Tai's story...

Back in 2007 I spent half the speedway season as track photographer at our local track, Rye House. Among the riders who turned out for the Rockets that season was this chap...

...Young British rider Tai Woffinden.  He'd made his debut riding for Scunthorpe in the lowest division, at the time called the Conference League, the season before, and was still riding for them as well as in the Premier League for Rye House during the 2007 season. At just 16 he was already making a lot of people sit up and take notice - and his results showed why, as he was consistently winning races and beating riders with far more experience.

He regularly partnered Rockets rider Tommy Allen and the pair of them became a formidable partnership for the home side:

We saw that a lot!  Never shy of popping a good wheelie when he'd won a race either, our Tai. Even at that stage he had a keen understanding of "what worked" - and as he approached along the home straight on one wheel, he'd actively seek out the camera...

Even when turning out for Scunthorpe in the Conference League fixture against Rye Houses's "Raiders" he got a great reception from the home support. Always happy to sign autographs or have photos taken, awnd with a keen sense of fun, the fans had absolutely taken him to their hearts and the small matter of him riding for the opposition wasn't going to change that!

Towards the end of the season Rye staged the Conference league rider's championship, and Tai represented Scunthorpe. Nobody was greatly surprised when he went through the card, scoring a faultless 15 point maximum and emerging a well deserved winner.

Tai's career has continued on an upward trajectory since. This season he was granted a place in the sport's premier event, the Grand Prix series, and in spite of twice breaking his collarbone in the course of the season, last night he stood atop the podium and received a rather larger and more valuable trophy than that pictured above. Well done Tai - British speedway is VERY proud of you!

TAI WOFFINDEN - SPEEDWAY WORLD CHAMPION 2013! 

A plea to speedway fans everywhere...

Speedway fans have received a timely reminder in the last 24 hours of the sheer danger of the sport we love. Of course we all know, deep down, that it's got it's dangers - 500cc bikes, with no brakes and only one gear, add into the mix riders sometimes taking one risk too many, and every now and again things can - and do - go wrong. It's inevitable. It doesn't stop us having a go at an underperforming rider - and nor should it, sometimes that "hard time" can be what's required to make a rider change his mindset and prove the doubters wrong. It should also be remembered that these guys are being paid to take these risks, and know what they are getting into. Sometimes that "having a go at" turns into something nastier though - I've heard a fan in the past stating that she wished a particular rider would "break his neck" on the basis that he'd had a hard - she perceived dirty - race with a favourite rider of hers. Sadly she almost got her wish - that rider she was essentially wishing dead was Lee Richardson - I blogged about him last year, shortly after he lost his life following a high-speed crash in Poland. Be careful what you wish for, as the saying goes. She will have that one on her conscience for the rest of her days, I'm guessing. I wonder if she now wishes that she had set aside her grudge as fast as the favourite rider who was on the receiving end of the hard tactics from Rico almost certainly did.

Lee Richardson

Last night, at Scunthorpe, Berwick rider Ricky Ashworth was involved in a crash, a serious one. It lead to the abandonment of the meeting as both sets of paramedics in attendance at the track felt that his condition was serious enough that they should accompany him to hospital. This really doesn't happen all that often, and as a long term fan of the sport you know when you hear that sort of thing how serious the situation is likely to be. Within minutes there were comments all over Twitter using the hashtag "#PrayForRicky" - and within an hour or so a degree of speculation was creeping in too. Riders were tweeting too - although their comments were mostly on the lines of "hearing Ricky Ashworth's had a bad one, wishing him well" - carefully worded - if they were in that position they know what sort of thing they'd rather their friends and family read, I guess. By approximately 2 hours after Ashworth's crash, the usual "I'm hearing rumours that..." Type stuff had surfaced. Now it should be noted that there was no official statement until this morning, and that so far as I have seen, nothing was said by the family until his sister tweeted from Ashworth's own Twitter account - also this morning. Initially it sounds as though his sister was struggling to get information herself - she clearly wasn't at the track and it seems to be a distinct possibility that they may have initially heard about the crash and the aftermath via social media rather than via the correct channels.

Ricky Ashworth

We were victims of something similar ourselves a few years ago albeit in a far more minor level - a rider who we had known and been friendly with for several years had a serious crash abroad - the first we knew was when the news was "broken" on FaceBook - and what followed was a horrific few hours of trying to get information and find out just how bad it was. Just how unimaginably awful it must be if that person you're reading about is your son, brother, husband, can't even be comprehended.

