Talking about Speedway

LEGENDS "JOHN BOULGER AND PHIL CRUMP" TO BE HONOURED AT THE IKON SUSPENSION INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY MASTERS

Speedway solo legends John Boulger and Phil Crump will be honoured at the upcoming Ikon Suspension International Speedway Masters at Gillman Speedway in glittering fashion.

Boulger and Crump, two of the nation’s most successful ever international riders, will be the subject of a touching video tribute on the 25 square metre big screen, as well as being paraded in front of the big crowd that is expected, on night two (December 28), of the , incorporating the Leigh Adams Medal.

Boulger, born in Adelaide, is a nine-time South Australian Champion, two-time Australian Champion, Australasian Champion and former Australian Longtrack Champion.

Boulger’s greatest success, came in 1976, when riding as team as captain, he spearheaded Australia to its historic first victory in the Speedway World Team Cup, conducted at London’s White City Stadium.
He combined with Phil Crump, Billy Sanders and Phil Herne, to claim the coveted gold medal for Australia, defeating Poland (silver) and Sweden (bronze).

John Boulger rode with distinction in the high-profile British League, between 1967 and 1979, representing clubs such as Long Eaton, Leicester and Cradley. He was also a two-time World Finalist and five-time British Finalist.

Meanwhile, Mildura born Phil Crump, is regarded as one of Australian speedway’s all-time greats. The now 72-year-old, is a thirteen-time Victorian Champion, four-time Australian Champion and former Australian Longtrack Champion.

Crump was the top point-scorer for Australia (11 points) when it annexed the 1976 World Team Cup, which was the same year he finished third (12 points) in the World Individual Final, in Katowice, Poland, behind Peter Collins and Malcolm Simmons, both from England.

Phil’s British league career spanned 1971 to 1990, representing numerous clubs, including Newport, Wolverhampton, Oxford, Hackney, King’s Lynn and Ipswich, to name just some.

“I’m sure there won’t be a dry eye in this house when John Boulger and Phil Crump are paraded at Gillman on night two of the ,” said organiser David Tapp.

“Both men are iconic in Australian and world speedway, achieving wonderful success, during what many people regard, as the sports’ golden era of the 70s and 80s.

“Phil and John, combined, are believed to have ridden in more than 100 Test Matches for Australia. We are producing a special video tribute honouring the pair, which will be shown on the venue big screen, and on the livestream coverage, before they enter the track and go on parade”.

Maddington Toyota
CanningVale Toyota
Assured Learning Australia

Michael Pickens will compete at the Perth Motorplex King of Wings 9th November in Sprintcars and again on 30th November where he will race speedcars and sprintcars.

More to come later.

Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series
CanningVale Toyota
Perth Motorplex
SAWA: Sprintcar Association Of Western Australia
W.A. Speedcar Drivers Association Inc - WASDA

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SAWA: Sprintcar Association Of Western Australia

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Tune into 91.3 Sport FM today at the new time of 1PM for a brand-new season of "Let's Talk Speedway" with Con Migro and Graeme Sinden.
There's plenty to talk about with the 2024/25 season about to kick off this Saturday night at the Perth Motorplex.

If you miss the 1pm time slot, the show will be repeated at 7.pm this evening.
Download the APP and listen in wherever you are at work or at play.
Don't miss it!
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Perth Motorplex
SAWA: Sprintcar Association Of Western Australia
W.A. Speedcar Drivers Association Inc - WASDA

Tune in tomorrow @ 2pm on SEN Spirit.

SPEEDCARS CONTINUE TO FEED THE PASSION FOR SPEEDWAY FANS.

If you’ve been a speedway fan for any length of time, particularly in Australia, you would remember watching Solos, Sidecars and Speedcars on the program on any given speedway track.

There was nothing else, although stock cars sometimes made an appearance for the last race of the evening.

Speedcars (midgets as they are known in America) were the first four-wheel category of speedway racing that we were all bought up with back then.

Of course, back then, cars were all hand built by would be racers, with no particular design or specification parameters.

No roll cages or safety features, and drivers had very poor open face crash helmets and used a dozen or so gas goggles one on top of the other during races. Safety belts were crude and at best were only lap belts for many years.

They were very dangerous cars to drive yet highly entertaining for four-wheel race fans to watch.

Despite a plethora of four-wheel speedway divisions these days, for many, speedcars still remain fan favorites across the speedway globe.

These days speedcars are purpose built with very rigid specifications and high safety standards, however they are still considered by many as the most ‘at risk’ race cars to drive.

They are thoroughbred race cars with no wings or things to assist with handling, you must develop exacting race craft and literally drive by the seat of your pants.

They have a relatively short wheelbase which makes them quite twitchy to drive and with modern engines producing around 375/400 hp they have a remarkable power to weight ratio.

While there is nothing like experience, astonishingly these days some of the best speedcar exponents in the USA, NZ and Australia are quiet young, given they often come from a solid background of Karting and or Formula 500 racing.
They appear to have no fear and are prepared to push the boundaries (beyond the limits sometimes)

Indeed, the runner up in the 2024 Australian Speedcar Championship at the Perth Motorplex in Western Australia, American female competitor Jade Avedisian, was just 17 years old at the time. While she was piloting an Australian Speedcar she is a contracted Toyota Development driver in the USA.

Top race cars can be quite expensive these days with purpose-built race engines costing anywhere between $50 to $75k AUD however they are strong and very competitive.

Depending on the team’s budget, components are readily available off the shelf and if a car is torn up during a race meeting it is possible to get them back on track quite quickly.

Quick change diff’s, front ends, steering boxes, torsion bars, wheels, and shock sets can all be bolted on to ‘off the shelf’ chassis.

As I said, Speedcars are still to this day exciting to watch. A competitive field of 20 or more cars idling around the track forming up for a feature race still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and the adrenaline surge through my body.

Graeme Sinden.
W.A. Speedcar Drivers Association Inc
Perth Motorplex
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CanningVale Toyota
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VICTORIAN, BRENTEN FARRER RETURNING FOR SPRINTCAR SERIES

The opportunity to race against some of the world’s best sprintcar drivers has lured Victorian, Brenten Farrer back to Perth for the WA Speedweek and High Limited Series this season.

Brenten raced in Perth last season with mixed success and claims he has some unfinished business here and is hoping for more luck in running during his WA campaign.

Brenten said, “I feel we didn’t show our true potential last season. While we ran competitively in most of our races, we weren’t able to make the podium for one reason or other”.

On one occasion during his last WA campaign, he crashed heavily into the wall in turn 4 after receiving a big hip and shoulder from another competitor at the Perth Motorplex and amazingly returned later in the program to start in the feature race.

Farrer will again be behind the wheel of the WA based Porkers Transport 27 sprintcar during his WA Speedweek and High Limit Series campaign.

Farrer has a pretty handy record in sprintcar racing in Victoria. He claimed back-to-back Victorian 360 titles in 2021 and 22, he won the big All Stars Series in 23 and finished 3rd to Jamie Veale and Brett Milburn in the 2024 Victorian 410 Championship.

Graeme Sinden.

Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series
CanningVale Toyota
SAWA: Sprintcar Association Of Western Australia
Perth Motorplex