December 16
Time marches on and we are reaching the end of the year and the end of the decade. A new (well, not so new) government in the UK and for the first time since the election of 2001 one that has a landslide majority
in parliament. Many of those younger will not grasp what this means. But they soon will. Really, it is time to just get on with things no matter what your political persuasion is. Easy for me to say, you might say for I live on the
other side of the world but getting on with it is what I have been doing here. There have been busy times, working on the Pepsi Challenge mentioned in my previous entry below and also the commentary stint at the Timmis Speedway in Mildura, which went
well enough for the club there to invite me back for their next fixture on the 28th, which suffice to say I am looking forward to.
With work on the Pepsi Challenge and a Christmas do I was unable to get to the 410 Sprint Car session at Murray
Bridge the weekend before last, where James McFadden, a name many oval racing fans the world over will know well took the feature race win. He will be back at ‘The Bridge’ on Boxing Day for the opening round of the World Series. I am hoping
to go along to that. The Saturday just gone was what they call here, and in the USA, a ‘club’ show and in the UK a ‘domestic’ date by the fans or a ‘service date’ by some promoters. The numbers were slightly
down on what had been the case earlier in the season but this was owing to the time of the year. Christmas parties, holiday season coming on and so on. But still an interesting and good night of racing with the Wingless Sprints, which really are
strong in currently the pick of the divisions for me but good racing from the Street Stocks too and the Juniors. The 360 Sprint Cars were a late addition to the show and there was a small entry, one of which – Daniel Evans – wouldn’t
run and to compound to the drama Ben Gartner had one of the biggest single car crashes and flips I have seen in a Sprint Car in a long time. Thankfully he was ok, but needless to say the car was not and he was doubtless left wishing he had done what
many others had done and stayed at home. He and his team now face a lot of work to be ready for the next round of the Allstars series, which will be at the afore mentioned meeting in Mildura in less than two weeks time.
The season really is in
full swing here in Australia now, with regular club shows, the World Series for Sprint Cars including the festive Speedweek across the far south and south-east venues before the big dates at Warnambool at the end of January. For those who follow Sprint
Car racing, Warnambool is Australia’s Knoxville. Albeit with similar weather to Skegness.
There is a searing heatwave crossing Australia this week. Where I live in Adelaide there are going to be temps going above 40’c for four
days running. Whilst it is a dry heat, yes, that is hot. It is going to be a totally different Christmas to the dark and damp of one in the UK that is for sure. 2019 has, without doubt been one in my life that I will never forget. There
is still lots to be done and new avenues and plans will be explored as 2020 comes along.
But for now, wherever you are reading this I wish you a Happy and safe Christmas – life is what you make it.
November 26
It
has taken me a while to write this this. I may be 10,000 miles away, but I have still been in shock. Sometimes there are no words. No words can explain or portray emotion and grief. I could not believe what I was reading via various messages
first thing on a week ago on Sunday morning here in Australia. I did not want to believe it. I did not want it to be true. I did not know Colin North as a personal friend but I had worked alongside him at a vast number of presentations and
promotions over the years in which Teng Tools were either the title sponsor or involved in and that is what he was doing on Saturday, doing his bit for the sport he loved. A terrible tragedy. I send my sincere condolences to his family and friends
and my thoughts are also with those on the scene too, many of whom are colleuges and friends I worked with during my time of involvement with Incarace.
It is times such as this where you take life into perspective. I was already feeling in a reflective
mood having watched “Ford v Ferrari” (aka “Le Mans 66” in the UK, I really do not know why) the previous evening which tells the story of a driver who was until now a somewhat unsung hero of British motorsport Ken Miles, and his friendship
and collaboration with Carroll Shelby which lead them to take on Ferrari at Le Mans with Fords backing, but against a lot of corporate odds at the time. It is as much a story of friendship and loyalty than motor racing itself. I will not say any
more, because a well-made motor sport movie deserves success. I went to a relatively late evening screening at my local cinema and I jokingly thought to myself that I might be the only one in there, but far from it. Do go and see it if you haven’t
already, it is worth it. An old family friend, Mac Daghorn who is sadly no longer with us was a Sportscar racer of note in the late 60’s and early 70’s and I recall him once saying to me many years back now that two of the fastest drivers
he had ever encountered were probably two that I had never heard of. I asked him to elaborate and the two he named were none over than Ken Miles and also an Australian, Paul Hawkins – whose otherwise unfair claim to fame is/was taking a trip into
the harbour in the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix. But there you have it. It may be 54 years on, but Miles is finally set to become the household name he could and should have become at the time.
As for me in the (mostly) sunny southern hemisphere,
if you have access to my Facebook page you will see some of the very smart machinery I saw at Murray Bridge on my last racing outing, with a class entry of 410 Sprint Cars and I got to witness it all from the commentary box. Nothing new there I hear
you say, well no, of course but that was then this is now and I was very grateful to accept an invite from the absolute voice of Speedway and Sprint Car racing in this country and beyond, Wade Aunger to sit alongside him and even he threw me a curved ball
to call a Speed Car (aka Midget) heat, which was a surprise but an honour all the same. This has now moved on, even more unexpectedly into a gig at the Timmis Speedway in Mildura. If you are a follower of Speedway the town of Mildura might ring
a bell for a large number of Australian Speedway riders that have pitched up in the UK were born and bred there – namely Phil Crump (son Jason was actually born in Bristol but identifies as from Mildura), Leigh Adams, Jason Lyons, Travis McGowan, Cameron
Woodward to name but a few. There is also a highly regarded car oval track in the town, which sits in the far north west of the state of Victoria and I will be joining an up and coming voice of the sport Kye Richardson on the mic there this Saturday
for what will be the belated season opener. A very exciting prospect. Hopefully they will take to my accent, being born in Guildford and all…
But, for now it is busy times involved with the Pepsi Challenge across sites in Adelaide.
