Svitavy

At last I made it to Svitavy speedway.

It was only a short 24 years since the last aborted attempt.  

1994 saw a bus load of Edinburgh Monarchs and a few assorted other speedway fans embark on a continental speedway extravaganza (I’ll protect their names but let’s just say there were a few Monarchs Fans Legends on the bus, some now sadly do not attend the speedway).  

The route included, amongst other places, Edinburgh, Coventry, Harwich, Hook of Holland, Bad Bramstedt, Brokstedt, Berlin, Prague, Pardubice, Marianske Lazne and of course Svitavy.  A legendary trip.

Sadly the only meeting that was planned and didn’t happen was the Svitavy fixture.

The route on the 25th August 2018 was considerably more direct.  Podebrady via Kolin to Svitavy on Czech rail (worth noting that the route takes in Pardubice - a town with a legendary and probably my favourite track).  

It’s also worth noting that after approximately 3 months of wonderful weather, of between 30 and 37 degrees centigrade, the night before the meeting there was as ‘thunder plump’ of rain. 

Surely not another rain off?

So after a couple of hours on the train we hopped off at another Soviet style train station.  A quick map check and a short stroll took us into a very pretty and quiet town centre.  It’s a quirk of Czech shops that they close by 12 noon on a Saturday hence many town centres are very quiet at the weekend.

The meeting was scheduled to start at 1:30pm so we had time for a spot of lunch.  Lunch is a meal that the Czech’s have mastered.  Typically Czech restaurants (or ‘restaurace’ - to give them their Czech name) offer a Polední menu.  In other words a daily lunch menu which normally includes a soup and choice from a couple of main dishes.  All for the tidy sum of approximately 150 to 170 Korun (Czech Crowns) i.e. £5 or £6

Our lunch spot of choice being Hotel Slavia (or to be more precise their casual bar meal restaurant).

http://www.slaviasvitavy.eu/en/restaurant/senk-u-vilema

So after being fed and watered it was another 30 minute walk to the stadium.  Navigating a new Czech town is always fun but this time we were assisted by the sound of the bikes warming up.

And here we were ...

We paid our 70 Korun (£2.30) a head for entrance and free racesheet.  

Although the surroundings were pretty basic and in need of freshening up I'm confident that many a UK promotion would snap up the opportunity to have this track as their home.

The meeting itself turned out to be a bit of an oddity and really quite basic.

11 riders including a young German woman (approximately 16 years old), a couple of under 16 Czech lads on 250cc bikes, an over 40 year old and a selection of other Czech riders.  I’d heard of most of the field but one or two names intrigued me.

Sindy Weber was the young German woman.  I’d previously seen her racing a couple of times at Pardubice during the Golden Helmet weekend in the 250cc meeting.  Worth noting that during those meetings she often over shadowed her German partner Ben Ernst.  Ben is now the 250cc World Champion.  Sindy appeared to be on a 500cc bike during this meeting.  It will be worth noting if Sindy can keep her enthusiasm for the sport.

Other well known faces, to me, were Ondrej Smetana (or Andrew Cream to give him his English name), Patrik Mikel, Martin Gavenda and Michal Skurla.  Ondrej being the best of that bunch in my opinion.

There were a couple of other names who were onboard 500cc bikes that I hadn’t heard too much about Daniel Silhan, Jan Macek and Lukas Vinter.  The latter it transpires had entered the meeting with a wrist injury and didn’t last long.

The 40+ year old was Jaroslav Petrak.

It’s always interesting to learn about new names that are up and coming in the sport and young Michal Bastecky and Pavel Kuchar are a couple of names to follow.  Both were onboard 250cc bikes which obviously impacted their scoring.  Young Pavel looked very stylish and was very unlucky in his third ride when his engine gave way.  He’d to borrow Michal’s 250cc for the remainder of the day.  Keep an eye on Pavel.

For the statisticians out there the scoresheet can be seen below.  

Whilst the meeting was very basic you have to give great credit to those that organised it.  The meeting had running commentary and they obviously were doing the best with the resources at hand.  It is to their great credit that the track was graded and watered after every three heats.

