lucifer sam

Cyclone, I guess speedway has evolved a lot over our lifetimes. At one time, had people been discussing the criteria for speedway, it would have included "putting the foot down" as well as broadsiding. But these days not all riders do put their foot down. And of course, this harks back to the leg-trailing trail-blazers of the 1920s. So, in this example, speedway has changed back to being more like its original form. All the best Rob

Cinders are important They were speedway's original surface - so the first meeting worldwide and in Britain should really be ones that took place on cinders. So does anyone know if they were broadsiding at the Thebarton Oval? All the best Rob

Cityrebel, I really enjoyed Brighton. I guess one qualification that no-one has mentioned so far is the size of track. Is a speedway meeting still a speedway meeting if it takes place on a 150m track or a 800m track? It would say it was, especially in the days before Longtrack was "invented". Norbold, I realise your enlightening piece in the "Star" plays the probabilities with regards as to what is the first British speedway meeting. Actually, what exactly qualifies West Maitland as the first-ever speedway meeting? What did it have that the previous motorcycle oval events didn't have? Were they broadsiding at West Maitland? Or is this being the first meeting merely an invention by the wily Mr. Hoskins? All the best Rob

Rob, he did indeed, but then nailed his own colours to the mast of the Easter meetings at High Beech in 1928. Whereas I choose Droylsden in 1927. It's all a matter of opinion - what's yours? All the best Rob

Well I doubt very much that it was just sand, and didn't have a good amount of shale mixed in. All the best Rob

No, what I saw at the weekend at Assen was Ice Racing not speedway. And Telford isn't either - it's an abonimation. Speedway takes place on: 1. Cinders 2. Shale Nowt else. All the best Rob

Norbold, you're right - the direction isn't vitally important. The track is though. Wasn't Camberley on sand? Speedway takes place on either cinders or shale. Which means Droylsden is still Meeting No. 1. All the best Rob

Cyclone, we went there during a Northern Tour. I was very impressed. But are brakes (or rather the lack of them) any more a part of a speedway meeting than, say, a stationary start. It's still bikes going around an oval track on cinders/shale - and the riders winning the races are not going to be using the brakes in any case. Cyclone, so what do you reckon was the first meeting? All the best Rob

Norbold, personally I think you're being a little too narrow in your definition. After all, you could also say a stationary start and starting tapes are essential ingredigrents to a speedway race, in which case you can shift the first meeting back to around 1933. Or you could say the bikes should have four values, in which case the first meeting is circa 1975. Speedway has evolved over the years, and therefore a meeting taking place in 1927 would have different circumstances to one in 2010 or 1970 or even 1928. And if you're discounting meetings with a lack of dirt, then I haven't been to that many meetings over the last few years. If the track is oval, the track surface is either cinders or shale, and the motorbikes are travelling in an anti-clockwise direction, then, in my book, that is speedway. And therefore Droylsden is the first speedway meeting in this country. But I agree with you said about it all being down to personal intrepretation. All the best Rob

Fascinating and well-written piece by Norbold. Of course, as stated in the opening paragraphs, it's all up to individual intrepretation as to what is the first speedway meeting in Britian. To me, it's the meeting at Droylsden, which was staged on June 25, 1927. The racing was anti-clockwise on cinders on an oval track. That sounds like speedway to me. I can't see any good reason why Droylsden should be discounted. All the best Rob

Hi Conkers, if the stats in the Assen programme are correct, I think Bauer has 72 points and "Kamikaze" Kaminsky has 60 points. BTW I love Kaminsky, he's a complete looney. All the best Rob

Great weekend of action. Probably the best Friday meeting I've seen, with Andrej Gavrilkin certainly a name to watch in the future. He can't gate for toffee and once he gets going, he's got so much speed. He went from 3rd to 1st on the final lap of his semi-final, and last to first on the opening laps of the final. Some good action on the Saturday, but it was yesterday's meeting which was the real highlight of the weekend. Outstanding moments included Zorn barging Dmitri Khomitsevich out of the way only for Daniil Ivanov to then repeat the move on Zorn a couple of laps later, and the B-Final, which saw Svensson go from 2nd to 4th to 2nd, and get away with dumping Vitali Khomitsevich on the floor on the final bend. Khomitsevich crashed right in front of us and the impact into the bales covered my programme in straw, just as Holstein's crash had also done so in his final programmed outing. We had it all happening right in front of us on the Sunday!!! Krasnikov ended with winning both A Finals, but he was made to fight for it this weekend. He had to pick up a few points from behind, especially in yesterday's meeting. Daniil Ivanov kept him on his toes the whole weekend and perhaps should have won on the Saturday, only to make an awful start in the A-Final. And Igor Kononov gates like a rocket (he led both A Finals for a couple of corners before Krasnikov took control) and could be a champion in future years. Highly enjoyable tour with Eurorider, with Full Throttle also on the tour, and nice to share a few pints with Conkers at the hotel. All the best Rob

Parsloes, nope with one with the soundtrack by Queen was the one I saw at the cinema. Although the 1936 film series was repeated on BBC2 in 1980 was what got me into wanting to see the film. I actually bought the 1936 serial on DVD and it was SO disappointing. I remembered it being something special, and instead it was awfully dated and just cr*p. All the best Rob

Yes, a very well known name. He whipped Diana Rigg in the Avengers, and also appeared in Flash Gordon (behind a mask) as Klytus. Flash Gordon was the first film I ever saw at the cinema. All the best Rob

Sounds like a good idea. All the best Rob

Conkers - I still can't quite see how you can call off a round of the World Championship and not re-stage it. All the best Rob

Surely if it's supposed to be a ten-round series, then it should be a ten round series. How about if Ivanov keeps Krasnikov to within 25 points, surely then the extra round has to be held? All the best Rob

So what's happening with the missing round of the World Championship. When it's being re-staged? All the best Rob

Poor Andy Galvin was just trying to earn a crust. All the best Rob

Well done Sam. Hope to see you back over here at some point. All the best Rob

And I'll see Krasnikov running in the opposite direction, when he thinks you're trying to crucify him All the best Rob

Krasnikov seems to be strolling towards championship No. 6. Conkers, what are you going to do in five years time when he runs out of fingers to hold up? All the best Rob

Yeah, great. A system where a rider who finishes second in the meeting can score more points than the guy who wins the meeting. About time we went back to the KO system used between 1998 & 2004. Now THAT was entertaining. All the best Rob

Probably just Cardiff now. Was going to go to Malilla, but Travel Plus aren't running their week-long trip over there this year and not really interested in a trip taking in just 2 meetings. Planning to do the Czech Golden Helmet (4 meetings) instead of that. All the best Rob

Yes. See you there. All the best Rob