It took place across the UK during the summer of 2019 where 65% who did the taste challenge against the other well-known Cola brand said they preferred Pepsi Max. It is taking place across Australia during our summer where an aim is naturally to top
the UK score. The first phase was very busy, many were shocked and stunned at their choice in the taste test. So, if you do happen to be in Adelaide city centre next week – me and the team would love to meet you!
November 5
Life has become busy here in South Australia. Regular promotional work and the start of the oval racing season, plus a trip to the Horses on Melbourne Cup day which is misconceived as being a public holiday across the whole country, it is only such
in the state of Victoria. I was fortunate to have a free day so it would have been rude not to. Not a success on the betting front though. Even the favourite I backed in the Melbourne Cup, an English born and trained horse ridden by an Adelaide
jockey didn’t come anywhere near. Some you win, some you lose that is part of it.
What is also part of things in the racing here are rain outs and cancellations. Something that the UK is now catching on fast too, for a variety of reasons.
Cast your minds back to the debacle of the European weekend of last year and I encouraged the promoters to think about factoring ‘rain out’ dates. They are not easy, but I do really think they should for 2020. But anyway, I had intended
to make the trip to Mildura last Saturday, which sits in the far northwest corner of Victoria, on the border with New South Wales and not all that far across the border from South Australia either. To put it in another way, the trip was about the same
distance in time for me as was Buxton, St Day or Skegness from where I lived in England. A road trip, but doable. Other journeys in Australia are judged in days, not hours! It was another track to be ticked off on my growing list of venues attended
over the globe in my time and also a meeting with the highly respected voice of Australian Speedway Wade Aunger. The days leading up the weekend had been unseasonably hot with the kind of soaring temperatures that are associated with the height of summer
rather than mid/late Spring. But, it came to an end on the Friday with spectacular thunderstorms and heavy rain. Not so very unusual in Adelaide, even if it is the driest of all the Australian main cities. What was unusual for this and good
news for the farmers in areas under a prolonged drought was that the weather system went well inland, right towards Mildura where I was headed and gave it a soaking. The worst of it still had not hit when I set off first thing on Saturday, it was a gamble
and I knew it but three quarters of the way there, I stopped for a rest break, checked the social media on my phone to see that it was off. Damn. Some you win, some you lose.
The saving grace was that my local venue, Murray Bridge
was also running. I had actually driven past it en route and had seen several transporters heading in the opposite direction. Back two hours south, the weather had cleared nicely, it was a warm evening with lots of cars and races. A “club
show” that I wouldn’t have otherwise gone to regardless, it was enjoyable with some good racing. The Wingless Sprints, with a 31 car entry where the pick of the classes and again included former BriSCA star Mark Taylor who won the ‘B’
main (aka consolation).
It is a round of the Ultimate Speedway Challenge, featuring a lot of the big-name stars of the 410 Sprint Cars in Australia this Saturday. If get away from a shift at work promoting a new car park (!) on time then
I plan to be there. It has been a number of years since I was “a regular punter”!
October 22
On the news that there might, just might, be a shade of light on the ongoing situation at Belle Vue regarding its
impending closure, on the other side of the world ‘we’ in Australia were rocked with news yesterday that absolutely nobody saw coming. The iconic Sydney Speedway venue, also known as Paramatta City and more recently the Valvoline Speedway
was served a compulsory purchase order from the government of New South Wales with plans to turn the land it currently sits on to a siding for a new railway development. Or something along those lines.
I have been to the venue and being part of
Australia’s largest city it goes without saying that it is at the heart of the sport in the country, and without it the same situated would be faced as in the UK when Coventry and Wimbledon closed and long prior to that when Baarlo closed, for example.
It is too early to tell whether an alternative site can be found, as was with the case on the other side of the country when the Claremont Showgrounds closed in Perth and a fantastic new venue was constructed 45 minutes to the south. That was a different
situation in a different place in a different time.
Nobody is thinking along those lines right now. The message is to get across to the NSW government that this cannot happen so easily, preferably not at all and someone, somewhere who really has
not got much of a clue, just “done their job” and had them signed off by someone else “just doing their job”. We know how it works. It is a venue that brings a lot of extra revenue to the local area, the suburbs of Sydney
which wouldn’t otherwise see a lot of actual tourism. I stayed at (what is now) the Holiday Inn when I last visited the venue. The breakfast room had signed posters from several leading Sprint Car stars from both Australia and the USA.
I very much doubt their will be extra customers coming to look at parked up suburban trains in the future…
So, if you could just take a few seconds signing this petition, I/we would be much obliged. https://t.co/KGnPqkcJc9?amp=1
In very much the same way as Wimbledon and Belle Vue, the more names to it the more chances that a someone, somewhere will take a little bit of notice and dialog can commence as to what happens next.
On Saturday just gone, as you will have
seen from my Facebook page or Twitter feed, I went along to my local venue of Murray Bridge in South Australia for the second time ‘this’ season. In complete contrast to two weeks previous, it was a cold evening, it was hat and beanie weather.
The full Buxton or Smeatharpe attire had to be worn. It was the first of the 19/20 season in the state for the 410 Sprint Cars who were part of a 30 race programme supported by no less seven other divisions/classes. I am not a fan of this, I do
not really think anyone is, but equally I fully understand why promoters here are having to do it and that is the same reason why those in the UK have to. Money. It is a business and for a track to survive it needs to be profitable.
In
the Wingless Sprints was a familiar name to and many of you reading this – Mark Taylor. A star man of BriSCA F1 and F2, World of Shale Champion in both, he emigrated to Adelaide some years ago. Those who remember the ‘Taylormade Aerofoils’
will be pleased to note that he is a leading manufacturer of them for the Sprints here, indeed the top two in the feature Matt Egel and Luke Dillion were using Mark’s wings. We joked that there is a sense of irony that he makes aerofoils and races
a car without one. The car is son Spencer’s who had a successful run in the class, including several feature race wins before taking time out from the sport. The car was sat there, and Mark came out of ‘retirement’ last year for
a run. Three top six finishes at Murray Bridge on Saturday showed that he has lost none of it.