Real grassroots speedway but hugely enjoyable.

'Chief Programme Filler Inner'

1st Ondrej Smetana

2nd Michal Skurla

3rd Patrik Mikel

Well it may not technically be a European continental track but I'll jot down a few lines about my trip back to the San Siro of Scottish Speedway - Armadale Stadium.

I purposely wanted to attend this meeting as it was staged to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Monarchs Club.

It was a 4 team tournament challenge match with many of the recent Monarchs league winning stars on show.  Equally interesting to supporters, of all ages, was the number of ex-riders in the stadium.

So I was like a big child again and I'm not ashamed to say so.  I managed to get a few photos snapped throughout the night - no doubt I missed lots and lots of other ex-Monarchs in the crowd.

Legend 1 = Dave 'Chopper' Harley - best mate

Max Fricke

Cookie

Kenny McKinna and Les Collins

Mitchell Davey

Sam Masters

Stadium viewed from hospitality area

Liberec Speedway - World U21 Individual Qualifier

It was another early start and another beautiful day.  

6:45am bus from Podebrady to Liberec bus station arriving 9am.  No worries about the meeting being rained off as the sun was splitting the blue skies.  

We had a quick bite of breakfast and then it was off to explore parts of the town.

The town was quite pretty in parts with some stunningly crafted buildings.  Lots were 'a bit tired looking' and in need of some TLC which they were receiving.

Another bite this time lunch on the old town square.

By the time we'd finished it was time to head out to the stadium.  Taxi ride from taxi rank near the bus station.  150 Kcr and 5 minutes later we were at the stadium.

The stadium and track were basic but nicely presented.  Grassy embankments surrounded the fenced track.  With lots of little groups of fixed seating areas all around the track.  Plus a good number of white garden chairs.  So if you wanted a seat you could get one.  The crowd of 500 or so were able to watch the racing in comfort.

To the meeting itself.  There were a couple of 'names' in the field who had travelled from Poland notably Maksym Drabik (reigning WU21 champion) and firm favourite to qualify and most likely to win the meeting.  Plus Daniel Kaczmarek a rider who is very impressive for one so young.

There were a few more names that were familiar but to date perhaps weren't considered in the same category as the Poles e.g. Denmark's Patrick Hansen, Slovenia's Nick Škorja and England's Zach Wajtknecht.

Then to the not so familiar members of the cast.

The first interesting character was David Pacalaj - 16 years old going on 10.  His family claim to fame is he is the nephew of Martin Vaculik.

Another interesting story was that of Lucas Alejandro Torressi an Argentinian who had sold up everything he had and convinced his father to sell his car to finance his trip to Europe!!  

I also had half an eye on the French entrants Labouyrie and Stella and the rider from Finland Sayrio.

So to the meeting.

The first couple of races for each competitor largely went as anticipated.  Drabik, Kaczmarek and Hansen were all unbeaten on 6 points.  Although Kaczmarek rode his luck a little as he benefitted from a Škorja thrown chain whilst the Slovenian was in the lead.  Lingering on the Slovenian for a moment.  It is worthwhile noting that his second ride resulted in him following Hansen home - so he was sitting with 2 points after 2 rides - he would have been forgiven if he'd let his head go down at that point.  Credit to the lad he tried like a bear in his remaining rides.

It would also be worthwhile pointing out that young Pacalaj headed Drabik for 2 and a half laps before the Pole eventually swept around him through turns 3 and 4.  Torressi missed the gate in his opener but a nice move brought him from last to 2nd entering turn 3 only to see the Argentinian spin around and fall causing a stoppage as Sayrio ran into him.

Then things got interesting.  Millberg (Sweden) who had shown little from the gate.  Leapt from the inside to head Hansen!!!  He continued to ride steady for the remainder of the 4 laps to inflict Hansen's only defeat of the day.

The next heat (10) saw Škorja continue to develop his 'entertainer of the match award' (from me) by chasing down and passing young Pacalaj.

