britmet

There used to be 4 rakers on each bend, 4 at the starting line (beside the Starting Marshall,) 2 pushers-off for each helmet colour (after having collected bikes from the pits to the pit gate and on to the track,) : that's 20 guys that had to be paid ! So we know why they went, . . . .but as with volunteers on other functions today, I doubt there'd no shortage of supporters offering to get closer to the action.

New venue and date for Rd.3, . . .and the Final in Sept. http://www.speedwaychampions.com/sidecar-champions.php

What a collection ! . . .and such a range of stuff. Enough parts alone to build a dozen or more bikes. Then there's the race jackets, the photos, posters, and books. And the unique bike collection, - old ('20s), '50s, and newer, (of the last few decades.) There's a full day's reading/viewing and more, just to get thru the auction item lists, if you've the spare day or 2. Worth it !

Henry Long passed away today, July 8th 2019, just a couple of weeks short of his 92nd birthday. An obit is posted separately.

South Africa's greatest ever speedway rider, Henry Long, passed away today in Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa, aged 91. In domestic and international competitions, he was the Union's top all-time points scorer, and appeared amongst the world's elite in the World Championship Final at Wembley Stadium, London of 1952, the first of only 2 African riders ever to qualify for a World Final. Born in Alberton near Johannesburg in 1927, he started racing after the war at the nearby Old Barn track with Buddy Fuller and Fred Wills. When speedway racing started at the Wembley Stadium, Jo'burg in 1947 Henry's performances rapidly improved, and in the first international Test Series staged the following season against England he top-scored across both teams, and then travelled to the UK and Belle Vue for a 4-year stint in Manchester, culminating in his World Final appearance. At home, he took 5 Wembley (Jo'burg) Open Championships and a similar number of SA National championships, limited only by his absences riding in the UK. Henry Long retired in 1964 to concentrate on the family garage business set up by his father, where he was joined in partnership by fellow rider Roy Bester, before starting up a new fork-lift sale and hire business. In August 2014 Henry suffered a stroke at home in Johannesburg, so relocated to Franschhoek, near Cape Town to be close to his daughter Sue. He passed away peacefully in the early hours of today, 8th July. (Elder son Graham Long, who rode speedway in the 'seventies, passed away in 2017.) HENRY LONG, 26.7.1927 - 8.7.2019 R.I.P. CCJ A fuller tribute will be posted on www.speedway-sa.com

Totally agree with everything that is said above. The 'sport' is continuing in its downward spiral !

a) yet at every restructuring proposal we keep being being told there aren't enough riders, b) It is too regular, - teams are starting the season off with R/Rs. . . on both sides of a match. No injuries there yet.

If you support riders having more rides per match, what should be done is change the format and ride 6-man teams over 16 heats, - NOT pretend we have 7-man teams but only track 6 (or 5). The more rides the better 3 have, the less exposure the rawer 2 or 3 have, - then that, over time, leads to a diminishing pool.

Extract from UK crews' Blog; "Current British Champion Paul Whitelam stated “I’ve made the journey for the past three seasons, but with only one event being offered and without start or guaranteed prize money I could not warrant the expenditure this year. Hopefully the World Cup will be run closer to home in the near future, Belle Vue would be a great venue”. Former British Champion Mark Cossar also spoke of his wish for the event to come closer to home. “I’m gutted to have to turn my place in Australia down, but we have done the trip over there so many times over the past six years. If the championship is to work the FIM has to run it in Europe again”. It may seem about time FIM gave Europe another opportunity, but unfortunately the Continentals aren't interested in the 1000cc class, (not one entry from mainland Europe on the last occasion there in 2009, in France on grass,) only in the 500cc. So chances will be slight. https://www.sidecarspeedway.co.uk/2019-news

Speedway is on the front page of the D.Telegraph's Business supplement today, and inside with a sizeable action photo from the GPs. It report that "BT Sport has extended its deal to broadcast top class speedway - incl'g FIM World Championships, Grand Prix series and Monster Energy Speedway of Nations for another 3 seasons until 2021." . . http://www.speedwaychampions.com/ http://www.speedway-sa.com/

Past results, - http://www.speedwaychampions.com/sidecar-champions.php .

