Bavarian

can we agree that the referee was brilliant last night? he did not stop the heats, when the riders that obviously moved did not gain an advantage. He gave them their deserved warnings after the race had finshed. This saved us all a tremendous amount of time and the meeting ran smoothly and finished in less than 2 hours. Perfect!

Andrei Kudriashov to replace the suspended Grigorij Laguta and Mikkel Bech comes in for Nicki Pedersen

If Laguta is banned for some time, it will be a tough season for his club Rybnik, who are fighting to stay in the Ekstarliga. Very fortunate this for Torún who are currently below Rybnik in the league standings.

I wonder if this meloduium can actually do him any good to perfom better in a motor sports disciplin. And I wonder if it is appropriate for this sport to promote performance enhancing substances in form of energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster Energy, which the riders drink at every given opportunity during live TV interviews.

Very true. Of the current Latvian SWC team, only Puodzuks is an ethnic Latvian. The other three - Lebedevs, Bogdanovs, and Kostygovs - all have Russian forefathers, as has their Team Manager Rybnikovs. But of course the riders are all Latvian citizens, born and raised in Latvia. Nothing wrong here.

The Polish PZM has reported Laguta for having failed a drugs test at a Polish league meeting. Great ! The timing to have him suspended just hours before todays' SWC race-off is perfect. The Russians have no time to react, can't call-up one of their other riders, and have to use Gleb Chugunov. Congratulations to the PZM, for eliminating one of the Polish team's biggest rivals for Gold, and spoiling the excitment of the SWC race-off and final.

this was (technically) a long-tack event

... and then there was Fay Taylour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Taylour ... and another great rider of the pioneer years of 1928/29, Larry Coffey, from Belfast in Northern Ireland, who lost his life at the London White City Stadium.

There was a Long-track speedway meeting in Sweden last week, at the Axevalla trotting track at Skara, with riders from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. This revival for motorcycle racing at this venue attracted nearly 3,000 spectators. The last time a long-track motorcycle race meeting was held at Skara was more than 30 years ago in the year 1983. Here is a short video to give an impression of the venue and the racing https://hallpressen-tv.solidtango.com/video/syntolkad-longtrack-speedway-pa-axevalla?html5=0

4,000 spectators but many were disappointed with the quality of this pairs Meeting. Not sure if Landshut will stage another one next year.

Some experience on the Contient would do the British youngster good, too. See how much Robert Lambert has benefitted from his time in Germany. Send a Young England Team on tour to Germany, Czech, or Poland. This would be great !

Who will replace Kylmäkorpi? The SGP Quali meeting at Abensberg features 2 Swedes, 2 Germans, 2 Austrians, 2 Poles, 2 Danes, 2 Czechs, 1 American, 1 New Zealander, 1 Italian, and 1 Belgian !

With three of the four match now off, what is the situation in regard of the clash with the Best Pairs on the re-staging date on May 2nd?

I see from these results of the Italian Championship round, that Italian Speedway is down to ten active riders (inclusive of the Argentinean Nico Covatti). Some have switched codes and are now racing in the Italian Flat Track Championships. And the speedway riders situation is even worse in the other southeastern European nations, such as Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bulgaria. There were only four Slovenian riders in the opening round of their national championship, and there is now only one rider in Croatia (Jurica Pavlic). Teh Alarm bells must ring! How long can it continue like that?

Yes, in speedway team events, all the riders have to be of that nationality they represent. In other sports it may be different. I guess it is not so strict in Rugby Union, but that's another thing. Anyway, in sidecar speedway it is just the drivers, but not their passengers, it seems. I can live with that. Anyway, it is not me who makes up these rules, it is the F.I.M., and You will know we once had a "Team Europe" in a World Ice Racing Final in Russia, and a "Team Adria" in a Speedway World Cup qualifying round. This makes the mixed nationalities of sidecar passengers easily acceptable to me.