*** Post script on the above, earlier today and after I had written this, the NSW government announced that there would be an active search for a replacement
venue in Sydney, ahead of the proposed closure of the current site in 2021. However, still thousands rallied at the venue this evening (Tuesday) to show their support, and the petition goes on ***
October 14
Just as with
so many, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Ormond Christie over the weekend. Attaching the word legend is overused, many of whom it is described against are not no matter what their status is. But, with Ormond, put quite simply he was. The
record books show that he was National Hot Rod World Champion in 1981, 1983, 1985 and then returned with a double in the next decade and a near different era for the class in 1996 and 1997. It was more than that though, it was his willingness to try
something different, totally within the rules to try and get the advantage over the rest. The Triumph Spitfire didn’t work so, even if I believe it had its moments, well but taking the measurements of a somewhat obscure, rare and even unloved Japanese
hatchback completely changed the path not only for Ormond’s own success but for the sport of oval racing in the United Kingdom and beyond itself. Had he not built and won in a Toyota Starlet, would anyone else have? Just think, how different
a route things could have taken, especially for the non-contact side of things in formulae such as Stock Rods, the burgeoning ‘New Formula’ Hot Rods and indeed Nationals themselves had the Starlet remained in the dark as a competition car.
It was all done on a budget too and actually was more prominent on his successful return in the mid-90’s when he took world titles four and five in a car that was run on a fraction of the budget of some of those he lined up against. I was not old enough
to appreciate the Ormond Christie of the 80’s, which was arguably his heyday, but I certainly was in the 90’s. His legacy lives on through son John, World Champion himself six years ago and is one of the finest drivers on the UK ovals full stop
and was understandably distraught at having come so near but so far when runner up to Billy Wood in 2018. He apologised for giving what he thought was an ungrateful interview with me after, but my reply was that I would far prefer the raw emotion of
telling it how it is rather than some of the nonsense I have faced over the years of interviewing drivers. Winning is all that matters and being the son of Ormond Christie in that particular race without doubt carries that extra weight. Ormond's
name will live on synonymously with the sport of Hot Rod racing and oval racing for a very long time. Sad times and I send my sincere condolences to the Christie family and friends.
As the oval racing season begins to wind down in the northern
hemisphere it is just starting up in the southern half of Australia, currently my part of the world, and the weekend before I last I made my first visit of the season to Murray Bridge Speedway on what was – as it turned out – a random warm summer
like evening. 360i Sprint Cars, complete with a local few 410i interlopers who had dropped a smaller engine in for some track time were the headliners and produced some good racing. The entry of Wingless Sprints apparently mirrored that of the
previous week at the same track, but almost an entirely different set of drivers (haven’t we all been there with the frustration of that one?!), the Street Stox are so tame in comparison to the Saloon Stock Cars I know and love, but they are what they
are and serve a great purpose for the sport here and there were small entries of a class called AMCA Nationals (once so plentiful, but visibly dying) and Speed Cars – the low entry a bit of a mystery but put down by those in the PA to a practice evening
being held at Avalon in the neighbouring state of Victoria, which I doubt really was the reason. Still, it was a good evening, I enjoyed it as a punter and that is what counts.
Interesting that I mentioned in my previous blog entry that the track
to the north of Adelaide, most recently known as Adelaide Motorsports Park but previously Speedway City and sat idle since April of 2018 has now officially gone on to the market. The price is on application of interest. Regardless it is out of my budget
although what I would love to do with a venue like it and introduce a lot of the good points missing from Australian racing, combined with the good points that already exist here. One can dream… It will be interesting to follow the progress
of what happens next though, whether it is purchased and re-opens as a motor sport facility or, as some suspect sadly, it is bulldozed and is built on. It would be a great boost for the future of the sport if it was saved, for even though Murray
Bridge is only a 75-minute drive from most of Adelaide, it is not part of Adelaide and that makes a big difference.
September 19
Firstly, congratulations to the new BriSCA World Champions Tom Harris and Gordon Moodie, not that
either are ‘new’ in the sense of the world of course and belated congrats to Diggy Smith and Michael Green too who took their victories in Saloon Stock Cars and Superstox respectively last month.
Time really does march on, it feels
like I have been living in a parallel world in several respects, concentrating on life in South Australia. Something different too for I am currently employed in a role as a ‘Brand Ambassador’ promoting products in various places for multi-national
companies such as Coca-Cola, Mars and Pepsi as well as what is the prolific wine industry here. As well as this I have been involved with the filming of a Hollywood funded movie. I am legally bound to say no more than that but if you are a fan of the
game “Mortal Kombat” (not my thing I will confess) then you will be pleased to hear that it is being made for the big screen, it will be filmed for most of the rest of 2019 ahead of a year of production and then world wide release early in 2021.
It sounds a long time in the future but isn’t.
So, I have been keeping busy over the past few weeks but that is not to say that I have not missed ‘home’ and World Final time was always going to be tough, for such meetings and weekends
have always been part of my life, especially since I got to have a greater involvement in some of them. It was always set to be someone else’s turn at both Buxton and Kings Lynn this year, I wouldn’t have been part of either of those shows regardless
of which side of the world I was on, but never the less whilst looking at the social media pics of an evening (time zone differences) was great it did and does give a funny feeling of wanting to be in two places at once.
On paper, the result of the
F1, F2 and Saloon World Championship races will show that the favourite won from their pole position start. That is oversimplifying it as each had their own dramas and obstacles to overcome and nothing is “easy”. Tom, Gordon and
‘Diggy’ are at the top of their game, the latter amazingly so at the age of 48 years old and the rest will simply have to do it better to beat them. As an interesting aside too, Tom shared the podium at Kings Lynn with the same two drivers
– Ryan Harrison and Craig Finnikin – as he did when he won his previous title at the same track six years ago, albeit the other way around. Gordon shared the podium with the previous two F2 World title holders – Wim Peeters and Kelvyn
Marshall. Whether this tells us something extra, we could debate.
