BrizHeathen

Diamond, The Pioneer Park meeting on the 9th April is now in doubt. Brandon is confirmed for 16th April with the Australian Junior Challenge on the 30th. There is a real possibility that Pioneer Park will run in between the two Brandon dates on the 23rd April. I spoke to Paul Cohen who owns PP today and he's trying to sort out a date that doesn't conflict with action elsewhere.

Hi Joanne, There cerainly is a track in Rockhampton, I think its mainly car racing these days but they do have the occaisional bike meeting, infact a friend of mine rode there not so long ago. I belive this track is one of Ozpirates favourites and quite unusual in that the startline is very close to the first bend and the track is almost circular, it produced some great racing in the various International Series meetings held in the past.

I've got to mention Dan Mcormick. The Scotsman who turned the tide at Cradley Heath. Until Dan's arrival Cradley were traditional easybeats, Dan changed things dramatically. He's the man that brought in Anders Michanek, then there was the likes of Bruce Penhall, Bobby Schwartz, Erik Gundersen, Phil Collins, Alan Grahame, etc. So although Cradley didn't win the league until 1981 they made gradual improvements in the league until then and it was the basis of Mcormick's team that finally did it. However before that there were the KO Cup wins, League Cup, etc, etc. He was a no nonsense character who swayed the axe, it took plenty of guts to sack Heathens legend Bernie Persson prior to the glory years, and he did receive plenty of verbal from the Cradley fans, however he kept at the job and laid the foundations for future Cradley promoters.

Main Man, If you don't have any luck there maybe I can help in some way. I've got all of the series 500 brochures, many tracks just inserted a race sheet into the brochure which was for the whole series but there were a few exceptions. I've probably got quite a few programmes from other meetings Wiggy did in OZ too. PLus loads of videos of the various rounds as well as earlier Aussie visits.

Great news. A former World Champion eh? Is this a trick question? I know Peter Collins has a soft spot for Perth.

How's the riding going?

The main rivalry was between Erik and Hans because of Olsen's involvment with Erik, although they did overcome that. Then there was the 1986 World Final where Tommy apparantly got knocked off by Hans which wouldn't of helped things either.

The meeting originally scheduled for 29th January finally went ahead tonight, this re arranged fixture was once again in doubt two days ago due to the state of the track, however much hard work by various individuals ensured racing in what was the first meeting of the year long season. The late go ahead meant a less than healthy crowd and no programmes, however there was an healthy turn out of Junior solos, three very competitive Junior Sidecars and sufficient sidecars, solos and support classes to produce a reasonable nights entertainment. The Juniors commenced the proceedings with some superb Sidecar action involving Tyler Moon the Son of Gary, he and his passenger raced neck and neck with a fellow partnership on the larger than average infield track. Later on the very same Junior machine was utilised against senior sidecars and was quite competitive. Soon to turn sixteen Stephen Reid looked very comfortable doing some impressive laps on his full size machine during the intervals. Several riders sat this meeting out due to various reasons with most due back on track for next weekends Brandon fixture. RESULTS (Excusing spelling and accuracy due to not having a programme) Solos Final 1st Scott Mckenna 2nd Jeremy Linton 3rd Ricky Barney Ricky Barney was unbeaten going into the final. Sidecar Final 1st Aldridge/Cohen 2nd Synot/Donavon 3rd Davies/? On the Junior bike 4th Moon/? EF Nice to see some old faces present trackside including former Exeter and Canterbury rider Steve Koppe whose Son was riding and Gary Allen another with a youngster strutting his stuff, Allen was working as a track official. Not so nice were the mozzies and bugs of various shapes and sizes, the locals told me the increased numbers were due to the recent wet tropical weather, I’ve never seen so many and await the lumps to confirm their presence. The Pioneer Park venue is for sale if anyone out there wishes to own a speedway in the tropics, the locals are a friendly bunch I’ll vouch for that.

I received my copy today. Had a nice surprise when I noticed a couple of my photos of former Cradley Heath riders on page 10. Time to re subscribe and I'll definately be doing that. For those that are interested it is purely coincidental that I met Steve Reinke at Pioneer Park Speedway in North Queensland on Saturday night (turn to page 17 for the relevence of this) Steve was introduced to me by another ex Aussie Crusader who also rode for Oxford, any gusses who he may of been? The speedway world is small.

Agree Tommy was a class act and probably slightly ahead of Erik Gundersen at the start of 1981, although Erik made up ground and eventually passed him. The 1981 Midland Riders Final Run Off between the two was another indication of how good they both were at such a young age. If I remember correctly Tommy suffered a very serious injury in Australia (can't remember the exact year but 87 springs to mind), added to the ones already mentioned he did have some rotten luck. Lets not forget he was doing very well in one of the early GP's too, he was absolutely flying before another injury.

After several phone calls it appears I have unearthed a hive of possible speedway activity in the tropical North and the Townsville area in particular. The famous Pioneer Park venue near Ayr is running monthly although the tropical downpours this area received recently meant last Saturday's scheduled event was postponed until the 12th Feb. Just down the Bruce Highway as you head South away from Townsville the Brandon complex also runs monthly. Both include Juniors and Pioneer Park definitely has a healthy junior solo program racing from 6-7pm prior to the main events. There is also a track in Townsville which I know little about at this stage, although having seen videos of past events I do know the track produces fantastic racing. Hopefully through this forum and the speedway lists I can raise the profile of speedway in this area, I had no idea speedway was so active here. Its redneck country but the past indicates the potential with such riders as Steve Koppe, Merv Jenke, and current sidecar stars Gary Moon and Christopher/Koppe coming from this area.