It does not really matter what nationality the sidecar passenger has. The nationality of the passenger is not officially regarded in sidecar racing. It is only the driver whose nationality is officially represented in these FIM sidecar championship meetings. This is a litte bit like the Manager(Coach/Trainer in international Football (World Cup / Euro), for example at the EURO 2016 Iceland had a Swedish coach, and Scotland once had the German Berti Vogts. That does not matter.

Today at Gillman Speedway, Adelaide, South Australia, is the 1000cc Sidecar Speedway F.I.M. World Cup Final http://www.gillmanspeedway.com/news/speedway-riders-chase-sidecars-world-cup-in-adelaide-this-saturday-night/ These are the riders/passengers for today's F.I.M. World Sidecar Speedway meeting (8 AUS, 5 NZ, 2 USA, 1 GB): Grant Bond / Glenn Cox (Australia) Hayden Bond / Brady Cox (Australia) Andrew Buchanan / Denny Cox (New Zealand/Aust) James Douglas / Harley Biddle (New Zealand) Byren Gates / Michael O’Loughlin (Australia) Arron Hartwig / Teagan Hartwig (Australia) Trent Headland / Darryl Whetstone (Australia) Joe Jones / Dave German (United States of America) Mark Mitchell / Sam Harrison (Australia) Warren Monson / Andrew Summerhayes (Australia) Jamie Moohan / Bayley Ogilvie (New Zealand) Bryan Motis / Nathan McFadden (United States of America/Aust) Derek Ramsay / Matthew Ramsay (New Zealand) Aiden Thwaites / Shane Twiss (New Zealand) Darrin Treloar / Blake Cox (Australia) Paul Whitelam / Damian Egan (Great Britain/Aust) Reserves: Mark Plaisted / Ben Pitt (Australia), Clint Mayes / Sean Coleby (Australia)

But there aren't really any riders doubling up in ice speedway and Polish League Speedway, are there? Tobi Busch maybe, but his absence would hardly bother the Polish league. I can't see a Problem here, but spectator interest my just not be the same for ice racing in April or even later in the year (there are now some all-year-round ice Arenas available) when lots of other motorsports is going on again.

A 2015 picture from a pre-season practice event at Wagenfeld, Germany. The 500cc sidecar driver is Britain's Natasha Bartlett, with her passenger Ciara Southgate (back), along with Holland's Sandra Molema (sitting in front).

Flat Track Racing is an interesting topic, about which I did not know much about until it was brought up here as a topic on the BSF. It seems there is currently something like a revival for flat track racing in the USA. And it is catching on world wide, at least in countries where there is no other form of Motorcycle dirt track oval racing (Speedway, long-track and grass-track etc) established, and is already quite popular in Spain, or Italy. I can see the potential in Flat Track racing. It may ultimately replace our Grass-track / Long-track racing. It has the advantage of all the big international motorcycle producers being involved. And I can see that these bikes and the livestyle that goes with dirt track / flat track racing is appealing to the younger generation, certainly more than grass-track or long-track. However, I can't see it ever replacing Speedway, because Speedway is such a unique form of motor sport as a team sport with leagues and internationals etc, and to me speedway is much more exciting to watch than flat-track racing. Here is a "dash for cash" flat track race at Santa Rosa (1 mile track) featuring six riders over four laps, just like at a long-track race. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fQmKWK0Z1o

That's German 500cc Sidecar driver Achim San Millan, from Gengenbach in Baden (Black Forest), with his brother Christian San Millan

Are there any speedway meetings in Bulgaria in 2017? One thing missing in the International section this year was a preview for the USA speedway season

... and the really "big" meetings of sidecar speedway racing, the World Cup and the Oceania Championship, are coming up shortly on Easter Weekend in Australia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58kNSN8gbo

