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iris123

Norden Stadium

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4 hours ago, falcace said:

Hmmm. I think you are comparing apples and pears there....

You are omitting to mention that the Hyde Road Track for the 83 Overseas was an absolute quagmire. Had it not been a World Championship meeting, I doubt very much that it would have gone ahead. It doesn't have the same infamy as the 1984 British Final - it wasn't covered on ITV - but the track was very dodgy to say the least.

That's why Mort struggled and so too did other track specialists PC and Shawn Moran. Billy Sanders went out in his last race to win the event, but ended up coming off on his own with his ass in the sludge by the fence. And as much as I liked Phil Collins, he would not have beaten such a classy field in normal circumstances. He was a freak winner in freak conditions.

ps. I was there too...Norden, Amsterdam, Belle Vue

I did omit it, fair point, but everyone who was there would remember that.  I still maintain it shouldn't have put PC and Mort off as much as it did though,  surely in all the years it was their home circuit, they'd ridden it several times before when it was a quagmire?

Edited by Tigerblade

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38 minutes ago, Tigerblade said:

I did omit it, fair point, but everyone who was there would remember that.  I still maintain it shouldn't have put PC and Mort off as much as it did though,  surely in all the years it was their home circuit, they'd ridden it several times before when it was a quagmire?

Maybe. But it was the biggest meeting at Hyde Road in years and would otherwise probably have been postponed. It certainly was the wettest I'd ever seen it. A sodden track - no matter where it is - turns things into a bit of a lottery and never suits the racers.  Funnily enough, I just sold a picture from that meeting on ebay...cracking pic of Mort, Les Collins and Andy Grahame (see attached). It shows how sludgy it was!

Put it this way, 12 days later on a perfect track Morton was dynamite beating Kenny Carter from the back and breaking the track record on his way to winning the Northern Riders. Phil Collins wouldn't have got a sniff.

In short...

Belle Vue 1983 was an act of God

Norden 1983 was an act of Egon :D

mort.jpg

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8 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

Oh those bars and a marinaded pork chop from an 'Automatiek' in the back streets at 2 am. 

Funny you should mention that!  it was only over the weekend when I was explaining to my wife about the Automatieks, and the wonderful hot food you could any time of the day or night...

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44 minutes ago, chunky said:

Funny you should mention that!  it was only over the weekend when I was explaining to my wife about the Automatieks, and the wonderful hot food you could any time of the day or night...

A great Dutch tradition. Simple food in the automatic dispensers, larger or more complex meals knock on the kitchen door ;-) 

Not being able to read much Dutch back then it was like playing edible Russian Roulette with the croquettes in the automatic dispensers.

Then there was Tony's Tattoo Bar. Let's see if anyone admits to knowing that place.....

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Let's face it, Groningen was more fun than Norden ;-)

 

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44 minutes ago, RobMcCaffery said:

A great Dutch tradition. Simple food in the automatic dispensers, larger or more complex meals knock on the kitchen door ;-) 

Not being able to read much Dutch back then it was like playing edible Russian Roulette with the croquettes in the automatic dispensers.

Then there was Tony's Tattoo Bar. Let's see if anyone admits to knowing that place.....

I never found a croquette I didn't like! And no, I didn't know that place...

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Can’t say that I know Tony’s Tattoo Bar. Remember one night going in to a night club and our shoes weren’t acceptable, so we turned to go away. The bouncer called us back and it turned out the nightclub had shoes you could borrow if yours weren’t allowed.... all very strange.

 

We always used to end up in Tramps Bar. A little on the small side, but what an atmosphere......

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What condition is the stadium in, could it could an SEC round or big international fixture currently? Looks a fun venue to visit, the sort of place you make memories of sleeping in strangers car boots and the like.... :)

very much has the feel of the locations you find banger/stock car tracks on the continent.

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32 minutes ago, teaboy279 said:

What condition is the stadium in, could it could an SEC round or big international fixture currently? Looks a fun venue to visit, the sort of place you make memories of sleeping in strangers car boots and the like.... :)

very much has the feel of the locations you find banger/stock car tracks on the continent.

If you prefer a car boot sale to Selfridges then fine. Not for a major speedway event.  It would be like staging the British Grand Prix at Berrington Lough. There's 'funny' and there's 'funny'.

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Hmmm, might be bit tricky to fit the pits in behind the Food Hall.

 

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2 hours ago, teaboy279 said:

What condition is the stadium in, could it could an SEC round or big international fixture currently? Looks a fun venue to visit, the sort of place you make memories of sleeping in strangers car boots and the like.... :)

very much has the feel of the locations you find banger/stock car tracks on the continent.

The thing is, for big meetings, you generally need someone who is willing to put up big money. Tracks rely on a few decent sponsors, and that is where Norden is at a big disadvantage. Sponsors are generally to be found in the local community or want to gain from the local community, and there isn't much of that in the area. Think the track is basically just ticking over, with a couple of meetings a year, plus plenty of training days

One of the last, maybe the last half decent meeting held there was an U21 World Championship qualifier, when Ricky Wells was a bit of a shooting start on the scene, from memory

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I definitely want to pay the track a visit, been added firmly to my "must do" list.

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If I am correct I think they normally host their main meeting of the season on the Whitsun weekend

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On 2/18/2020 at 12:17 PM, RobMcCaffery said:

Were you there?

Yes I was there. A nice 3 hour train journey from Hamburg Haupbahnhof from what I remember. And I seem to have been the only person to take a colour photo of Mike Patrick in his now infamous chequed trousers to prove it. I went there under my own steam, and my views are as equally independent as my mode of transport.

All this bleating about how some "unknown" German who dared to win it instead of our favourite British league stars, jeeeezzz...you're as bad as Forest Trump banging on about a South Korean film with subtitles winning the Oscar for best movie. :rolleyes:

 

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