JJJ

Chris is keen to ride according to some tweets. Darcy Ward and Nick Morris are possible starters too. The talent on display this year could be massive. The trick in this series is to ride well at Undera. It is a bit different and catches some riders out.

Should be a great night of racing. If I was a betting man, my money would be on Doyley. Might also have a saver on R.Tungate.

I think I may have had my tongue planted in my cheek when I wrote that. Interesting point though. Jason Crump was born in Bristol. His father Phil was riding in the English league at the time. We are talking about Australian Speedway Royalty here.

“It is what it is. It has been a long old season and you’ve heard a lot of national anthems. But the last national anthem you hear is the one that counts. In a fortnight’s time, you’re going to hear mine.” Love That! Waltzing Matilda? Advance Australia Fair actually. Shame it's a dirge. Hampel will not get 16 points in Torun. Woffinden is a very deserved World Champion. He is part of the new breed that is set to dominate world speedway. Tai Woofinden is without doubt, the best West Australian speedway rider since Chum Taylor.

Looking forward to a great final. The Danes look classy from top to bottom. It will be closer than a lot of people think.

Shame Cameron didn't get a start. This would have added some real grit to the team. I had the pleasure of sitting with Cam's support group at an Australian Championship. Your typical wonderful speedway family and proud of a fine young Australian. The Dak Attack could produce anything. Being around blokes like Lemon, Ward and Batchelor will do him a world of good. Jason Doyle will perform well. An Australian win would be good, however great racing is what I am looking forward to. With the prospect of the upcoming final, it is great week to be a supporter of speedway. If I was only interested in winning, I'd watch the cricket! (TIC)

I think Rory retired himself from international competition.

It looks like GB vs Australia. It will be a tight result. Darcy Ward will do well. He is a freak and could be the best rider I have ever seen. Batch is very close to world class and will do well. Jason Doyle on debut was great in Poland. Davey Watt looks slow and seems to have reliability problems. Do they bring in the the Dak Attack? When he's hot he's hot. When he's not, it's a different thing entirely. I think we can all look forward to some great speedway action.

Could be time to bring in some younger talent into the Australian Team, with an eye to the future. It is hard to make a choice with so many with so little between them. Losing Jason Crump and Chris Holder within a year is a massive hit. If I was Kelvin, I might even say "I'm gutted!"

Unfortunately, it was more like hundreds. You had to be keen, as it was pretty cold.

Last Saturday, Kurri Speedway staged a round of their winter series. Over 40 riders attended and turned on some great action. The deserving winner was Taylor Poole, who was unbeaten on the night and showed what a class act he is by beating Sam Masters in the final. Jack Holder rode well to run third. Congratulations to all those involved in the meeting.

I reckon the admission price is top value to see some quality riders go around. Australia to win! (of course). I forgot to mention that I remember the first test held for a number of years back in the late Sixties. The meeting was held at the Sydney Showground. Australia was led by the great Jim Airey. The GB captain was Nigel Boocock. The venue was packed with a crowd probably exceeding 30,000. GB won 54-53. It was the best night of speedway racing, I have ever seen.

After a terrible couple of days, the meeting was called off. There may have been a chance for a canoe race, but speedway motorcycles are out of the question. So many meetings this year have been ruined by rain or heat. It's enough to make a grown man cry.

Chris Holder will race this Saturday Night at Kurri Speedway in the Johnnie Hopkins Founders Cup. A class field will be on hand to keep the World Champion honest. Chris Holder, World Champion, just sounds good. I often repeat it to the annoyance of my partner. Academics just don't understand speedway. I expect that Chris will work hard with the likes of Mr Excitement, Max Fricke and Sideways Sam Masters in the field. Great to see Richard "Sweetie" Sweetman back in the fray. The dark horse could be Taylor Poole, who looked good last time out. Let's hope the weather improves on the recent run of rubbish that we have had. Last Saturday, canoe racing would have been the only racing that you would be likely to see. I will report the result after the meeting.

The placings were: 1. Max Fricke 2. Taylor Poole 3. Justin Sedgeman. Alex Davies rounded out the A final after winning the B final. The night was affected by some showers, but racing continued on a damp and slippery surface. It did get a little cool after being about 46 degrees the day before. It was like living in a toaster. Nick Morris should have been in the A final but had a slip up in his last heat and was excluded, so no points. He scored ride of the night with some extravagant outside passes and finished second in the B final to the just as extravagant Alex Davies. The winner, Max Fricke is a smooth, no nonsense operator and is FAST. He won from third place with two laps to go. Edinburgh is in for a treat watching this kid go round. He is an amazing, natural motorcycle rider with exceptional balance. At sixteen, he looks to have an outstanding future. Taylor Poole topped the heat points and looks to be back to his best after that dreadful, confidence sapping arm injury last year. It's hard to believe that a bloke of this quality can't get a ride in the Premier League this year. Congratulations to the Kurri Club and all the participants, for a great night of speedway action. There is a video:

Kurri Kurri Speedway will host this year's U16 and U21 Championship this coming Saturday Night. I am not familiar with the U16 ,so I will concentrate on the U21. It looks to be a great field and good racing can be anticipated. It is disappointing to see that the defending champion, Taylor Poole could not be drafted into the top 12 seeds. I am sure he will cause some embarrassment by storming through the qualification rounds to take a place in the A final. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Alex Davies. His form in the senior championship was good and his spirited riding makes him a crowd favourite. The rider list is: Seeded Riders Cameron Heeps,Todd Kurtz,Kale Ballantyne,Tyson Nelson,Jack Holder,Alex Davies,Nick Morris,Justin Sedgmen,Max Fricke,Mason Campton,Robert Medson,Ryan Douglas Qualifier Draw Jake Allen,Brady Kurtz,Jye Etherridge,Taylor Poole,Hayden Bond,Harley Brigden,Seane Petersen,Bryce Johnson,Jordan Dall,Tyson Snow

It was a quality field of riders and the racing reflected this. One name that would be nice to see in the program is D.Ward.

