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Sidecars to add to the 'Sizzle' at Pinjar Park THIS Saturday Night ! ! ! News just to hand confirms.... Though not officially sanctioned to 'Race' at Pinjar Park, due to the diminutive size of this 142 metre Solo Speedway circuit, a small group of 'Brave' Sidecar Riders & Passengers will take to the track, this Saturday Night, December 5th at Pinjar Park to take part in a series of Simulated 'Match Race' Demonstrations on their 1000cc Speedway Sidecar Outfits.... without Brakes!!!! This is sure to add to the spectacle of 'Solo Psychosis' where the 500cc Speedway Solo Motor Cyles, together with Junior Solos and 'Pee Wee's' will battle out some 40 plus events during this first Saturday evening of Summer. In addition to all the local Solo Stars, there will be two very talented riders making the trip all the way from Queensland and New South Wales for this exciting meeting, they are non other than... 'Skeleton Man'.... AND... 'Foot Fetish Man'...Ty Proctor... The weather will be perfect, the beer cool and the food tasty... but the action on the track will be 'Sizzling Hot' Affordable Family Fun and Entertainment when the bikes 'Do it Sideways in the Dirt' .... So, tell your friends, tell your neighbours, tell you teacher, tell your boss and... Like our dear friend Mr Speedway, Con Migro, would say... "You all be there now"!!! Please pass this 'Update' on to as many of your friends and network as possible and lets fill the place this Saturday Night... because if we do then we can bring you more and more and more exciting Solo & Sidecar Action ! See you all there. Regards For more info visit www.eurogroup.com.au and click on 'Speedway'
Solo Psychosis is coming to Pinjar Park Saturday December 5th 2009... and it is 'shaping-up' to be a real 'Sizzler' News just to hand confirms.... The 'Skeleton Suit Man'..... 55 years old Alan Rivett... Named 'Skeleton Man' because he wears leathers with a skeleton painted on.... will make the trip from Queensland to show the West 'how it's done' !!!... This Guy is sensational and don't think his age will slow him down because it wont! Ty Proctor (Foot Fetish Man)... So named because he is well remembered for having... 'run over his own foot'... during a Solo final a couple of years ago !!!... Ty will make the journey from NSW just to give the 'Skeleton Man' a good 'run for his money' More news to follow as it comes to hand Visit www.eurogroup.com.au and click onto the speedway pages for more info. Regards
Wow..... What a sensational night of Speedway Action on the BIG Ellenbrook Dirt Track.
Lee Bojus with some of the trophy girls Here is a 'Brief Summary' of last nights Sizzling Action, with some great photos, compliments of Veteran Speedway Photographer 'Extraordinaire' Peter Roebuck. But first a bit of a 'pre-amble'.... Located about 30km from the City of Perth, the Ellenbrook venue is owned 'lock, stock and barrel' by the Racing Drivers Association (RDA) on 43 Acres of natural bushland purchased by the Club in 1976. Ellenbrook Speedway is a winter only 'Car Race Track'... catering for most divisions of 4 wheel Speedway... but seldom running Solos or Sidecars, or what I fondly refer to as 'Bikes - N - Trikes'. Well last night that changed... hopefully forever! Former Western Australian and International Solo Speedway Star Neil Webb, as owner of Elite Speedway Promotions, has for the past few years been promoting regular Solo Speedway race meetings at the Pinjar Park Junior Solo Track.
2009 Sidecar Champs Whilst the Pinjar Park Venue has provided some thrilling, wheel to wheel 500cc Solo action it is, unfortunately, not suitable in size to run regular 1000cc Speedway Sidecar Racing. As a result Speedway Sidecar Racers & fans have had nowhere, close to Perth, suited to 1000cc Speedway Sidecars since the demise of the Claremont Speedway track, in late 2000 and the subsequent closure of the Bibra Lake Speedway a few years later. Now things have changed... and as I mentioned earlier.... and hopefully FOREVER! As a result of assisting Neil Webb, financially, with his Pinjar Park promotions in 2008, I got to talking to Neil about where he might be able to promote some Sidecar shows.... Ellenbrook came to mind and so during the winter months, Neil Webb and I met on several occasions with the Executive Committee of the RDA. This resulted in agreement being reached for Elite Speedway Promotions to lease the Ellenbrook venue, from the RDA, for 2 x dates during this 2009/10 Summer Speedway Season. One problem facing Elite Speedway Promotions was the financial risk of promoting Solo & Sidecar Racing, at an 'out of town venue', when the sport, of Solo & Sidecar racing, had fallen into decline both in terms of Competitors, Racing Machinery, Officials and Spectators, as a result of not having a regular venue available to race at for almost 10 years. This was indeed a big risk, which kept Neil Webb awake for many nights, leading up to last night.
