steve roberts

Taken from "Homes of British Speedway" Darvel was based at Roundshaw. Nr Auchinleck, Ayrshire. "This was a private training track constructed by Alastair Craig on the site of an old coal mine, the main shaft of which was on the centre green....while continuing to use Darvel for training Ronnie Craig, along with his brother Alastair, formed a team called Darvel Rockets, which entered the Scottish Junior League, riding their home matches at Glasgow's Blantyre Sports Stadium ( 1980 - 81) and Craighead Park (1982 - 84)"

I did wonder?

...and Bengt Jansson.

Among those already mentioned i also recognised Doug Wyer, Bernie Collier, Lawrence Hare, Pete Seaton & Barney Kennett. Recognised Lee Kilby who resembles father Bob.

Fabulous images...recognise a few there!

I've got a DVD of the meeting with you as commentator Rob!

I seem to remember that Egon scored 11 from 4 starts at Birmingham (not one of the bigger tracks it has to be said) in 1976 during his short spell riding for Hull. Proved that he could do it but I guess riding full time in the UK just didn't appeal as the big money was to be had riding on the continent. Minor point but Hull utilised the R/R/R for him in 1977 despite him not turning out for them.

...which is important in my opinion.

I was there also...remember the long coach trip from Amsterdam where we were based most of all!

It was a fabulous image and thanks for posting.

Touching image...brought a lump to my throat.

I'd like to add to that...a great servant. Saw him first ride in 1989 at Cowley and showed promise even then and of course he proved invaluable when he much later joined "The Silver Machine" (awful nickname!) after Nicki Pedersen fell foul of the then promotion.

Remember viewing the images...was it really ten years ago that Kelly died? Recall his two years at Arlington very well. I was never a great fan of Penhall but one can't dispute his success at Wembley in 1981. I was there and remember it well. His 1982 win will be debated for as long as speedway exists...not sure if he was such a worthy champion on that occasion and he had blighted his copybook at White City just prior to that. Whether he had continued to dominate is open to conjecture. Personally I don't think so as I think that he would have run into problems with the fast rising Danes who began to dominate the eighties.

The old memory and all that!

I always thought that Mark Carlson showed some potential but didn't get the breaks.

I seem to recall that James Easter (one-time Aussie Manager) commenting on the feud in an interview in "Backtrack"? If you don't subscribe to the magazine I would fully recommend it (that's a pint you owe me Tony Mac!)

As did Sweden's Jan Andersson apparently.

Personally I think that Billy was better on the World stage and Phil at league level....just my opinion. I think that the rift first took hold during an Australian Final when the two clashed on track and Phil was excluded. However Phil was most upset when Billy took his own life and had regrets from an interview I recall.

Yes I have that magazine...must check it out again.

Was that at Leicester (Granby Hall?)? I visited that site when I attended an entomological show during the nineties before it was demolished.

Yes I went to the first two Wembley events plus the Birmingham Event and were nothing more than novelty meetings and a chance to meet up with fans during the Winter season. I never went to Telford but what I saw on TV didn't do anything for me.

I believe that Bobby Beaton's brother, Jimmy, had a similar arrangement?

Apparently during the winter of 1975/76 the NL (British League Division Two) applied to be able to use EEC riders but were turned down by the British League Management Committee.

When I had a go at speedway I found it very difficult as It went against all my instincts having ridden road bikes. I tentatively included scrambling as a discipline because John Louis has often been quoted on how it helped him cope on rough tracks and didn't see it as a hindrance altough one couldn't class that form of motorcycling as oval based in the true sense.

Some great titles there...must also mention the Ivan Mauger book and the one written by Bob Kilby's son, Lee, both great reads as well as Johnnie Hoskins book "Walkabout".