Post by coombes on Oct 18, 2010 14:37:01 GMT 1
With track alterations being very much a hot topic just now, it seems an appropriate time to look at changes made to tracks of yester year.
The most successful change was at Shawfield prior to the 1993 season when the entrance to the bends were widened. Before that riders just about queued up to get a blast around the outside. It certainly improved the racing..and our results as we won the league and cup that year..and the next one two!!
Blantyre1 opened in mid season in 1977 and was very much a rushed job. The first and second bends were pretty tight and junior Mick McCoy in particular had some highly interesting adventures there!! During the close season they were widened by quite a bit, but sadly Mick had returned home before he got to try out the new shape!!
Perhaps the most unusual change was at Coatbridge in 1973.
In the Monarchs era (1968-9) the track record was something like 64.2 but in our first season there it was obvious that no one was going to get anywhere near it. Then one week in May, the program listed the track length as now being 407 yards - having previously been 380 - and that a new track record would be established. Don't seem to remember the track being any different however!! 27 yards, the length we went to to ensure Reidar Eide's name was no longer against the track record!!
Looking back, it seems a pity that the Shawfield style alterations were never made at the White City as the first and second bends always seemed pretty shallow.
Guess history proves that the more things change, the more they stay the same.... and that this applies to speedway tracks too
The most successful change was at Shawfield prior to the 1993 season when the entrance to the bends were widened. Before that riders just about queued up to get a blast around the outside. It certainly improved the racing..and our results as we won the league and cup that year..and the next one two!!
Blantyre1 opened in mid season in 1977 and was very much a rushed job. The first and second bends were pretty tight and junior Mick McCoy in particular had some highly interesting adventures there!! During the close season they were widened by quite a bit, but sadly Mick had returned home before he got to try out the new shape!!
Perhaps the most unusual change was at Coatbridge in 1973.
In the Monarchs era (1968-9) the track record was something like 64.2 but in our first season there it was obvious that no one was going to get anywhere near it. Then one week in May, the program listed the track length as now being 407 yards - having previously been 380 - and that a new track record would be established. Don't seem to remember the track being any different however!! 27 yards, the length we went to to ensure Reidar Eide's name was no longer against the track record!!
Looking back, it seems a pity that the Shawfield style alterations were never made at the White City as the first and second bends always seemed pretty shallow.
Guess history proves that the more things change, the more they stay the same.... and that this applies to speedway tracks too