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This is where the sport has two very distinct fan groups and are at odds with each other as how Speedway should be. One side are the club supporting happy clappers who care mostly about the results of their own team and will defend even the worst riders until a better option comes along, those who happily sling mud at other teams but will not attend after a run of bad results. The other side are the Speedway fans who want to be entertained and the result is often secondary providing the racing on show is up to scratch. Obviously there are exceptions but for the most part there is one fan base split into two groups, you can't please everyone and yet the sport needs them all.

Sad to read that former Reading promoter Mark Legg has died. Mark funded the purchase of the promoting rights at Reading from BSI during the 2007 season and was at the helm for the club’s final season in 2008. I enjoyed being part of his team during his tenure at Smallmead and always got on well with him, my condolences to his family and friends.

The blatancy of that night was pretty galling and amusing at the same time. The rivalry between Kent and Eastbourne that has built over the years is a fire that Len has happily stoked, these events and dramas just build up the matches between the teams, adds the atmosphere and ultimately boosts ticket sales. Meetings at Kent need a strong referee to keep them moving early one, a sensible interval, the two minutes to incorporate any gardening time and as few instances of RR as possible. I have no idea if the CL matches are going to run smoother or be more chaotic ?

I remember the other side of that argument. Going to Cradley where we smashed every team. Most seemed to love it but I found it boring and eventually stopped going for a good many years. Best speedway I've seen week on week was at Monmore for about 10 years from the late 90s. Every week the action was brilliant and being a Heathen I wasn't too bothered if Wolves won or lost until I started turning but that's another story. Lol

speedway for me is not about winning, it is about watching 4 guys turning left and racing, to me it is more about the entertainment value than seeing your team win all the time, sport is supposed to be about 2 teams battling it out for supremecy and not knowing the winners before you go, i remember in the late 70`s/ early 80`s when sheffield did not have too good a side and there was some close meetings which the tigers lost quite a few of, but these were enjoyable to watch as you never knew the outcome.

Google what an amateur is... for this meeting some of the riders are classed as amateurs (loosely) some are professional... the meeting winner gets a cash pay out so in real terms what should happen is the proffessional will collect it and the amateur shouldn't but I would suggest whoever wins the meeting will take the money and run amateur or proffesional so strictly speaking maybe the meeting should have been called junior, novice or journeyman meeting rather than amateur... but WTF it's a moot point do we really care? Its a good line up for the level and standard and IMHO there will be some cracking racing on offer... kudos to Redcar for getting such a good line up together and if they could allow fans in I certainly would have popped down for a look... some good young talent going to be involved in what I think will be a very competitive meeting... Good luck to all involved... hope they all stay safe... and there are no expensive failures on the bikes that cost these journeymen dear... Regards THJ

Today marks the 80th birthday of Jürgen Hehlert. A piece from Speedweek in his honour Jürgen Hehlert will celebrate his 80th birthday on April 15, 2021. Long before the first speedway champion was chosen in the Federal Republic of Germany, he triumphed in the GDR. The first German speedway champion was raced in the former GDR in 1962, Jürgen Hehlert from Rostock won when he was just 21 years old. The younger brother of Peter Hehlert, who drove in Neubrandenburg and was jointly responsible for the renewal of the track, was able to win the title again four years later, as well as five other medals until he fled the republic in 1972 to Hanau in Hesse, where he still lives today. In 1970 Jürgen was part of the victorious quartet of the GDR selection at the Team World Cup in Ruhpolding, where the West German drivers were literally demolished. At that time it was quickly realized that progress in this sport can only be achieved if you get more starting opportunities on the cinder tracks, as they were called earlier. Three years later, the Speedway Bundesliga became a reality. The individual championship was first held in Germany in 1979 in Olching and won by Egon Müller. In the meantime, Hehlert had fallen out of favour in his federation, which was shown when he was spontaneously dropped from the team line-up for the quarter-finals at Motodrom Rodenbach “for injury reasons”, but Jürgen started another meeting in Eastern Europe that day. Together with his wife Christa and daughter Rommi, he decided to flee the republic, which resulted in the fact that he would have been banned for two years under the sports laws of the world association FIM if his previous association of the GDR had insisted on it. Since this was not the case, Jürgen Hehlert was able to continue his successful career in the West, including in the Bundesliga team of MSC Rodenbach. There he started in 1974 together with his former Rostock colleague Gerhard Uhlenbrock at the Best Pairs World Cup for the Federal Republic. Since the speedway offers in Western Europe were not that big, and an offer made by the British first division team Hull could not be brought into line with his new job, Hehlert ended his career mainly with sand and grass track races. A giant mural by a patron on his family home in honour of the speedway rider and 1st German champion. Happy birthday, Jürgen Hehlert! German Champion(GDR) 1962, 1966; Runner-up 1970, 1971; Third 1965, 1967, 1968 https://www.speedweek.com/speedwaydm/news/174046/Juergen-Hehlert-Der-erste-Deutsche-Speedway-Meister.html

Some (Toft?) will have settled status, but others may not be able to get visas. It may be difficult to get new young Danes until they've proved themselves domestically, by which time they may already be committed to Polish clubs.

Since ARC took over Perry Barr not seen anything much different other than evidence of some sections of Grandstand being closed down to Speedway and rumours of increased rent and less access time. It's more than likely that there will be more Dog Racing at Central Park in future as that increases revenue for Stadium via Betting levy and probably means Kent will soon find that Speedway is limited to one set day per week or like somewhere like Monmore (not ARC) a Dog meeting on an afternoon before Speedway on a night. The other issue is that Len is approaching 90, Cearns has always been mega supportive and there is the issue of the loss of Silver Ski in administration. Doesn't look great long term unless Len has a succession plan for his son or another Promoter to follow in his footsteps. The failure to secure Friday or Saturday night Speedway looks even less likely now. May be Kent can have one season in Championship and then revert back to standalone NDL with less costs and profit every season as Len has always claimed.