Drabik won the battle of the Poles in heat 11.  Although a notable mention to Kaczmarek who had to battle his way through from 4th to 2nd.  So I was mentally putting Drabik on the top step of the podium.

Heat 12 in hindsight contained more than a couple of decisive scores.  Firstly Hajek fell victim of the rut on the second turn (that had developed very early) to fall from 1st to 2nd as Wajtknecht took the win.  Lenarduzzi (who had hardly troubled the scorers) nipped by Hajek to pinch second.  Had Hajek kept those extra two points he'd have more than likely finished outright 4th.  

The meeting to date had had its moments to keep the crowd interested but thereafter it became quite spellbinding.  

Heat 13 Lenarduzzi caught and passed Kaczmarek!

Heat 14 Drabik touched the tapes.  In the re-run Hansen came from third to first in a super aggressive piece of riding.

Heat 15 Wajtknecht overhauled Wassermann on the last bend to get a win.

Heat 16 Škorja quietly continued to add to his score with his second win.  NB Young Millberg retired when sitting a comfortable 2nd.

So all of a sudden things were hotting up:

Hansen 11, Kaczmarek 10, Drabik and Wajtknecht 9, Škorja 8

Heat 17 had the look of a crunch heat with Škorja, Drabik and Wajtknecht all pitted against each other.  Drabik held his nerve to gate and keep a hard charging Škorja behind him with the Englishmen third.  So Drabik had secured his passage to the World Final with 12 points.  The Slovenian and Englishman were looking at a race off.

Heat 18 saw the ever improving Lenarduzzi pull off a wonderful outside pass of Mikel through turns 3 and 4.

Heat 19 was littered with fall and exclusions and a bad smash for Torressi and Hajek with the Argentinian ending the heat in the ambulance.  However, Hajek rode his luck (the first two runnings he was no better than 3rd) to win the heat and for him to throw his hat into the race off 'ring'.

Heat 20 Ultimately decided the meeting winner, with Hansen riding another superb turn 3 / 4 this time to pass Kaczmarek.

Winner Hansen 14 points

Next up was a 4th place decider.  Škorja (red), Wajtknecht (blue), Hajek (white).  The Slovenian riding comfortably from tapes to flag for a well deserved win and World Final place.

Heat 22 saw a bit of humour from the two Poles.  They were due to run off for 2nd but chose to have a wheelie contest for four laps.  Nice touch.  For the record Kaczmarek got 2nd.

So
1 Hansen
2. Kaczmarek
3 Drabik
4 Škorja

So overall impressions of the Liberec track were good, likewise the meeting.  Despite the pretty dry and dusty conditions.

There are a few riders to keep an eye on in the coming months:

Pacalaj
Millberg
Lenarduzzi
Torressi

NB Nearly forgot about the pre meeting heavy metal band - decent - well maybe ;-)

After living all my life, to date, in Scotland, I now find myself living in the Czech Republic.

Aside from missing family and friends another big miss is my regular fix of speedway racing.  This had been successfully achieved over the years by a number of means.

Regular Friday night meetings at some of the various homes of the Edinburgh Monarchs.  My viewing commenced at, the now sadly defunct, Powderhall Stadium, then a dalliance with Shawfield Stadium in Glasgow (as the Scottish Monarchs) and then onto Armadale and back as Edinburgh Monarchs.

The viewing wasn't just limited to the homes of Edinburgh Monarchs I also took in a few of the Monarchs away matches, some national finals, world finals, trips across Europe and further afield.

Tracks visited so far:

Edinburgh Monarchs (Powderhall / Shawfield / Armadale)