2009 Sidecar Champs Russel Mitchell & Tina Karan Now I was first exposed to Speedway in 1947,at age 5, when my Dad first took me to the Speedway when it re-opened in England after the end of WW 11 and it was a case of 'love at first site' and Speedway dominated and shaped my life for decades thereafter.... So with that as my 'motivator' I offered Neil some financial support, by offering to cover the cost of venue hire, advertising and promotion. This was the catalyst that made it possible for Neil Webb to commit to promoting the 2009 WA Solo & Sidecar Speedway Championships last night. So, whilst I looked after venue hire, advertising & promotion, Neil and his dedicated Wife Sue set about 'rounding up' the guys (competitors & officials... both male & female) as well as their 'Bikes - N- Trikes' and set about putting together a major show.... (And that they did indeed... It was simply... 'well done'.... not perfect, but well done never the less.) With fingers crossed we worked steadily towards last nights BIG show, conducting a 'practice session' last Sunday (Oct 7th) to enable riders, passengers, officials and RDA management to have a pre-event 'shake-down'.... as few, if any, had any prior experience in racing Solo's & Sidecars on this exclusively 'car' venue. Much was learned from that practice session, including track preparation to suit 'Bikes- N - Trikes', to gearing, tyre compounds, pressures, etc as well as best racing line (track craft). It also served as an opportunity for some competitors to realise that a 'hose down' to clean off the dust, spiders and cobwebs, is not always enough for a highly stressed racing machine that has lay idle in the shed for past 5 to 15 years and in fact it is often necessary to clear hornets nests, mice and dead pigeons out of exhaust and air intake systems, before the machine can reach it's maximum potential.
In addition it provided proof that 5 to 15 years of 'Christmas Dinners' do not make it easy to fit into ones racing leathers... hey Ralph! So.... in the 6 days following last Sundays practice... there were some frantic hours and days spent, fine tuning the machines, exercising and crash dieting for competitors... whilst Wives & Girlfriends were kept busy letting out waist lines in racing suits and polishing up the leathers and boots! On the day (yesterday 14th November) the weather could not have been better.... and the God's were indeed kind to us all. Whilst a brisk early morning breeze unfortunately dried the track surface of the water, which the RDA had been pouring on since Wednesday, some very professional track 'manicuring' by the RDA Grader and Water Truck drivers soon had a good 'bike track' surface and racing began around 5pm. By then the wind had died away, the ambient temperature was around 25 degrees C and a few clouds kept the sun at low risk to blinding the competitors. The atmosphere was casual, relaxed and comfortable, with RDA operated food and drink outlets providing first class home cooked hamburgers, steak burgers, chips, hot dogs and drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) at very reasonable prices. There was a good public attendance, comprising mostly of family groups, who set up their tables and chairs next to their cars, which formed a continuous 1 x kilometre circle around the outer perimeter of the track, whilst the young children played safely on the grassed areas and the well equipped playground well into the evening. As one would expect some early heats were a little 'lack lustre' ...as competitors suffered from lack of prior race experience at this venue... but as the night wore on the 'race pace' improved and by the time we reached the semi finals there was some really fast & furious battles for track supremacy. After the first round of Solo & Sidecar heats had been run there was an interval, during which a major track grade took place, whilst the sun slowly settled on the Western Horizon and race fans sated their appetites at the snack bar. Immediately following interval the 5 x times Australian National Sidecar Champion and 9 x times WA State Sidecar Champion.... Dennis Nash, with sidecar passenger Jeff Gittus in the chair, took to the track for a 3 x lap 'demonstration' ride to a tumultuous round of applause from a very dedicated and appreciative crowd of fans. Nash was well on the pace with the sound of the bike, at 12,000 rpm, singing like the multi championship thoroughbred it is, making 'music for the ears' of the converted as he rode the cushion, a quarter track high, in a perfect controlled power slide.... showing that the Nash/Gittus 'duo' had lost non of their 'magic' over the past decade. Back in the pits.... a few competitors were overheard to mutter... "I'm glad were not up against him tonight".... and I think that said it all !!! The semi finals, in both the Solo's and the Sidecars, were sensational with the top point scorers thru the heats riding that BIG (610 metre) Ellenbrook track just as if they had been doing it 'sideways in the dirt' at that track for years! The Solo Final... for the WA Solo Championship saw 5 riders face the starter, lined