Kim Jansson

Please speedway fans - remember. When it comes to an injured rider - if what you're about to tweet, FB or write on a forum starts with "I've heard a rumour that..." Then you REALLY shouldn't be posting it. Put yourself into the families shoes, and post a supportive message instead.

Robyn

Gone West...

We've just had the loveliest weekend! it all started on Friday, with my trip to the Clacton Airshow - no Ben along for this one as he sadly had to spend his Friday in a stuffy office. Glad I didn't as it was a lovely bright day, just perfect for watching the Red Arrows and others....

The "Reds" did a super display - one of the best I've seen in a long while in fact, with some old formations....

...And some new moves.

And finally a little fly-past over the display site trailing red, white and blue smoke.

A really great display - thoroughly enjoyed by all, I think!

The on Saturday, off we went to Cardiff for the British Speedway Grand Prix. Held annually at the Millennium Stadium, it's a fantastic occasion which is far more about the social aspects of meeting up with - and having fun with - friends who in a lot of cases, you only see once each year! A whole group of us were sitting together in the "cheap seats" this year - which massively added to the social aspect, and the view of the track (in fact, the entire stadium!) was superb! We had the very cheapest tickets available, and Ben & I spent the night in student accommodation which cost us just a fraction of the price of other people's plush hotels - as we were only using the room to sleep and shower, that was just fine!

As it was a Bank Holiday weekend we had decided to make the most of the extra day by staying across in wales - using a discount code to book a Budget hotel room for the Sunday night. camping would usually be our preferred option as you know, but with campsites in the area looking at being anything up to £25 per night, and the hotel available for £29 with the discount, we decided the extra few £'s were well spent to gain us the time usually spent pitching and breaking down the tent, and give us additional time to enjoy the area.

Sunday saw a trip to an area I spent a bit of time in some years ago - the Gower Peninsula. This is a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, the high spot of which is the stunning beach at Rhossili Bay - the equal of anything in the Hebrides if a little more populated!

A walk along the coast path to Worms Head - an island only accessible at low tide - which it wasn't...

Before we got as far as the Gower we made use of our National Trust membership again, stopping off at Aberdulais Tin works & Falls...

A fascinating place with a long industrial heritage - before it was a tin works it was a mill, and now, that waterwheel you see there? The largest in Europe producing electricity! It also has a rather fabulous little tea-shop in the old schoolroom so naturally we stopped for tea & cake - well if people are polite enough to provide such things it would be rude not to, eh?!

Those are welshcakes, in case you were wondering - priced at a very reasonable 50p each - full marks to that tea shop!

Bank Holiday Monday dawned a bit grey and dreary, making our decision not to use the tent all the more justified. Another sound reason for deciding against using it was that last time we camped, on taking it down we noticed that another of the fibreglass pole sections had split, and others were showing signs of going the same way. We have already replaced one section on this tent, but as it is now on its third season, having had heavy use, and is beginning to let in water in a few spots, we decided that the time had come to replace. A lot of research for a suitable replacement proved that the best for our needs was going to be the current one's "big brother" - the Vango Beta 450 - and the best place to get it was going to be Taunton Leisure down in Somerset, by coincidence not far from where we were going to be over the weekend! Credit where it is due - this was the first time we had bought a tent from a specialist provider, rather than from a big outdoor warehouse, and the difference was amazing. I enquired which footprint would suit the tent best, as Vango don't make one for that model specifically, and after some debating, the three chaps in the store agreed that we would be best simply "home-making" one from a tarpaulin. Just think of the number of places who would have just flogged us any old one for the sake of getting our money?! Impressive stuff, and their price was the best of the bunch, too - we'd happily shop there again.

Final stop of the weekend was Glastonbury - not the festival, but the Tor itself. Somewhere that had been on our "to go" list for long while, so it was fantastic to finally get there.

As is so often the case, the view was worth the climb as well....

...although we might have to return at some stage on a slightly clearer (and drier!) day!

Robyn

You can make it stop now!

