End Of Era Meeting At Smallmead

[Zoe racers fan 0]

Fantastic meeting tonight - made even better by seeing all of the legends riding.

Ulrich deserved to win in tonight and won readings rider of the year to!.

 

The best bit was also seeing Dave Mullet complete the last ever 4 laps of the smallmead Track

 

Well done to the managment for putting on a fantastic show

 

Here is hoping for speedway in reading 2010

[Wackie 938]

Despite people complaining that the line up was weak we saw a very competitive meeting tonight with the end result 99.999% of Racers fans wanted.

 

Fantastic to see some of the old legends who donned the whinged wheel over the past 40 years, and fantastic to see so many old faces in the 3000+ crowd too and to meet a few new aquaintances.

 

Very sad affair at the end of it all though and I'll admit to shedding a tear as I walked out of Smallmead for the final time. Still quite choked about it now.

 

Here's hopefully to 2010!

[AndyP 3]

Despite people complaining that the line up was weak we saw a very competitive meeting tonight with the end result 99.999% of Racers fans wanted.

 

Fantastic to see some of the old legends who donned the whinged wheel over the past 40 years, and fantastic to see so many old faces in the 3000+ crowd too and to meet a few new aquaintances.

 

Very sad affair at the end of it all though and I'll admit to shedding a tear as I walked out of Smallmead for the final time. Still quite choked about it now.

 

Here's hopefully to 2010!

 

Even I shed a tear tonight.

 

Very emotional evening.

 

Working for this club has been the best period of my life and I'm really going to miss it like crazy.

 

[nigelb 6]

By the looks of his results in the Ace of Herts and today, Linus Sundstrom certainly seems as though he could do a reasonable job in the PL.

too right he was extremely competitive, took Lemon from behind and was only beaten by quality heatleaders - bargain signing for a PL team, quite symbolic that an unknown young swede should be one of the night's hot items!!

(Strange that with all the thousands of fans there tonight some were able to discuss the why's and wherefore's of Mills not attending?? which just seems typically ironic and says a lot about forums, or is it fora!!)

Great to see so many people there, probably more than the WTC race-off, less than WTC final and similar to swindon in play-off of 2006 - if only half these fans had turned up every week,and the question has to be why did they turn out tonight? not for the line-up i think we can safely say, although not a bad meeting at all, nostalgia?? or the chance to catch a glimpse of former heroes?? anyway great send-off, even if we couldn't stay for tim's last laps. Nice touch with the minute's silence for those who lost their lives to speedway (and hopefully the numpty who stole the Geoff Curtis sign gave it back before the end of the evening!!); finally it was fitting that the best racer of the year won the final race anything else would be a travesty - perhaps he can buy more of Hans' cast-off equipment again because he uses it very well!

Here's to 2010, and hopefully with a good spread in the Evening Post tomorrow showing the potential support for speedway in Reading might help to keep the politicos on-side, for now let's be optimistic and savour the memories.

Thank you and goodnight!

[nigelb 6]

Fantastic meeting tonight - made even better by seeing all of the legends riding.

Ulrich deserved to win in tonight and won readings rider of the year to!.

 

The best bit was also seeing Dave Mullet complete the last ever 4 laps of the smallmead Track

 

Well done to the managment for putting on a fantastic show

 

Here is hoping for speedway in reading 2010

damn - what did we miss!! we had to leave after the final finished - what happenend after??? gutted to miss mor than Tim doing 4 laps and the fireworks!

[Wackie 938]

Nigel, you didn't miss Tim's riding the last laps at Smallmead, but you did miss Dave Mullet taking the final chequered flag.

[Adam 74 0]

Simply a great night and a fitting end to Smallmead Stadium..

 

We were simply spoilt for action tonight with a bit of everything, races galore, great fireworks, and then all finished of nicely with the auction in the bar whilst having a couple of drinks..

 

Great to see some of the riders in the bar afterwards chatting away to..

 

Great for the fans that Ulrich won, really is a top bloke..

 

Man of the meeting as said was Linus, nothing short of sensational on his track debut! Bet theres a lot of promoters on the phone tonight!

 

Sad to see another place close, but could not have gone out in a beter way!

