NEWS 2014
                                                                                                                                                          ( 2013 News )

30.11.2014, Walkerville, Gauteng:
Bekker retains the Henry Long Trophy and adds the Buddy Fuller Silverware
   The line up for this month's Sunday meeting saw the return of some familiar faces to the Walkerville Oval plus a new start to speedway make a promising debut.
The first event of the day was the one-lap speed timed race against the clock, where former Scunthorpe and Dudley Heathens rider Byron Bekker came first in a time of 15.39 seconds, with Neil Pettit taking 2nd place with a time of 15.45 seconds. Both riders' times were faster than the previous year. Gio Nunes was unfortunate to injure his foot when he looped at the start of his timed heat and had to forego all his subsequent rides.
   Heats for the Buddy Fuller and Dudleigh Long trophies were next run, - no Sidecar races were staged - , new boy Mario v.d.Merve, riding the former Lyle Kotze machine off scratch took 2 heat wins and a second before the rain that cancelled the bike events at the previous day's Rustenburg Showground descended on Walkerville at around 3pm. The cancellation of the three Finals thus denied spectators of the head-to-head between back-markers (150m) Pettit & Bekker, but it was agreed with all parties that the trophy winners be decided by the riders' accumulated points over their heats. The Buddy Fuller Trophy therefore went to the unbeaten Byron Bekker, and the Dudleigh Long 'A' trophy to the returning Shawn Nell.  RESULTS

   The WSRC riders make a quick return to the Walkerville Oval, racing again next week, Sunday Dec. 7th. in the final round of the DOT Engineering-sponsored S.A. National Speedway Championship.
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NEXT WSRC MEETINGS: 
    Nov. 29th @ Rustenburg,              Nov. 30th @ Walkerville.
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    The next outings for racers of the Walkerville Speedway Riders Club will be at the Rustenburg Oval on SATURDAY November 29, when speedway and sidecar bikes form part of their massive 2-day 'Meltdown Weekend'.
Rustenburg Showgrounds, SATURDAY 29th:
McGregor and Oliver Thambo St.,  Rustenburg 0299.
Event Director: Wendy Kinnear,   wendy.kinnear33@gmail.com,  tel. 083 9606 148.
Saturday's programme:  (R70.00 per Adult, R40.00 per Child U.12.)
10:00 to 12;00 lap timing
10:00 to 16:00 Scrutineering
14:00 to 15:00 Speedway bikes Sidecars
15:00 to 15:30 Troue
15:30 to 16:30 Sidecars/Speedway bikes finals
16:30 to 17:00 Driver's Briefing
17:00 to 17:30 Grand Parade
17:30 Auto Races Commence, - 10 Classes.

Walkerville Showground, SUNDAY 30th:
      The next day at home track Walkerville Oval, a full bikes & quads programme for the  'Legends of the Past' meeting will be staged. This race meeting will incorporate the speedway fastest lap for the Henry Long Floating trophy. 
Spectators entry only R20 per adult, - U12's admitted free..
Don't miss it, -  Come along early and make a day of it !  Plenty of secure parking.
Restaurant & Pub on site, as well as take-away outlets for drinks & food, - Please note the premises are licensed. Walkerville Showgrounds,  GPS co-ordinates :   S26 24 17,   E27 57 48.

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Sat. 1.11.2014, Walkerville, Gauteng: Syndicate Sidewinder Bash
   Racing returned to the Walkerville Oval this weekend following track re-laying as part of the Syndicate MC's 10th. anniversary celebrations. The Showground venue hosted trade stands and a flea market, bars and a beer garden as well as multiple food outlets and a DJ in support of live bands, and the race meeting featured a full twenty heats of speedway, sidecars and VMX competitions.
   Lyle Kotze emerged eventual winner of the speedway class, having taken the chequered flag in each of his 4-lap qualifying heats, Neil Pettit's 4 individual lap wins of the main Final being insufficient for him to retrieve top spot. It was a bad day for current champ Gio Nunes who suffered engine failure in his first ride and had to withdraw from the meeting.
   In the sidecar heats Edwin & Estelle Butler returned to form to claim top money, despite being pushed back into third place by the Britzs, son Konrad following father Kallie over the line taking the 3-wheelers' final flag.  RESULTS

