SunArisen

Always an engaging and enormously knowledgeable writer, but most of all a lifelong Speedway enthusiast. RIP John, you will be sorely missed.

The individual at the heart of Suter-Estech is Eskil Suter a Swiss national. A name well known to road racing fans. Very searchable on the internet. Successful as a builder / manufacturer. Before that a racer but not especially distinguished.

Did Burnicle really just say 'former vice-champion'?

Don't understand why Jack Burnicle is making such a hash of speedway commentary. He's an experienced circuit racing microphone man. With only four riders over four laps with helmet colours to aid identification compared to a circuit race of 20+ riders over 20+ laps this should be a breeze. Sam is just Sam and we all know what he is like. English clearly is his second language. Anyone know what is his mother tongue other than total bollocks?

The Sand Ace meeting took place at Vazon Bay, Guernsey, Saturday 23rd June. It was the first time in 20 years that the ACU British Championship was held and the first time the Sand Ace has achieved that status. The organising club, the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club organised a reception at Castle Cornet in Town on Friday night immediately after the Condor Express arrived with the last of the competitors. After the reception I went to the GMCC Club House with the former treasurer of the GMCCC who is an old friend and who I was staying with. Racing began just after 2pm as the tide dropped and was over at about 5.45 just as the tide closed in. There were 32 competitors with 64-year old Club President Bill Cohu the oldest. The 'A' Final for the title was won by Danny Warwick with Jersey's Marcus Bisson second, five-time Sand Ace winner Mitch Godden third and Harland Cook fourth. Consolation places went to Paul Evitts fifth, Martin Sturgeon sixth, and local rider Anthony Bougourd seventh. Expected front runner Steve Daw fell on the second bend of the first start and was excluded. Danny only dropped two points in the heats, finishing second in his third ride. Points scoring in each race was 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the first time the Sand Ace incorporated 1000cc sidecars after a three machine trial last year, with Rob Wilson/Terry Saunders the Championship winners, Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth second and Matt Tyrrell/Mark Courtney (no relation) third. Consolation places to Neil Owen/Wayne Rickards fourth, Neil Owen/Wayne Rickards fifth with Gareth & Wayne Winterburn pulling up. Double World Sidecar Champ Mick Headland and passenger Gareth Little failed to qualify for the final as did Peter Lloyd/Daryl Whetstone (AKA Team Orient Express). Video of the event . An after the event party and BBQ was held at the King George V Cricket Club. There was a massive crowd on the sea wall at Vazon Bay, believed by the organisers to be the biggest turnout yet. Pics here courtesy of my friend Andrew Le Poidevin. He had a busy weekend as you will see from his site. I throroughly enjoyed the entire weekend and even turned out at the local kart track around Belvdere Warriors FC pitch on Sunday morning where several of the Sand Ace marshals also turned out to flag what was a cadet meeting.

Glad you enjoyed it Rhidassa. You must have taken up the Condor Ferries special offer via the fastcat. I would try to make a weekend of it next time but Guernsey is not a cheap place to stay! Camping the best option and some of the teams camped in club members gardens which is what some people will do for the hillclimb nationals at Val des Terres next month. I am very fortunate in knowing so many of the GMCCC as i have been going there for many years and we host some of them when they come to mainland events. I intend to go next year pending the calendar which is influenced by the spring and neep tides. Here is the piece from Channel TV, spot the major mistake where very annoyingly Danny doesn't get a mention and they seem to think that Mitch won it. Strange as they remained to the end. My interview survived the editing though :-x Good piece in the Guernsey Post this morning which I got whilst at the airport. Lots of good pics from Andy Le Poidevin.

I would also like to extend my thanks to Gonzo441 for the help in providing the scorecard. It is appreciated.

Jacques drinks cider Dave, lots of it! They don't serve Crown and there isn't a Darwin Stubbie in sight, but I'm sure that Cocked Hat can find some ice cold stuff for you.

Those were my thoughts entirely. But that was the legendary Todd The current crop, with a few exceptions, are not out of the same mould.

I know you didn't but CB252 and you are not alone in having strong views about Nicholls, its just that yours are more extreme than most. I still cannot believe that he has sacked his long term mechanic who has been unswerving in his loyalty and commitment and who has spent days at a time travelling in support of the rider for minimal reward over a number of years. This has also affected other members of the support team who I have found out tonight are devastated by the shabby treatment.

Oh I so agree Hyderd! Was not able to be there, but to Bomber, sincere congratulations from all your supporters at the Worlds Oldest Motor Sports venue where I am typing this whilst sitting in course control and wearing a Bomber cap. You are THE racer.

What a disappointment for everyone. And I can't make the restaging date.

Hi Bryn I always try to acknowledge everybody who supports our sport. Please extend my personal thanks to Ron. And while I have the opportunity, thanks to you for all your varied contributions in so many different places over the years!