Yeah, might be a good time to get some hoop jumping practice in.

Is the Brazilian variant the one that makes women go bald ?

Whilst i agree 99.99% of what you have said, it should be noted that they did close Folkstone racecourse.

You are a top fan of your club, not having a dig at any fan of any club, but i bet there are many who wish if they could arrange time off and finances that they could follow your lead. I hope the riders and management, and also those of the opposition acknowledge your support at every meeting.

For me. 100%... The sport is down to its very hardest of hard core support so is pretty much bomb proof from any more "walking away".. Therefore, keeping the same numbers (or even a 'natural' reduction in punters), but removing thousands from their costs, has to be a good thing for the future of the sport... "Never waste a good crisis" is a term often quoted in business.. Speedway should take note......

Or maybe it has THJ? A bit of short term pain for long term gain? Flying in and out hundreds of journeymen foreign riders over the years and planning fixtures around these riders agendas, regardless of whether a good night to run or not, whilst at the same time reducing the places available to UK riders could now be a thing of the past... Those who run the sport have steadfastly avoided "the bleedin' obvious" so maybe the pandemic has forced their hand and it will be for the best in the long run?

Not in my case, accommodation booked for all Edinburgh and Armadale away meetings except Devils meetings at Berwick and Belle Vue. Only need Sturgeon to give me and fellow travellers our 'FREEDOM'

Start Heat One bang on the start time advertised. And then have every heat starting 3 mins from the last finishing.. (A 3 minute warning goes on as soon as the last rider completes the circuit in the previous race).. At most tracks, a race is around a minute so that's circa 15 mins racing and 42 mins of gaps between races from Heat One finish to Heat 15 start. Ten mins interval and ten mins of post meeting laps of honour and interviews, and all done and dusted in just over an hour and a quarter... Follow the Polish starting rules to ensure each race starts on time.. You may have delays obviously due to crashes, but given a clear run, no meeting should "over run"...

I have a vague recollection of the evening and do remember Len going rogue on that occasions but not by what degree. In fairness the anti residents log complaints throughout the winter and whenever there is a rain off so the validity of those is extremely questionable. Given the Council are the current owners of the facility they are not overly helpful for its usage and would be left with a heck of a white elephant if Speedway and Greyhounds walked away.

I read in a book that you co-authored, falcace, that it has been said that Aub Lawson went to the other two riders (Split Waterman and Freddie Williams) in that fateful heat and asked them if Jack had ‘said anything’ to them, i.e. offered a small inducement for them to let him win They replied he had not. The story goes that when Biggs said nothing to them, they decided to ‘fix’ him. Biggs said later when this story began to circulate that he hadn’t ‘said anything’ to them because he was confident he would win – or at the very least get the third place he needed to become World Champion. He had been by far the fastest gater all evening and Lawson and Williams were having poor evenings – Lawson in particular as he was suffering from a hand injury. To him – and probably the whole crowd there that evening – it was unthinkable that he wouldn’t at least get third place. So, even if they did decide to ‘fix’ him, it wasn’t easy to see how they would be able to manage it. The authors of the book go on to say, “Nerves seem a much more plausible explanation.” He had a long gap between his fourth and fifth rides and he just sat in the pits getting more and more nervous. The book quotes Ken Taylor, a long time speedway fan who was there that evening, as saying, “It was nerves that beat him.” He said he had seen Biggs in the pits some years previously in the London Riders’ Championship Final when, again, he was in with a chance of winning and his hands were shaking so much, Ken was surprised that Biggs could even hold the bike, let alone race it. It should also be remembered that Biggs came third in the run-off as well – again a race on the previous form of the evening he should have won. But his nerves were shot to pieces by then.

Brilliant guys

Better than no speedway.

It’s the “Warriors Shale Track Racing Club” The Wightlink Warriors today announce the launch of the “Warriors Shale Track Racing Club” which will encompass all racing events staged at the Smallbrook Stadium. The club, which will be open for membership, will offer riders of all ages and ability the opportunity to participate in many different race classes on the country's largest shale circuit. Warriors Shale Track Racing Club Co-owner Barry Bishop said, “Martin and I are delighted to be able to extend the reach of shale track racing to a far greater rider and fan base than ever before with the support of NORA Motorsport. We will now be able to develop riders in many different shale track classes and incorporate them into our fabulous summer spectacular race series. Again, we cannot wait to welcome fans, riders and sponsors once more to Smallbrook for a non-stop feast of entertainment and further details will be released in due course.

The Eastbourne team relocated to Hastings for the 1948 season and Pat Flanagan had rides at both tracks. The reference to him as 'Bud' was merely copying the name of the music hall entertainer Bud Flanagan, who later sang the theme to the Dad's Army television programme. It was common for early post-war meetings in Ireland to have teams that were mixed and matched to ensure competitive events and it was not uncommon for riders brought over from the UK to appear both for and against the hosts in the course of a season. With Pat having an Irish sounding name it was fitting that he should represent 'Ireland' at Santry in the first meeting. With the local riders having very limited experience it was sensible to ensure that the riders invited from the UK should contain a mix of established and junior riders, hence the inclusion of riders such as Pat who were just beginning their speedway careers.

Brilliant! "Cheque book Speedway survives world wide pandemic", anyone else can go fluff themselves, meanwhile the rest of us pray for the sport's survival.

Six weeks Col, don't want you peaking too soon!