Belle Vue (Kirkmanshulme Lane - no longer used for speedway / National Speedway Stadium)
Berwick (Berrington Lough / Shielfield)
Bradford (Odsal - no longer used for speedway)
Cardiff (Millennium Stadium)
Coventry (Brandon Stadium - no longer used for speedway)
Cradley Heath (Dudley Wood Stadium - now houses)
Exeter (County Ground)
Glasgow (Shawfield / Ashfield)
Ipswich (Foxhall Stadium)
Kings Lynn (Saddlebow Road Stadium)
Lakeside (Arena Essex Raceway)
Leicester (Beaumont Sports Complex)
Linlithgow (Heathersfield - no longer used for speedway)
Long Eaton (Long Eaton Stadium - no longer exists as far as I understand)
Milton Keynes (Elfield Park - no longer used for speedway)
Newcastle (Brough Park)
Peterborough (East of England Showground)
Poole (Poole Stadium)
Reading (Smallmead Stadium)
Scunthorpe (Eddie Wright Raceway)
Sheffield (Owlerton)
Swindon (Abbey Stadium)
Wolverhampton (Monmore Green Stadium)

Adelaide (Gillman / Sidewinders - Australia)
Bad Bramstedt (Germany)
Broken Hill (Australia)
Brokstedt (Germany)
Gdansk (Poland)
Gothenburg (Sweden - Ullevi Stadium)
Kurri Kurri (Loxford Park - Australia)
Marianske Lazne (Czech Republic
Melbourne (Etihad Stadium)
Mildura (Olympic Park - Australia)
Munkebo (Denmark)
Pardubice (Czech Republic)
Prague (Czech Republic - Marketa Stadium)
Rybnik (Poland)
Shepparton (Undera Park - Australia)
Terenzano (Italy)

Listing the above was quite an enjoyable exercise.  It brought back many good memories, some of them clouded by the passing of time.  There may well be other tracks I've missed off the list that will come back to me in due course.

So in an effort to fend off senility and to provide a nice record of further travels I'll use this Blog to record my speedway travels.

Where possible I'll include pictures etc. to enhance the reading experience.

So to the reader - enjoy.

So it was back to Scotland to watch my third meeting of the season.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Workington Comets.

If Workington drew or won they'd qualify into the next round of the SGB Championship Shield.

They duly won but Edinburgh will be disappointed in a few of their individual performances, as they looked to be likely to win the contest in the early stages.

Result can be found here:

https://www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk/match-centre/fixture/2018-06-08/edinburgh/workington

It didn't take me long to bag my second match of the season.

Podebrady to Prague Main Station then metro to Muzeum change to metro out to Petriny.

Same location as the first but this time Czech League racing ( 1 Liga druzstev)

A four team tournament involving AK Marketa Prague, Junior CZ, Zarnovica and AMK ZP Pardubice.

The racing was decent if not spectacular a curious mix of 4 team tournament format and pairs.

The result can be found here :

http://www.speedway-prague.cz/prvni-ligu-vyhrali-jezdci-z-markety/

The top Czech riders don't compete at this level so it is a mix of very experienced and very young riders.

Jan Kvech had been picked to ride as the Czech Republic under 21 reserve for the Speedway of Nations, so it was an opportunity to see him perform.  He didn't drop too many silly points but it is difficult to gauge where he sits in comparison to other up and coming riders on the continent e.g. how does he fair against the young Poles?  

So finally the first meeting of my speedway season.  Not a bad choice and ultimately a very enjoyable meeting, once it got going.

Our day started with a train from Podebrady into Prague Main Station (Hlavni Nadrazi).  A wee catch up with a few friends from Scotland.   Then tram 22 out towards the west of the city, jumped off at Brevnovsky Klaster.  A quick wander about the nearby Monastery and then round the corner and up to Marketa Stadium.

The last time I was in the stadium, probably 2003, it was reasonably basic with very little seating and few facilities.  That has since changed with the stadium fully seated and more food and drink outlets. There is no real cover but the weather is generally so warm and dry in Prague in summer there isn't really the need for it.

The meeting took a bit to get going but the second half of the meeting offered up some good speedway with the last and final heat being an absolute classic.  Freddie Lindgren (after upsetting Woffinden with a move on the first lap) stalked and passed Dudek on the line.

A wonderful way to end a great meeting.

A few more drinks at the stadium and then it was off via the metro.  Petriny to Muzeum and then onto Hlavni Nadrazi and train back to Podebrady.

Marketa was not a new stadium to me but still offered up a nice experience.  We sat in section B2 which was as you entered the first turn and it provided good viewing and a lively atmosphere.