Bavarian

I have just learned that this semi-final meeting (Final B ) is actually a "home" meeting of the Ukraine, which they will run in Gdansk.

Germany should have taken it on. Pocking stages its annual 4-Team-International meeting on Easter Sunday, this year on March 31, that's the day after the Euro Team semi-final in Gdansk. That would have been the perfect place to run this Germany v Ukraine v Sweden v Latvia meeting.

Strange decision that the Final B is held in Gdansk, Poland, but without the Polish team riding in it.

Back to prettier things, here is Dennis Sigalos talking about his early years in the sport.

Thanks for reminding me, I have just looked-up this quite drastic original footage of Swede Savage's accident, quite dramatic, indeed.

Missed opportunity for speedway.

and white here

During the winter month the Great Britain or England speedway team tours of Australia used to keep us interested in the sport. http://www.internationalspeedway.co.uk/ausveng4.htm Reminiscing of those days, on YouTube I just found this short piece of footage of the introduction of the two teams prior to the first test match of 1987/88 Australia v England series at the Claremont Showground in Perth, W.A. Isn't it sad that such big events no longer feature in our sport? And isn't it time to do someting about it?

Taking a look at the GB Speedway Team website I fin d all kinds of European news, Grand Prix, SEC, which I can find on any other websites as well. But there is nest to no information about the GB national speedway team, which this organisation / website is actually supposed to represent. Where is the squad list for team GB, or for the Young Lions junior teams? Past results of the British national team, fixtures, international caps of any rider, points stats, etc.? There is nothing ! https://gbspeedwayteam.com/news

Getting away from the question of the name change from dirt-track to speedway, let me tell You how it was when the new sport arrived here in Germany from England on July 7, 1929, with the opening of the Hamburg Dirt-Track. It was introduced by an English-Danish-German consortium and they promoted the new sport here as "Dirt-Track Racing" and not as "Speedway". In Germany there was a pretty clear distinction between Dirt-Track/Speedway and the other forms of motorcycle oval-track racing, that we, like the rest of the world, did have much earlier. From the turn of the century, in Germany there was motorcyle racing on steeply banked concrete or wooden cycle race track ovals, and at about the same time, the first motorcycle races were held on horse (harness) racing tracks. The cycle tracks were usually rather short ovals of between 300 and 500m length, while the horse racetracks were of course longer, mostly between 800 and 1200 meters in length. The motorcycle races on the harness tracks with their sandy surface were of course the beginning of what we know as long-track racing ("Sandbahnrennen") today. Interestingly there was no grass-track racing in Germany until the very late 1920s. When Dirt-Track/Speedway arrived here in 1929, it was totally different. The tracks were shorter than the usual horse race track, more like the cycling tracks, but of course with flat corners. The tracks were covered with a deep layer of cinders. Races were over just three or four laps, usually roughly one english mile, which was a much shorter distance compared to the other forms of track races, and there were only four (sometimes five or six, or only two or three riders in a race). In the other long established versions of motorcycle track racing there were more riders in a race and they rode over much longer distances. The style of riding (cornering) was a dsitinctive aspect of dirt-track/speedway racing, because neither on the cycle tracks nor on the horse tracks was is neccessary or even desireable to slide the bike going sideways round the corners. This would have been very much contra-productive. Another new feature of dirt-track/speedway was that it was held at night under lights, which was quite unusual at the time. There were of course a lot of day time speedway meetings as well, so that is not a significant feature of the sport. Accepting that these roughly were the defining features of speedway, what would have been the first such meeting to fit these criteria? Forget any of the very early track racing in America, Australia, South Africa, or elsewhere in the world. This wasn't speedway as we know it, but rather what today we know as flat-track or long-track racing. Was it at West Maitland on December 15, 1923? Just because it was held "under lights"? Certainly not. Maybe one of the early meetings at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, when they put cinders on the track? I tend to agree here. The first purpose built speedway track to fit the bill would be Davies Park, which would also make Brisbane the birthplace of our sport. In my opinion it is Mr. A.J. Hunting, rather than Johnny Hoskins, who should be regarded as the founder/father of speedway.

Of course, I do not put in doubt that the word "Speedway" was in use right from the beginning in England, as it was in America and Australia even before. I was just pointing out that this was generally used as a name for the racetrack, rather than the sport itself. In England this probably changed in ca 1929/1930. After all in 1929 there was an English Dirt Track League. I seem to remember reading about a public competition in a newspaper to find a new fancy name for the sport, rather than caling it "dirt-track"? I roughly recall that Johnny Hoskins had something to do with it, trying to find a plush name for the sport. Does anybody know about that?

Yes, which proves my point, that the name "Speedway" was adapted for our sport in England at the time league racing started. It took a few years until the new name arrived on the Continent, where it was still known as Dirt Track Racing. Nevertheless it was the same sport, just an other name for it. The French, for example, staged their "World Championship" in Paris and this was officially named the "Championnat du Monde de Dirt-Track". It ran under this name from 1931 til 1935, until the FIM introdiced the official Speedway World Championship in 1936. In Germany the term "Speedway" did not catch on until after WWII when the BAOR re-started the sport in Hamburg and Hanover.

When the sport arrived here in Germany in the summer of 1929, from England via Denmark, definitely no one here ever called it "Speedway". It was always only called "Dirt-Track", or sometimes more precisely "Cinder Track Racing". Same in France, or in Spain, where "Dirt-track Racing" became very popular, too. In fact, I don't recall a single country here on the Continent where this sport would be called "Speedway". That only came years later in the early/mid 1930s. In the early days, only the actually race track itself was called a "Speedway", which was true for all kinds of race tracks, lose surface or not (e.g. Indianapolis Motor Speedway), even horse racing tracks were sometimes called "Speedways". The term had been in use in America and Australia since long, even before the turn of the 20th Century.

I am of the opinion that the term "Speedway" came into being when it became a team sport, and the term "Speedway" was chosen to give it s a distinct name. Just like other sports games had a distinct name, such as Cricket or Hockey for example. The promoters chose the name "Speedway" to differenciate it from the formerly used broader term "Dirt Track" which covered any form of lose surface motorcycle track racing. The "Speedway" name for the game was created in the UK in about 1929/30 along with the setting up of League competions of teams. Before that, throughout the 1920s, our sport was always referred to as "Dirt Track", even in the early years in the UK, and in all the other countries, where there was no league racing, the name "dirt track" was still maintained for a good number of years.

I don't know. What comes next? Declare the winners of the Star Championsips of the early 30s as world champions as well? Don't mess with historic facts. Those meetings never were contested as world championships. I am against any retrospective change of historic facts.

All I know is that Erik had talks with the Birmingham management, but I don't know how it went.

Forget about Riss, as he might give the Championship a complete miss next year, and only ride in the Premiership, plus Polish League with Landshut, and more long-track racing on the Continent.

European Championship Final 24-25/02/2024 - Sanok (Poland)