Bavarian

Hofmeister retired from racing in 1963, when he was still only in his twen-years, as he was taking over a business and moved from hometown of Abensberg to Kempen, where he became a mentor of the up-comign Manfred Poschenrieder. I saw Hofmeister "ride" at Abensberg only two years ago, when he did a lap of honor on a vintage speedway bike on the occasion of the local speedway stadium being named after him (Wack Hofmeister Speedway Stadium). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wack_Hofmeister_Stadium https://www.speedweek.com/speedway-racing/news/199208/Speedway-Stadion-in-Abensberg-bekam-einen-neuen-Namen.html https://www.merkur.de/bayern/schwaben/kempten-westallgaeu-kreisbote/nach-speedway-legende-josef-wack-hofmeister-ist-jetzt-ein-stadion-benannt-91902334.html https://www.tvaktuell.com/mediathek/video/speedway-abensberg-stadion-nach-legende-benannt/

Happy to say that Germany's first world finalist Josef "Wack" Hofmeister ist still in very good shape. He celebrated his 90th birthday in June. https://www.speedweek.com/sandbahn/news/225321/Wir-gratulieren-Josef-Wack-Hofmeister-ist-90.html

It's the International Speedway Masters this weekend (December 27 & 28) at the Gilman Speedway in Adelaide Solos line-up Jack Holder (NSW) Chris Holder (NSW) Sam Masters (NSW) Jaimon Lidsey (Vic) Max Fricke (Vic) Jack Morrison (Vic) Justin Sedgmen (Vic) Michael West (NSW) Fraser Bowes (SA) Luke Becker (USA) Jan Kvech (Czech) Tom Brennan (GB) Jonas Jeppesen (Den) Sam Hagon (GB) Mitchell McDiarmid (WA) Luke Killeen (WA) https://www.gillmanspeedway.com/news/2024/latest-international-speedway-masters-news

Yes, but for safety reasons it is a reduced capacity for the SGP, and they had an etxra grand stand erected, which reduced the standing room. It was a sell-out 8,700 capacity crowd at Landshut this year, and it will be something like that again in 2025, even with a second temporary grand stand, which they intend to erect additionally. Belle Vue with the temporary stands will have about the same capacity as Landshut has for the SGP.

An SGP in Amsterdam would be awesome !

yes, You are right - on both accounts

Smolinki concentrates on his long-track racing these days, as he is the current world long-track champion. He is 41 years old and does not even ride for his local team Landshut in the Polish league anymore. Smolinski is certainly no option for Birmingham.

One SGP in Manchester is great, but two on the same weekend?

The British Speedway Network (BSI) are bringing livestream coverage of two of teh big solo meetings in Mildura. BSI show the Phil Crump Solo Classic on December 29 and round two of the Australian Solo Championship on January 5. https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk/articles/mildura-release?fbclid=IwY2xjawGwcFNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHS3czDXbUzX6_os5SZ8kcKoLlkOx2JBl-xNJf4W5juSlkEQYrZWamX7e2Q_aem_SusncaLGQTJLHqIfc7F5-Q

Watching the Rugby Union Test Matches in the Autumn International Series this November it hurts to see what we once also had in Speedway, but and sadly neglected and eventually lost. The sport is the poorer now without any full strength International test matches.

Other major solo speedway meetings in Australia this season: ROB WOFFINDEN CLASSIC: Saturday, December 7, Pinjar Park Speedway, Perth, W.A. JASON LYONS TROPHY: Saturday, December 14, Olympic Park Speedway, Mildura, Vic. INTERNATIONAL SOLO SPEEDWAY MASTERS: Saturday, December 28, Gillman Speedway, Adelaide, S.A. PHIL CRUMP SOLO CLASSIC: Sunday, December 29, Olympic Park Speedway, Mildura, Vic. DARCY WARD INVITATIONAL: Sunday, January 12, Mick Doohan Raceway, North Brisbane, Qld. F.I.M. OCEANIA SPEEDWAY SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, January 25, Gillman Speedway, Adelaide, S.A.