It's been a bit wet. No, hang about, that's wrong, it's been VERY wet. It seemed over here in East Anglia that no sooner was a hosepipe ban announced earlier in the year, it rained without stopping for several months. Gloomy stuff, with only small consolation to be gained from splashing in puddles and that lovely fresh scent in the air immediately after a heavy downpour. All sorts of events have been affected - from local fetes, to large music festivals, and equestrian events (Several major three-day-events have been affected, and even more worryingly the Theydon Bois Donkey Derby has had to be postponed until September!). Few sports can have been affected more than speedway though - with the exception of televised meetings, which usually go ahead almost regardless of track conditions and rider safety, too much rain falling almost always means meetings getting abandoned, or postponed, and this year has been exceptional in this respect, with over 100 meetings having now been affected in this way so far this season in the UK. Ipswich alone have suffered  9 meetings being off this year - including a trip down to Plymouth when the entire team got all the way there before the decision to call off had to be made. Other sides have had even more, and it's already being discussed that there is likely to be a serious fixture backlog to deal with from now until the end of the season in October. By the way, for those who don't know, Speedway is not like football - if our boys don't ride, they don't get paid, so this is starting to cause some of them serious problems.

Meanwhile, up in the Hebrides, things are rather different - they are now suffering the effects of a drought, with the shock move being made to turn off the Ferry Terminal Water fountain! Unprecedented stuff indeed! Down here though, we've had enough now. Please make it stop!

Robyn

A trip north and a bridge with a difference...

A few days ago myself and friend H decided to take a trip to Middlesbrough to see our Ipswich Witches boys take on the Redcar Bears in a Premier League Speedway meeting. The Witches have not had the best of starts really, with the team failing to gel and meetings being lost as a result, so we felt some trepidation ahead of our 235 mile journey, although with a decent weather forecast for the other end, for a change rain was the least of our worries! We were bolstered too by two wins away from home for the team in the previous few days, giving us at least a little help!

We set off at 1pm, car loaded up with plenty of snacks, sweets and drinks to keep us going, and allowing plenty of time in case of delays. So much time, in fact, that by 5pm we'd found the track and were able to head off on my other mission of the day - to see the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge. I'd read plenty about this, but never actually seen it, so as I said to H when we decided on the trip - I'm not going that close to the thing and not going for a look!"

 Impressive, isn't it? A remarkably simple way of overcoming the challenge of needing to allow people and vehicles to cross the river, whilst still maintaining a channel for large vessels to pass beneath. The passengers are carried on a suspended platform - or gondola - with cables connecting it to the trolley that allows it to travel across the gantry at the top - you can just see the cables to the right of the picture below...

...and a better view still in this one...

I just loved its cheery blue and yellow colours too! Imagine having to travel on that as part of your daily commute?!  Pictures taken, we headed back in the direction of the track ready for the speedway - straight to the pits and a nice natter with Ipswich team manager Pete Simmons who determinedly stated that we were going for the win, which was good, because as we said, that was what we'd travelled for! A nice surprise when we discovered that the meeting referee was an old friend too, so more chat with him, before it was time for them to head off and do their relevant jobs, and for us to head for the terraces. A far more determined looking Ipswich side took to the track - we were pleased to see it, even though it did look for a while with the mist coming in off the river that we weren't going to get the meeting through to its end...

Dodgy quality picture from my phone...

Thankfully it never got any worse than that, and we were delighted to end up on the winning side - the 10 or so Witches fans who had made the journey were extremely satisfied with having done so! Well done boys! The night was wrapped up with a nice smooth trip home as well - just under 4 hours and we didn't stop from leaving the track to getting home! Great trip, good company, an item ticked off my "must see" list, and a witches win!

Robyn

Lee Richardson.

Lee Richardson - 1979 - 2012

Yesterday, British speedway rider Lee Richardson lost his life following a track crash in Poland. He was rushed to hospital, but his injuries were simply too severe, and tragically he lost his fight for life shortly after. He was 33 years old, and lost his life simply doing his job.

I have been following speedway for 25 years - in that time I have seen too many crashes to count. So many look horrific, but the riders get up, dust themselves down, and come out again in their next race. Every now and then you get one more serious - the awful injuries sustained by both Mark Loram & Chris Louis spring to mind. Both men have recovered, but neither have raced a bike again since, and there have been many others in recent times even worse - Garry Stead, Kim Jansson....

I have personally witnessed one crash where a rider sustained injuries severe enough that he lost his life some days later. It is something you simply never forget - even now, some 23 years later I can see every second of that incident. I wish I couldn't, in the same way that those present in Poland yesterday will be wishing they'd not seen Lee's crash. You simply have to learn to live with it - it's all you can do - it's that or walk away from the sport that mostly, we love so much. On days like today, it feels closer to hate.

