Gatwick Rocket

Yes! Later..

If there are spares of this programme going spare (so to speak) then I would like one for my programme collection please.

April 6 1985 Belle Vue 41 Coventry 37 Belle Vue : Andy Smith 4-12, Chris Morton 4-11, Kenny McKinna 4-7-2, Peter Collins 4-7, Martin Scarisbrick 3-4-1, Andy Campbell 4-0, Mark Crang 3-0 Coventry : Tommy Knudsen 4-9-1, Rick Miller 4-8, Kelvin Tatum 4-7, John Jorgensen 4-6-1, David Bargh 4-3-3, Steve Bastable 3-2, Frank Andersen 3-2-1 1: Knudsen, Morton, McKinna, Bastable, 69.1. 2: Jorgensen, Scarisbrick, Andersen, Crang, 72.0. 3: Collins, Miller, Bargh, Campbell, 71.8. 4: Smith, Tatum, Andersen, Crang, 69.5. 5: Knudsen, Collins, Bastable, Campbell, 70.1. 6: Morton, McKinna, Jorgensen, Tatum (ef), 72.9. 7: Smith, Miller, Bargh, Crang, 69.4. 8: McKinna, Scarisbrick, Bastable, Andersen, 71.3. 9: Tatum, Collins, Jorgensen, Campbell, 72.0. 10: Morton, Miller, McKinna, Bargh, 72.1. 11: Smith, Knudsen, Jorgensen, Scarisbrick, 70.5. 12: Morton, Tatum, Bargh, Campbell, 71.5. 13: Smith, Miller, Knudsen, Collins, 71.8. After this meeting Belle Vue beat Coventry 19-16 in the Junior League Cup May 18 1985 Belle Vue 42 Wolverhampton 36 Belle Vue : Peter Collins 4-12, Andy Campbell 5-12, Chris Morton 4-11-1, Carl Blackbird 4-4, Martin Scarisbrick 3-2, Kenny McKinna 3-1, Bernie Collier 3-0 Wolverhampton : Preben Eriksen 5-9, John Eskildsen 4-7-1, Bobby Schwartz 4-6-2, Steve Schofield 3-5-1, Stan Bear 4-4-1, Martin Goodwin (guest) 3-3-1, David Cheshire 3-2-1 1: Morton, Schwartz, Goodwin, McKinna, 68.8. 2: Campbell, Schofield, Cheshire, Collier, 70.0. 3: Collins, Eskildsen, Bear, Scarisbrick, 69.3. 4: Eriksen, Blackbird, Cheshire, Collier, 70.4. 5: Collins, Schwartz, Scarisbrick, Goodwin, 69.4. 6: Morton, Eriksen, Schofield, McKinna, 69.8. 7: Eskildsen, Blackbird, Bear, Collier, 69.4. 8: Campbell, Goodwin, McKinna, Cheshire, 71.8. 9: Collins, Schofield, Scarisbrick, Eriksen (ef), 71.4. 10: Campbell, Morton, Eskildsen, Bear, 70.7. 11: Campbell, Eriksen, Schwartz, Blackbird, 70.7. 12: Morton, Eriksen, Eskildsen, Campbell, 70.4. 13: Collins, Bear, Schwartz, Blackbird, 70.8. After this meeting Belle Vue beat Wolverhampton 19-17 in the Junior League Cup