It was a great night of racing at Kurri, for the final round of the Australian Championships. The Kurri club and all the riders should be commended for making it so enjoyable. Dakota North and Cam Woodward carried their form over from Undera and secured the minor placings. Rohan "The Rocket" Tungate, had the after burner firing and defeated Jason Doyle in a run off for fourth. Ride of the night again went to Davey Watt. This bloke is great to watch and Hammers fans must get real value seeing him go round regularly. The winner, Troy Batchelor did it in style, winning all three rounds. He is a very worthy Australian Champion and joins the list of speedway greats that I have had the pleasure to see. These include - Chris Holder, Jason Crump, Todd Wiltshire, Leigh Adams, Craig Boyce, Glenn Doyle, Steve Reinke, Phil Crump, John Boulger, Bob Sharp, Billy Sanders and Mr Magic himself, Jim Airey. Congratulations to Troy. Now if we could put a league team together with the guys who rode in these championships, I reckon it would do well. Is there a track in Earls Court?

I managed to get to Undera and I am glad I did. You can read the results yourself, but they don't tell much of the story. Undera is a 270 metre track and is not all that wide. The crowd sits right on top of the track, so the view is outstanding and you feel like you are part of the action. Being quick out of the gate was critical and most of the races were decided in the first half lap. The closeness of the racing had to be seen to believed. You could ride like a demon and finish fourth. Just ask Cameron Heeps. It was that sort of meeting. The quality of the racing was world class. All the riders should be congratulated for putting on a first class display. The top three were brilliant. I sat with the Mildura crowd supporting Cameron "The Whirlwind" Woodward and we had a wow of a night. There were a couple of minor falls and the placed riders from the first round, apart from the winner Troy " The Tiger" Batchelor had a tough night. Jason "The Jetman" Doyle went well but so did everybody else. Rohan "The Rocket" Tungate seemed to have some mishap with the secondary boosters and struggled all night. His cause was not helped by a nasty crash into the turn one wall when he tangled with Kozza Smith. The wall by the way is rubber. After a delay he recovered and rode in the rerun. Ride of the night belonged to Davey Watt in the B final. He looks to be recovering well after his op and his outside pass to win in the final lap was amazing. It truly was a great night of racing and the Goulburn Valley Motorcycle Club deserves accolades for staging the event. It's off to Kurri tomorrow night for the final round. The championship is now at the mercy of Troy Batchelor and I expect he will win. Second and third could be just about anyone. The weather forecast is for a possible shower and 44 degrees. This is not a typo. If it is 44, I think I will enjoy getting wet.

The B Final was something else. Dave "The Dynamo" Watt was fourth after the first turn and still won the race. It was in the first turn that Sideways Sam and The Dynamo got very well acquainted. On the slow down lap, I did see some gestures from Sam and I don't think they had a lot to do with congratulations. It was one of the best races of the night and Davey showed what a great talent he is. We used to call my little brother Five Watt. He wasn't very bright.

Congratulations to Troy "The Tiger" Batchelor, Jason "The Jetman" Doyle and "Rocket" Rohan Tungate. My mate at the scene says it was a great event. It is good to see Rocket going so well. This bloke could be something very special. Round 2 at Undera will really test the riders as it is a tricky type of track. I'll be heading down to Victoria for this round. It's only a 9 hour drive. Let's hope there is no more of this 40 degree plus madness. Today, max temp was 41.5 C. In Fahrenheit, that is 107.

Thanks for the report Duane and congratulations to all the riders. We are looking forward to seeing a lot of this great emerging talent at Kurri on 19 January for the U16 350cc Championship. This is being run in conjunction with the U21 Australian Championship. Last year the U16 Champion was Jack Holder. The U21 Champion was Taylor Poole. Last years meeting was the best of the year, in a very good speedway year.

Sorry mate, didn't see it. I'll put some stuff in the international part if there is any interest.

For those interested in Australian Speedway, the event at Kurri last night was won by Troy Batchelor. It was a master class. Jason Doyle ran second with a very professional performance and Alex Davies impressed with some great rides to finish third. Sideways Sam Masters completed the final quartet and scored the pass of the night with a wide sweep around turn 2. Breathtaking. For Ipswich fans, Rocket Rohan Tungate finished second in the B final to just miss the final. It was a great night of speedway action supplemented by a four way struggle in the sidecars. Congratulations to Grant Bond/Glen Cox. By my reckoning, Troy Batchelor is entitled to be favoured for the three round Australian Championship, You can also expect Davey Watt to be in strong contention. For third, you could nominate half the field and still miss it. I should be attending Round 2 (9 January, Undera) and Round 3 (12 January, Kurri) if anyone is interested in receiving a report. Excitement is building in anticipation of some exceptional speedway racing.