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Monday, October 13, 2008

Bristol Speedway's first win in 30 years!


Left Picture: The victorious Bristol Speedway team at Swindon:
Standing: Semen Vlasov, Jordan Tyrer, Glen Cunningham (team manager), Linus Sundstrom. Kneeling: Mark Simmons, Mark Burrows

Right picture: Steve Comer with former Bristol Bulldogs riders, Phil Crump, Brian Woodward, and Bruce Cribb.

On Sunday I watched a team bearing the famous Bristol Bulldogs colours get a deserved victory in a four team tournament at Swindon Speedway. The result was Bristol 37 points, Leicester 27, Oxford 22, and Swindon 22. The meeting was held as part of the campaign to bring speedway back to both Bristol and Leicester.

Like thousands of others, I was at the last Speedway meeting at Eastville stadium nearly 30 years ago. At the time we all hoped our team would be back on track in a couple of years, but sadly it has been a long wait. Meanwhile the sport has changed, engines are now much quieter, and there is a Grand Prix series, which attracts large crowds, and big TV audiences. Yet the basics of Speedway are still teams of riders competing for six points in each heat.
The campaign to bring speedway back to Bristol is now gaining pace, there have been some positive discussions with officers at the City Council, and there seems to be all-party support for finding a site for the Bulldogs to use, probably in conjunction with other sports. A petition has been launched, which can be signed on the new Bristol Speedway website at: http://www.bristolbulldogs.co.nr.

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