Aussie Titles Round 3 - Ding Ding

[Ozyace 0]

Whats the weather looking like for tonights meeting?

 

Cheers for the text messages also Lunchman. I would muchly appreciate he same again tonight.

 

My tip is Jay Lyons will be a class act tonight, but no match for Swozz.

Edited January 12, 2006 by Ozyace

[Ozyace 0]

Just had word from Lunchy - Gosford off

Edited January 12, 2006 by Ozyace

[Sandie 53]

Just had word from Lunchy - Gosford off

 

I'll let him explain

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You cant just come on and say that!!

 

Why, when, how.

 

EDIT - Just searched some Aus weather stations and it could possibly be a bit wet!!

Edited January 12, 2006 by fairy4ever

[Ozyace 0]

I don't really know i'm not there, Luchy just sent me a text reading

'gosford is off track awful, riders said it was too dangerous'

 

I don't know if it's been raining or anything , but you would think they could prep a track for a round of the Aussie titles.

[Sandie 53]

Thanks Ozy

 

What a shame, Rory needs all the competitive racing he can get at the moment.

As well as it being a terrible state of affairs for their national championships

[Ozyace 0]

No worries f4e, i'm sure Bryn or Lunchy will be posting soon enough to keep us all in the loop.

[Sandie 53]

No worries f4e, i'm sure Bryn or Lunchy will be posting soon enough to keep us all in the loop.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And that is the other big disappointment.

Travelling around the blooming Country and not getting so see any racing!

Poor Lunchy.

Sod Bryn he's escaping the cruel British winter (olny kidding B!xx)

[pastrana199 0]

It had rained last night but there was no reason why track couldnt have been prepared properly. Word around the track is that this is the death of Gosford speedway now.

 

What gets me is that these riders have put a lot of time and effort to get to these meetings. For example, Simon Stead's crew organised by Lee Redmond from Perth. 5 guys in a motorhome travelling distances like going to Poland from England let alone the fact Simon has flown 17,500miles to be there. All the riders are there and will be going to Newcastle Saturday and Gosford dont have the ability to run it 2moro instead

 

No wonder Jason Crump, Ryan Sullivan etc dont want to be involved in this competition

[caramal_smoothie 0]

thought the track was rideable, most riders were keen,couple wernt,shame for terry poole, dont think riders get away with that caper at an english meeting,a shame to see the likes of schlien, batchelor,n davey watt (who) COMPLAINING ABOUT TRACK CONDITION .do riders pull these stunts in the uk competition?look forward to seeing 4th round at newcastle. if the tracks smooth

[Trees 2,814]

I guess you can understand the younger riders being anxious about riding in iffy conditions as perhaps they have never had to race in such conditions, there's only one way to gain that experience though and of course there is always the choice of throttling off? The meeting wasn't called off with only 3 riders complaints though was it, surely if the majority said they would go for it then it would have taken place?

 

Such a shame after all the planning and what has been such a positive series so far.

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

Must admit I have read a bit more this morning and now understand a bit more about what went on than when I sent the text to Ozyace. The track was very patchy, it was soft in some spots and firm in others and that's where the concern was. They did scrape a hell of a lot of dirt off the top to try and get down to a raceable surface but then there was the problem of big drifts of dirt lying both up against the fence and on the infield edge of the track and that would have provided other problems. There is also a curfew at Gosford and once it got past a certain time then they couldn't have finished the meeting anyway.

 

I knew it rained the night before but the day was fine although overcast and I must admit before I got to the track I never even gave a thought to a rain off. My thoughts were they would have had all day to get the track to a state fit for racing, perhaps not 100% but at least something that the riders would be happy racing on.

 

The thing that disappoints me is that Gosford has had a long line of misfortunes lately and the patience of the average punter who turns up each meeting must be getting sorely tested.

[SwineTown 4]

Just FYI from my local paper:

-----------------------------------

Step nearer to the title for Adams

By Dave Eaton

LEIGH ADAMS has moved a step nearer to a record ninth Australian Championship title without even turning a wheel, writes DAVE EATON.

 

The Swindon Robins skipper, winner of the opening two rounds at Gillman and Mildura last week, did not even have to try and extend his unbeaten record in the 2006 Championship as the third round due to be staged at Gosford, New South Wales, last night was washed out.

 

Heavy rain 24 hours earlier and rain again yesterday left the circuit at the Gosford Showground waterlogged and officials had no alternative but to cancel the meeting.

