RISE OF A RACEWAY

Every race car needs a race track, and every race track needs a promoter. We talk to Pete Gould, the Swaffham Arena, about how the track is on the rise. Having previously been promoted by both Trackstar and Spedeworth, Pete and Racequip have decided to try and bring the track back to its former glory, one meeting at a time. Very well-known drivers have been returning to the track in recent months, and this doesn’t seem to be slowing down! Pete himself got involved with short ovals through his dad, who once run banger tracks at Gt Gidding and Kimbolton. Keeping an interest in the sport having moved away, Pete would often visit the old Aldershot Raceway, and when “the Racequip thing came about”, so did that into the world of racetracks. Pete heard through the grapevine that the previous “owners had wanted to get out of Swaffham, as it was becoming a “white elephant”. He goes onto say that “it seemed that every promotion that went in there could not really make it work”, people wanted it to return how they remembered it, so after a couple of phone calls Pete became the new promoter of Swaffham Arena.

Getting Old Skool! – Peter Barber Photography

Drivers and fans never see behind the scenes about what actually goes into the week before a meeting. Pete says that as soon as they finish the last race on Sunday, with thoughts of “well that was a good day, it’s have we earn't a few quid or damn how much have we lost today?” Pete then continues to sort everything for the next meeting, trophies, points and race results, staff, and the “never-ending Facebook messages and phone calls”, and then it appears that “Sunday has rolled around again”.

“Possibly the most important part of the job is facilities. The main problem we have within our sport that is lacking, as most of the stadiums that are used are reaching their sell-by date, and we need to make the experience of coming oval racing is something that the public will what to repeat”. Pete goes onto say that “Swaffham has a great owner, who is Greyhound crazy and has already laid a new greyhound track down, and there are plans to replace the grandstand very soon with a new bar and diner”. A lick of paint and a few hours can really help to brighten a place up.

671 Scoot Smith – Peter Barber Photography

Swaffham Arena has some excellent history to it, with every Banger fan knowing about the Earthshaker meetings along with the very successful All Cortina meetings of recent years, what are Swaffham’s future plan for the banger racing at the track? “The great meetings that Swaffham have had in their past are something to remember and that’s how it should be – the 1st Cortina meeting which was the brainchild of Shaun Mason everyone remembers how great it was, but trying to recoup that for a 2nd or 3rd don’t really work. As we found out ourselves, I am a great believer of if you do it once and it works don’t try and milk it for a 2nd and 3rd time”, says Pete.

The banger scene at Swaffham definitely is growing back, with Swaffham pushing “more and more Rookie and Back2Basics Banger meetings. Having a true banger man of Terry Garrod pushing these meeting really helps and it's really pleasing to see the results”, and with Swaffham recently joined the ORCi that will definitely help out too. “There was many pros and cons for Swaffham to join the ORCi, which took a long time to weigh up, but I am glad we did. It has now given us some formality and to be a part of a family that share the same interest, which I know sometimes not all oval fans agree with and I can now see both sides”.

Smiles all round! – Peter Barber Photography

Pete continues with “being the new kid in the ORCi there is a steep learning curve but the help and advice I have had from other promoters such as Paul Bulter Rob at Skegness and even Deane I must thank you to, hopefully now that we are in the ORCi, Swaffham will see the return of F1 /F2 and Saloon Stockcars at some point in the next year”. With the sadly recent departure of Arena Essex, Swaffham has brought out the company PROMOTASPORT (PRI), so some of the great formulas that raced at Arena will hopefully be returning soon.

“It seems that the “White elephant “ is slowly going , but it’s really down to a great team I have working with me (Craig / Jon /Jason / Terry /Denise and Debs ) and also looking after the drivers and the visiting public , if we can keep them happy they will be back and that’s means more to me than anything” says Pete, and as we’ve seen from loads of drivers, it’s all about the relationship between track and driver. If drivers come to race, fans and paying spectators will soon follow.

We were pleased to see the BriSCA F2s and Heritage F2s return to the raceway, how was the meeting for you as a promoter? “It’s great to see both formulas at Swaffham after so many years and a great bunch of drivers. Rob Speak did a great job in sorting the meeting out but we had lower numbers than I thought. This was only due to various other F2 meetings being held elsewhere on the same day, so more planning for the next one is needed, but it was enjoyable to watch”.

560 Luke Wrench – Peter Barber Photography

We wish Swaffham Arena the best of luck for the future, and are very pleased to see that it’s on the rise again!

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