Had I written this blog yesterday, I would have written that all three of the World Champions that thus have to enter a series of meetings to win their respective National Points
Championships will without doubt start as the favourites for that too. Last year both Diggy and Tom took it down to the very last meeting, Diggy to the very last race of the series whilst Gordon retained the silver once again. However, the news
broke yesterday evening in the UK that Gordon had sensationally withdrawn from this year’s series. He gave his reasons perfectly clearly on his Facebook page and we all must respect him for that. But, no doubt that the F2 National Series
will be poorer without him and could be seen by some as a shot across the bows of the sports masters. Nether the less, it does now mean that it is a wide open series which any one of those currently entered could win and will likely go down to the very
last meeting, at the very last meeting at Belle Vue and I am sorry to be missing it.
Which leads to the other news which came in the lead up to what was such a successful F1 World Final weekend (albeit aided by the biggest representation from overseas
drivers the United Kingdom has ever seen) that not only will the campaign to save Belle Vue end in the inevitable but also that Stoke will actually close and runs its last meeting a week ahead of it. Two shale tracks in the north-west of England going
at the same time, two venues for Startrax and a void that will be very hard to fill, at least for 2020. This follows on from Arena Essex going last season, Wimbledon the year before and Coventry the year before that. Arena and Coventry are still
sat there idle – St Columb closed a decade ago and has only just been built on – and whatever is happening at Wimbledon is surely running well behind schedule and the Football team that dreamed of their grand stadium are still nowhere
near to getting one. Did they not originally say they were hoping to be in for the start of the 2019-20 season? The chances of their being no stadium and the leisure use on the land simply being ticked off by a squash court or something similar
surely rise by the day. I really hope that is the case now.
There is nothing progressive about building residential properties on sporting facilities that will then never be replaced. Facilities that brought in employment and revenue to
the immediate area that will now be lost. It is not unique to Britain. There are several examples in the United States of venues being sold off, closed, not used and so on and even in the relatively small city in Australia where I currently live.
Adelaide Motorsports Park had run under various names over the years, notably “Speedway City” and was once the venue in South Australia for Sprint Cars and so on. Several factors changed that, money and politics naturally and to
cut the long story short it closed at the end of the 2017-18 season and has sat idle since, now apparently an overgrown mass of weeds. The chances of it reopening are next to none. A case of “oh well, go to Murray Bridge instead” which
is a fine venue, but it is a 75 minute drive from Adelaide and many of those who would happily go along to AMP on a Friday or Saturday evening from the northern suburbs of the city are not interested or inclined to make that journey instead and have already
been lost from the sport. Familiar story or scenario?
There is hope though. I mentioned the overseas contingent at the BriSCA F1 World Final weekend. Where would Kings Lynn and especially Northampton have been without the Dutch invasion?
Re-wind 15 to 20 years ago it was a different story across the North Sea. Venues were closing or under real threat, drivers were disappearing, and it appeared that the sport was set to either disappear or retract to some random field racing venues.
Just look at those now and look at the sport there now. Not only in F1 but F2 and even Hot Rods and Saloon Stock Cars. It can be done! But it is whether those in the UK really do want it to. The next few years will be pivotal to the future
survival of the sport in Britain – and perhaps even further afield too. If you let go of something, it will drop.
August 26
Spring is coming in Australia. It has been a tad chilly of late in South Australia but given
the different seasons in the southern hemisphere it is only really the Speedway/Oval racing that follows the October-April season. The other forms of motorsport follow the sun around the calendar year, for it is possible to do that in such a vast country.
This includes the Australian Super Car Championship, or as some of you reading will know them “Aussie V8s” or “Australian Touring Cars”. The ones from the TV, yes!
On Sunday I paid a visit to the impressive Bend Motorsports
Park. Situated roughly the same distance from Adelaide as Silverstone is from London (albeit an easier journey) it is the first purpose-built track in Australia for over two decades and one of the newest and most impressive not only in the southern hemisphere
but anywhere in the world. I did make a trip to ‘The Bend’ in June for what was effectively a club meeting. Impressed that it was inexpensive for entry, it was access all areas with a view from the top of the home straight building,
usually reserved for the important people anywhere else (regardless) The said home straight building not only consists of the pit buildings but a welcome centre, hotel – yes a hotel on the pit straight and a restaurant. It was built on what was
a dusty old Mitsubishi test track and the brainchild of Dr Sam Shahin. A big motor sports fan, he arrived in Adelaide in 1984 with nothing, scraped what he had to purchase a semi-rural petrol station and from that he has grown it into the Peregrine Corporation,
one of the top 15 companies in the whole country and a top employer in the state where it operates numerous service stations that also encompass franchises for Hungry Jack’s (aka Burger King) Bakers Delight, Wok in a Box and so on. He and his family
had been involved in the sponsorship of the street course meeting in Adelaide, held each March for the Super Cars on most of what was once the Grand Prix track but set to with his dream and got ‘The Bend’ built. It is work ongoing, even since
I was there two months previous, a permanent home straight grandstand opposite the pit/main building had been erected. There is also a Karting and Drifting Arena situated next door – I did apply for a job position there a few months back but to
no avail – and he/they are looking to add other motorsports there too. The oval racing scene in Australia is focused running on clay or similar and/or following whatever the Americans are doing, which is a shame in many ways because from what I
could see it would be a perfect venue for Hot Rod racing. If it can be done in South Africa, it sure can be in Australia. Question is how? I am working on that one.
The advertisement for the OTR Super Sprint (OTR being Peregrine’s
most well known brand, BP fuel stations “On the Run”) stated that the fans could get “closer to the action”. Surely not as close as the street course can be around the streets of Adelaide? Yes, for the pit access open to
all, which impressed me enough at the club race meeting when I could home right in on the cars running in the Australian GT Championship, Formula 3 and so on was also available for the Super Cars. It was possible to walk to the rear end of the garages,
watch the race teams in action and see the stars of the series hope straight from their cars and walk through the pits to the team facilities behind. I believe this is not the norm at any other Super Car venue. Nice one!