[cityrebel 2,960]

a really big crowd present last night to bid farewell to smallmead. good to see some racers riders from the past although a few were missing. despite my reservations i really enjoyed the sidecars they put on some exciting racing. finally a fitting winner of the last ever meeting at smallmead, the big o has been brilliant to watch this season and a real credit to the club during a difficult year.

[zoko 0]

[

Ulrich deserved to win in tonight and won readings rider of the year to!.

 

 

Well he had the easy passage all night,comming out to ride after every track grade? But the dreaded Gate 4 got him he dropped the clutch and went nowhere..Great evening and superb to see the 81yr unbeaten all night ................Well done Tim/Pat..Bye for now

 

[rhidassa 73]

c/o Official Reading Speedway Website:

A NEAR capacity crowd witnessed the last rites of speedway’s 33-year tenure at Smallmead Stadium and, fittingly, it was Racers’ 2008 linchpin Ulrich Ostergaard who scooped the £3,000 winner’s purse, courtesy of a superb display.

 

Played out in front of many club legends, including Anders Michanek, Jan Andersson, Bernie Leigh, John Davis, Richard May, Tony Olsson and Phil Morris, the on-track action was littered with incident.

 

Proceedings also included ‘Diddy’ David Hamilton taking a turn on the microphone and the legendary Dave Lanning doing a live race commentary – fabulous stuff!

 

The opening four heats provided wins for Ostergaard, Tom P. Madsen, Tomas Suchanek and Mads Korneliussen.

 

And Ostergaard followed up his opening race success with a tapes-to-flag victory from Emil Kramer in heat five.

 

Heat six went the way of 2008 Racers’ skipper Mark Lemon and was followed up by a second victory for Swindon’s Korneliussen.

 

With some brilliant and unique commentary from Dave Lanning, heat eight was a cracker and saw Linus Sundstrom and Jordan Frampton exchange places several times before the up-and-coming Swede finally prevailed.

 

The result was actually given the other way around officially, but was later correctly changed after the ultra-honest Frampton had telephoned the meeting referee, Dave Robinson, to say that he hadn’t actually won the race!

 

Ostergaard tanked to a huge win in heat nine, prior to fellow Dane Korneliussen immediately joining him on a hat-trick of victories.

 

The impressive Sundstrom took heat eleven, before the flamboyant Danny Warwick carded a fine win over former Racer Paul Clews.

 

Prior to heat thirteen, current promoter and ex-Reading teamster Malcolm Holloway took to the track once again and, despite falling on the pits bend of his first lap, he remounted to complete four laps…and this just a few months after suffering a heart attack. The reception the ‘Mad Wellie’ got from the large crowd said it all – brilliant!

 

Lemon took heat thirteen, with Frampton surprisingly relegating Ostergaard to third position.

 

Sundstrom recorded his third straight win in heat fourteen, prior to former Racers’ No.8 Chris Neath registering a good victory from Kramer.

 

Heat sixteen was re-run after Cory Gathercole had fallen spectacularly on the back straight, with Korneliussen subsequently chalking-up his fourth win on the spin.

 

Korneliussen’s colours were finally lowered in heat seventeen and it was fellow Dane Ostergaard who did the business, romping home after a robust first bend dash.

 

Going-places Aussie Richard Sweetman won heat eighteen, prior to Frampton racing to a fine success in the penultimate qualifying heat.

 

Lemon took heat twenty; his win taking him level with Ostergaard on 13 points, and just a single digit behind Korneliussen at the head of the leader-board.

 

Drama in the first semi-final saw Korneliussen charge under Frampton on the pits bend, with the young Poole-born Englishman hitting the deck. The decision was to exclude the Swindon rider and, although the Dane protested, it was the correct one from referee Robinson.

 

In the re-run, Neath rocketed from the start to win from Frampton, with Lemon unable to make an impression in third place.

 

Semi-final number two was won in typical style by Ostergaard, with Sundstrom following him across the line after the unlucky Krzysztof Stojanowski’s machine had given up the ghost on the final bend – robbing him of a certain place in the final and leaving the Pole to dejectedly coast across the line in fourth spot.

 

There was no denying Ostergaard in the final, as he bossed the first corner and went on to take the flag from Neath and Sundstrom. His was a popular success and much-deserved after his all-out 100 per cent efforts for Reading throughout the final Smallmead campaign. Indeed, Ostergaard is the last in a long line of heroes at the Berkshire raceway.