Four rounds: 24 June 2017 at Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic (long-track) 17 July 2017 at Badia Calavena, Italy (speedway) 26 August 2017 at Rye House, England (speedway) 9 September 2017 at Macon, France (speedway) http://www.fim-live.com/en/sport/calendar/flat-track/ There were no British riders in the 2016 FIM Flat Track series, but interestingly some Spanish riders featured very prominently. The Italians seem to be teh best in European Flat Track motorcycle racing. Note that the runner-up in the 2016 series is Emanuele Marzotto, the son of the GM speedway engine constuctor, Giuseppe Marzotto. Results F.I.M. FLAT TRACK CUP 2016 over three rounds, at Marianske Lazne (CZ), Badia Calavena (ITA), and Morizes (FRA). 1. Francesco CECCHINI (Italy), 86 pts 2. Emanuele MARZOTTO (Italy), 82 pts 3. Franco SERRA (Spain), 65 pts 4. Maikel DIJKSTRA (Holland), 62 pts 5. Wilfried DELESTRE (France), 61 pts 6. Adrian GARÍN (Spain), 50 pts 7. Massimiliano ANDREOTTI (Italy), 50 pts 8. Philippe STELLA (France), 42 pts 9. Gianluca GALLETTI (Italy), 35 pts 10. Pavol PUCKO (Czech Republic), 35 pts 11. Elia GIBERT (Spain), 34 pts 12. Gianni BORGIOTTI (Italy), 34 pts 13. Damian BOMAIS (France), 30 pts 14. Janne RANTALA (Finland), 24 pts 15. Hanson SCHRUF (Austria), 16 pts (top 15 out of 22 riders in total) Looking back at the 2015 results of the FIM Flat Track Cup, I see three Brits finishing in the top six of the 2015 series. I wonder why they did not compete in 2016? 2015 F.I.M. FLAT TRACK CUP results: 1. Francesco CECCHINI (Italy), 60 pts 2. Oliver BRINDLEY (Great Britain), 46 pts 3. Emanuele MARZOTTO (Italy), 44 pts + 3 (after run-off) 4. Herman KENKILA (Finland), 44 pts + F (after run-off) 5. Aidan COLLINS (Great Britain), 42 pts 6. Alan BIRTWISTLE (Great Britain), 39 pts 7. Mika KOSKINEN (Finland), 38 pts 8. Pavol PUCKO (Czech Republic), 34 pts 9. Wilfried DELESTRE (France), 33 pts 10. Franco SERRA SALA (Spain), 29 pts (top 10 out of 19 riders in total)

