Best Weekend of the Year

For any fan of Speedway the British Grand Prix at Cardiff is the best weekend of the year because all of the best riders in the world gather to compete for the Grand Prix prize. There are usually two meetings in a Scandinavian country and two meetings in Poland but there is only ever one meeting in Britain and that is at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

This year a young Brit from Cornwall by the name of Chris Harris is competing in the Grand Prix for the first time and he has provided an exciting display of racing coming from behind in several races but he saved the best for last. Having reached the final of the competition he gated last and that is often enough to guarantee defeat, but he fought back and in one corner passed two of the other riders then set about chasing the leader. He got closer and closer corner by corner but saved the final pass until 10 yards before the line. It does not get any better than that.

So Saturday proved to have a perfect climax but the weekend started well on Friday night when the best pairings from the Premier League gathered in Somerset at the Oak Tree Arena to compete for the national championships. Some of the favourites were beaten back early on and this left others with a chance of victory. Overtaking moves came at crucial points in the meeting but the final proved to be a very exciting one as for two laps Glasgow held the lead by taking first and third places, then on the third lap the Isle of Wight leading rider Chris Holder overtook Shane Parker, the leading Glasgow rider, and shortly afterwards Jason Bunyan, the Isle of Wight number two passed Craig Watson, the Glasgow second. I was delighted to watch this turnaround in fortunes. A great evening.

Now, on Sunday morning, I have a chance to rest and bring you all up to date with my recent adventures. It has been the best weekend of the year so far.