2024-5 Australian States Solo Championships calendar: WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, November 16, Pinjar Park Speedway, Perth, W.A. QUEENSLAND SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, November 16, Mick Doohan Raceway, N.Brisbane, Qld. SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, November 30, Gillman Speedway, Adelaide, S.A. VICTORIAN SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, December 7, Olympic Park Speedway, Mildura, Vic. NEW SOUTH WALES SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, December 14, Oakburn Park Speedway, Tamworth, N.S.W.

2025 Australian Speedway Championship calendar: • Rd1: Friday, January 3, Gillman Speedway, SA • Rd2: Sunday, January 5, Mildura Speedway, Vic • Rd3: Wednesday, January 8, Diamond Park Speedway, Wodonga, Vic • Rd4: Saturday, January 11, Mick Doohan Raceway, North Brisbane, Qld

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/rowe-motor-oil-premiership/bspl-ekstraliga-fixture-agreement/

German TV documentary about Celina Liebmann (30 minutes, in German laguage)

Many a great stories of Australia's Speedway Past can be found here https://oldtimespeedway.homesteadcloud.com/stories

Kowalski beat Brennan in the runoff for second place

good crowd though racing start at 4.30pm

Lost Stadiums: West Ham Speedway, nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2024 ‪@motorfilmawards‬ tells the story of one of the best-kept secrets in London; the East End used to be home to a huge 120,000-capacity stadium, first built for greyhound racing, and subsequently dedicated to the motorcycle sport of Speedway. Demolished in 1972, the housing estate in Custom House that replaced it has streets named after some of the legends that rode there for the West Ham Hammers - internationally famous speedway team and 1965 British League Champions. This new documentary film - Lost Stadiums: West Ham Speedway - relies on the oral history from community members, historians and former riders to tell the story of this forgotten treasure, half a century since it closed its doors for the last time. The movie also includes a look at the history of ‪@yourroyaldocks‬ in Newham and the East End’s former community life and social history. The film was part of a heritage project supported by ‪@TheNationalLotteryHeritageFund‬

Fair enough. It is also a start for the return of international speedway test matches after all. Who knows, perhaps a revival of the Ashes series against the Aussies is on the cards in the UK next summer?

Team USA to race World Champions Great Britain at Kern in February 2025. The USA National Speedway Motorcycle Racing team will break new ground on February 1, 2025, at its home track, Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California. The USA team will take on current World Champions Great Britain in a groundbreaking International Speedway Test Match. The event is the first of its kind in the State, with an official National team crossing the pond to take on the Americans. US Team Manager Steve Evans explains, "For the last two years we've brought the USA World Championship squad to race at home for the first time since 1988. On both previous occasions we have raced against a 'Rest of the World' team, but this was a step to something even better. Racing against another country, not least the current World Champions, takes this event to a whole different level. Team Great Britain has set the highest standards not only on the track but off the track with a very professional and well-organized structure. These are levels we are quite a distance away from as a country currently, but we do want to eventually emulate and surpass them.” Great Britain Managing Director, Rob Painter, said "Steve Evans and I have been discussing the possibility of GB racing an official Test Match in the US for a while, so we are both delighted to be able to confirm the event today. It will be a special occasion, going there as World Champions in the USA’s first ever home Test Match and I’m sure it will be a fantastic event". The event is set to take place on Saturday February 1st, at 1 PM local time, and will be available in the UK via live stream at 9 PM UK time. Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway in Bakersfield is a state-of-the-art facility, featuring race circuits for NASCAR, sprint cars, motocross, and speedway. Multi time, NASCAR champion and Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick is among the ownership group of the facility. The track will be expanding to even more types of racing and events in 2025. More event details, including team line-ups and ticket information, will be released in due course.

Hey, but in February it is better in California. At long last we get to see an official USA vs Great Britain speedway test match again! That's awesome News!

Pictures like this one remind me of the great era of Speedway Test matches, that today's speedway public are denied of ever witnessing. Such a shame that we don't get anything like it anymore. Shame on You, the speedway promoters.