martinmauger

No not another speedway track as we know it (Jim) but Rockingham Motor Speedway. Someone at work asked me if a speedway track had recently closed, I asked of the sad list of 3 (or 4 Coventry at Leicester) "What Buxton, Lakeside or Workington ?", I was told "no, somehere in Northampton". Frustratingly I can't get links to copy & paste or work but type Rockingham Speedway and info & links should appear. A shame and is oldish news and hardly relevant to the sport of speedway, except the site is to be some kind of 'vehicle hub complex', whereas I'd have bet money on it being sold for housing or retail. Always thought the place was a bit of a white elephant TBH as with many existing, established race circuits (Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Silverstone, etc) there didn't seem to be a demand for a large 'stadium-type' facility, albeit with a large Indy Car-sized tarmac oval....

Some F1 fans and many drivers' wives / girlfriends used to do this, maybe they still do, record each car for every lap of a 70ish lap race covered....

New regs on qualifying with transponders; another case of a simple sport made (unnecessarily) complicated. Transponders; a good idea to time races accurately & spilt dead-heated riders, but individual laps times are really just for interest only. Starting number and therefore gates picked at random still the best, fairest method IMO, I mean heat details are rcorded but does anyone record who arrived at turn1 in what position and then whether they were overtaken or not during a heat.....

Also in 1977, I still vividly remember when at the Boulevard Gordon Kennet passed the team-riding Bobby Beaton & Frank Auffret turning a Hull 5-1 into a 3-3. GK went around the outside of Frank and as Bobby looked ahead entering the 1st bend, he looked around in time to see Kennet slip inside as neatly as you like. Grr , blooming good bit of riding though. Then there is the WTC Qualy meet at Reading in 1979, it's on Youtube, when GK is battling the late Kelly Moran - and the mud - after both had lost their goggles. By 'lost their goggles' I don't mean out of tear offs; both had literally lost their racing goggles. Kelly was wearing a full-face helmet whereas Gordon wore an open face + monkey mask, which he had pulled down, so was copping the spray full in the face....

Ah yes, 'Mr GM' had an idea for a new speedway engine. Anyone know what became of this venture ? I'm sorry, it's Friday afternoon, he did get the marketting, production, supply etc more than a bit right though.....

Seem to recall Nicholls almost won at Cardiff one year, made the final but broke the tapes. Ok, he may, and may not, have won anyway (against the likes of Adams, Crump, Greg, NickiP, TRick?) but theoretically he had a 1 in 4 chance....

You're right there Phil, more than decent circuit. Keep saying to myself "self, you really MUST get across to Belle Vue sometime" ....

Maybe still a few ripples locally from the opening meeting ? I only mention that being a possible reason as there have been letters about it in the Speedway Star in the last couple of weeks. Always said it from day one: brilliant achievement just building the stadium in the first place....

A speedway bike under ones arm almost. Also a 'little bird' told me riders would take 'off-road' bikes (motocross) particularly to Eastern European countries and returned with the same number of 'off road' bikes (now speedway) having made a beneficial swap due to the exchange rates and relative cheapness of speedway bikes, mostly JAWAs. At some point customs officers learnt the difference between motocross and speedway bikes so the habit came to a halt....

There used to be a guy at Hull, Boulevard who wore goggles and stood right up against the fence on turns 1 & 2. You could do that in those days, if it were your bag, no 2 metre safety zone. My Nana lived just around the corner from the Boulevard and I popped in to see her on Wednesday nights, she often told me many times how "you dad and aunties and uncles would be black from the speedway (Hull Angels 1948 / 49) on a Saturday night covered head to foot in cinders, they looked just like crows"....

Thanks for replies, I'll check it out. Bit like I read of one rider asking mates to bring engines onto aircraft in sports bags as hand luggage but carry them with one hand and somehow pretend they didn't weigh a ton ....

I've always thought the same. You could prob argue for Kelvin Tatum and also Simon Wigg too but their speciality was longtrack of course. Very good in that sphere both riders were too, but it's long been a common belief that both could have been better speedway riders had they not prefared the much bigger track racing. Still courses for horses and all that (see what I did there).....

That's interesting never knew that, always thought the Poole footie pitch was left undisturbed by speedway meetings. The same method was used at Hull, Craven Park, as the grass was slightly higher than the speedway track on the corners. The track was carved out and laid in 2 - 3 weeks, I watched them do it when college allowed, they were pretty lucky with the weather and it has to be said it took the best part of a season for the surface to 'settle down' though. At the Boulevard, the rugby pitch was the same level as the speedway track on the corners so artificial turf was used and along the straights. A mate who drives a digger for a living assures me he can "carve out a track in an afternoon, no problem", though levelling the area, banking up the corners and laying shale and getting it to bind will prob take a good few weeks....

Was discussing with a mate that many Australian riders naturally return home 'down under' in the winter, as do a few Brits, to ride in the Aussie Champs, enjoy the sun and maintain fitness. I wondered how much it would cost for one rider to fly to Aussie; return flight for himself with / without a bike and other equipment ? We were pondering whether it would 'pay' for a rider to sell his equipment whilst 'down under' and save the on 'luggage weight excess' for sold speedway gear. I realise if a troup or team, say for the possible Aussie GP, travelled they would club together for a shipping crate or two....

Was listening to BBC Radio 4 in the car (bit of culture there) and at 7:30ish after the main news there was a comedy programme and comedian Mark Steel was performing in King's Lynn. He mentioned Queen drummer Roger Taylor was born there and joked various Queen songs were inspired by the town: "................of course We Are The Champions was written for the King's Lynn speedway team winning the league in 2006". It wasn't of course but the comment got lots of cheers. Just thought I'd add that....