Therefore, it was
possible to get right up close to legends such as Dick Johnson. Who remembers the coverage of the legendary Bathurst 1000km race, which was shown on ITV’s World of Sport in the UK? They pioneered so much of the TV coverage that we almost
take for granted today such as headlight facing cameras and drivers talking live to the TV commentary team. Bear in mind I am talking 30+ years ago now. The one that did the car to TV crew first, and mastered the art was Dick, a true-blue Aussie
if ever there is one, who simply told it how it is, even at 180mph down the famous Conrod Straight. When he retired from driving, he continued as a team owner and has had mixed fortunes over the years but in the last three he sold majority shares to
Roger Penske. Dick Johnson and Roger Penske together?! Of course, they are going to win! And such is the case. Scott McLaughlin won both races over the weekend, leads the championship and is looking a shoo-in to win it. His teammate
Fabian Coulthard, cousin of David if you wonder didn’t have such a successful trip to SA is running second. Plenty of other famous names too – Walkinshaw and Andretti have combined to own and run a team – and Triple Eight Racing, who
for so long dominated the BTCC did so down under too, with Roland Dane at the helm, the original founder of Triple Eight in the UK along with Derek Warwick, whose days together go right back to Toleman in the 1980’s. That team is now known as Red
Bull Holden. The Holden’s are struggling against the might of the Fords though (who DJR Penske run) as the new Ford Mustang is proving too much. It was great to see Jamie Whincup drive the wheels off his Holden in an effort to keep up with
the trio of Fords that filled the podium ahead of him in McLaughlin, Will Davison and Chas Mostert. When I visited the Australian Grand Prix in 2002, the Formula Fords were one of the support classes that weekend in Melbourne and stole the show,
not least for the great driving from Whincup, Davison, Will Power and Fabian Coulthard et al. Yes, back then they all had dreams of following Mark Webber into Formula One, but they haven’t done so badly have they?
With access all areas,
an onsite campsite, an area over the back of the circuit (or rather the middle, as it is a long track) where the Aussie thing of parking up and watching from the truck was possible (race view parking and then some, basically) and a few big screens around it
really was a good day for what was only approx. $75 a ticket for general admission. My only fault, and this was only because I look at certain things differently to many others and that was the overall presentation and flow of the show. The V8
Super Car support package is the same or similar at each round, in much the same way as the BTCC is and each appeared to have their own commentary team and the Super Car comms themselves were taken from the Fox Sports TV coverage (where I do not think having
all ex-drivers on the mic actually works, either) However, this did lead to it being somewhat disjointed at times. A continuity presenter, or house commentator linking it all together and promoting the venue itself with the events coming,
where everything is and so on would work better in my opinion. But that is only a small thing on what was an enjoyable day at an extremely impressive facility.
July 21
It goes almost without
saying that I had a thoroughly enjoyable visit back to the UK. Maybe a little too much so. It almost felt it was like I was looking at my life through the looking glass, for, on the 11 days I was back I did the same things in the same places that I would
have done had a not made the move to Australia earlier in the year. This was largely planned as the case, I had a good idea in April that it would be greater than 50/50 that I would be back in July, despite relocating to the other side of the world.
Getting to the F2 World Championship qualifying round midweek, and witnessing some superb racing was simply a bonus.
It was a very strange phenomenon leaving the United Kingdom last week. I had a feeling I have never had before – probably
because I was leaving somewhere that is my home, but isn’t actually currently and had the buzz from being part of what was without doubt one of the best UK Speedweekends at Skegness for a number of years and also a successful Ipswich Spedeweekend coupled
with coming back to summer in the northern hemisphere and returning to winter in the southern. Yes, it might not be as cold and not quite as dark as January in northern Europe, but even so.
Spedeworth’s plan of returning the Ipswich weekend back
to its roots with regard the formulae on the bill worked very well. I would be very surprised if there was even as much as a tweak for next years weekend, in my view it really doesn’t need one. The (unforecast) rain on the Saturday evening
did put a slight dampener on things, but it did make for an exciting 2 litre Hot Rod World Championship race where, ironically, the track drying out late on cost Lee Pepper from pulling off a second unexpected win in the race, the first of which was 19 years
ago in similar conditions. Had the race been dry I do also think that South African Jason Loosemore would have pulled off a shock too. He is special talent and hopefully will be back on the grid for the National Hot Rod World race in 2020 representing
the southern hemisphere. The National Hot Rod race was ultimately all about Rob McDonald. The Scot, having close to winning the English points series turned up, put the #17 car on a convincing pole position and then lead all the 75 laps.
The pole sitter winning over the (joint) longest race on the oval calendar might sound a little dull but the race was not this way. It was a chase with Chris Haird always just about keeping Rob in his sights rather than able to mount a challenge and
as the race went on, so the back-marking traffic the leaders encountered was more competitive and racing their own races for the minor places. There was no room for complacency. For all his travelling efforts McDonald deserved the victory and I’m
sure he will be a great World Champion. The much-heralded return of the Saloon Stock Cars, for the first time since 1992 was a definite boost to both parties. The Ipswich weekend will not compete with Skegness for them now, but they put on six
great races and a surprise win in their feature race for Northern Irishman Matt Stirling, all on a weekend when the grandee National Hot Rod drivers from the province, so often a fearsome force were not so this time. The Stock Rods had a great human
interest story with Derek McMillan winning the British Championship, adding it to the European so soon after recovering from serious illness. The Superstox European, in the worst of the wet conditions on the Saturday was dominated by Nick Roots, despite
two attempts from Jason Cooper to stop him. Retribution was to come on the Sunday from Roots on Cooper, which saw the latter leave the scene in an Ambulance. Surely a battle that has now run its course. The 1300 Stock Cars saw lots of cars on track
at any given time, which is what everyone likes although first across the line in their Supreme Championship Simon Berry failed the post-race weigh in and so it was Nikki Jarvis that took his first major win in the class. After last year’s Spedeweekend,
when Deane asked my opinion of the weekend, as he often has done I suggested that domestic Bangers were not right for such a weekend and he obviously agreed, for Unlimited National Bangers were back on the programme for the first time in a few years.
