ARENAS ARENAS
On a
fast track
For the second year running, Etihad Stadium hosted the final round of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship in midOctober. ATM editor Brett Robinson caught up with head of arena management Gavin Darby to look at one of the more unique events the multi-purpose venues hosts.
The 2016 Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix was held at Etihad Stadium in mid-October. The event saw 15 of the world’s best bike riders, plus a local wild card, contest the final round of the Speedway GP World Championship
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ew soccer fans will forget Tim Cahill’s debut for Melbourne City at Etihad Stadium back in October. In typical fashion, the Socceroos’ most prolific goal scorer announced himself to the A-League with a 35-metre half-volley screamer as City went on to trounce cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory 4-1. Watching the game live on TV from the comfort of his living room that evening was Etihad’s head of arena management Gavin Darby. It was yet another memorable sporting moment he has been fortunate to witness during his 12 years in charge, but on that particular evening his thoughts were far away, contemplating one of the more unique builds he and his crew would be orchestrating in just a few hours’ time. In 2015, Etihad Stadium entered into a five-year agreement with BSI Speedway to host the final round of the FIM (International Motorcycling Federation) Speedway Grand Prix World Championship. In doing so it would involve constructing and then
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.6
deconstructing the largest temporary speedway track in the world all within a 10-day period. When the deal to have an Australian Grand Prix added to the circuit was inked, it was greeted with much celebration by Australia’s small but fanatical speedway community. Australia has a proud history in the sport on the international stage and you can go all the way back to September 1936 when Queenslander Lionel van Praag won the very first speedway world title in London. That same year, a New South Welshman by the name of ‘Bluey’ Wilkinson would finish third and two years later he too would go on to be crowned world champion. South Australian Jack Young won backto-back titles in 1951 and 1952, but it wasn’t until 2001 that the Australians again started to dominate the world stage. That would come courtesy of the now legendary Jason Crump who was simply peerless in the first decade of the 2000s. He collected three world titles (2004, 2006 and 2009), finished runner-up on five