27th November 2008

More On Middleton Tony Webb's article on Garry Middleton led to a number of you getting in touch to share your own memories of 'Cass'. We've pulled them all together in this follow-up article. It's not too late for you to contribute your own thoughts on Garry - simply send us an email or fill in the feedback form at the bottom of the page.

Caption Competition We've teamed up with Methanol Press to bring you this fun end of year competition. Up for grabs is any book of your choice from the Methanol Press catalogue. These include the 2008 Speedway Yearbook, Shale Britannia and Jeff Scott's acclaimed travelogue series. The prize will be awarded to whoever comes up with the most amusing caption for photograph on the right. Full details and a larger version of the photograph are within the article. Methanol Press have recently launched their "Credit Crunch Christmas Sale", with several of their books discounted and free postage being offered on all orders.

Dream Team: Sean Mclaughlin Sean has followed Mildenhall Fen Tigers for over thirty years, here he selects his West Row favourites.

The auction of the model bike and rider for the Kim Jansson fund is now underway. You'll find it here on ebay. Andy Davidson is looking for copies of the Hackney team pictures from 1977 and 1984 - Can You Help?

Filthy Phil on Lonigo: "Nice Pix, but when will we see some tracks in Europe with some banking on them, it gives better racing as there are more lines etc. Not what we have now .... 30m Sprints!" Bill Elliot on SGP Needs a Revamp: "Agree with the comments of correspondents talking about the need for a change to the GP format and the fact that fans were probably the last consideration in the debacle which saw the final GP switched to Poland, allegedly for reasons which had nothing to do with the weather. It used to be the case that the GP's were must see TV for speedway fans but now I can't be bothered watching the whole thing, knowing that I'm going to be watching the same riders (with only wild card exceptions) and I can usually pick the winner from a group of half a dozen. It seems that with an increasing number of riders deciding to give British speedway a miss in order to let them prepare better for GP's, that one competition is now in danger of superceding the good of the sport, at least in Britain. Even if it is the world championship, that can't be good for the sport as a whole. The old system of qualifying had many faults, but at least there was a measure of spontaneity and excitement, and it did throw up the occasional surprise. The way it is now, you can virtually predict the outcome before it even starts, and good exciting racing appears to be the exception rather than the norm. Much prefer a system where the underdog has the chance to get through to a World Final, rather than have a situation where 95% or more of the riders are out of it before it gets under way. " Alan Rogers on SGP Needs a Revamp: "I would like to see the Grand Prix moved to the 'off' season ie November to March. With the use of indoor stadia and introducing Grand prix from Austrailia, New Zealand and the USA. This would keep an all year round speedway interest for the Sky Watchers and holiday opportunites for us that hate winter. It would also free up all the GP Stars to return to GB and race in the summer season. We could could also have aturday night racing return. Just a thought!" Vic Mason on Ivor Brown: "Thanks for the read about Ivor Brown. I remember him well, thanks." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

20th November 2008

Who is Garry Middleton? Tony Webb presents this detailed and well researched article on the life and times of one the sport's most controversial characters. Garry's life after speedway remains a complete mystery and Tony suggests it's not even known for certain whether he's still alive.

Track Pix: Karlstad Charles McKay is our photographer for these pictures of this Swedish circuit. These are the last of Charles' photographs (for now at least), so an excellent opportunity to thank him publicly for sharing his vast collection with us.

It's here - and just in time for Christmas! Yes, the long-awaited official DVD box set of the 2008 Speedway Grand Prix and World Cup series is available now. Covering all rounds of the SGP and SWC, as well as some great extra features, this is the latest production from BHP Sport, and it's released under licence from the FIM. And what's more - click the link below and order yours before Nov 30th and you'll get a massive 20% off !!!

