BigFatDave

Davey Watt took out the Jack Young Cup in a thrilling final from Ty Proctor, Cameron Woodward and Mark Lemon. Cam tested the new U-beaut airfence during the evening just to make sure it works. Sidecars was taken out by Mick Headland /Paul Waters in another thriller. More news, individual scores etc when I'm human again - large night!

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Gary Davey and Lance Forsythe for the results: 125cc jnr 1:Max Fricke 2nd Zaine Kennedy 3rd Brandon Coglan. Max also took out the 350s but with only 5 competitors there wasn't enough for a championship. 500cc Seniors 1st Josh Grajczonek (unbeaten all night) 2nd Josh Auty 3rd Nick Morris. Scott Smith had a simple-looking crash; knocked out and taken to hospital as a precaution. I did hear that Clinton Dennis busted his ankle. When I get scores & more news I'll let you know. Well Done Max & Josh G!

Geez, I'd hate to go to GPs that have serious crowds - all the ones I'm fortunate enough to have attended have been in front of happy crowds. (Edit - we're talking happy as a parrot here, of course! - this no grog rule in Poland is a worry, but; thank the lord for Hipflask Hotel!)

Yep, it was the Queensland Under-21s, Vicar. Match review and points, courtesy of Gavin Elmes: This was another really good meeting up in the tropics. Fast, close, spectacular racing - not a fall all night. Very well run meeting, thanks to the tireless work of the usual brigade up there - Anne Morato who works so efficiently on the admin side, Sandy Golding who is so competent as Clerk of Course and Gary Davey who did a great job as referee and then was handed the mike to do the presentations. So "Well Done" to the "Big 3", and all of the others who did their bit to make a memorable meeting happen. One of the most pleasing things about this meeting was the way two of our up-and-coming 16 year-olds rose to the challenge of competing against some far more experienced and crafty riders to give a most praiseworthy account of themselves. I refer to Hayden Barr, who rode like a little demon to take 2 wins and make it into the B Final, and Michael Detenon who was also well up there with them and gained a race win as well. Another local who shone was Ryan Douglas, who just missed out on a B Final spot on countback. Points: Kyle Howarth (Eng) 13, Michael Penfold 13, Tom Perry (Eng) 13, Ashley Morris (Eng) 12, Richie Worrall (Eng) 10, Hayden Barr 9, Clinton Dennis 8, Ryan Douglas 8, Robert Gottardi 7, Steve Worrall (Eng) 6, Michael Detenon 6, Jake Allen 5, Harley Brigden 4, Tyson Snow 3, Scott Schofield 2, Guy Mallett 1. B Final: Ashley Morris, Clinton Dennis, Hayden Barr, Richie Worrall A Final: Kyle Howarth, Michael Penfold, Tom Perry, Ashley Morris. A tribute to the Darren & Sharon Boocock Scholarship boys, without whom Speedway in North Queensland would be in a sorry state. Alas at the time of writing no British clubs are sponsoring the tour, despite the obvious benefits which accrue to British Speedway. Next week's QLD Open titles at North Brisbane should be a ripper: I'll be at Gillman alas so will miss out on what should be a great evening, with Josh A. and Josh G. joining the competitors and doubtless looking for revenge against Damien Koppe

Don't forget to bring Slabon - if it's his 50th then it's HIS SHOUT!!

Apologies for Doubling Up, but I just spotted on offyaFacebook - the final. Looks like Junior smoked 'em!

....in Darwin actually, still getting over Bazza Obama's visit. Well Done Kyle Howarth - Legend! I do know Kozza won the Tamworth Longtrack meeting.

From FIM: Darrin Treloar and Jesse Headland are the 2011 FIM Track Racing Sidecar 1000cc World Champions after they held off the advances fellow Aussies of Glenn O'Brien and Aaron Maynard and Grant Bond and Simon Cox to claim the crown in front of a bumper crowd at Murray Bridge Speedway. A five-time Australian Champion and 2008 World Champion Treloar added another significant piece of silverware to his bulging trophy cabinet, while Headland continued his amazing family tradition in the premier Speedway Sidecar event, winning back-to-back World titles as a passenger. A delighted Treloar said winning a World title on Australian soil was the ultimate feeling. "You can't get any better than that. It feels unreal," Treloar said. "We've done it here in Australia in front of Jesse's home town and although it isnt my hometown I ride here every week and it feels like a hometown." An equally ecstatic Headland said it was a dream come true to win in Murray Bridge. "You really can't ask for anything more than that," Headland said. "It was a great night, with a top-class field and a great crowd." Headland was called upon by Treloar to serve as his passenger in the absence of regular partner Justin Plaisted, with the pair striking an immediate partnership. "We didn't have much time and we had to gel straight away," Treloar said. "Jesse's never ridden for me so he had to leave how I ride and we only had one meeting prior to tonight to work it out. But we did what we had to do and it all came good."