I am an older person, i.e. retired; I do have a smart phone; I do have PAYG, even though I can afford a contract, but am sensible enough not to be sucked into living my life with it in my hand and running my life. (In fact I'm seriously thinking of reverting to my old Nokia, - just need to check if its WiFi is compatible with my car's system.) . No, I wont be partaking in the scheme, even if every stadium does have WiFi. - 2ndbbh is right to ask: remember, most supporter are of the same generation as me, and won't have or know what 4G or 5G is or means, and will be unlikely to convert for this scheme to become meaningful.

Dandelion, - You may find this of interest, http://www.speedwaychampions.com/long-track-champions.php

I knew a forgotten European,. . but I can't remember his name. . . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Frying Pan described its size rather than its shape,. Aerial photos show it had a 2:1 length to width ratio. Length was 262 yds up to 1953: 278yds in its brief revival, '59-'63. . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Still nobody has derived an answer to the question "How many. . . . . " Seems the answer so far is 29, 32 or 35. As regards the nations (or Crown Dependencies) of UK, unlike soccer and rugby associations which have their own Scottish, Welsh, Nthn Irish authorities, there's only one motorcycle/speedway authority for the UK, - the ACU is one entity for the whole of the UK. So does that not make the answer 29 ? The answer swings on 'Germay', 'West Germany', 'East Germany', . . . and on Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. Oh, . . .and on Croatia and Slovenia: if we never had a Yugoslav ride in UK, (think not,) then that's an easy 2. www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Attended all five. (Obviously southern softies can't travel!)

To clarify for the benefit of others. Brian's excellent 'Internationalspeedway' website is still open, but since the advent of Windows 10, after almost 15 years, his site-builder programme no longer functions in Win.10, So no updates or additions, - for any area or Tests - , nor even an explanation, are possible. There has been no 'business as usual' for about 2 years. The site is, in effect, frozen.

Thanks again, you're affirming what others are telling me they're finding, - or rather, not finding. (Ditto Newcastle.) I've added that date to the Fixture table. Maybe Glennon had the task of organizing the sidecar matches and the whole project died with him. . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Recent extensive research of on-line international press archives by Cape-based expat David Austin has clarified and significantly extended the detail of the 1951 5-country tour of Europe by the South African speedway Test team led by Buddy Fuller. Originally posted 15 years ago on the now-frozen 'Internationalspeedway' website, the updated comprehensive data on the 21 meetings undertaken by the S.African team is now to be found on the Speedway-SA website, HERE . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Many thanks BL65, I shall update the British Sidecar Lge table with that data shortly. http://www.speedwaychampions.com/sidecar-champions-p2.php . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Correct, a 6-match tour of Poland against club teams in 1994, which the Poles recipricated in '95/96 and again in '96/97. S.African riders also did a 3-match tour of Hungary in 1992. All known details of both at http://www.speedway-sa.com/test-matches-2.php

A puzzle indeed. I put my post originally on the International section, as it is a statement, not of yesterday, but of today, . .about the current situation in SA, as of Jan. 2019 ! . http://www.speedway-sa.com/

The last club to stage dirt-track motorcycle speedway in South Africa has given up its lease on the Walkerville Showground oval, bringing to an end 90 years of speedway in S.Africa. Operating as a true riders' club, - besides an annual subscription, members paid an entrance fee to participate in meetings - , retirements and work relocations meant that in recent years, as numbers diminished, it had been Flat Track and Quad bikes that have kept monthly meeting going, albeit spasmodically. Yet still the club struggled, with the only the odd speedway demonstration heat in the Sunday afternoon race programme. Even so, these alternatives have not been enough. The Speedway-SA website, originally built for the WSRC (Walkerville Speedway Riders Club,) for result reporting and communication, has been re-built to serve as an historical archive for the 90 year history of speedway in the country, plus an additional supplement added to capture and record speedway elsewhere in the African continent during that time, from Egypt to Lesotho, via Kenya, Mozambique, and the Rhodesias, (today's Zambia and Zimbabwe.) http://www.speedway-sa.com/ www.speedway-sa.com

. . .and here he is, complete with autograph. Gene Tella. http://www.speedwaychampions.com/