Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

britmet

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    682

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by britmet

  4. Posted

    .
    There has been re-awakened interest amongst riders at Walkerville near Johannesburg in the last few months and again last Sunday, as rider registrations for the meeting for the Boet Strydom Best Pairs meeting were up. (Like m/bike clubs in the UK, participants pay an entry fee to race, - as well as for preceding weekends' practices ! - , the purse being divi'd out to the top 3 of each class.) As well as solo Speedway, the 26 heat programme also featured Sidecar, Flat-Track and Quad racing, plus a PeeWee class for the club's infant family members.
    .
    Former Scunthorpe and Heathens' rider Byron Bekker scored 11 points, (having team-ridden his partner Justin Steyn into first place in one of their heats,) but Steyn's fall in their Semi-final meant that the trophy ultimately went to Mario van der Merwe and Grant Frank after defeating Lyle Kotze & Robin Brill in the Final. 17 year old Brill was nominated 'Man of the Meeting'. Derrick '2Dogz' Hilliar was unbeaten in the Sidecar class. Report & Results.
    .

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    He was (is) a. great all rounder, having been a class motocrosser , half decent trials rider, and of course competetent if somewhat wild Speedwáy rider,

    .

    More than 'half-decent' ! . . Arthur's highest levels of achievement in motorcycle sport were as a member of the British ISDT team (International Six Day Trial,) mostly on a big Cheney-Triumph, during both the '60s and all of the '70s, representing his country at senior level all over the world in the annual event, (which subsequently morphed into the ISDE.)

    .

     

  6. Posted

    Arthur, . .Always remembered by me as the rider that jumped the canyon on a motorbike to deliver the box of Black Magic chocolates in the first such TV ad,

    .
    . . as well as many good times traveling the country with the Brum team in the early '70s in that silver Ford Cortina 1600E.
    Like Trigger's broom, it had done 250,000 miles and was on its third engine.
    .

    The Cortina towed a trailer, so said because though Arthur could get his bike on the back of it, he needed a trailer to carry his size 12 boots !

     


     

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    I have no idea if it was the same at Reading but the local MP told me there is a legal requirement in place that the new stadium must be built. Original planning permission for the site was turned down as no stadium was included. No doubt there will be loopholes to get around it but anyone buying a house up there can see the plans which clearly show the stadium on it. The mother in law was looking. But until the building begins I won't believe anything.

    .

    i) There may be a requirement for a new stadium to be built, but if that's the requirement it doesn't stipulate that said stadium has to run speedway.

    Lay turf, . . pay football, . . and the req't is satisfied.

    .

    ii) There may well be a covenant in place, but there have been many instances, after the passage of say, 5 - 10 years or so, that covenants have been changed / revoked.

    .

  8. Posted

    Park Drive cigarettes are still available. Actually I always thought they were cheap cigarettes.

    .

    Yes, Woodbines and Park Drive were 1/3, and Players & Senior Service were the classy cigs at 1/6. ! ( circa 1958/59.)

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    This Sunday event was billed as a 'Cavalcade of Speed, Sport and Spectacle', to feature Royal Naval Displays, The Famous Bluejacket Band from H.M.S. Collingwood, greyhound racing, real & junior speedway and 'novelty events'.

     

    The real speedway portion featured Steve Bastable's Black Country Select and Bruce Penhall's International All-Stars. I'm looking for full details of this encounter if anyone has them.

    ..

    The result was 22- 38 to Penhall's team.

    I'll message you with a scan

    .of the speedway page from the programme.

    .

  11. Posted

     

    If that's the case in regard to recognition of the continuation of the the Laurels after the 1991 season end of top class speedway at Wimbledon, its a very sad downgrading for a competition once contested by the very best riders in speedway IMO.

    .

    Just a reflection of the status of UK speedway throughout !

    .

    • Like 3

  12. Posted

    Some big names on that honour list. What happened to that meeting, dwindling crowds?

    .

    It still goes on ! - That list's incomplete.

    See this one, (- last table on page, along with the Brandonapolis and the Olympique.)

    Stadium owners, the Cearns, still stage it, now at their Sittingbourne track.

    .

  13. Posted

    (I've not trawled thru all the previous 114 posts, just the first few today, so if other posters have responded similarly, it says something !, . .but . . . )

     

    . . .When I was dope & oiling in the 60s & '70s I'd often volunteer to do the driving back home so a rider could get some sleep, as he had to turn in for work the next morning ! It would often be 3am. when we got back, occasionally later. To stay overnight was unthinkable, - the cost. ! ! ( . and today's motorway network has got to make the traveling easier.) No adverting allowed back then, - no sponsors picking up the tab, . . it all came out of your own pocket!

    Riders then rode for the thrill and enjoyment of competing. In other motor-cycle sports today, and some cars at dirt ovals, riders pay to enter a race, knowing that just the 1,2,3 (out of a large field,) would get a monetary prize, - or sometimes just a cup - , and they're content to compete on that basis. Get real, fella !