The question about doing less laps on the larger tracks is a valid and topical one. I'd go as far to say its probably the norm in Australia to run races over three laps at the larger venues, surprisingly some of the smaller venues like Labrador do the same in non championship events. I've always had problems understanding the latter, a 3 lap race on a 320 metre circuit doesn't make sense to me but it happens.

I think credit to Shona and Ron are due here. That looks awfully like one of the many emails sent to the yahoo groups list. Thanks for the updates Guys.

Rory should cream this field but the battle for minor placings should be fantastic. My outsider is Bachelor but there are plenty of capable riders in this one. By the way Tamworth is in New South Wales, a few hours drive from the Queensland border.

Its speedway, you'll never be alone. One big family. Socially you'll be just fine as Bryn and the gang are in town for this one. Looks like being a great couple of days, lets just hope the recent bad weather stays away, its dry at the moment in Tamwoth. For any Brits reading this you may be surprised at the amount of rain the East Coast of Australia has been encountering the past couple of weeks.

After reading these posts I might have to coincide my next UK visit (2006 I hope) with one of the tours. Its a shame the pound is so strong against the Aussie dollar though. Incidentally I heard of two organised trips to OZ for the GP in Sydney, I met a few people on what I believe was James Easter's tour, can anyone conform as I know there was a group over from Poole also.

I can't believe the lack of response to this thread. Truly one of if not the best speedway related days out I've ever had. I went to my first BLRC in the early seventies, and last one in 1981, what an experience, arriving in Manchester around lunch time, strolling around the zoo and funfair until the early evening, mixing with fellow fans from all over the UK. The go cart track was a hive of activity and I do recall Newport fans draped in Welsh flags racing around, pretending to be Phil Crump. It was around this time I had my first "flume ride" Then into the stadium to watch the action at what was probably the best track in the world, you could see the roller coaster going round from inside the stadium, fantastic atmosphere. Then after the meeting you could wonder round the fair once more, and if you were old enough have a swift one in the pub. The complete day out. Personal memories of the racing; PC's battles with Olsen etc A race( run off?) between Shawn Moran and Chris Morton Steve Bastables rostrum placing in the pouring rain (1978?) The likes of Howard Cole and Johnny Boulger struggling for a very young Cradley fan. Seeing my green and white bobble hat in a photo that appeared in the speedway press around 1974, it was a photo of the start of a race, Olsen had broken the tapes when up against Ivan Mauger, and there I was in the back ground, still got the pics in my scrap book.

RIP Rinat, far too young to be taken from us like this. My memories of Rinat stem from a Russian tour of Australia in the late 80's early 90's. Rinat was part of a team brought to Australia by Trevor Harding. The whole team were kitted out in identical red leathers and were highly entertaining on the larger Aussie tracks. Rinat showed real class and put in some fine rides , earning himself a start in the prestigous Billy Sanders Memorial at the Brisbane Ekka where he rode against the likes of Phil Crump and Sam Ermerlenko. I didn't hear much about Rinat after he departed Australia, so any info about his career would be much appreciated.

The night he guested for Hackney at home against Cradley in 1981, Cradley chasing their first league championship with Boogaloo's best Buddy leading the way for the Heathens. One particular race where Bobby scored a great big 0 springs to mind....and Cradley took the narrow victory. No coincidence either that Bobby continued to be very popular at Dudley Wood after his forced departure to Reading after the1979 season due to the 50 point rule.

I've got a complaint. The magazine is so good I can't put it down, its annoying the crap out of my Mrs. Read this edition from front to back the day I got it. Its a bloody long wait for the next one.

Mine arrived in the suburbs of Brisbane on Friday. Just a few pages in, its looking good.

Congratulations to Dave Watt but the fact is he was third going into the last bend in his semi final. Scott Smith had it won but suffered a mechanical failure right at the death, I guess Scott know's how Kelvin Tatum feels now.. As for Batchelor, he's very fast and looks a super prospect. Going into the final of this meeting I thought it would be between Jorgensen and Watt, they looked the two fastest in qualifying heats with Batchelor my outsider. Congratulations to Dave Watt this meeting seemed to mean an awful lot to him and his Father. Incidentally the Gatton track is a huge fast raceway, around the 500 metre mark. It has very long straights so its probably as close to a long track as it is to a speedway. This was an all bike event with various forms of solo and sidecar races, including some very old vintage machines in the claassic solo class.

In one of interviews (probably at British TV) he said he was gonna join this years competition. Has anything changed recently? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm almost certain he's not competing at this stage. Maybe there's more to this than Jason just having a rest. I've heard the rumours but I'll reserve comment. Let me just say Jason has always honoured the fans at Labrador on the Gold Coast even in very ordinary meetings he's made an effort to help out the Gold Coast club.

How annoying it is to read this when Gosford Opening was postponed because of THIS meeting. And finally this one wasn't run. How was it today? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I understand your frustrations, its quite unusual for Gosford to cancel because of the Gold Coast though. If its any consolation its still raining heavily here at 7.pm on Monday night, and the loudest thunder I've ever heard in my life.

Not sure whether I'll make it down to Gosford this year. The NSW rounds of the Aussie Championship are during the main holiday season. Have you checked out the Polish club just West of the City Dexter? I had a certain Mr Goralski with me last time I ventured South for speedway, all the Poles converged on the Polish club the night before the GP (Gollob, Cegielski, etc). What a weekend that was.