Another speedway season is almost over, it only seems like yesterday that it began! I was looking forward to the start of this year’s season almost more than previous seasons, Belle Vue were almost certain to add some silverware to last years cup success and we were feverishly discussing which SGP’s we would be attending. All seemed fine on the horizon but you just never know what is around the corner! What was round the corner was the devastating news that my wife had the big C! There would be some dark days ahead for us and speedway would need to take a backseat!
The season started whilst we were charging into battle against ‘the big C’, your mind races away with dark thoughts and raw emotions and those are just a small encounter of the battle that lies ahead, there will be some long days, long days indeed!
The BSPA’s decision to forge ahead with fixed race nights was also a spanner in the works for my weekly speedway fix at The NSS, Monday evenings were to clash with a heady mix of juggling work related priorities, nursing duties to my wife and daddy day care to our young daughter, speedway would come a very poor second to those needs! My fix was still needed just as much as any addict needs there chosen poison. Saturday evenings in Cumbria would be my salvation and Workington would provide me with some much needed ‘me time’! I grew to enjoy my Saturday jaunts up to the lakes, stopping off in Cockermouth for a pint or two in the aptly named Bitter End public house.
A good portion of fish & chips would also be consumed before the last few miles of road were eaten up and I’d arrive at Derwent Park for the main course! The speedway might not rival that on offer at The NSS but for such a narrow track, the racing was suprisingly entertaining and the team was strong from 1-7, just like the nineteen seventies, Saturday night was once again speedway night! Workington’s form in all competitions would stir the soul and have their small but loyal hardcore of supporters dreaming of silverware and champagne come October and even I was getting more excited by the week. I’m not one for getting over excited at the best of times, I’ve come to learn that in any sport, you should treat both victories and defeats with the same level of composure and let your emotions run away with neither but this was something a little different, ‘unfashionable’, little Workington were rocking the boat, gate crashing the party and the rest of the league were starting to take notice!
Once my wife had had her operation and subsequent chemotherapy to rid her of ‘the big C’ our road to recovery would take us to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Berwick, Ipswich and East London on a few weekend road trips! We’d stay in some nice boutique hotels and eat in pubs and restaurants that got a mention in the Michelin guide whilst refuelling ourselves on hot chocolate and cake in quaint and quirky cafes. Our little long road to recovery was beginning to be an enjoyable one and speedway was now taking the front seat!
During the course of this season, I’ve managed (I’m not sure how) to visit a large number of tracks, all of them offering up a varying amount of good racing and a varying amount of characters along the way, Glasgow with its ultra slick promotion and partisan fan base, Edinburgh with its ramshackled stadium and friendliness of its patrons, Berwick with its unique track on a slope and the town’s splendid watering hole, The Barrels, Ipswich with its picturesque location and so on and so on!
Whilst my nights in Cumbria and our monthly road trips have given me my speedway fix, the loss of my weekly visits to Belle Vue to stand with good friends watching speedway on the best track in the world has been a big disappointment. Fixed race nights have not just been a disaster for my weekly fix but a financial disaster for the sport itself with Rye House bidding farewell mid season and crowds down at most top flight clubs!
Another big dent in my fix would come at Grand Prix level, three SGP’s already booked and paid for, flights – accommodation- stadium tickets would need to be shelved as we rounded the wagons and rode into battle against ‘the big C’! Some people think speedway is a matter of life and death, I can assure you my wife is more important than that! In the end the loss of the Grand Prix Trips although significantly less important than my wife’s health and well-being, were of little concern as Grand Prix after Grand Prix turned into a complete bore fest devoid of all the excitement of previous meetings at the same venues. The final SGP of the year was to be held at the impressive Mariana Roségold Moto Arena in Torun, Poland. This was to be our tenth or so visit to this impressive venue where the racing has never once disappointed both on Grand Prix night and Polish league meetings. On this occasion it was to be a far from enjoyable experience (but more of that in my next blog)!!!
The domestic league season was threatening to fizzle out into somewhat of a damp squib with firstly the brilliant young Dan Bewley suffering horrific injuries in a crash at Workington and Craig Cook bowing out of his maiden SGP season with a suspected broken wrist after a crash in the German SGP. Belle Vue’s season was falling apart at a crucial time with cup a semifinal and the playoffs looming, this proved to be the case as both Somerset and King’s Lynn put The Aces’ season to bed! Second division Workington on the other hand we’re playoff and cup final bound and the season isn’t yet over for the Comets from Cumbria!
This Friday and Saturday will see the Comets go head to head with Glasgow in their playoff semifinal for the right to meet either Lakeside or Peterborough in the Championship Final and there is still the small matter of both the Cup Final and the Championship Shield to be ridden for! This has been an enjoyable experience following ‘unfashionable, little’ Workington throughout the season!
The fight for Premiership honours is being fought out between Poole and King’s Lynn. This should be the sports prestige event in this country but once again The BSPA have turned the occasion into a farce by allowing a rider to ride for both teams over the two legged final!!! Firstly this makes a complete mockery of the sport to any outsiders looking in and secondly and more importantly could sadly bring questionable doubt into the integrity of a rider who is the innocent party in this mess that could only occur in the pathetic chaos of British speedway!
I’ll try to get to Workington’s remaining meetings while thankfully my beautiful wife is on the road to recovery but if I don’t, I’ll look back on a season of mixed emotions and wonder what next year will bring to this once wonderful sport!
Thanks for reading,
Mark.
THIS SPORTING LIFE 