30 June 1984 Belle Vue 49 Oxford 29 Belle Vue : Chris Morton 4-10-1, Mark Courtney 4-10, Peter Collins 4-9-3, Larry Ross 4-8, Kenny McKinna 4-8, Peter Carr 3-3-2, Barry Ayres 3-1 Oxford : Hans Nielsen 5-10, SImon Wigg 5-8, Melvyn Taylor 5-6-1, Nigel Sparshott 3-3-1, Jim McMillan (guest) 3-1-1, Ian Clark 3-1, Nigel De'Ath 2-0 1: Ross, Nielsen, McMillan, Ayres, 69.0. 2: McKinna, Carr, Sparshott, Clark, 70.1. 3: Collins, Wigg, Courtney, De'Ath, 69.6. 4: McKinna, Morton, Taylor, Sparshott, 69.8. 5: Courtney, Collins, Nielsen, McMillan, 69.9. 6: Taylor, Ross, Clark, Ayres, 70.7. 7: Morton, Wigg, McKinna, Taylor, 69.8. 8: Nielsen, Sparshott, Ayres, Carr (ef), 69.2. 9: Courtney, Collins, Taylor, Wigg, 70.0. 10: Ross, Wigg, McKinna, Clark, 70.2. 11: Nielsen, Morton, Carr, McMillan, 69.5. 12: Courtney, Wigg, Taylor, Ross (ef), 70.2. 13: Morton, Collins, Nielsen, De'Ath, 69.2. Before this meeting Shawn Moran beat Chris Morton 2-0 in the Golden Helmet. October 6 1984 Belle Vue 44 Coventry 34 Belle Vue : Chris Morton 4-12, Andy Smith 4-9, Peter Collins 4-7-2, Larry Ross 4-5, Peter Carr 3-5, Kenny McKinna 3-4-1, Mark Courtney 4-2 Coventry : Tommy Knudsen 5-11-1, Gary Guglielmi 4-6, Rick Miller 5-6, John Jorgensen 4-5-1, Steve Bastable 4-4-1, Sam Nikolajsen 2-2, Kevin Hawkins 2-0 1: Guglielmi, Courtney, Jorgensen, Ross, 69.1. 2: Carr, McKinna, Nikolajsen, Hawkins, 68.5. 3: Smith, Collins, Miller, Bastable, 68.2. 4: Morton, Knudsen, McKinna, Hawkins, 69.1. 5: Smith, Jorgensen, Collins, Guglielmi, 69.0. 6: Ross, Miller, Knudsen, Courtney, 69.0. 7: Morton, Miller, McKinna, Bastable, 69.6. 8: Knudsen, Jorgensen, Carr, Courtney (ef), 69.2. 9: Knudsen, Collins, Nikolajsen, Smith (ef), 69.5. 10: Bastable, Ross, Miller, Courtney (ef), 69.8. 11: Morton, Guglielmi, Carr, Jorgensen, 70.2. 12: Smith, Knudsen, Bastable, Ross (ef), 69.2. 13: Morton, Collins, Guglielmi, Miller (f,exc), 70.0. 13 October 1984 Belle Vue 57 Poole 21 Belle Vue : Andy Smith 4-12, Chris Morton 4-10-2, Peter Carr 3-9, Larry Ross 4-7-1, Mark Courtney 4-7-2, Kenny McKinna 3-7-2, Peter Collins 4-5-2 Poole : Neil Collins (guest) 5-7-1, Stan Bear 5-5-1, Finn Thomsen 4-4, Sam Ermolenko 5-3, Gerd Riss 3-1, Brian Jakobsen 2-1, Neil Middleditch 2-0 1: Courtney, Bear, N.Collins, Ross (ef), 69.6. 2: Carr, McKinna, Jakobsen, Riss, 70.0. 3: Smith, Ermolenko, P.Collins, Middleditch, 69.5. 4: McKinna, Morton, Riss, Thomsen, 69.8. 5: Smith, N.Collins, Bear, P.Collins, 69.1. 6: Thomsen, Ross, Courtney, Jakobsen, 69.5. 7: Morton, McKinna, Ermolenko, Middleditch, 70.4. 8: Carr, Courtney, Bear, Riss, 69.5. 9: Smith, P.Collins, Thomsen, Ermolenko, 69.9. 10: Ross, N.Collins, Courtney, Ermolenko, 69.2. 11: Carr, Morton, N.Collins, Bear, 70.2. 12: Smith, Ross, Bear, Thomsen, 69.2. 13: Morton, P.Collins, N.Collins, Ermolenko, 70.1. Note this was Andy Smith's first ever British League maximum.

7 September 1985 Belle Vue 41 Ipswich 37 Belle Vue : Peter Collins 4-9, Andy Smith 4-9, Carl Blackbird 5-9, Chris Morton 4-8-1, Kenny McKinna 3-4-3, Eddie Ingels 3-1-1, Andy Campbell 3-1 Ipswich : Jeremy Doncaster 5-10-1, Richard Knight 5-9-1, John Cook 4-8, Louis Carr 3-5, Nigel Flatman 3-3-1, Kai Niemi 3-2-1, Alan Farmer 3-0 1: Morton, McKinna, Doncaster, Carr (f,exc), 73.2. 2: Blackbird, Flatman, Campbell, Farmer, 72.3. 3: Knight, Smith, Niemi, Ingels, 70.4. 4: Collins, Cook, Flatman, Campbell, 69.9. 5: Smith, Carr, Doncaster, Ingels, 69.4. 6: Cook, Morton, McKinna, Farmer, 69.1. 7: Collins, Knight, Niemi, Campbell, 69.1. 8: Carr, Blackbird, McKinna, Flatman, 69.7. 9: Cook, Smith, Ingels, Farmer, 69.0. 10: Blackbird, Morton, Knight, Niemi, 70.1. 11: Collins, Doncaster, Blackbird, Cook, 69.6. 12: Doncaster, Knight, Morton, Blackbird, 69.8. 13: Doncaster, Smith, Knight, Collins (ef), 69.5. 21 September 1985 Belle Vue v Swindon was postponed due to rain. 13 October 1985 Belle Vue 50 Swindon 28 Belle Vue : Andy Smith 4-12, Peter Collins 4-11-1, Chris Morton 4-9, Carl Blackbird 4-7-1, Kenny McKinna 4-5-1, Andy Campbell 3-3, Eddie Ingels 3-3-1 Swindon : Per Sorensen 4-7-1, Ari Koponen 3-7, Neil Evitts (guest) 4-6-1, Jimmy Nilsen 4-3, Malcolm Simmons 4-3, Bo Petersen 4-2-2, Alun Rossiter 3-0 1: Morton, Simmons, McKinna, Nilsen, 71.5. 2: Campbell, Koponen, Ingels, Rossiter, 72.0. 3: Smith, Sorensen, Blackbird, Petersen, 70.4. 4: Collins, Koponen, Evitts, Campbell, 70.4. 5: Smith, Blackbird, Nilsen, Simmons, 70.5. 6: Morton, McKinna, Evitts, Rossiter, 70.9. 7: Collins, Sorensen, Petersen, Campbell, 71.0. 8: Koponen, McKinna, Nilsen, Ingels, 70.8. 9: Smith, Evitts, Blackbird, Rossiter, 70.7. 10: Morton, Sorensen, Petersen, McKinna, 71.3. 11: Collins, Ingels, Nilsen, Simmons, 71.8. 12: Blackbird, Evitts, Sorensen, Morton (f,exc), 71.0. 13: Smith, Collins, Simmons, Petersen (f), 71.6. Note Swindon also rode at Halifax later that same day with Peter Collins guesting for Swindon and Chris Morton guesting for Halifax.

