britmet

. This is what makes a mockery of a league , - pulling in a SGP rider who's not been willing to ride in the UK for a season but will, for short-term inflated pay, finish the season here, when in effect he and that Sept/Oct team line-up, - you know the one I'm thinking of - , has not been the one that's competed in the league the preceding 5 months ! . There needs to be a rule, - sorry, yes, another but essential rule - , to stop clubs drafting in heat-leaders at the end of the season if they weren't prepared to commit to a full season in a UK league.

]Most of the fans want the plays offs ...it's a small number mainly from people over 55 who don't want them . The over 55s ARE today's Speedway fans. Without them there,d be no speedway

. Absolutely ! ! ! .

Superguest has it when he says 'Double headers' , post #636. But was he thinking the same as me? - 2 Wolves matches ? . . . . or a Wolves followed by a Cradley match. Surely that's the solution to rain-offs. And think of the gate, . . . Not 2 sets of riders pay from one match gate, but 2 lots of fans and double the gate !

Not quite what you sought, but a little bit of info on what happened to 2 of those Oxford Swedes, Samuelsson and Holmqvist: both found success in different ways in Ice Racing I'd been a family pen-pal for a few years when Njudingarna's Conny Samuelsson became a 18-year old success at home by double-scoring in his international debut against Russia in 1967. For a reward, at Christmas that year as his present he got a brand new ice-racing Jawa, so he was racing on shale and ice. (See photo, foot of page.) In '68 he again double-scored, against Czechoslovakia in his one test appearance, and was reckoned to have the fastest motors in Sweden. He joined Oxford in '69 and raced 13 matches, plus just one reserve appearance in the Test Series, at Cradley Heath, (where we finally met up,) but he pulled up no trees, and didn't appear in the UK again. He rode tests for Sweden against USSR in '71 & '72, scoring just a few points. But on Ice he was improving, so that by 1976 he was 3rd in the World Ice Championship, and went one better in '77 when he took the Silver Medal as World No.2, and capped the year with the Swedish Championship. Today Conny Samuelsson is a respected Ice referee at international level and an FIM official. Hasse Holmqvist spent his first 2 UK season with Wolves, sharing a house with Heathen's Tommy Berqvist in Cradley Heath, and the two would often spend free time around Dudley Wood chatting to youngsters like ourselves. In 1970 he was the 'foreign rider' replacement for Samuelsson at Cowley, topping their season's averages at 9.1 and again when he returned in '73. Since those times Hasse has become a much respected engine turner, notably for the most successful of Swedish Ice Racers, Posa Serenius, who's taken the national ice title 22 times, and 2 world championships, mostly on Holmqvist motors, which he reckons would blow if tweaked one more fraction. You can see present-day Hasse in this of Serenius, (at 3m.30s)

. Born in July 1927, Henry Long started riding at age 18 after the war at the Old Barn track outside Johannesburg. He can be seen in action photos from that time with Buddy Fuller, Fred Wills, etc. HERE Age 88, he now lives in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape. .

. Been said on the Fans Forum a few years ago. If you've only got Variable costs to pay out, why burden the operation with a large Fixed Cost outlay of building your own site when some other operation will host you and carry the overheads of a stadium? . Over the decades the likes of Parker, Mole, Thomas, etc. have known and shown that its the first couple of seasons that they (might) make money, and after that attendances usually fall as the novelty wears off, (though a run of successes can prolong it.) That's when they sell off the operation to another new, keen but green promotion/association. .

The transition from speedway to Ice racing apparently isn't easy. Ivan Mauger, just the year before winning his first World Championship, - 3rd in the World on shale - , was entered into the World Ice qualifiers. He came 16th (out of 16) and didn't participate again. http://www.speedwaychampions.com/ice-champions.php

Best of luck you guys cancelling Sky. Its a lot harder that you'd hope, according to all the letter columns and complaints on the press 'help' pages.

. The scheme in Malaysia that Mauger ran was supported by the government of the day to keep the youngsters off the streets and out of trouble. (It mainly used mopeds and small such bikes stripped down, with just a few pukka bikes and displays of what we know as broadsiding speedway.) . When the government changed the new administration weren't interested and the scheme collapsed. .

YES !

The 125 Championship was a one-off mtg at P'boro in June, . . . but I can't find anything about a 2015 150cc championship. . ? . The British Lions site, 'Info/History' page says "In 2014 we also ran for the 1st time a one off 150cc final, on the same rules." . Is there one in 2015 ?

Always remembered, Cradley 1963.

. 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. .

. 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.) .

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 !

. 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. .

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

.. The result was 22- 38 to Penhall's team. I'll message you with a scan .of the speedway page from the programme. .

. Byron Bekker returned to his home track outside Johannesburg last week and led his family team, (in memory of uncle Des Bekker,) to a clear cut 32-10 win. In his first meeting this year he was unbeaten with 3 easy wins. Full results and photos on Speedway-SA ,

. Just a reflection of the status of UK speedway throughout ! .

. 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. .

(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 ! .

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

Depending where you are postage could be bind. I used Hermes, ~half PO price, either collected or drop off at your local grocery store. https://www.myhermes.co.uk/send-a-parcel.html