Gerald on We Had Joy, We Had Fun: "What a wonderful story of high's & low's. A true tale of one's love & passion for this addictive sport. Memories of heroes in a polite private acknowledgement of ones presence. And the oh so sad story of the lady gathering shale with her beloved's name badge. My heart goes out to all of you Racers, but take heart that you will be back soon. We however, may not be so fortunate. 'Ommer Um Cradley'. Gerald." Andy on Hyde Road: "I've only been into speedway for a few years and far-and-wide people tell me that this was the greatest speedway venue. Thanks for putting up the pictures." Norman Chadwick on SGP Needs a Revamp: "I don't care about the GP format too much, I do care about seeing good racing at tracks where passing is possible. Slick tracks and flat tracks are boring. Whether its indoor or outdoor is not an issue for me just give me plenty of passing on safe tracks. If this means some tracks have more than 1 GP per year then so be it." Tony Richardson on SGP Needs a Revamp: "Great idea, getting back to the old way to qualify, which would get rid of the wild cards who only score a couple of points (if Lucky). Only drawback to that plan is at the moment GB don't have the quality riders to make it through to the GP's. What is needed and it has been talked about for a number of years is for engines not to be tuned up and be the basic engine that comes from the manufacturer (in all competitions), that means all riders have the same level of equipment and the costs will be less for the riders. It means youngsters can come in to the sport without having to spend x amount of money to try and compete and it will be more down to rider ability that the best tuned engine and I think closer racing which would make it a better sport to watch. But I don't think that will happen (do you)." Eddie Walder on Faith Restored by Bydogoszcz: "Thank you to Dave Green for his article entitled "Faith Restored by Bydogoszcz" which I found to be the most balanced view of this years final GP and the GP circus in general. Thanks again Dave and I look forward to seeing more of your common sense again in the future. " Dudley Jones on Yarmouth Speedway Day 2009: "Great to see this article. I never saw speedway at Yarmouth, but I was a regular at the Firs at Norwich in the last years. It has always seemed to me that if ever there was a ready made track to reintroduce the sport to it was Yarmouth. Nice little stadium. It existed through the lean late 1950s, contested the first Provincial League season and went forever. Why, oh why, did Yarmouth not reopen when Norwich closed? Half the distance from the Firs, 20 miles compared to best part of 50 to Kings Lynn. Yarmouth could have risen, like Poole perhaps, to the very top of the tree. the loyal East Anglian support could have been theirs (although I would not wish to have lost Kings Lyn as a consequence). Let us hope that this little acorn might just grow into a strong oak tree, with Yarmouth re-emerging. Not the bloaters perhaps (who knows what a bloater is now?) but perhaps the Gulls or the Raiders (Viking raiders)." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

13th November 2008

SGP Needs a Revamp Geoffrey Langley believes the time has come to make some changes to the Grand Prix system, including a return to same-season qualification. As ever, we'd be delighted to hear any alternative proposals of your own.

Great Yarmouth Speedway Day 2009 Details of a proposal to stage a 'Speedway Day' in Great Yarmouth next August. Find out what's planned and how you can help to make the day a success.

Track Pix: Lonigo Fresh pictures of Lonigo taken by Ian Adam at this year's Italian Grand Prix. Ian, Glasgow's long serving track photographer, has his usual end-of-season picture CD available for sale. The disc contains approximately 3000 images from Ashfield and retails for £18 (including postage in the UK). Contact Ian on ian.adam@ntlworld.com to order or for further details.

Jay Reed of No-Brakes-UK is auctioning these models for the Kim Jansson fund. Full details on Jay's website. Graham Reeve from the Speedway Control Bureau and referee Craig Ackroyd have agreed to take part in a live webchat on NewcastleSpeedway.net on Wednesday 26th November at 8pm. In order to join in you'll have to register on the site in advance of the session.