Right - Earwiggo! A great night's entertainment at Pioneer Park and where would North Qld Speedway be without the Poms! Individual Scores: Josh Auty; 3,3,2,3,3 - 14 + 3+ 2 Rick Barney; 1,2,1,1,1 - 6 Hayden Barr; 1,0,1,0,1 - 3 Mike Detenon; 0,0,0,1,0 - 1 Robert Gottardi; 3,1,1,2,2 - 9 + 0 Josh Grajczonek; 3,2,3,3,3 - 14 + 3 + 1 Kyle Howarth; 3,3,3,3,2 - 14 + 0 Damien Koppe; 2,3,2,2,3 - 12 + 2 + 3 Scott McKenna; 0.1.1.0.1 - 3 Ashley Morris: 2,2,0,2,2 - 8 + 0 Tom Perry; 1,1,2,3,3 - 10 + 2 + 0 Matt Pilcher; 0,1,2,1,0 - 4 Steven Reid; 0,0,3,1,0 - 4 Roy Stout; 2,0,0,0,0 - 2 Richie Worrall; 1,2,3,2,2 - 10 + 0 Steve Worrall; 2,3,0,0,1 - 6 Reserves - Graham Odger; 0 - 0 Ryan McManus DNR. Plenty of exciting races during the main body of the meeting - all three-lappers apart from the Final a fourlapper, probably down to the fact that we had nearly sixty races in the 3 & 1/2hr meeting - Rhino gave us a great track although the three- and four-wheeled boys made it interesting as the night went on: slick on the inside but plenty of dirt outside as Tom Perry discovered to his and the crowd's delight, while Josh Grajczonek gave a bit of an exhibition in how to ride Pioneer Park with front wheel on the slick and rear wheel in the dirt - awesome! Only one re-run in the main body of the meeting: Scott McKenna's exclusion in Ht 3 meant Graham Odger got a ride, while Michael Detenon Kummagutza on the last lap of Ht 5 and the race was declared. First Semi: Another exhibition from North Queensland's finest; Josh showing the way home from Tom revelling in the dirt out deep. A fighting third from Kyle and Rob Gottardi bringing up the rear - great showings from Kyle & Rob - only Rob's fifth or sixth outing on a 500 so we'll be watching his career with interest. Josh G. 1st, Tom Perry 2nd, Kyle Howarth 3rd, Robert Gottardi 4th. Second Semi: a fair bit of controversy surrounding this one - as usual my vision at this time of night gets a bit blurred - all my memory can confirm is that Ash lost it on bend 3/4 lap one but managed to get the bike off the track before the remaining riders flew past, then the red light came on and Richie Worrall was excluded for apparently impeding Damien Koppe. Pacifiers were expectorated in the pits when the reason was given that Richie appeared to look over his shoulder then take Damo's line - must admit I've never heard of anyone being excluded for looking over his shoulder but then I've only been watching Speedway for nearly fifty years so what do I know? Talking to him later, Damo certainly didn't recall being impeded, but then he's only a rider, so what would he know either? I thought he was ahead of Richie at the time, but then as I was approaching Full as a Bull status my memory may be playing tricks. As usual the Referee, Gary Davey on this occasion, is the sole judge of fact so we must accept that he had a better view. Don't think there was a phone in the Pits either so Rhino won't have to replace it, but if Darren & Sharon Boocock Scholarship Young Lions Team Manager Marcus the Pom had got hold of it there'd be a bill from Telstra forthcoming for sure. Josh A 1st, Damien Koppe 2nd, Richie Worrall exc, Ashley Morris exc. Final Time and first and only excursion from the Ambos - Josh G won an exciting turns one & two battle with Josh A to streak off into the lead,, then Tom decided there was more dirt half-way up the wall on turn one on the second or third lap so it was all systems stop for awhile: luckily no animals were harmed during the making of the final, the only damage being to Tom's pride and a Brand-New Briggo Dirt Deflector a bit bent! In the re-run Josh G ran out of puff - only his third meeting back after his season-ender in UK; Josh A was looking good then Damo did him in the dirt and raced away for a well-deserved victory. 1st Damien Koppe; 2nd Josh Auty; 3rd Josh Grajczonek. Don't ask me for times, it's a three stubby drive from Townsville to Ayr!! I'll have another go later on for my ratings - but everyone deserved a trophy and Speedway was the winner!

