TRACK RECORDS

A simple 'What Am I?' question would be "If you Break me I am better, immediately set and harder to break again?" 
It could also be, what has Ken Middleditch done at Poole six times that his son Neil has never achieved? Or "What has Antonio Lindback managed that no other rider has subsequently attained?" 

Of course the answer is establish (or equal) the club's track record. 

From Paddy Hammond's 83.40 seconds time on April 26th 1948 when the doors of Poole Speedway were first opened to Lindback's incredible time of 56.91 to establish the current track record there have been 111 occurrences of a track record being achieved, or the existing time equalled. 

Six-timer Middleditch senior, who incidentally rode his first Poole meeting 70 years ago to this day (26th April 1950) goes into the record books as being the most frequent achiever, his first entry occurring on May 29th 1950 when, with a time of 74.80 seconds, he equalled Tom Oakley's time that had been set a week earlier. He shaved 1.20 seconds off that time on June 5th of that season, to give a time of 73.60 seconds which technically was to stand for 351 days - although Terry Small matched it on May 14th 1951 - when Middleditch twice went faster on May 21st 1951 with times of 73.40 initially and then 72.80. Bill Holden matched that time on July 25th before, on the same night, Brian Crutcher became the proud holder of the track record beating Ken and Bill's time by 0.20 of a second.

Ken momentarily was able to claim track holder status with Crutcher when on August 6th 1951 he matched that 72.60 time of 'Nipper'. However on that same evening Terry Small and Crutcher both made it a round 72.0 seconds before the latter re-established the right to be the sole holder of the track record when he reduced it to 71.80.

Middleditch wasn't slow in going faster, snipping a further 0.2 second from Crutcher on August 13th but he wasn't to end that meeting as Olle Nygren won two later heats in 70.0 seconds. Ken was never able to better that.

Over the seasons there have been a number of track modifications and therefore new track records find their way instantly into the record books. Prior to the sixties the fastest time recorded was Ove Fundin's performance of 9th June 1958 when he became the first sub-seventy second rider around Wimborne Road and he did it twice that night! Firstly taking the record to 69.40 then trimming it further by 0.40 of a second. That time of 69 seconds exactly remains the fastest on the 384 metre circuit.

Leigh Adams has the honour of being the fastest rider when the track measured 347.5 metres, achieving that on 18th April 1989 although initially it was not recognised by referee Mick Barnes as the race started on the green light, due to a tapes malfunction. However, upon appeal by the Poole promoters - Mervyn Stewkesbury and Pete Ansell - Barnes' decision was overturned and the record stood.
 When a new track was laid rapidly by Mervyn Stewkesbury during the 1990 campaign, that measured officially  371 metres, Gary Allen achieved a 66.70 seconds time, subsequently bettered by both Tom Knudsen (65.90) and Alun Rossiter (65.60) on 'opening' night. By the end of that memorable 1990 Double Winning season for the Pirates the track record had been reduced to 64.40 seconds by Chris Louis on August 7th 1990. Amazingly, some 336 days later, Louis matched that time on July 9th 1991! 

After Marvyn Cox had entered the record books on August 6th (64.3), 'Sudden' Sam Ermolenko was to hold the honour of being the track record holder at the end of that season registering a time of 63.90 seconds on October 1st. That was to stand for a period of 659 days and the appearance of Mark Loram blitzing round in 63.80 seconds on July 21st 1993, only for that time to stand as the fastest for a mere seven days when Hans Nielsen bettered it by a full HALF a second (63.30). 

In 1994, there was further track work carried out and official measurement was declared at 362 metres. Loram regained the status of track record holder on June 1st when he set a time of 65.40 that was not beaten at all for the remainder of that season. In fact, he may have remained the fastest rider around the 362 circuit had it not been for Lars Gunnestad on 14th April 1995 who recorded winning times of 64.30 and 64.20, then 103 days going even better with a time of 64.04.

Over that winter the track was modified further but Lars was quick to establish the first fastest time of the new 299.1 metre circuit when on April 5th 1996 he achieved victory in 60.02 seconds and that was to remain until Leigh Adams became the first ever sub sixty second rider recording an astonishing 58.50 seconds time on  15th March 1997. That stood for a staggering 459 days when Stefan Danno attained a slightly quicker time of 58.47 seconds on June 17th 1998. The Swede's record was to stand even longer than Adams' as it wasn't until  Tony Rickardsson on May 29th 2002 reduced it to 57.32. Subsequently new records followed with  Leigh Adams 15th September 2003 (57.13), Ryan Sullivan 16th June 2004 (57.06) and the present day track record holder Antonio Lindback, who, over 5000 days ago put his name into Pirates' folklore with an incredibly fast sub-fifty seven seconds time  of 56.91.

It was always on cards for the Rio Rocket, even from his very first Wimborne Road meeting, when on July 30th 1993he completed each of the first laps of his seven rides in UNDER sixteen seconds and his subsequent three laps in each of those had sub fifteen seconds time. At the time, the club's former SCB Timekeeper and Incident Recorder Tony Fail observed "they were times that not even the brilliant Tony Rickardsson could accomplish on his debut!

That time looks a tough one to better, as even Danny King admitted when the 2020 club captain was asked the question during his recent on-line interview with Pirates Media. King claimed "whilst I am always up for claiming a track record we have to be realistic you know, it's unlikely to happen. When records go there is usually grip on the track and modern day speedway tracks don't normally have grip, mainly because the way engines are these days."

Time, excuse the pun, will soon tell……