Many were sceptical, bookings were slow coming in, but I would say that they worked, despite having the worst of Saturdays weather – an extra World Final wild card place was won and there was a good entry of cars.
As noted above, the F2 racing
at Smeatharpe on the Tuesday evening was stunning. The Final and Grand National featuring battles of up to 10 cars, going three and four abreast lap after lap. Having watched somewhat is dished up in Australia (and they think is good…) this
was an absolute work of art. The disappointing thing was, the very low number of people looking on. Yes, it was a Tuesday, but it seems that the F2’s can no longer pull in the footfall in their southwest heartland and that surely has to be
a worry. There are even genuine home grown stars such as Ben Borthwick, Steve Gilbert and firebrand Jon Palmer that are worth paying to go and watch so I don’t understand it? Hopefully the Semi Final meeting at St Day in a few weeks will
see a good crowd because looking at Semi Final one on that day alone, it looks simply the kind of thing a scriptwriter would conjure up. I am sorry to be missing it.
Then to Skegness, which is now way more than just a weekend but a racing holiday for
so many. I hadn’t anticipated working all three meetings on the commentary but was a bonus for me that I was grateful for, even if it restricted who I caught up with - I’m fully aware than I did not say hello to anywhere near enough
people on my short trip back. The Friday night party at the Marine Boathouse creates some of the most random scenes you will see anywhere, and again a nice bonus. As was the great Stock Car racing all weekend and made me realise to the point that
I felt the need to share it with the audience, appreciate what you have here in the UK (and Netherlands and ok, yes New Zealand) because which it is good that there is oval motor sport in Australia in the main it is nowhere near as exciting as what “we”
know. It is still great, but different.
It was not just the racing, but the atmosphere from the huge crowd too. A bit of alcohol and sunshine helps of course, but the likes of myself and Richard Kaletta can only work with the tools in we
have, which is the racing itself and those looking on at it at any given time and when the floodlights failed late on Saturday (something which had not actually happened in over 20 years) and I quickly found “Angels” by Robbie Williams in the music
system, the scenes of the crowd singing along with their mobile phone lights on will hold with me for a long time. The racing all weekend was superb. It is a shame to hear of injuries, particularly in the Saloons and it was a shame that both UK
races were runaway wins for Diggy Smith and Gordon Moodie, but when the best of the weekend start at the front of a closed grid it is how it works out more often than not. I have written a full report for unloaded magazine, for a little bit of old times
sake and that I had the time to do so last week so please do purchase that for a full run down on what really was a great weekend.
It was hard leaving Gatwick on Monday morning and returning to a chilly Adelaide on Tuesday evening. But equally,
back in what is for now and however long it may be my home, with my comforts and my own bed and so on it was equally welcoming. Thank you to all those who helped make my short return possible and what it was. What happens from here, going forward I am not
100% sure of. But who is? Who knows what is around the corner? I will remain in South Australia to see how things pan out, at the very least for the rest of 2019 so please do not expect me to be popping up at the World Final meetings and
so on. But, where as the Ipswich and Skegness weekends might have once been an encore, I am not completely convinced I am set on hanging up my microphone just yet even though I do not know when or where I will next be using one.
Keep reading…
June 17
Time flies. It is hard to believe that I am in my eighth week in Australia. So much has been achieved in that time that it feels a lot longer and yet there is so much more to be achieved too. So much more.
But what has been achieved, from finding somewhere (semi) permanent to live, to buying a car to a lot of form filling – they love their beaucracy here – it all must be done.
It is easy to see how and why so many expats, or migrants (as they
as what they, indeed I am) settle throughout Australia – and just as with any country, there are big regional variations. Equally it is not all sunshine and a bed a roses. There are many things here that are NOT as good as in the United Kingdom,
but that said, a litre of unleaded at 65p, wide straight roads, if you want to go anywhere you do not have to worry too much that you will lose an hour plus of your life sat going nowhere, public transport is clean, cheap and safe (ok, I only speak for Adelaide
on this front) On the other side of these things, road tax or “rego” as they call it here is up to three times the price of the UK and the driving standards in Australia are nothing short of abysmal. Your average Australian (man) wouldn’t
even make it to the first roundabout from leaving Heathrow before hitting the fence. Mark Webber, long since domiciled elsewhere other than his homeland, upset them here earlier in the year when he said that driving here was “too slow” and “too
easy’. He was lambasted for it but was spot on. But I digress. Having been caught and fined for speeding twice during previous visits here I knew about it.
I do plan to start a separate blog on my life and times here, as I have
plenty to tell and doubtless with have more to come. However, for those that have not heard I am heading back to the UK in a few weeks time. In some ways it is not a social visit, it was always a tentative part of the plan to tie up remaining loose
ends. But that said, it will coincide with the Ipswich and Skegness weekends and I’m very grateful to Spedeworth and Skegness Raceway for the invite to be part of those weekends again, as per the norm really. Whatever normal is!
Many have asked me what the racing is like here. Indeed, back in November/December time it looked good that I was set to find a role with the sport’s governing body. However, they back tracked on that (see my previous blog) and whether
it happens or not I do not know. It would be foolish to hang out for it though. I have pitched to my most local venues here in South Australia too, but to no avail (yet) I did arrive here just as the season came to an end in April.
I attended the last meeting of the season at Murray Bridge and then what is effectively an out of season session – or the real end of term – at the Sunline Speedway near a town called Waikerie, two hours plus outside of Adelaide in the country
area known as the Riverland. I had been to Murray Bridge before, it is one of the grandee venues that is visited by the Sprint Car World Series in summer and has domestic Sprint Car racing too, as well as other classes. Sunline not so much the
case but was a friendly venue, where pit access was free and had free arena parking (if you want a dirty car).
What I have found very quickly though and from the few who I have spoken to here is that much the same as in the UK, there are too many
classes/divisions and many of them practically overlap each other thus diluting the driver base, making fixtures a bit of a mess and so on. It needs a total re-think. United we stand, divided we fall. It is how to go about doing it that is
the issue though. I have a number of ideas that I could bring to Speedway Australia. It is whether I get the opportunity to do so.