up across the track were...Frank Smart (a 3 times WA champion), Daniel Winchester (A young top performer on the night), Samsurry (Sootie) Pigram (who had made the trip all the way from Broome, not just for tonight, but also last Sunday fro practice... now THAT is commitment), Michael Stoneham (a 'leg trailer' who had made the trip from Melbourne) and Leigh Boujos ( A young 'Star' waiting in the wings his 'right' moment). They're 'off and racing' in the 2009 WA Solo Championship... with Frank Smart surging to the front thru turn 1..... closely followed by.... wait for it... young Leigh Boujos.... thru turn 2 and on to the back straight and Boujos takes the lead!....... Frank Smart fights back desperately trying to re-take the lead... leaving Winchester, Stoneham and Pigram fighting out for the minor placing's... Boujos rides the ride of his young life... tenaciously hanging onto that slim lead... with Frank Smart, snapping at his heels like a terrier dog!..... It is Leigh Boujos who is first to reach the chequered flag, with Frank Smart a close 2nd, Daniel Winchester 3rd, Sootie Pigram 4th, with Michael Stoneham a close 5th. The Sidecar Final... for the WA Sidecar Championship saw 7 x riders face the starter..... "WHAT."... I hear you say..."This must be insane... 7 x Sidecars, with 13 Brave Men and one Brave Woman .... Charging into turn one, on a loose dirt surface...with a WA State Championship on offer.... this must surely be 'madness' on a grand scale".... Well that was exactly my own thoughts and all I could imagine was a monumental pile-up in turn one... with 14 bodies & 7 machines flying in all directions... surely resulting in several broken bones... and perhaps even death.... This immediately brought back memories or Mike Raymond's radio ads for Liverpool Raceway, back in the 1970's... that went something like this... "Liverpool Raceway.. the place for pace... where they slip and slide... and dart and dive.. and every turn of the wheel brings a risk of death". Back to the Sidecar Final.... lined up across the track were the nights top point scorers: Russell Mitchell ( twice WA State and once National champion), John Lowe, Vince Giancelli, Ralph McQueen (A 'beagle boy' and veteran of the Sidecars, who had not raced for the past 15 years), Diesel Morgan, Darren Nash ( former WA Sidecar Champion and son of his 14 times Champion Father, Dennis) and Mike Sita.... These Guys-n -Gals really are the 'Gladiators of the Modern Era' a throw back from the days of Nero and the Roman Empire ! ! ! They're 'off and racing' in the 2009 WA Sidecar Championship: 14 Humans and 7 mechanical monsters... with NO BRAKES.... about to hurl themselves into a turn one mayhem..... But wait a minute... I can't believe this... they all head onto the back straight... right way up and intact..... I am impressed, no make that amazed... what talent, what skill.... and man do we have a REAL race on our plate!.... It's Russell Mitchell in the lead, closely followed by Darren Nash... whilst the other 5 push and shove their way around...fighting for 3rd spot.... Mitchell is first to reach the flag, with Nash 2nd and Vince Giancelli 3rd.... and to be bluntly honest I was so excited I can't tell you who was 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th... other than to tell you that they all made it to the chequered flag intact and upright.... Wow....What-A-Race... and all for $25 Admission or $55 for a family of 5.... That's Real Value for Money... in anyone's language! Enjoy the attached pics... courtesy of Peter Roebuck. (best you talk direct to Peter re any 'copyright' issues) Thank you all for reading this report... which I have enjoyed writing. Thanks to the RDA who made their venue available. Thanks to ALL the Competitors, for putting in such a huge effort and for giving it your all during the racing. It stands as a testament to your skills that 38 extremely brave Men and one similarly brave Woman could race wheel to wheel.... 'sideways in the dirt' .... for over 90 racing laps... and apart from one 'soft' upside-down sidecar and two solo bike-down incidents... there were no major crashes and no injuries at all...well done! Thank you to all the Officials who made the event run so well. Thank you to all who assisted to promote this event and spread the good word that the 'Bikes- N - Trikes' were coming back. And were they BACK.... YES SIR... they were 'Back with a Vengeance' and full of pent-up adrenalin and boy what a show they served up... well done Guys and Tina. If you missed the show... Please...DON'T ever let that happen again... visit www.eurogroup.com.au then 'click' onto 'Speedway Events' ... then scroll down and have a look at the Solo and Sidecar Calendar for 2009/10 and whilst your at it make a mental note to correct my error (on the calendar) for the next event Solo Psychosis will be run on 5th December 2009, at Pinjar (and not on 15th as my whoops in the calendar suggests)... So make a date now for DECEMBER 5th Pinjar Park Solo Psychosis.... and I look forward to seeing you all there. Regards Rod Slater
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