I'll attempt to gather me thoughts in a tick - too busy hanging on to the floor at the mo. Well Done Damo!

Darrin Treloar finally won the World Championship! 1/. D. Treloar/Jesse Headland 2/. Glenn O'Brien/Aaron Maynard 3/, Grant Bond/Glenn Cox 4/. Byron Gates/Devon Gates (res) courtesy of Lance.

So looking forward to leading you & Colin astray in the Land of the Wrong White Crowd, Cuz!

Great article on Josh G and tonight's meeting in the Townsville Bulletin here.

All the latest news is on the MA Site - http://www.ma.org.au/ For the latest news on the antics of the local, International & Interstate party-goers Facebook would be the go, but there'll be a few sore heads this morning after the Meet the Riders binge last night. One of the Pommy teams blew a carby after backfiring and catching fire yesterday, and Mick Headland set the fastest time at Practice, lapping in the high14 seconds bracket.

Axelent / Speedway Racing News Leigh Adams Benefit Meeting Line-Up - from Gillman Speeedway. Gillman Speedway manager, David Parker, has today announced the names of the riders who will compete in the Axelent / Speedway Racing News Leigh Adams Benefit Meeting at the Gillman Speedway on Saturday night, 26 November. Speedway fans have been waiting quite some time, since the meeting was first announced, to find out exactly who would be riding but Parker explained the delay was because some of the international riders were unable to confirm their availability earlier. We have sixteen top Solo riders, who have been hand-picked by Leigh, and comprise of current Speedway Grand Prix riders, riders who currently compete in the British, Polish and Swedish Elite Leagues, plus some of Leigh's close friends. More importantly they are all riders who really wanted to ride for Leigh. The biggest name in the line-up is twice World Under 21 Champion, Darcy Ward, who is the most talked about rider in Australia at the moment, and has recently been offered a full-time place in next year’s World Championship Grand Prix series. The riders will be competing for the Jack Young Cup and the riders most likely to challenge Ward for victory are his team-mate at Poole in England, Dave Watt, and Eastbourne rider Cameron Woodward. Watt and Woodward were the captains of their respective teams in this year’s British Elite League play-offs, won by Poole. Tyron Proctor (Wolverhampton) is another British Elite League rider in the line-up, while Sam Masters, from NSW, is the current Premier League champion. Mark Lemon, Cory Gathercole, Justin Sedgmen, Mark Jones, Robert Ksiezak, Robert Branford and Jake Anderson are the other Premier League riders in the line-up which is completed by 16-year-old rising stars Cameron Heeps and Joe Jacobs, from National League Mildenhall, and veterans Jason Stewart and Nigel Sadler. While it comes as no surprise these Solo riders have been keen to help Leigh, it is pleasing to see that eight of the World’s best sidecars, headed by five-times Australian champions Glenn O’Brien and Darrin Treloar, and twice World Track Racing Champion Mick Headland. The current Australian Champion, Glenn O'Brien from WA, said: "Leigh was and still is the man that every speedway rider, be it solo or sidecar, aspires to be as good as. His professional approach, his attention to detail, and the manner he went about his business is just second to none and no other rider in the history of speedway has come even close. This meeting means so much to me to be able to compete in it and I am truly honoured to be a part of the show." The other riders on the main programme are Australia #3 Mark Plaisted, Australia #4 Chris Pascoe, former Australian Champion Mark Mitchell, Victoria's Warren Monson, and multiple Australian championship winning passenger Justin Plaisted who has returned to the handlebars this season. This star-studded meeting is a fund raiser to send the ten-times Australian Champion, and Grand Prix Star, Leigh Adams, to a World-renowned clinic in America called "Project Walk" to try to get Leigh back on his feet. Leigh is very appreciative of all the riders who have been willing to give their time and effort to ride for him. The main event will start with the rider introduction, and an interview with Leigh Adams, at 6pm, but will be preceded at 3 pm with a full programme of support solos, sidecars and 125cc juniors. Really looking forward to this one, and hopefully Dave Parker will return in one piece from Perth where he's attending Johnno's 40th this weekend, although I have my doubts.

