Not enough to race

THE Collie Speedway cancelled its first meeting in 51 years at the weekend, due to low competitor numbers.

Collie Racing Drivers' Association president, Tony Briggs, said the association had cancelled meetings in the past due to COVID-19, but he believed it was the first time in the club’s 51year history that a meeting was cancelled due to lack of competitors.

He said the club needed at least 40 competitors to make the meeting worthwhile, however there were only 32 nominations.

“It costs the association between four and five thousand dollars to run a meet, so it was cheaper to cancel it,” he said.

“It became too difficult for us to provide the entertainment level that we wanted.”

Mr Briggs said he believed the low numbers were caused by high fuel prices, and conflicting meetings.

“Bunbury also had to do the same thing this season,” he said.

“They cancelled for the same reason.

“It is largely to do with fuel prices. We rely on the competition travelling to Collie, and we have a number of local competitors that are out of action due to engine problems.

“We rely on out-of-towners. We might get one or two from Perthwhereas it used to be 10 or 15.”

Mr Briggs said Western Australia has more than 40 speedways, which causes meeting dates to clash.

“Albany raced on Saturday night and had two divisions that we would normally have - the sprintcars and legend cars,” he said.

“Then, coupled with Bunbury hosting the National Championships in two weeks’ time, a lot of competitors weren’t prepared to put their cars to the test on our track.”

Despite the reduction in numbers, Mr Briggs remains optimistic that the last two meetings of the season will be well-attended.

“This year we have noticed a decline in competition, but spectator numbers have been steady,” he said.

“We have a good spectator base.”

On March 10, the association is expecting more than 50 competitors for “The Coalminer 51” street stock event.

The competitors will be competing under a different set of rules and formatting. The association’s final meeting for the season will be on March 18.

CANCELLED: Low competitor numbers at Collie Speedway caused organisers to cancel its first event in 51 years at the weekend. Collie Racing Drivers' Association president Tony Briggs said it was cheaper to cancel the event than run it with low numbers.