martinmauger

That was one heck of a nite: 15 coaches from Hull, Viking flags on sale in stadium car park (I still have mine), terraces packed all the way round - but wrong result. Yes, I know Hull really lost the league earlier in the season with rider no-shows at Swindon and (in)famously at Wimbledon where the 5 remaining Vikings battled only to lose by 6 or 7 points. Shared champagne with Bees fans afterwards so it wasn't all bad. I recall Coventry got pretty reasonable crowds in the late 1970's / early 1980's and you had to find a good spot to watch from. My last attendance at Brandon back in 2003, v Hull again in the British League Cup (or Bacon and Lettuce Cup), was revealing on a couple of levels. Admittedly we arrived an hour or so before the start but my companions for the nite thought the speedway must be off already as they had recently visited Coventry on a stock car nite and the car park would apparently already be packed at that time. I reckoned it was because it was a pretty much a non-event meet. The Vikings never got near Coventry on that nite and were already heading for the Premier League wooden spoon though we won the treble in 2004. Chatting with some Bees fans we sarcastically remarked that "as Hull are going so well (not) we had obviously (not) pulled in a big crowd, LOL!". The Bees fans were a bit dumbfounded and replied "but we only get this many here every week". I was genuinely shocked as the crowd was maybe 1/3 of the numbers I recalled at Brandon. Sadly, it's probably the same everywhere these days.....

And from a racing point of view, interesting to see that Egon was still able to pull the same move he made on Mitch Shirra in the 1983 World Final by j-u-s-t keeping both wheels on the track . Can't find the clip on Youtube but it was in Muller's 3rd or 4th ride. From a purist's point of view, I hope electric speedway bikes don't catch on universally but a fascinting development all the same....

Thanks, you just saved me a lot typing. F2 Speedway is a good idea, other motorsports have categories according to cost, ability, etc. Nutshell. as above but also: F3 Speedway : Amateurs / NL, power restrictions / standard engines & parts, no tuning. F2 Speedway : PL, as above but more power / slight tuning permitted. F1 Speedway: EL + GPs + SWC, pretty much anything goes - within the current regulations. It isn't for me to say how such regulations would be policed but other motorsports manage to do it....

Have sent you a pm, Odsal Boy....

Good write up from Mr C. Said it before but Richard & Anne Holly work like trojans at these meets. They are not exactly lazy with the Stags, Saints and Scorps either but I suspect the Scunny amateur scene is their slight favouite....

I've had my copy a week or so but haven't got around to reading much yet but I'm very much looking forward to getting into the interviews. I think Backtrack is great...

Contact Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs....

I can comfirm that the Boulevard was demolished either late last year or earlier this year....

The Vikings came oh-so-heartbreakingly-and-tantilisingly-close to 'doing a Lecester' a few years ago, prevented only be a very last minute hitch. Under the 'no new is good news' heading, I can vouch that there are people still working very hard indeed to ensure that speedway does hopefully one day return to Hull. Fingers crossed....

A good couple of hours, then have a walk around the park, good idea anyway, then return to see what you missed first time around; there is so much to take in....

Bruce has aleready said that he reckons he could have given Egon Muller a hard time at Norden in 1983, but could have broken the 'Decade Of Danish Deadlock' that followed and taken on Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen? And could he have done it 'alone' as the Danish Duo had Ole Olsen & Ivan Mauger in their respective corners?...

In echoing other posts I can fully reccomend a visit. The building is absolutely packed to the rafters from floor to ceiling with so much amazing speedway memorbilia: 'amazing' is such an over-used word these days but it definately applies here. For various reasons I was only able to spend 30-40 mins looking round when at the very least an hour needs to be put aside. Bikes (2 Mauger machines), race bibs - many framed (at least 1 Hull), leathers, kevlars, posters, the Wembley display, the late 'Simon Wigg Collection' etc, etc, so much to see, and fill in visual clues in the speedway memory bank of riders and teams of not only yesteryear but also current riders, there being some Jason Crump items also. I was shown round by a very pleasant chap, a Teeside Tigers fan - I forget his name, and he told me they have so many more items to display that they could change nearly the displays regularly if they so wished. Most of the current speedway books were on sale together with old Speedway Stars, programmes, model riders, greetings cards, model bikes and a few mugs I recall. The Paradise WIldlife Park is also to be reccomended with talks and animal ability displays and look out for the scale-corrected 'Animal Olympics' 100m video race between various creatures from insects to the cheetah; not telling who wins. It's almost worth it just for the animal race, LOL! Really a full day needs putting aside to visit the speedway museum, look at the animals then return to the museum for another look to pick up things you missed on your first lap, then visit Rye House Speedway which is literally just down the road. The museum is of course situated in the PWP which is clearly signposted off the A10 on the way to Rye House, entry is £16 with the museum effectively free. Ask about the speedway musuem on entering the park as it isn't open all of the time but they will happily open it up for you. A defo must see for any speedway fan....

Facinating stuff, great to see old stadia either long gone or closed to speedway: Coatbridge, Newport, Paisley, Stamford Bridge, etc....

Agreed! The mag looked pretty good before but is now excellent. Early doors yet, ink still damp on current isssue, but my suggestion for future feature interview: Chris Louis....

Also Tommy Knudsen, don't recall any interviews with him....