 

At the end of it all, the final four laps of the circuit were completed by the club’s most successful team manager, Tim Sugar – or so everyone thought! After a tentative look at the track, he reeled off four superb laps and, long before he had finished, the majority in the crowd had realised that it was in fact Dave Mullett - the ex-rider who made more appearances in a glittering career than any other for Reading Speedway.

 

It was, indeed, only proper that a man who gave such loyalty should bring the curtain down on the Smallmead raceway.

 

Sunday 19 October 2008

END-OF-AN-ERA

 

1st, Ulrich Ostergaard

2nd, Chris Neath

3rd, Jordan Frampton

4th, Linus Sundstrom

 

Ulrich Ostergaard 3 3 3 1 3 - - 13

Krzysztof Stojanowski 1 2 2 2 2 - - 9

Chris Neath 2 2 1 3 2 - - 10

Cory Gathercole 0 F R X - - - 0

Emil Kramer 0 2 1 2 2 - - 7

Tom P. Madsen 3 1 2 F 1 - - 7

Richard Sweetman 2 1 1 0 3 - - 7

Linus Sundstrom 1 3 3 3 1 - - 11

Robert Mear Non-starter

Danny Warwick 2 0 3 0 0 - - 5

Tomas Suchanek 3 0 1 1 1 - - 6

Jordan Frampton 1 2 M 2 3 - - 8

Paul Clews 0 1 2 0 0 - - 3

Mark Lemon 2 3 2 3 3 - - 13

Mads Korneliussen 3 3 3 3 2 - - 14

Shawn McConnell 1 1 0 1 1 - - 4

Ben Reade (Res) 0 0 0 - - - - 0

Marc Andrews (Res) 0 0 2 - - - - 2

Referee: Dave Robinson

 

Ht 1: Ostergaard, Neath, Stojanowski, Gathercole, 59.64

Ht 2: Madsen, Sweetman, Sundstrom, Kramer, 62.33

Ht 3: Suchanek, Warwick, Frampton (f, rem), Reade, 64.77

Ht 4: Korneliussen, Lemon, McConnell (f, rem), Clews (f, rem), 62.33

Ht 5: Ostergaard, Kramer, Clews, Andrews, 61.21

Ht 6: Lemon, Stojanowski, Madsen, Warwick, 61.62

Ht 7: Korneliussen, Neath, Sweetman, Suchanek, 61.93

Ht 8: Sundstrom, Frampton, McConnell, Gathercole (fell), 62.95

Ht 9: Ostergaard, Madsen, Suchanek, McConnell, 60.14

Ht 10: Korneliussen, Stojanowski, Kramer, Andrews, Frampton (ex, 2 mins), 60.90

Ht 11: Sundstrom, Lemon, Neath, Reade, 62.12

Ht 12: Warwick, Clews, Sweetman, Gathercole (f, rem, ret), 64.49

Ht 13: Lemon, Frampton, Ostergaard, Sweetman, 60.77

Ht 14: Sundstrom, Stojanowski, Suchanek, Clews, 62.37

Ht 15: Neath, Kramer, McConnell, Warwick (f, rem), 63.17

Ht 16: (Re-Run) Korneliussen, Andrews, Madsen (fell), Gathercole (f, ex), 61.52

Ht 17: Ostergaard, Korneliussen, Sundstrom, Warwick, 61.39

Ht 18: Sweetman, Stojanowski, McConnell, Reade, 63.15

Ht 19: Frampton, Neath, Madsen, Clews, 62.49

Ht 20: Lemon, Kramer, Suchanek, 62.20 (3 riders only)

First semi-final: (Re-Run) Neath, Frampton, Lemon, Korneliussen (ex, foul riding), 62.31

Second semi-final: Ostergaard, Sundstrom, Sweetman, Stojanowski, 62.24

Grand Final: Ostergaard, Neath, Frampton, Sundstrom, 62.27

 

Sidecars

Ht 1: Richard Moore/Rob Winspear, Peter Lloyd/Andi Wilson, Rick McAuley/Gareth Little, Roger Wynn/Richard Masterton, 68.62