All very easy to stay in touch with everything going on in the UK and NL too via the social media, WhatsApp
and so on and I’m looking forward to my brief visit back. I miss it, trust me and I’m touched by the messages that I have received too. But, getting back to my original post about moving to Australia and giving it a try; I had been
doing what is essentially the oval racing circus, working at 70 odd meetings a year for quite some time and a break was needed. What the future holds – none of us know – but I/we will continue to give life in Adelaide a go before deciding
at the end of the year whether it really is the right thing. Take opportunities when they are there….. Some you win, some you lose. Just ask Lee Fairhurst!
See you in a couple of weeks.
April 18
It may
have appeared to be a bit of a “long goodbye” for it was over three months ago that I announced that I was due to heading off to Australia. But the time is now coming up and quickly.
I did have my reasons for announcing back in December
that I was heading off, indeed others close to me had known since November. I was hopeful of a job that I had applied for within the motorsport industry in Australia and although my application could be judged as successful, it was not quite successful
enough – at least not at this stage where the potential employer decided to take a different route path, at least for the time being. It is not totally over and if I do get the role I’m confident that those of you reading this will be excited
along with me, but equally I won’t get too far ahead of myself. Had I got the job at the end of 2018 I would have had to have left sooner, but the fact that it has been placed on hold has afforded me the time to sell my property here and conclude
things at a realistic pace.
I’m under no illusions for the new start in Australia. If it does not work or look like it will do so then serious consideration will be given to returning to the UK, where again I’m grateful to those
who employ my services have indicated they will happily keep the door open for any potential return. I will not be arrogant though and assume that is a given. It is a leap of faith, but you only get that one shot at life and opportunities should be taken where
and when they can be.
For better or worse, as stated previously on here, it is possible to keep well up to date with everything now via the social media platforms. I am still not entirely comfortable with the random smart phone filming –
I still prefer ‘Going Live’ to be a childhood memory of Sarah Greene on a Saturday morning than a button on a phone ap. It will surprise many of you that such is outlawed in much of the rest of the world and respected. Fixing the gate
after the horse has bolted will prove to be a harder task here, but the promoters are actively looking into it. That said there ARE bona fide ways of getting simple live stream broadcasts for a small fee. If they can do it in Australia and the
USA it can be done in the UK.
I will not deny it has been hard to say farewell, particularly at the two venues that are closest to my heart and where I have genuine long-standing friendships of Arlington and Taunton. March 17 at Smeatharpe
was just like any other meeting and it only hit me like a brick as I signed off that was that for now, maybe longer. Arlington not quite so bad as my last on the microphone there was on March 30 and at least I was able to watch at the last meeting there
on Wednesday. It was, suffice to say an honour to bow out on a BriSCA F1 date on the centre at Mildenhall on Saturday with a last bit of “Linfield on the infield” – for now. I reiterate, nothing is forever.
As noted above, I
am not 100% sure what the immediate future has in store for me. Lots of thoughts and ideas and a whole lot of goodwill. But, if these do not come to fruition that soon, I do have loose ends to tie up here. My departure in April ultimately
came down to the government tax year. I will not bore you too much with taxation, but the short of it is the UK and Australia have an agreement that a resident in one country cannot pay tax in the other. Thus, I had to wrap things up by the beginning
of the month here. This has left things to be sorted and remains a good chance I will fly back to this side of the world in July….
But for now – I will be watching on, literally from a far, staying in touch and keeping in touch with
as much as I can. Keep following the blog, I do hope to have plenty of interesting updates for you.
March 5
My recent sorting of programmes continued and concluded recently and as my previous comments,
it has been hard, harder in a number of ways than many would imagine. Very easy to wallow in nostalgia too but one thing did really strike me. Whether it be 2019, 2009, 1999 or 1989 very little has actually changed. Yes, I know there are
obvious, and the world is a very different place to 30 years ago but a lot of the gripes about racing are fundamentally the same now as they were 10, 20 and 30 years ago.
As a couple of examples, I will not attribute the following quotes to their authors,
as both now sit round the big table discussing rules in the present day, but both struck me: “Officialdom took over. Scrutineering differences and just plain cheating was running riot in certain areas with different officials giving different variations
of how the rules should be interpreted” This was regarding Banger racing, written just over 29 years ago. And regarding BriSCA F2, 23 years ago “The consistency tag has been paramount, be it race formats, suspensions, stoppages, Stewarding
and even roof colours. Wherever you go it seems the job is being done differently and the credibility of F2 can easily be lost” It wasn’t Crispen who wrote the latter by the way! But both are debates that could be had regarding racing
today, for better or worse and so on, agree or disagree.
It is fair to say the ‘main’ UK season got off to a strong start across the country. I did read some trying to compare this year’s maiden weekend to last years but that
isn’t entirely fair given that the first weekend last year was snowed off and then the remainder of March was a very stop and start one with weather issues. Fact is though that whether it be Birmingham, Kings Lynn or Skegness there were healthy
grids and that is a positive. I chose to go and watch at Kings Lynn, one of my favourite venues and yes, probably the last time I will go for the foreseeable future. It is a long drive back to the south coast from west Norfolk though I will have
to confess. Compounded by closed off lanes, closed roads and “night diversions” It took me longer to get home than it did to get there!
The F2’s stole the show at what is regretfully just one of three in-season meetings at the
Adrian Flux Arena this year. Competitive and hard racing and likewise with the Saloon Stock Cars, plenty of nice new cars and refurbed to look as good as new on show in both. Good wins for Dan Ford in the F2’s and Luke Grief in the Saloons.