Harry Ward on Faith Restored by Bydogoszcz: "As someone who did attend the debacle known as the German GP then I have to say I have no faith in BSI, IMG or the FIM. On the subject of the GP that took place in Bydogoszcz I have to say what a farce. This was the THIRD GP to be held in Poland and the second at this particular track. How long before we have all the GP's being held in Poland for financial reasons? After the ridiculous costs involved now in the Cardiff GP considering the high seat prices and inflated hotel prices the attendances are soon going to dip. Unfortunately the only thing the temporary tracks give to the sport is a surface on which the world class riders can't race. The only passing is due to mistakes that happen because the tracks break up. Considering I have been unfortunate enough to view both the Ullevi and Gelsenkirken debacles I may have a dim view of the GP circus at the moment. The events on the day were very sad. When I arrived at 5.PM there were only three security staff handing out a statement in German from BSI. To this date I am still attempting to get my money back and lost around £400 on the trip I am further amazed that there has been no Editorial comment in the Speedway star. It seems that for some reason they don't feel able to criticize the organisers. If BSI are not careful they will see their own product diminish in size. Some may say that will be somewhat ironic considering the damage that has been done to British Speedway by BSI's selfish attitude. On the day yes the third Polish GP did provide good racing but the damage was already done. " Annie on We Had Joy, We Had Fun: "A very well written article and sums up what a lot of people must have been feeling that day. I only wished I could have been there but whatever happens those days of Smallmead will stay in my memory forever. Mostly happy days and all those friends I have met along the way. We have a lot to be thankful for and I just hope that the new stadium does happen. Thanks Smallmead." Terry Stone on We Had Joy, We Had Fun: "I did enjoy your article. The 'Men in Black' rode at the last meeting at Reading. We hope that all the fans enjoyed our races as much as we did. I rode at the old track at Tilehurst for Rayleigh Rockets and remember it well. Thanks to all the fans for their welcome. We at Rayleigh lost our track, hope you get yours back and we can come back some time to race for you again." Lee on Riders to Remember: Jackie Biggs: "I remember Jackie Biggs on a more personal level. He was like a second dad to me when living in London. My mother and father introduced Jackie to his wife, Sheila, and enjoyed many social times with him, including the time he came to our Guy Fawkes night and kindly made a 'special firework' for us. IT WAS A MINI BOMB which he set off behind our garden shed and left a huge crater as a result. Ray Cresp actually accompanied him on that night." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

6th November 2008

Riders to Remember: Larry Ross Tracy Holmes writes about the Kiwi's career, concentrating on his achievements outside of British League racing. Larry recently returned to racing in New Zealand with considerable success.

Dream Team: Darren Childs Darren selects his favourite Peterborough Panthers, including the legendary Ian Barney and Mick Poole.

Track Pix: Noyra Just a single picture this week and it's of the Noyra circuit in Victoria (Australia). Andy Davidson was the photographer.

Here's former Glasgow Tiger Joe Hicks proudly showing off his new set of gnashers. Thanks to Jim Henry for the pic. The Long Eaton Speedway Reunion Group are staging a film and quiz night on Wednesday 19th November. Tapes up at 7.30pm at The Bridge Inn, Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre. Admission is free. Jeff Scott and Charles McKay have done their annual calculation of GP rider earnings. You can see the breakdown on Jeff's "Showered in Shale" blog. Vintage racer Gus Kuhn is the subject of a website that details his varied motorcycling career and motorbike business. Nick Barber's annual memorabilia auction takes place this Saturday in Coventry. Full details at nickbarber.co.uk. Last year's event was captured brilliantly in the aforementioned Jeff Scott's book - Concrete for Breakfast. This book is still available from Jeff's website - link above.

Ross Dow on Faith Restored by Bydogoszcz: "I only saw the event on TV so did not have the benefit of soaking up the atmosphere. I have to agree about the spectacle though - first class. I wonder if it would have been as good if the rain had stayed away and allowed Ole to manicure the track. Most of the poor GPs are caused by poor racing conditions rather than rider quality and effort. Most people acknowledge this but the authorities continually ignore it - to the severe detriment of speedway's reputation as a spectacle. Ole was a great rider and seems to be a reasonable administrator but has not impressed me with his track preparation skills (I assume that he has a free hand in track preparation). The proof is when they hold GPs on natural tracks (particularly Polish ones) which are renowned for passing and they become a non event." George Winstanley on Nelson: "I used to go to Nelson when I was about 8 years old, in 67/68, watching my dad, Jack Winstanley, ride for them (away matches as well). Happy days!" SaS on Kingsmead: "Brought back great memories; the Crusaders were just the best. The miles I put my poor old Morris Minor through in the name of supporting Canterbury - worth every penny and every mile. Thanks." Click here to leave your own feedback