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16.9.2014:   The complete  'Henry Long Collection'
    The concluding chapters of  'The Henry Long Collection', covering the final riding years, 1957 to 1962, of South Africa's finest speedway star can now be read on this website page.
    In total the sixteen chapters, together with accompanying slideshows of photographs, give an insight not before seen of speedway racing in the Union, from its re-emergence in the immediate post-War days of 1946 on dirt tracks dug out by hand, through the glory days of the mid-'fifties when international  teams from Europe and its antipodes challenged the Springboks in Test Match series in the capitol Pretoria, in Cape Town, and at the famous Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg, climaxing in the great dispute between authorities for control of the sport at the end of that decade and which ultimately brought about the drastic decline of speedway in the new Republic. Press articles submitted by protagonists of both camps, - SCB/NSU and SRA/NDTA: Bunton and Fuller - , are featured.
   As well as photographs of almost all South Africa's dirt riders of the period, - portrait and/or in action - , and of league and Test Match team line-ups, in the Collection there are appendices covering league table results and scores, riders' rankings, and trophy and title winners, national and regional. A separate 'Speedway Panorama' adds magazine-type articles and interviews, both from the 'fifties and later, to conclude the exercise of archiving the extensive collection of press cuttings and photographs donated by Henry Long in his 87th year to Speedway-SA, for which grateful thanks are extended.
    During the course of this exercise the health of Henry has deteriorated and he has relocated from Cresta, Jo’burg, to the Western Cape to be near to family. As well as our thanks, we wish him well in his new surroundings.  CCJ
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    It was a close thing between the Hays Printing team of Pettit & deJager and the Quickloader pairing of Bekker & Damien Devine in the Boet Strydom Best Pairs meeting at Walkerville on Sunday. Going in to the final heat of the day, Bekker & Devine needed a 5-1 to take the spoils, and although the former Scunthorpe and Heathens rider held off a determined Pettit in a fast time bettered only in the opening race 33 heats earlier, and the latter's partner took a fall, a 4-2 for the Quickloader pair was not enough and Hays Printing were the winners with 23pts to Quickloaders' 22. Third was Old Ouens – Bobby Devine and Lyle Kotze; 4th place team Dot Engineering – Gio Nunes and Brandon Devine.  Individual top points scorer was Kyle Kotze with 11, and Bekker and Pettit on 10, each from 4 rides.
   In the Sidecar races for Boet's Golden Boot trophy, (postponed from the June meeting,) Gordon Butler led the field after 3 rides with 2 wins, brother Edwin's invincibility not being the same since blowing his motor two meetings ago. In their final heat younger brother Donovan smashed into the tyre-wall on lap 2, with jockey Kosie Harmse and himself taking a nasty looking spill which has written off their combination, though the pair were able to walk from the track with only scratches and bruises. The heat was declared void and the trophy thus awarded to Gordon Butler & Johan Herbst.
    There were no Quad races this month: in the VMX Gauteng series round 2, both classes were won by Paolo de Couto, with Bruno Kausch in 2nd place and 3rd place spot going to Trevor Genis. 
    Many thanks to the team sponsors, and to their riders for supplying the exciting racing. Thanks also go to the ongoing sponsors Dot Engineering, Slipstream Irrigation, Loud on Labour, Ansley Racing, Buff's Biltong, Mibern Medicall.      SPEEDWAY RESULTS     

24.8.2014   Site Update, SA Season 1956/57, plus Slideshow,
     The publication of further chapters of the 'Henry Long Collection' takes us up to 1956/57, the season of South African speedway's greatest dispute, fought out with threats of violence between the SRA under Buddy Fuller, - promoting with a squad enhanced by the addition of a team of British tourists lead by Alan Hunt - , and the SCB and the Trevor Redmond squad of visitors. The former staged Tests between South Africa and England, the latter a series titled 'Commonwealth v. Europe'. Two disparate leagues operated, with differing efficacy.
      The dispute came to a head at the RAC/ACU headquarters in London, and compounded by the fatal injury to the England, Birmingham and Durban skipper Hunt at Wembley (Jo'burg) in February, was responsible for the loss of speedway in England's second city and the down-turn of the sport in Africa.

Therefore the price of the Mitas tyres WILL REMAIN THE SAME AS LAST YEAR'S PRICE,
Rear  – WAS R750 each NOW R550;     Front – WAS R550 each NOW R350.

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4.7.2014  Rare photos of speedway in Northern Rhodesia including Buddy Fuller and Henry Long, have been added to the revised Chapter 8 of the Henry Long Collection, here 

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 NEWS 2014 .. cont'd, - Jan. to June

NEWS 2013

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