SPEEDWAY AKL FAN

Life-long motor cycle (solo) speedway supporter.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 Our club lost Jake Turner to Gillman in Adelaide several years ago & a few of NZ's younger, up & coming riders have been racing in Australia recently. Ben Whalley, our new NZ champion is one of them...(I recall Ivan Mauger improved a lot by racing in Oz early in his career).

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

At Rosebank Speedway yesterday, the North Island Speedway Solo Championship was won by...a South Islander: George Congreve (2NZ) of Christchurch. Kauri Chapman & Ryan Terry-Daley (both from Auckland) were 2nd & 3rd respectively; Caleb Chappell of Christchurch was 4th.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 ...to be fair to BWD, I think he's based in the UK now, but in the past when based there, he spent summers in NZ competing in various events, including the North Island title (which he has won before).

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Caleb Chappell (Christchurch) won the New Zealand U21 #Speedway Solo Championship at Auckland's Rosebank Speedway last Sunday, beating Daniel Brett (Auckland) & Finn Reed & Hayden Brookland (both Invercargill) in the Final. Reed (leading in this photo) fell in the 2nd lap.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Ben Whalley (pictured here in Feb.2021) won his 2nd New Zealand Solo Speedway title last night, at Moore Park, ahead of George Congreve, Hayden Brookland & Ryan Terry-Daley. His recent Australian racing experience has clearly improved him. Wilson-Dean didn't defend his title.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@SpeedwayGP @FIM_live What happened to expanding the #SGP to become a global event? Isn't Zmarzlik fortunate that the only rider to beat him in the SGP in the last six years was banned by the FIM because of his home country's politics? Mauger actually had to beat all comers to win his 6 titles.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 Yes, but that sort of recognition has always been hard to come by in New Zealand. Ivan Mauger went one better than Barry, earning an OBE under our old honours system - but never a knighthood, despite 6 world individual titles and twice being awarded NZ Sportsman of the Year.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Bradley Wilson-Dean is New Zealand's speedway champion for the fifth time. George Congreve was 2nd; Ben Whalley 3rd; & Hayden Brookland 4th.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Tapes up in the 2024 New Zealand Speedway Solos Champs at Oreti Park Speedway, Invercargill. From the inside: George Congreve; Ryan Terry-Daley; Lucas Colvin; & Ben Whalley.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Bradley Wilson Dean back in action at the New Zealand Solo Speedway Championship - after an absence of a few years.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@HobsonDhobson22 Hard to believe that New Zealand hasn't had a world champion for 44 years, but still ranks 3rd on the winners' table!

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@ilovenostalgia Jandals in New Zealand.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 That's a long-standing tradition, with the likes of Wilson-Dean, Congreve & Turner currently displaying NZ paraphernalia on their bikes and/or race suits - as did Briggo back in the day (I recall Ivan's bikes were usually too covered top to bottom with sponsors' logos 😉).

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 @DebPritchardGC Purely academic, but I always wondered if the kiwis might have won more if the likes of Mauger, Briggs and Moore had ridden for an actual NZ team rather than GB up until the early '70s?

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@bryanhumphreys1 @SoloFan_NZ @HullVikings @UprightSpeedway @Stephen78857051 @ChrisMo05483074 Didn't say it was...?

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Also seen at Invercargill's "Classic Motorcyle Meca" is this 1973-4 Jawa, once ridden by Briggo. Happy New Year from NZ where it is now 2023!

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 Although he struggled at Newcastle, George has improved a lot since he left here earlier this year (he was 3rd in the NZ Champs last time). Our former home town boy Jake Turner would also be a contender if he wanted to be...he's also improved since relocating to Oz.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Yesterday's New Zealand #Speedway Solo Championship at Oreti Park, Invercargill, was won by George Congreve, who beat defending champ, Ben Whalley in the final (both from Christchurch). 3rd & 4th places went to the 16 year-old Invercargill riders Finn Reed & Hayden Brookland.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

@Stephen78857051 Although the winning standard could be approximated to the level of the UK's NDL (3rd tier), we haven't seen such promising talent from guys in their 1st year of riding 500cc bikes in NZ for a long time. There were a number of other promising teenagers as well.

[SPEEDWAY AKL FAN @SpeedwayFan_NZ]

Yesterday's NZ Speedway Solo Championship was the first one held for 2 years - due to Covid-19 (the 1st interruption since 1957). In a changing of the guard, there were 3 teenagers in the A Final, whilst 3x former runner up, Andy Aldridge, didn't progress to the A Final.