A Final Red: Jason Crump 1st Blue: Leigh Adams 2nd White: Steve Johnston 4th Yellow: Rory Schlein 3rd B Final Red: Chris Holder 1st Blue: Mark Lemon 2nd White: Scott Nicholls engine failure Yellow: Corey Gathercole 3rd Big thanks to Ron on the Aussie Yahoo forum

Heat 17 Red: Rory Schlein 1 Blue: Trevor Harding 4 White: Steve Johnston 3 Yellow: Jason Doyle 2 Heat 18 Red: Leigh Adams 1 Blue: Travis McGowan 4 White: Corey Gathercole 3 Yellow: Tom Hedley 2 Heat 19 Red: Cameron Woodward 4 Blue: Chris Holder 2 White: Mark Lemon 1 Yellow: Simon Stead 3 Heat 20 Red: Tyron Proctor 4 Blue: Scott Nicholls 2 White: Troy Batchelor 3 Yellow: Jason Crump 1 B Finalists (in no particular order) Gathercole Holder Lemon Nicholls A Finalists (in no particular order) Schlein Crump Adams Johnstone

Only the driver need remain sober...

Sandie Do you know if anyone from Coventry is organising a coach? Maybe some of my ermmm... 'associates' could be persuaded to go. Especially the dual Blaze/Bees supporters. Last time I went by coach was to the league play off second leg at Kirky Lane last year but some of the others I know have been away by coach several times this season.

Word to the wise, although I would love to see the DVD, please do beware of copyright provisions, which I suspect do not belong to Poole Speedway but the BSPA. You may find it a condition of admission that you cannot film without written permission. I know a person who has come up against this and has had all his work on Streetfire taken off because he had filmed events for which he was not authorised by the Championship franchisee of the RAC/MSA. He has been selling DVD's too and awaits a verdict on that. Poor bloke is crapping himself. Different circumstances, but worth checking. Incidentally, as I often say, once you have used a Mac, you never go back!

I thought I saw him at Brandon last night but there's a bit of folklore that says we all have a double somewhere. BUT... Just hold on a minute, I just turned on Sky Sports Saturday and there he is reporting on Bournemouth v Oldham. He only had a minute and already a classic Millard: "he dived to the ref" - Your guess is as good as mine but I suppose he meant left! My head will be above the parapet for all to take a shot at over next Saturday and Sunday when I will be commentating on the final event of the season at the Worlds Oldest Motor Sport Course (est 1905) organised by the Worlds Oldest Motor Sport Club (est 1901). If I cannot do better than Millard I will eat my hat. See page 21 this weeks Motorsport News.

Inevitable I suppose... From BSPA website NICHOLLS PULLS OUT Scott Nicholls has withdrawn from Saturday's Czech Grand Prix due to his broken collarbone. Nicholls has been having intensive physio this week but has admitted that he is not fit to compete, and his place will be taken by reserve rider Ryan Sullivan.

Pete, thanks very much for that! Yes it works just like you said!

Red, no argument! Anybody remember some of the birds in the crowd at Cradley a few years ago now! It was Revenge of the Orange Women. There was one who must have used spray on stuff, she was about 6 different shades of orange, each arm and her head and legs were all different! Happy days!

SCB you are tops. How about one for 15 heat league matches when watching on Sky? Would defo appreciate one! Cannot watch a match without filling in a prog, would not be right would it?

Yes, the Danes are defo the team for Our Lads to be most wary of. They punched well above their weight at the house of darkness tonight. Did Bob Dugard run out of shillings for the meter? They all pull together and seemed more of a unit than the Aussies who fell apart like a pack of cards at various times throughout the meeting. Ryan towards the end looked less than convincing when interviewed and the body language shouted LOSER! His expression looked mystified and he even made the mistake of naming the weaker riders. So IMHO its between us and the Danes with Swedes the dark horses and Aussies in a very unfamiliar position, the Coventry Bees of the World Team Cup!

What an exceptional result! I could not believe what I was seeing and am very hopeful for the final. Everything crossed for Saturday night! Could not help myself from coming up with some comments most a bit tongue in cheek! - Mark Loram top geezer. My favourite rider since PC. Davis Norris continues mining his current rich vein of form and rode out of his skin in his four completed rides. He is an inspiration. Good to see perrenial cripple Lee Richardson dragging his fragile groin out of bed and whilst riding with crossed eyes scoring 10 points. Great work Joe and I can even tolerate Middlos waffling now. Is it the euphoria of the win or did I see a team of failed Eastern European dead beats with unpronouncable names performing appallingly badly, and the Hungarians were also very poor. Looking forward to tonight anyone care to guess which teams of 500-1 against shale wasters and first turn confrontation avoiders will be on the ferry home sharpish at first light on Wednesday morning.