huge amount of people out there who 'used to
go to speedway' I don't think it would be that hard to get them back in.
They need to be shown information before they can act upon it, the success of football
is down to the high level of media coverage, yet nobody is campaigning to get more
coverage for speedway.
The attitude taken by most promoters is just to plod on, it's a very short sighted
option and I feel that one day speedway will end up with just one league, a sky sports
league, which is a shame."
"I have some rather sad news regards Elfield Park.
I recently visited the site for part of my University research, and the site has been
flattened ready for development, the whole place is just mud.
It was quite upsetting when I visited, and went to the shopping centre with muddy
shoes. There is nothing remaining to remind anyone of what was once there, except from
the signs at the entrance road, which in some way I wish I could have taken."
"As joint editor of The Speedway Researcher I am impressed by the historical items in
this web site. We like to publish items on history related topics and would be happy to
publish a back history of Scunthorpe (Quibell and Ashby Ville) if anyone fancies getting
their pens out.
Did you know of the pre war venture in the Scunthorpe area - at Thorne in 1930?"
Updated on 2nd April 2005
Chris Seaward's first article went down well and he returns today with another
entitled 'One Eye on the Ball'. Chris wonders whether we speedway fans are
actually too nice for our own good?
Harringay Greyhound Stadium staged the sport from 1928 until 1961. These pictures
come to us from Norman Jacobs the respected speedway author.
"It is very upsetting. You get yourself ready for the season and then something stupid happens. I
have had my fair share of injuries as they come with the sport but when accidents happen that are
not your own fault, it makes it a lot more frustrating."
Danny Bird
All this week's quotes are in Soundbites
The VSRA are hopeful of building a museum dedicated to speedway, but they
need your help. Alan Hodkinson gives us a run down on the plans and lets
you know how you can assist them.
Coventry newcomer Martin Smolinski can boast an impressive website that features an
excellent intro sequence - although those without broadband may struggle with it.
The site is, quite reasonably, written in German and the address is
www.smolinski-speedway.de.
Second generation rider Luke Bowen has launched a personal website. You can find the
impressive site at www.lukebowenracing.co.uk.
Peter Nielsen was able to answer David Smith's recent question on the current
whereabouts of Anders Nielsen the former Peterborough rider.
"I understand that a number of speedway fans have interest in Anders
Nielsen the Danish speedway rider. I can tell that after a break of nearly
nine years, he is now on the bike again and I can tell you people that he
has not forgotten how to ride the speedway bike. I have recently been at a
training weekend in Sweden, with Slangerup Speedway Klub and had
the opportunity to be together with this great guy. I know that he will
do everything to get back to the top of speedway very soon."
The fantastic "World Speedway Champions of the 1980's" DVD (above)
could be yours if you win
our "Submit an Article" competition. Send us an original article on any
speedway subject (clubs, riders, competitions, personal memories) and your
name will go into the hat for our prize draw.
All articles submitted will be considered for publication on the site and one
lucky winner will receive a brand new copy of this nostalgia DVD.
Closing date for entries is Friday 15th April 2005. The winner will be announced
here on 16th April 2005.
N.B. The DVD is only suitable for use with DVD-R compatible players.
John Hyam has probably come up with the most ambitious request for help
so far. He's looking for information on French speedway on either side of WWII.
We also have Trevor Hunter looking for help this week. He needs heat details from some
Poole v Bradford meetings over the years.
"Happy memories of my spell as a 'Saint' in 1975 and 1976, except when I had a coming
together with Jack Millen, resulting in a broken collar bone and in the my first meeting
back colliding with Kevin Jolly and ending up on the cycle track and another broken
collar bone. It does not seem like 30 years ago it is all so vivid. At the beginning of
each meeting the bikes were lined up on the track, in front of the grandstand, the
riders then marched to the tune 'While the Saints go marching in'. Whenever I hear that
song it reminds me of Scunthorpe Speedway."
"Thank you for including the article about Johnno. Some of his old fans can be found
each week at Wimbledon, looking at old photo albums etc between races and remembering
his past glory. Ron may be gone, but he will certainly never be forgotten."
"Great to see the Brummies getting a mention. As far as I know
work is still going on to bring speedway back to Birmingham,
but nothing concrete as yet. Keep 'em crossed. "
"I have just nearly screamed my head off lol and my mates I love speedway. I was 12
when I went first time and have been a long supporter of the Long Eaton Invaders -
had jumpers everything. When they closed it down it was sad and all was forgotten.
When I heard the track was being rebuilt I couldn't believe it, so had to see it for
myself
You have made a girl of 20 very happy and I will be there again to watch.
I love the noise the smell and the atmosphere it's a shame that so many tracks are
being closed down due to funding. Thanks for cheering me up."