I am Hull Vikings through and through, always have been and always will be. I watch at other tracks whenever I can mostly Scunny as it's nearest and in addition to the time factor, I can be there in 45mins, it's a very pleasant, friendly place to watch speedway. I'm pleased for the folk of Scunny as pre-2005 their speedway history isn't the greatest but I don't support any other team though which is interesting in one sense as it does grant me a more 'big picture' viewpoint. But I can catagorically state that it matters a heck of a lot more when it's your own team. I know people in Hull who can't bear to watch the sport unless (until!) the Vikings return, but I'm a (certified) speedway nut and can't just let the sport drift away without a fix now and again

I was kinda been rhetorical, when I should've been working (!). Speedway enjoyed big crowds in the 1970's and early 80's too, I was in a few of them, but the attendances were enomous even for 'mere' league matches in the pre and post war days depicted in the movie. Hull also suffered badly in WW2. Hull (Hedon) enjoyed big crowds in the Angels' 1st year (1948) until I believe the council withdrew the bus service mid-1949, most folk couldn't afford the train fare (a special stop had been built, Hedon Halt, just for the speedway) and crowds plummeted, quickly making the speedway uneconomical. The licence, Division 3 league membership and half the team were then transfered to newly-opened Swindon....

Only just got around to watching the movie, great piece of both speedway and social history. Enormous crowds in those days, have to be seen to be appreciated. Interesting back story of one rider on the way up, Bill Fox (Dirk Bogard), and an old timer battered by injury on the way out, Lag Gibbon (Bill Owen). Great for me personally to see what it must have been like when as a young boy my father supported the Hull Angels at Hedon in the late 1940's. Huge crowds in those days too. This title is a must for any speedway fan's collection, it gets shown on the dig channels from time to time, but why not acquire your own copy. Get in touch with Alan via the above details; great to deal with and a very quick service. Did I mention the big crowds from back then, wonder what speedway did right back then that the sport possibly isn't doing now....

I well remember Vaclav Verner when he rode at Hull, Boulevard. He proved he'd sussed the tight & squarish track by winning the annual Yorkshire TV Trophy on only his 2nd visit in 1978 with 13 points from Michael Lee & Bruce Penhall. It was later in the season when with opponents Exeter that he totally attacked, and I do mean attacked the circuit, mostly clouting the fence on each corner let alone each race or lap. So much so that he 'picked up' in one race whilst chasing Ivan Mauger, coming to grief exiting turn 2 and taking his pal Mauger wih him. Finding themselves now on the back straight, both got up and dusted themselves down, Verner being excluded for his efforts with Mauger winning the re-run. As with other tracks, 'Mad Vac', brother Jan & Zdenek Kudrna were always popular vistors to Hull because of their all-out-maximum-effort way of riding and as Ivan himself once said "he (Verner) doesn't know any other way to ride"....

Don't recall that ride but do remember the go-karts . I once saw a sort of betting game in an amusement arcade called Speedway featuring small Scalextric-style motorcycles going round an oval track and it had pics of PC and Mort in Belle Vue colours all over it....

Off the top of my head I'd like Bruce to discuss: Favourite tracks/opponents. 1970's: Briggs/Mauger World Championship Tours; Israel, South Africa, NZ, USA v Rest Of The World, riding every meet against World Champions; Briggs, Mauger, Fundin, Olsen, etc. 1978: If he hadn't joined Cradley Heath which other British League club would he have considered? And why not Hull, LOL! 1979 World Pairs, Vojens: when none of Bruce's partners made it and effectively competed alone, albeit with a non-scoring Danish reserve. 1979 Hull: how did it feel winning the KO Cup v the Vikings. 1980 World Final, Gothenburg : with a film crew in his face seemingly 24/7 how it affected his build up. 1981 World Final, Wembley: at what point, prior to the event, was he sure he would win it? 1982: His feelings toward the USA winning a clean sweep (?) of World Titles & Bobby Schwatrz & Dennis Sigalos winning the World Pairs without him. His working relationship with the above and other USA riders. 1983 World Final, Norden: had he not retired could he have given Egon Muller a run for his money? 1980's: Could he have challenged Erik Gundersen & Hans Nielsen? 1980's: If Hollywood hadn't come-a-knocking and he'd taken time out to recover from reported 'speedway burn out', how much longer would he have ridden? Any more World Titles?...

Not read the "Penhall World Champion" book for a while but seem to remember it being "Bruce did this, Bruce rode here and scored whatever, then Bruce did that", etc. Don't rate it all, "Stars And Bikes" from 1980 or so is much better. While it is interesting to read Penhall's own personal thoughts on Carter, he is enitled to his own opinion of course, it is puzzling that he should write "I have nothing to say in regard to KC' then he goes on about him for several paragraphs. He should either say what he thinks about Carter or not though I do hope he now leaves that particular subject behind and writes about other riders, meetings, etc....

Nope not Bruce Nelson/Penhall, was in the mid-70's when I was considered too young to go to speedway alone as none of the family were remotely interested....

Read a book at school many decades ago called "Stories For Boys", or something along those lines, and it contained story of a motorcycle cop who also rode for the local speedway team. I recall Tough Of The Track too...

Yes, I meant to say he gave the right answer....