 

Unfortunately owing to an extremely tight schedule for the four round series to be completed, the third round will not be re-run at Gosford.

 

The series is now set to move onto Newcastle, NSW, on Saturday night, weather permitting, for the finale, the fourth and final round.

 

Adams was a red-hot favourite to defend the Aussie title even before the series commenced, but with the third round being washed out the overall championship crown now looks a formality again for him.

 

The current World No. 3 is unbeaten after 12 races in the series so far. He won the qualifying events at Gillman and Mildura last week with 15 point maximums and then went on to take the chequered flag in the respective A Finals.

 

All Adams has to do in Newcastle to take his ninth Aussie Championship title is finish in the top four in the 20-heat qualifying event.

 

That would guarantee him an A final and a minimum of 16 points and put him into an unassailable position on the leaderboard.

 

Leading standings (After two rounds)

1 LEIGH ADAMS 40pts, :D

2 Todd Wiltshire 35,

3 Rory Schlein 33,

4 Adam Shields 28,

5 Travis McGowan 27,

6 Simon Stead (guest) 26,

7 equal Davey Watt and Kevin Doolan 23,

9 Jason Lyons 22,

10 Jason Doyle 20.

[SwineTown 4]

ps - Look at Todd go. Nice return to the shale.

[Sandie 53]

ps - Look at Todd go. Nice return to the shale.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and Rory, after such a long lay off!

[M.D 474]

I got this email today about the rain off at Gosford, the Aussies sure know how to name and shame.

 

Mick Poole writes:

"I am embarrassed to call myself a former speedway rider. Now dont get me

wrong I am all for rider safety and I know exactly how dangerous our sport

can be having sustained career ending injuries that would cause these so

called professionals to pee in their pants.

 

"The track was indeed patchy after a heavy downpour at 9.30pm the night

before.......my 63 year-old father, Terry, started the grader at 10am on

race day.....He did not stop working on the track until 7.30pm without a

break, after the riders did not want to practice. The riders also provided

advice on how they wanted the track prepared, which he complied with, only

to be told by the riders to prepare the track in the exact opposite manner

to what they had requested previously.

 

"The riders (after hearing the spiel from MA that motorcycling is dangerous,

etc and if you are not happy with the track you're welcome to go home

without penalty) in my opinion held a gun to the MA officials head,

threatening legal action if the meeting went ahead. These riders I believe

should be suspended for their actions.

 

"They brought our sport into disrepute pure and simple. Since when has the

tail wagged the dog?"

 

"Leigh Adams offered to test the track for them and them he got shot down in

flames by these fairies. If these guys are professionals why couldn't they

have at least tried the track.......I have a 13-year old son who races

junior speedway and dirt-track whom I worry about him every time he puts his

helmet on. A rider from Queensland came down to ride his 350cc speedway bike

and said he didn't travel all that way not to have a ride - he was told by

the fairies to 'shut up mate, you are only on a 350'. What a joke, nice one

girls.

 

"I will say Leigh Adams, Adam Shields, Travis McGowan, Todd Wiltshire, Craig

Watson, Chris Holder, Mark Jones and Jason Doyle as well as some others were

willing to try. I wonder what would happen if these guys get the privilege

to ride in a GP on tracks similar to what was on offer and try to hold a gun

to Ole Olsen's head? Shame on you SPEEDWAY RIDERS, you should all take up

netball. If any of you feel the need to try and explain yourself, you have

my number, you know who you are." (end)

Rod Colquhoun writes:

"...the (Australian Championship) Gosford round was held to ransom by a few

riders who managed to root what would have been a pretty good series. The

riders in question have not been named elsewhere but I feel it my duty to

blow the whistle on the offenders and give my view on their reasoning.

 

"RORY SCHLIEN is fast gaining a reputation as a pain in the ass and this

view was enhanced at Gosford. He came close to getting knocked out

(literally) last time Gosford held a round when he decided he didn't like

the track and threw a tantrum. The kid can ride, but he carries some serious

baggage. I would say he was the ringleader at Gosford. He was almost equal

in points with Todd Wiltshire in the race to win the new bike (first non-GP

rider) and his dislike of the track surface made him doubt he could fend off

Todd that night, so he urged cancellation of the meeting. Piss weak.

"Note: He did four flying laps at Coventry a couple of months ago in a pair

of boxer shorts, so surely he cannot put safety at the top of his list of

priorities?