This here is the preview of the Saturday night, December 18th, 1937, speedway meeting at Claremont: SPEEDWAY RACING. Tonight's Programme. A new form of handicapping will be used for the first time at Claremont Speedway tonight when competitors will take up their positions on their marks behind the electric starting gate. The electric starting gate and barrier will be used as customarily but the scratch markers will be the only riders at the gate. The other competitors will make a clutch start from allotted marks in the rear. Handicaps for the All-Star Handicap will be: On scratch at the starting gate: John Preston, L. Murphy, Neil Schiller. 10 yards behind: Arthur Hopkins, Ron Clarke, Jack Clementson. 20 yards behind: Cecil Walker, Jock Sweet, Charlie Lish. 30 yards behind: Jack Sharp, "Mick Murphy", "Tiger" Lewis, Wal Morton, Ted Bravery and Don Hemingway. The handicap race for the internationals should be most spectacular because there will be five riders in each heat and in the finaL In the novice handicap, there also will be five riders. The first match for the speedway "Ashes" should provide the best riding of the night. There will be nine heats with four riders in each heat. Picked Australian and English teams will be in action. There will be a full programme of events, including a special challenge match race between Wal Morton, the English captain and Jack Sharp. the Australian leader. Gates will open at 7 o'clock tonight and the programme is scheduled to start at 8 o'clock. And the next day's newspaper report of Neil Schiller's fatal crash read as follows: SPEEDWAY FATALITY Youth Killed After Winning Event Perth, Dec. 19. After passing the line, winner in the final event at the Claremont dirt track meeting last night, Neil Schiller (20), of Leederville, lost con- trol of his motor cycle, which went into a skid, and received fatal injuries when another cycle ran into him. He was admitted to hospital suffering from a possible dislocated spine, possible fractured pelvis, and internal injuries, and died at about 4 a.m. to-day. Schiller won his race by 20 yards from H. Lewis, with T. Bravery about the same distance away, third. Schiller's machine skidded and came to the ground a short distance beyond the finishing line, with Schiller lying beside it. Lewis, who had checked his machine when he saw he could not win, was travelling comparatively slowly, and could avoid Schiller. Bravery was travelling very fast in third place, and did not see Schiller until he was a few yards from him. He slewed the machine around, but its momentum was too great, and it crashed, side-on, into the other cycle, jamming Schiller between the two machines. Bravery was unhurt. Report of Neil Schiller's funeral on Monday, December 20th, 1937 Motorcycles Have Requiem To Dead Rider Their slowly-running engines sounding a requiem, motor cyclists today paid an impressive tribute at the funeral of Neil Schiller, the speedway rider. This 20-year-old rider, for whom a brilliant future had been predicted, was injured at Claremont Speedway last Saturday night, just after he had won one of the most important events on the programme. Early yesterday morning he succumbed to his injuries. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Karl Schiller, of Tate-street, West Leederville. Himself a noted competition rider, and former prominent competitor at Claremont Speedway, Mr. Schiller had proudly watched his son develop noted proficiency as a dirt-track rider. Members of the Harley-Davidson Club, of which Neil Schiller had been a member, and of the Indian Club (of which Mr. Karl Schiller was founder and life-member), followed the cortege from Tate-street to Karrakatta. At the graveside those present included members and officials of the W.A. Motor Cycling Association, speedway executives and representatives of the various motor cycling clubs. From a Perth newspaper report of January 10th, 1938 SPEEDWAY RIDER'S DEATH ACCIDENTAL, CORONER SAYS A finding of accidental death was given by the Acting Coroner (Mr. Hugh MacLean, J.P.) at the conclusion of the inquest today into the death of Neil Alexander Schiller. Schiller was killed in an accident at the Claremont Speedway on the night of December 18. The evidence of Edwin Thomas Bravery, the English rider, who was also concerned in the accident, was taken on December 31, as he wished to leave the State. Schiller was riding in the final race of the evening when the accident occurred. He had won the race, and was some distance over the finishing line, when his machine went into a skid. A witness today was unable to say why Schiller's motor cycle should have broadsided when there was, as far as he could see, no need for him to stop quickly. In his evidence Bravery, who collided with Schiller and his cycle after broadsiding in an attempt to stop, said his view of the fallen man was obscured by Harry ("Tiger") Lewis. He said he saw an object on the track when he was about 40ft. away. It was estimated by Lewis that Bravery was travelling at 57 to 58 miles an hour when he attempted to swerve or stop. Lewis said he was about 15 yards behind Schiller when, for no apparent reason, he went into a skid. Lewis swerved and Schiller and his machine were still sliding along the track when he passed on the inside. Lewis did not see the impact. OBSCURED VIEW To Lewis, Sergeant Lynes (who examined the witnesses), said: Would you have obstructed Bravery's view? Lewis: Yes. That is the impression I gained. I must have been between the two of them. Raymond Bryan Pemberton, of Colinstreet, West Perth, who was a spectator at the Speedway, said he saw the accident. "I saw Schiller's machine go into a skid, and it fell about 30 Yards past the finishing line. Schiller appeared to be still in a riding position on the machine up to the moment he stopped," he said. "Bravery was still travelling at a high speed when he crossed the line, and then (Lewis had swerved to the inside of the track) he appeared to see Schiller for the first time. He threw his machine over." Dr. H. Kendall Pawsey, of the Perth Hospital, said that Schiller was admitted to the hospital at 11.30 p.m. on December 18. He died at 4 a.m. the following morning. Death was due to shock and haemorrhage. He was suffering from a fractured pelvis and fractured ribs.