    .

    • Like 2

  14. Posted

    It's good-bye again to Wembley speedway in Johannesburg, South Africa, as today's Wembley Raceway goes up for sale for site redevelopment.

    Joburg's original Wembley Stadium was initially built for dog racing but changed to staging dirt-track speedway post-war when track betting in the Union was prohibited. It was the scene of many internationals, MRCs and league racing, replicating the UK scene and featuring the likes of world champs Briggs, Moore, Fundin, Williams, plus Nygren, Crutcher, and locals, Henry Long, Buddy Fuller and Fred Wills, etc.

    Wembley Stadium was demolished in 1978: Wembley Raceway was constructed c.1990, primarily for Oval car racing but with speedway bikes in composite meetings, run throughout the '90s and early '00s until the track was tarmac'd over.

    This Wheels24 article carrying the news wrongly attributes South Africa's speedway heydays to one single site: soon both will be gone! Speedway-SA

  16. Posted

    If they are in good condition I am sure there is a collector somewhere willing to take them. Good luck in your disposal efforts - and I hope the copies of 'Speedway Star' eventually find a 'new and happy home.'

     

    Send them to the Speedway Museum at Paradise Park.

    They sell off progs & mags to help fund the place.

     

    Peter Sampson -

    Director

    Paradise Wildlife Park

    White Stubbs Lane, Broxbourne, Herts. EN10 7QA

     

    peter@pwpark.com

    Telephone: 01992 470490 ext 230

    Fax: 01992 440525

  17. Posted

    It was to be hoped that the myths that existed about these Paris meetings before internet research of the last 10 years or so clarified the situation would have been eliminated, but apparently not so.

    Promoted by an Anglo-French consortium, the Paris championships ended in 1935 when the Wembley event was organised for '36 and replaced it.

    Schneeweiss's 'claim-to-fame' championship of 1937 was the European Championship, (staged in Prague.)
    The 1934 Paris World Championship programme made clear that its 1933 World Champ was Fernand Meynier., (scans of this have been posted on several websites in recent past years incl'g OTS,) also thus debunking the names given above prior to that meeting other than Lamont, - the '31 Champ - , and Wilkinson, - the '32 Champ, the first two.

    There was no World Chmpshp in '29 & '30.

     

    Many big-name meetings were regularly held in Paris, (incl'g European Championships staged there in '32-'34 inclusive, the winners being Meynier, 3x, and Bellisent, in '34,) for which the above listed names may well have been the winners - , but of the list, only Lamont (in '31) and Wilkinson could claim the World title.

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    Not noticed it mentioned anywhere since ZW won it in sublime style from danny ayres. Does he still hold it as not heard any reference on the radio when they have been speaking about him.

    .

    All up-to-date Bronze Helmet winners, - and past Gold and Silver Helmet and Sash winners - , can be found

    on the 'British Match Race Champions' page of the Speedway Champions website.

  21. Posted

    "Do averages tell us the full story?"
    A man has his feet in 2 bowls of water, the average temperature of which is 50 deg.C.
    According to the average he should be pleasantly content, BUT
    . . . one bowl is full of boiling water at 100 C. ,
    . . . the other is full of iced water at 0 deg.C.

    In reality he's in extreme pain from both feet !

    Answer to the question? - You decide.

    .

     

    • Like 1

  25. Posted · Edited by britmet

    So was i.The one that that got me thinking was the "Henri" in the other ad,which seems a French name.

    Buffalo Velodrome in Paris was a cycling stadium that was used for speedway in the 30s,so could be a good guess?

    .

    This has now been confirmed to be the Buffalo Stadium, Paris by a college on the continent who's done a lot of professional research, of archived (hard copy) pre-war newsprint and of cine film.

    Amongst items unearthed have been results of the European Championships (1932 - '35), at Buffalo Stadium, which supplemented the World Championships (1931- '35) that were held there in the early days of Dirt Track racing.

     

    The rider with the broad smile at the end of the film is thought likely to be American Ray Tauser, - Any one have a view?

    Tauser was Runner-up in the first Paris World Championship of 1931, so could this film be of the first ever World Championship held in Europe?

     

    Dirt Track meetings at this velodrome, which also staged cycle races, football, rugby league and boxing matches, were, within a season, limited, and only in '32 did the promotion add the European championship, so making it seem more probable that this is indeed the 1931 Final.

    And such an occasion could explain why a film crew decided to turn up at the Buffalo Stadium that day and record the race meeting: this cine film is a significant find.

    .

    p.s: Just taken another look at the film, . . and note the 3 riders/heat format, which accords with the World Chmpshp format known from the printed programme of a later year to have been used, as opposed to the 4 riders/heat for local French riders in the supplementary event on the same programme.

    .

    • Like 4
×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy

  I accept