 

"DAVE WATT is a talented bloke, but save for a few good rides at Gillman he

failed to fire a shot all series. I think after his Mildura performance

(well below expectations) he just wanted to go home and a possible rain-off

at Gosford was the easy ticket. Dave has just signed for Oxford in the UK

and I think promoter Aaron Lanney will feel more like a kindergarten teacher

than a promoter when trying to sift through Dave's needs.

 

"JASON LYONS was a pale shadow of himself during the whole series and I

personally hoped he would (have) saved some pride by pulling out of the

competition after Mildura, a place at which he normally shines. Further

discussion revealed a broken wrist as well as a few other problems which

prevented him from committing fully to the task at hand. Sadly, one of

Australia's most robust characters took the easy way out at Gosford.

"Personally disappointing for me, as I am a huge fan of Lyons.

 

"KEVIN DOOLAN is not a bad rider, but his opinion on this night should have

been kept to himself. There were far more qualified people to cast an

opinion on the track than Doolan, but mud sticks and he did his share of

talking, when silence would have been much smarter.

 

"'There were also varying degrees of dissent from Troy Batchelor and Simon

Stead(UK) and I am not looking to save face for them, but they were not as

vocal as the four.

 

"When you consider that the last placed rider in each round of the title

gets $400 it makes their desire to cancel all the more baffling." (end)

 

 

* The above comments appear in the latest issue of Speedway Racing News (Jan

25-Feb 8).

The publisher David Tapp, under the title of "Speedway's night of shame",

also writes on the opening page:

 

"I can't ever recall being ashamed to call myself a speedway fan but this

unthinkable scenario occurred at Gosford Speedway on Thursday night January

12, 2006. For the first time in a life time of following speedway I was

appalled and disgusted by a sequence of events that did more damage to

speedway's credibility in more than three decades of watching the sport.

 

"...the track commentator announced over the public address system that the

event wouldn't be going ahead, because a handful of riders had declared the

track too dangerous to ride.

 

"You need to be aware that a fair bit of rain had fallen the night before,

but no rain whatsoever fell on the actual day of the event.

 

"A handful of riders, each full-time professionals.......said a winrow

(pile) of dirt that had been left by the track curator (the promoter) up

against the fence was too dangerous. As was another winrow graded about one

metre in from the infield. Apparently they created an inherent risk.

Furthermore, at the exit to turn two was a wet, patchy part of the track

that may have posed a risk to riders.

 

"Race Director Ivan Golding and Referee David Mills together asked the

Gosford Promoter (Terry Poole) to remove the winrow he had left against the

fence because of safety concerns. Poole attempted this, but his efforts to

stockpile so much wet earth proved in vein.

 

"According to Golding he, in conjunction with Mills, decided at 6pm the

meeting would not go ahead, yet an announcement to the public was not made

until 7.30. You could just imagine how cheesed off the paying public were. I

even spotted the great Steve Waugh sitting in the crowd, waiting patiently

with his family as this embarrassing comedy of errors unfolded.

 

"I have never seen such a rudderless ship in my entire life. No one was in

charge and seemingly no one had a plan. People had driven from all over

Australia or flown in from New Zealand for this event; only to be treated

like fools.

 

"To those riders who refused to ride; hang your head in shame. Is it any

wonder that the sport of solo racing in Australia is all but dead? You are

all professional speedway riders and you would have ridden on tracks far

worse in England than at Gosford on January 12, so what was the drama this

time? I suspect none of you give a rats about the sport in this country and

quite happily stood back and watched as the credibility of the Australian

Solo Championship evaporated.

 

"Memo to whoever was running the show. The riders that didn't want to ride

should have been told to go and sit in the pits and take no part, allowing

the other riders to get out onto the track and put on the best show possible

for the assembled spectators. The prizemoney...should have been distributed

among those riders that wanted to do the right thing.

 

"Bearing in mind most riders wanted to race and the likes of Leigh Adams and

Todd Wiltshire offered to do a few laps to check the track surface. This was

deemed inappropriate as commonsense was scarce, during what can be best

described as comedy capers.

 

"I spoke to Adams and Wiltshire afterwards and both said the track was fine

to race on. Adams said any rider that wasn't up to riding the Gosford

surface had no right being in the Australian Championship in the first

place. Adams also confirmed that riders present race on far worse tracks in

Europe every second week."

Edited January 25, 2006 by M.D