The death of Lee has left the speedway world in mourning today. He leaves a wife and three children, and our hearts go out to them, and his other family and friends.

Robyn


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sideways.....

I finally got to my first speedway of the season last night. Due to a combination of the trackworks at Ipswich being delayed by the bad winter weather, and Easter falling slightly earlier this year, I missed our first three meetings. Usually I get one or two in before scarpering to the Hebrides - this year I had to be content with Press Day until we got back. Last night saw the Eastbourne Eagles visiting, and the night ended with a narrow win for the Witches. The new track is excellent - and from my point of viewstill a brilliant place for photos, although inevitably it will take a bit of time to get fully used to it.  All in all it was great to be back and see everyone again - lots of news (gossip!) to catch up on too!

Robyn

Speedway!

A quick shot from Press & Practise today....

Robyn

Welcome....

To the start of a new speedway season. We had our press and practise day at Ipswich today - for the first time this was not open to the general public due to Health & Safety restrictions relating to the stadium. As the main photographer for the official website though, thankfully I still got to attend - excellent for me as it means a sneaky-peek at the new riders, racesuits etc as well as the chance to get a bit of practise shooting action stuff before the season kicks off.

Our team has a fairly familiar look to it this year - with Piotr Swiderski, Tobi Kroner and Jarek Hampel all back from last year, plus the return of "old boys" Leigh Lanham, Carl Wilkinson and Danny King, the only true new faces are Pole Dawid Stachyra and Aussie Kozza Smith - both of whom can be seen kneeling at the front of the picture above.  Nice to see the return of a retro-look to the racesuits too, with the red/white/blue flash round the right knee and the stripes round the arms being a nod both to long term promoter John Louis and to the fact that 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of speedway returning to Ipswich. There is a good, positive feel to the team, with everyone speaking of aiming high and finishing higher up the table than last year's fourth place.

Now I've got the smell and sound of this wonderful sport again I'm looking forward to the season - bring it on!

Robyn

Witches flying high...

Well it seems that things are finally looking up for the Witches. Following the loss of Skipper Chris Louis - possibly for the remainder of the season - the boys have pulled together and turned in a string of excellent results at home, disposing of Eastbourne, Peterborough and most recently Wolves in fine style. The shot here shows young German Tobi Kroner team riding home to a maximum heat score with stand-in Captain Steve "Johnno" johnston on Thursday night. Tobi faces his first big test in his Witches career from our next meeting as due to some inbalances within the team regarding averages, he moves to a "heat leader" position within the side. Until now he has ridden as a "reserve" - giving him easier rides in most of his races, however, he's aquitted himself well and beaten many riders far more experienced than he is, so we don;t think he should have too many problems making the step-up. A lot of it is in the mental attitude, and young Tobi has his head firmly screwed on - I can't see him letting the pressure get to him too badly. Good luck Tobi!

Robyn

Time to experiment a little...