Ht 2: Lloyd/Wilson, Wynn/Masterton, McAuley/Little, Moore/Winspear (ex), 68.71

Ht 3: Moore/Winspear, Wynn/Masterton, McAuley/Little, Lloyd/Wilson (ex), 69.77

Ht 4: Moore/Winspear, Wynn/Masterton, Lloyd/Wilson, McAuley/Little, 67.77

 

The Men in Black (3 laps only)

Ht 1: Jim Gregory, Terry Stone, Stuart Towner, John Taylor, Tom Richardson, 65.65

Ht 2: Paul Standing, Ron Jones, Col Smith, Dennis Cairns, 62.11

Ht 3: Gregory, Stone, Taylor, Towner, Richardson, 65.78

Ht 4: Cairns, Jones, Standing, Smith, 60.49

Ht 5: Gregory, Taylor, Stone, Towner, Richardson, 65.33

Ht 6: Standing, Smith, Jones, Cairns, 59.65

[Racer X 0]

[

Ulrich deserved to win in tonight and won readings rider of the year to!.

 

 

Well he had the easy passage all night,comming out to ride after every track grade? But the dreaded Gate 4 got him he dropped the clutch and went nowhere..Great evening and superb to see the 81yr unbeaten all night ................Well done Tim/Pat..Bye for now

 

The track grade allowed him to beat Mads did it?

 

Ulrich was superb apart from that one ride when he even the Big O found no place to pass.

 

All in all a very emotional night and a tremendous event with which to bid farewell to Smallmead...

I can't help feeling that a major part of my life has just suddenly slipped away and I am left with a feeling of mourning, especially after seeing a packed Smallmead and a great event like last night.

 

The old legends were all in good form with Dave Mullett and Petri Kokko (amongst a lot of others!) both in great vintage form and both looking fit as fiddles. Lovely to hear a commentary from Dave Lanning, and great to see the old Reading Promoter back at Smallmead.

 

Let's hope that the great attendance last night helps convince the powers that be that a speedway operation is viable in the town and together with the Racino we will be back in 2010.

 

My thanks to everyone involved in Reading Speedway on and off the track for the last 300 odd years. Next season is going to be very hard on us all.....

 

 

 

 

 

[fairy 0]

Let's hope that the great attendance last night helps convince the powers that be that a speedway operation is viable in the town and together with the Racino we will be back in 2010.

 

But that great attendance was for one night only, supporters from other clubs, people who have moved away and came for the one night only. I think we needed more supporters all year round to be able to show that speedway is viable in Reading, and I think that is much harder to prove

 

[windsor 0]

well i would like to say it was worth the journey-even more so with my boy winning.

 

there was some good racing and it was also nice to see Shaun race as only ever seen him in ice but he still had his ice riding style.

 

was nice to see you aswell Emma and glad you liked my new tattoo. Hopfully hoping to have it on show bit more in the summer.

 

[Racer X 0]

But that great attendance was for one night only, supporters from other clubs, people who have moved away and came for the one night only. I think we needed more supporters all year round to be able to show that speedway is viable in Reading, and I think that is much harder to prove

 

 

I do actually realise that last night was a one off (!) but my point is that there is that potential of a base of fans to draw upon and a realistic level of 2/3 that would still provide a very good level of attendance indeed.

 

Couple that with facilities that would keep those punters coming back - or improve the crowd levels - there are sound commercial reasons for believing there could be decent attendances in a new stadium.

 

Yes we have had big crowds before but these punters have often been lost because you average Jack and Jill won't put up with poor facilities any more - and that's what Smallmead had. Speedway in more comfortable surroundings is what has been needed for a good five years in Reading, let's hope the opportunity arises to prove my theory correct!

 

I for one was mightilly encouraged by the support that came out last night for a field that wasn't the strongest.

 

 

[fairy 0]

I for one was mightilly encouraged by the support that came out last night for a field that wasn't the strongest.

 

I'm wasn't suggesting that you didn't understand the concept of a one-off event, rather that, many of the people there weren't actually that bothered about the racing, it was the 'event' they came for.

 

I am well aware of your love for the club, and how much it means to you and so many people, but if there is to be a speedway in Reading in the future, then going on this year, and even the previous 3 or 4 years, I can't see it is a viable option, however much the loyal and devoted supporters want it to be there for them.