February 18
Everyone has an opinion and negativity comes with that and often from a small minority, but it is what it is. But amidst enough of it over the closed season with breakaway tracks and new organisations being formed
in the oval racing world it was pleasing to hear that the first “Motorsport with Attitude” show at the Peterborough Arena was a success. In the last few years of the oval part of the show at Autosport International there were calls for a
return to what we once knew as the ‘Brentwood Show’, an oval show which only really ran for a few years during the 90’s under Malcolm and Brenda Forbes and then under Vince O’Conner thereafter. I will admit that the last year
that oval racing did have an official presence at ASI it was painful. It was left to me to carry the can to a large extent, it was a hard slog and it was clear that the new management involved at ASI didn’t care whether “we” were there
or not, despite contrary claims and so it was decided that it was time to look beyond. Who would be the one or ones to take up the mantle was the question though? And thus, with a team lead by Dave Rennie and others the MWA show was born and launched
at the early part of last year. Yes, perhaps it could have been promoted a little more during the high point of the 2018 season (Ipswich and Skegness Speedweekends, F1 World Final etc) but hindsight is a wonderful thing and when it come along at the
weekend and by all accounts, for a first go was a resounding success and certainly could and should form at platform for next year and thereafter. Initially I was to be involved with the show, doing what I do, but with my plans going forward changing
dramatically at the end of last year I withdrew as it wouldn’t be fair committing to something I couldn’t necessarily commit to. In the end I spent Sunday afternoon sorting through race programmes and a lot of them that have spent a long
time in my loft. They will be finding their way to a new home, if temporary one when I go (to watch) at Kings Lynn in a couple of weeks’ time. One shouldn’t get too attached to things such as race programme’s but I am one that
does. I have filled in the race results at the vast majority of meetings I have been at for the past 30 or so years now. Many of these programmes I hadn’t looked at for literally years, but it was still heart wrenching times looking through them,
stirring up memories. Drivers just starting out in Ministox in entry lists, a number of names no longer with us and of course venues that have closed too. These are part of my life and alas I’d love to pack them for Australia, but not realistically
possible. This is the brutality of moving to another country. I have 14 five cubic feet boxes to get everything in and these cannot come.
If anyone wants any Stoxworld’s I have a fair few of those…. ?
I am grateful to be keeping
my hand in until such times as I do depart though and last weekend the season got underway at Aldershot Raceway with the opening round of the Unlimited Banger World Series. Essentially a meeting moved from Wimbledon, it featured 90+ cars in front of
a large crowd. Yes, maybe it wasn’t the wreck fest that many hoped it might be, but watching cars such as those, driven with such skill IS a sight to behold. My tweet about what they would think in Australia about BWS was only half tongue
in cheek… Yes, I am going to be watching world class Sprint Car racing, a spectacle not available in Europe but never the less we should appreciate what we have here in the UK.
And a lot of that was on show at Peterborough this weekend.
Keep the faith!
January 29
It isn’t often I am left speechless but that is what happened at the BriSCA F2 Awards Night at the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry on Saturday evening. As per my previous blog entry at the
end of last year, I was there for what was (sadly, and I truly mean it) the last time, having been part of the event for the past 11 years. It is amazing how quickly that time has gone and how it has established itself too. This is down to the
hard work of Benevolent Fund Treasurer Sharon Blood (who also later this year will be the National Series coordinator too – a true unsung hero of the sport) As for me, I have just turned up on the night and talked through who is getting and got what.
I have spoken to Sharon who could and should assume the role for the 2020, when by then, I will have been domiciled for some time in Australia. That is if everything goes to plan of course! What I didn’t expect was to be presented with something
myself but that was the case, and I was honoured and touched to receive a magnificent gold microphone from Crispen (see photo on main page) Suffice to say this is something that will now be joining me on my journey and something I will treasure forever.
Along with the many memories of course of my time on a microphone, something I aspired to from a child. It might sound a cliché, but it is true and to receive it at the awards evening, where a vast number of those present, I count as my racing friends
rather than acquittances made it even more of a special moment.
It goes without saying that I will miss much here. And as for oval racing and more specifically F2’s, they have even teased and tested me with a BriSCA F2 meeting at my
beloved Arlington in the coming summer! I really do hope that it works out for BriSCA F2 and Spedeworth, a bit of a bold move in a number of ways, a Speedweek would have worked a lot better five years ago rather than the current uncertain times but above
all that F2’s returning to the very venue where “the split” took place in 1961 shows that things really have changed. Or have they? In some ways very much so. In others not at all and prior to surprising me with the presentation
to me Crispen actually read an excerpt from a “Stock Car” magazine in 1985 which outlined a pair of brothers in the North East of England involved in issues behind the scenes and were looking to orchestrate a different kind of split in the sport
that could lead to a number of tracks running a mish-mash of ‘Outlaw’ F2 type classes. That was 33 and a half years ago and here we are with what is happening in 2019. History repeating itself or time just not moving on? There
is no denying that BriSCA F2 – and F1 – and the ORCi have some issues to sort. Too many formulae, some ‘service’ meetings that run at a big loss yet have to be run for several reasons and above all else at least three venues currently
under serious threat, to go with Arena Essex, Coventry and Wimbledon that have been lost in the last two years. Several promoters have asked my opinion on issues over time and I am confident that the core of the sport is as well placed as it can be to work
together to survive, and hopefully grow, as it moves into the next decade. Swaffham coming into the ORCi and close ties coming together with Grimley and Warton can only be positives. Barford, Ringwood et al are looking to form alliances with each other
under a new umbrella but I cannot help but think that there are several key points being missed. I do wish them all the best though. They are running motor sport events and shouldn’t be knocked for that. They are still part of the chain.
My plans going forward may well be a case of hitting the pause button, nobody knows the future, but with opportunities in Australia worth looking at I would be being a fool to myself not to at least try to pursue these. Per my previous blog, I will
not be a stranger, I will still be following all of what is going on here as it is so simple to do so.
The current plan is that I will depart in April but I will be having a little bit of an encore/farewell tour/or just working my notice, call
it what you will with a couple of commentary dates at my local Aldershot track in the next few weeks and then Smeatharpe on March 17 for as well as hopefully a couple of trips to East Anglia. I have business commitments ongoing in the UK
and I might be back for a short visit in the summer, but whether this would include me making any public appearances at a race meeting/s is to be determined.
Onwards and upwards.