Hi there, I have just finished collating results for the 1985 season and can dig these out for you in the coming days if nobody else beats me to it.

Glen Parrott

Limiting to just one is very tough. He is not my favourite speedway legend but for the amount of hype and excitement he created on and off the track I would bring back Kenny Carter to get today's speedway back up the popularity stakes.

Stan Pepper Pig John Homer Simpson

Kerry Gray

I think the top one is Tom Farndon

Ken Vale

There was a Swedish rider Thomas Ek

I really enjoyed my visits to Oxford in the early 1990s when I was living in High Wycombe. A really nice race track. I'm so glad the developers are losing their battle to build houses where Hans Nielsen, Simon Wigg and many others ruled the roost.

Dave,I would presume it is Robert Dole. Ray Dole who rode at Poole in 1985 was the son of Robert Dole as I recall.

Sadly it is true that being there first counts for nothing in UK law, and a number of defendants have felt unjustly treated as a result. I recall a petition to then prime minister Gordon Brown to have this aspect of the law reviewed but I don't think anything became of it. The test is one of whether the noise disturbance is reasonable and in many people's view the noise of motorbike racing is unreasonable. I'm not a legal expert but I would have thought one-off instances would result in a warning and persistent complaints would result in action. Years ago I recall a situation where someone regularly complained about the speedway noise from Barrow stadium on nights when there was no racing taking place! They were deliberately complaining even when there was nothing to complain about to try and get the speedway closed down. One lesson from this is that speedway promoters could usefully measure their own noise so they have a record to aid their defence if needed. It leaves me feeling that without support of the local authority (or the local people!) speedway tracks will ultimately disappear. I wonder what would happen if a case was brought against a major football club over the noise and traffic disturbance made on Saturday afternoons and midweek evenings. I'm not pretending the complainants might win but the reasons given by the judge for allowing the football to continue would be valuable precedents for action against speedway stadiums. Maybe cases like this exist already?

I remember back in the late 80s / early 90s at Rye House many occasions when riders couldn't see the red lights had come on because of the sun. For some reason I recall Colin Cook getting quite agitated by it whilst riding for Exeter, and rightly so given how dangerous it is racing full throttle with impaired vision. Don't recall them delaying racing though, so it must have been a case of get on with it.

It was Ronnie Russell. He threatened to withdraw Rye House from the league unless he got his way. Len Silver had handed over the promoting reins a few years earlier.

Could the original poster be thinking of another great Norwegian speedway rider, Rolf Gramstad, who broke his back in a track crash in the early 1980s?

I see. That would cause much more detriment to the neighbours.

The problem speedway has is that the test of nuisance is based on what the average person considers to be a nuisance. Sadly the noise a speedway meeting makes is considered by the average person to be a nuisance. Whereas other situations that create much more noise are deemed by the average person to be acceptable. Well attended football matches being an obvious example. Whilst the test is perceptions based rather than an objective measure of absolute noise levels speedway will have a problem as a minority sport. Given this test has been enshrined in law for a very long time, the option of lobbying to change the law seems extremely unlikely to succeed. Which means either overcomes people's perceptions of speedway being a nuisance or reduce noise levels even further such that it is impossible to argue speedway is noisy. There has been plenty of attempts to do the latter yet the popular perception that speedway is a nuisance continues to cause significant difficulties. Which leaves changing the average person's perception of speedway...

Thanks WembleyLion and cityrebel. I did contact him a number of times through his Facebook page but funnily enough he ignored me. And unfortunately I did not pay via PayPal although I am happy to receive the long overdue refund that way!

I think the Alan Mogridge story relates to a Rye House v Canterbury fixture where both sides used rider replacement for him or one side did and he rode for the other. Can't remember the year though to check it out. Henny Kroeze was the first to do the seven ride maximum, in 1976 and not long before the John Boulger instance mentioned earlier.

Well said Martin. I can't recall ever seeing the great man ride although it is quite possible I did when I was too young to remember. Would like to read other peoples' memories of this speedway legend on this thread though.

My first thought when I saw this thread was Mark Courtney in his final few years. Not for what he did in the race, but for what he did in the minute or two before the tapes went up.