DIRT DIGGERS 3
OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS DIRT DIGGERS, HELD AT THE EDDIE WRIGHT SPEEDWAY STADIUM IN SCUNTHORPE, HAS BECOME THE NUMBER ONE, ALL-COMERS-WELCOME BIKE RACE IN THE UK.
After all, where else can you witness
Elvis riding a Honda XR600, or Yamaha YZ490-powered chopper running six-foot extended forks?
Now in its third year, Dirt Diggers, the brainchild of the legendary Odgie and Richard Hollingsworth, is more popular than ever with over 150 riders entered on a wide range of weird and wonderful machines.
The original date in June had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic, and Odgie and Richard, and all
their helpers, did an amazing job getting it back on later in the year, following all the social distancing rules we have all become accustomed to.
For those of you unfamiliar with Dirt Diggers, it’s basically a flat-track race event but, rather than being limited to proper competition bikes, you can race on just about anything as long as it has two wheels! The classes include MX/ dirt bikes, vintage, choppers, scooters and, for anything that you can’t pigeonhole, there’s the Inappropriate Road Bike class which, this year, included a GN450, a C90, and a CG125 amongst its ranks.
This year the fun and games off the track had to be curtailed due to the coronavirus, but this didn’t dampen the spirits on track and, with the sun out all day, the action was hot, hot, hot.
The races’re held on a fullsize speedway track with up to fifteen riders competing over four-six laps, and this makes it the ideal event to have a go at
racing without the hassle and financial outlay of buying a competition bike. There’re even ladies and juniors classes so it really is racing for all.
All classes were hotly contested, with plenty of overtaking, and the odd spill, but thankfully no serious injuries – just some bruised egos! The format allowed for a practice, three heats, and then a final to decide the winner so everyone got a decent amount of track time, mainly down to the great organisational skills of Odgie and Richard, and for those wanting more than a one-off race, Scunthorpe, along with a number of other tracks, are now offering regular race and practice meetings that you can enter on your everyday road bike, or whatever you have available.
Once again Dirt Diggers was a huge success, despite the unusual circumstances. Possibly the most memorable race was organised by scooter rider Scott Thompson, and held during the break before the finals were run – a mini-moto race with the only requirement being pull-start engines used. All manner of mini-motos were entered, including Scott himself on a modified kiddies’ go-kart fitted with multi-coloured flares for a Red Arrows-esque display!
Once again congratulations to all those involved in staging the event, and roll on Dirt Diggers 4 when, hopefully, things will be back to normal!
Dirt Diggers #4 will be held on Saturday 26th June – go to the Dirt Diggers Facebook page for more info’ or entries.