No action this week at Ipswich, but I thought I'd post up a speedway pic anyway, with some background explaining how a "regular" night at Ipswich goes for me. I leave work as early as I can get away with, but realistically about 5.15 - 5.20pm. Hot-foot it up the A12 to get to the track as early as possible, and generally arrive at Foxhall Heath, home of the Witches, at around 6.45pm. First stop is off to get myself a quick bite to eat, checking in with my contact on the supporters club committee on the way to find out a little bit of info about the nights meeting mascot - are they nervous, is it a special occasion like a birthday, that sort of thing. Then it's down to the pits to get my kit sorted out and get a feel for the way things are going to go that evening. At about 7.15pm Nicola joins me along with the mascot for the night (they are usually between about 5 and 14 years old) and we spend a few minutes getting the kiddie at their ease if nervous, or calmed down if overexcited, before one of us goes off to round up their favourite rider for the first photos. The lads are all very good about it - and there's always time for a few quick words with the child whose big night it is before they have to get back to business. The tension then starts to rise - final adjustments are made to both bikes and cameras, before the riders hit the track for the pre-meeting parade, and we head off to the centre green. The riders line up for introduction to the crowd but prior to that it's the all-important coin toss to decide starting positions for the meeting - the two team Captains link up with the mascot for another photo and it's time for me to get it right - not something that can be re-done this one, no pressure or anything! A bit of banter with our Captain - Chris Louis - when I let the opposing skipper know that there will be two photos taken "Yeah, the first one never comes out does it!" jeers Chris with a grin, always making the mascot laugh which makes for a nice shot! Then the Mascot tosses the coin before it's helmets on for the warm up. Nicola and mascot head away out through the pits and I grab my bag and leg it down the centre green to change lenses and settings and get ready for the start of racing. I have "starting point" settings for speedway which I default to although these tend to get "tweaked" as the night wears on. Heats 1 - 4 are the most important for me - to make sure I get at least one clear action shot of each of the witches riders as early in proceedings as possible takes concentration but is essential before they get dirty with shale. Once I know I've got those in the bag then it's time to relax a bit - up to the interval (usually heat ten or thereabouts) it's a case of watching for any "handbags" with elbows flying as the riders jostle for positions, hopefully no crashes but got to be ready just in case, and generally reinforcing the action stuff with different angles, shooting positions etc. The crowd on the terraces know when the interval is even before it's announced as those of us on the centre immediately start heading for the pits as the riders cross the line. Time to go and see Pat in the tea-room for a much welcomed cuppa and, if we're lucky, a ginger nut or two! I usually spend the heat after the interval in the pits - saves me having to gulp down my tea and it's nice to get a feel for how things are with the lads. If I'm lucky there is space at the pit gate - the Poles usually shuffle along to make room for me and I watch the race from there - Robert says something unrepeatable in Polish as one of our reserves takes a tumble on the third bend, as the red lights come on the team all pour out of the pits to see if he's OK.....
Back out on the centre for the final few heats and for me this is time to play about a bit - hence the posted picture. I like to try to get something a bit "different" - the shot above was with the flash turned off, and shot at 1/80th, f2.8. Heat 15, and either jubilation all round as the witches rack up some vital points, or crestfallen faces and a downbeat atmosphere if things haven't turned out so well. For me it's time to get packed up before heading up to the bar for a bit of a gossip and the "post mortem" on the meeting. Then it's home (about an hour and a quarter for me!) and time for bed - none too soon!

Robyn

A bit of news...

Well, I seem to have found myself as Rye House track photographer for the rest of the season! I went to watch them last Saturday and - whilst waiting for the racing to start, spotted an ad in the programme for a reliable photographer to cover their home meetings. I thought about it for a while - before heading off to find the person responsible and introduce myself. After a brief explanation of what I do at Ipswich and where else I've worked, I was duly dispatched onto the centre green to see what I could so. No pressure or anything! I'm relieved to say that over the course of the evening I produced some of the best speedway work I've turned out to date and passed my "audition" with flying colours. As a result of this I've had rather a busy week - starting last Saturday with Rye, then Peterborough -v- Ipswich on Monday , Ipswich -v- coventry on Thursday, Reading -v- Ipswich Friday and finally Rye -v- Sittingbourne last night. Thankfully it's world cup week now so a chance for a breather - well apart from Rye again on Friday that is! I'm really noticing a difference in my shots now - I thought after Rye and Peterborough it was as a result of them being nice easy places to shoot, but I'm seeing a real advance in my Ipswich stuff too - they've gained a certain sharpness, a crispness almost, that I've been looking for. I've also been sticking with my aim of making a point of asking for access at away tracks as I've been visiting them and I'm sure working in more varied places is helping my shots. (It's also reassuring to have now been told by several other speedway 'togs that Ipswich is indeed a devil of a place to shoot!)

What a night!

Well, Cardiff on Saturday night - what can I say! I am truly delighted to be able to post up the picture on the left - showing Brit Chris "Bomber" Harris getting drenched in champagne on top of the podium at the British Grand Prix.

The meeting itself was superb - there wasn't really a dull heat all night. We were thankful for the Millenium Stadium roof as it was bucketing down for much of the day and evening. Had the meeting been held in a traditional open air stadium there is no way it would have gone ahead but of course with the roof closed fully there was no problem!

Conditions for the camera were a bit tricky. With no natural light at all it was always going to require a high ISO. I'd already decided that shooting RAW was going to be the way to go, and from there I just set up manually at 1/160th and f5.6 - which was wide open with the 70-200mm & 2xTC. On dowloading and processing the pics yesterday evening I was pleased to find that I got it about right - a good number of sharp shots and very little underexposure. Must make a mental note for next year that I can get away with the ISO slightly lower to save on noise.

It was a miracle I got anything at the end - to say the atmosphere in the stadium was emotional would be an understatement!

Robyn