Bit of bad news from Speedway 365: - here.

It's all systems go for this one, with a great field comprising the following: Josh Auty; Rick Barney; Hayden Barr; Mike Detenon; Robert Gottardi; Josh Grajczonek; Kyle Howarth; Damien Koppe; Scott McKenna; Ashley Morris: Tom Perry; Matt Pilcher; Steven Reid; Roy Stout; Richie Worrall; Steve Worrall. Reserves - Graham Odger; Ryan McManus. A heap of people travelling up, down & across for this one - should be a ripper; I'm tipping a race-off between the two Joshes with third up for grabs between Tom Perry, Damien Koppe and the Worrall boys. Friday Night is a Memorial Dinner & Auction at the Brandon Tavern for Gary Moon, while Saturday Night is dedicated to Leigh Adams. Sunday morning I'll see if any of the lads are up for a trip to the Vale Hotel to watch Pacquiao v Marquez - bit of a test of stamina for the poor wee things, brekky at the Pub with BFD!

Welcome to the real world, Parsloes. Since the advent of SPEED Channel Downunder interest in our sport is booming; with a Speedway replay on at least once a day in most pubs & clubs people are taking more of an interest in all things Speedway. SPEED is also showing WOO and WSS, Tappy's Chequered Flag is about to start a new season with reports and vision from the FIM World Sidecar Championships at Murray Bridge, and from the end of the month will have a dedicated Two-and Three-wheel News show live once a week, plus repeats - it's all good mate!

Apparently the night was a bit of a disaster, Vicar - a power failure across a quarter of Mildura early on in the piece meant everything was called off.

Fair call, CR; I'm just trying to give you some idea of exactly how vast Oz is - think Texas and multiply if a few times. We do have a State of Origin series in your summer, plus Marcus's lads and the odd 4TT, but apart from that it's Club nights, the State & Oz Titles and the one-offs, like the Jack Young Trophy. As you say, eight or nine meetings a year I can live with, but I and many other like-minded idiots will be clocking up a fair few miles to see them. As for the Juniors Production Line; I reckon it's all down to having Speedway-mad parents willing to drive their offspring the length & breadth of the country - last year's Under 16 125s at Sidewinders, a dedicated Juniors-only track in Adelaide featured riders from WA - Cam Heeps & Blake Russell - and Qld - Brandy Coglan from BUNDABERG!, plus Tyson Snow, Matty Day, Declan & Zaine Kennedy, Brody Eves and Ellis Perks, whose parents had to drive over 3000 kms, plus the more local boys from Northern NSW - a mere 1600km or so, including some of the most boring scenery on the planet - the Hay Plains if you're coming from the North or the Nullarbor from the West. That and something in the water.

I don't know if he's back in Godzone yet, Frosty.

I'll be in my usual spot - Perve Central - rally on me, chaps!

Keep your eyes open for an inflatable Kangaroo!

Ditto, Hammer! Looks like it's General Admission only so there'll be a bit of a scramble for good possies I'd expect - here's where my years of experience as a front-row forward will come in handy.

Thanks to Drenno, here are the results of the second meeting at Pioneer Park: QLD Team 42 1: Damien Koppe 3;2;3;1;1; = 10 2: Kurt Palmer 2+1;0;0;0; = 2+1 3: Michael Penfold 3;3;1;3; = 10 4: Steven Reid 0;0;2;2; = 4 5: Josh Grajczonek 3;3;3;2;2; = 13 6: Hayden Barr 1;0;1;0; = 2 7: Michael Detenon exc/2min; F/R;1;0; = 1 Young British Lions 48 1: Kyle Howarth 0;2;2;0; = 4 2: Robert Gottardi 1;1;3;0; = 5 3: Richie Worrall 2;T/exc;2;1; = 5 4: Steve Worrall 1;2;1;3;0; = 7 5: Josh Auty 2;3;3;3;3; = 14 6: Ashley Morris 3;1;0;2; = 6 7: Tom Perry 7+2 = 7 Another great race meeting and fine team performance from the Young Lions, Steve Worrall and Tom Perrys 4/2 advantage in heat 14 wrapped it up for the touring side and allowed Josh Auty to again display his speed under no pressure, Steve Worrall joined Josh after great win in penultimate heat! Richie Worrall and Tom Perry then competed against Kurt Palmer and Steven Reid in 4 X 1 lap gaters derby won by Steven Reid