steve roberts

Fantastic image! Far better than bland kevlars!

Blimey there's lots of riders there I don't recognise...years have caught up with them. Picked out my Uncle Keith Lawson with Mike Patrick however!

Superb post! Remember reading that George Hunter, when based in the midlands, would drive his lorry to Immingham Docks (Yorkshire) and drive back home to pick up his bike and then drive upto Edinburgh to ride that same night when he was a member of the 'Monarchs' during the latter part of his career.

...and dare I say a return of second halves (respected Businessman, ex-Promoter and National Team Manager James Easter has been quoted as saying same) . I recall Phil Crump saying during the twilight of his career that he was seriously thinking about finishing riding in the UK due to the demise of the old second halves (1984) because of potential lost earnings. However, as we all know, speedway has declined massively since those days and the number of people now attending wouldn't make it financially viable. Of course back then there were numerous open meeting and regional competitions but supporters gradually showed dis-interest in such events and therefore can't really complain about the apparent irregularities within today's market.

Nothing new really. There was the Allied Presentations consortium back during the late sixties early seventies although each member did appear to run a track independantly. However I do recall Reg Fearman having 'thumbs' at different tracks. Tony Mole was another who bought up stadiums/promotions duting the nineties

Assessed averages have always proved problematical and have been open to all sorts of abuse and manipulation down the years. You raise a very good observation however.

That's the trouble with point limits...it's more about whose average fits rather than ability and it tends to squeeze out riders and to juggle the maths to come up with a team that fits within whatever the limit is set.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, never trust Clark Osborne. He was at Oxford and sold us down the river back in the middle seventies before the 'Save Oxford Speedway' and Greyhound people stepped in to save the stadium.

Yes I recall Peter Seaton being quoted some time ago...never agreed to the proposal personally for reasons subsequently given following my initial post.

Whity City moved the pits from under the terraces via a tunnel onto a paved area on the third and fourth bends. I recall that Oxford tried a similar thing during their National League Era (1970's) before reverting back to behind the terracing.

I recall Peter Seaton (one-time Oxford and Peterborough rider) advocating that the pits should be on the centre green.

I would agree to an extent but it wasn't always the case as interviews with many riders from that period actually give credit to some of the 'star' riders giving up the best gate for the betterment of the team. Both Ivan Mauger and Ole Olsen, amongst many, have been credited with unselfish acts by team mates.

...and, of course, not all 'Star' men achieved averages above 9 points (the cut off often highlighted in 'Speedway Star') riding at Number One as many who achieved such averages and above often rode further down the order so meeting the opposite Number One at least twice during the meeting as well as other established high scoring riders. Examples are numerous...Ashby, Lovaas, Simmons, T.Jansson, C.Morton, Collins, Lee, Boulger, Jessup, Autrey, Sanders, K.Moran, Preston, Gundersen etc etc (just off the top of my head). I guess that the biggest player in averages registering lower was the fixed-gate rule although, contrary to popular belief, many 'star' riders often allowed their lesser compatiots to take the better gates as interviews in 'Backtrack' clarify putting it into some sort of perspective.

I seriously wish Swindon luck (and that comes from a 'Cheethsh's fan!) on what has been a very long drawn out affair with promises and half promises. Speedway can ill afford to lose tracks and I only wish that there was more postive moves down at Cowley as welll as Brandon.

Remember when at Ipswich (1980's) the programme front cover had Oxford down as 'Cheaters'...would prefer to think that it was a printer's error and not a wicked comment made by the Ipswich promotion at the time! I recall that Bernard Crapper had a good rapport with the incoming Witches promoter Chris Shears.

Have yo agree that the constantly changing team did no favours in my opinion...the team selection seemed to change every week and/or month.

I actually did some promotional work on behalf of Nigel Wagstaff at some local schools...however I had been promised a bike to display but nothing materialised. What was odd was that the outgoing promotion (Steve and Vanessa Purchase) apparently 'owned' the 'Cheetahs' nickmane and it wasn't part of the deal when Waggy took over hence the adoption of 'The Silver Machine'. All very complicated!

Apparently Sam Ermolenko ran into him during a race back in the States (1984?) which basically finished Dennis as a World Class competitor.

The first year (2003) and a wee bit! Awful 'nickname!'

Recall Melvyn Taylor suggesting after a particular dusty meeting at Smallmead (and I saw a few of those!) that he would have felt safer having fog lamps placed on the back of his bike to stop people from running into him!

Not sure about brakes on bikes. When I attended one of Olle Nygren's Training Schools many years ago now he explained why brakes were not a feature...actually their absence was a safety feature because the last thing you wanted when entering the bend closely behind someone was that person to apply the brakes! It was all about throttle control back then which determined the speed and volatility of the bike.

Similar case at Cowley when a well known rider after an engine blow out and whether he was able to replace it...and yet owned a jet ski to play with during his leisure time.

Remember when Channel Four (Yes terrestrial TV) showed highlights of the 1989 Commonwealth Final from Belle Vue highlighted were the suppposed income from some of those taking part. Recall either Troy Butler or Martin Dugard commenting that if he was earning a fraction of what was quoted he would be doing well! From memory something like £250,000 was quoted as earnings a year.

Recall an interview with Bernie when he said that he often rode at the difficult Number Four postion in which there were no easy rides. Developed a great understanding with Bobby Schwartz during the 'Racers' championship winning year in 1980. An alll round motorcyclist who competed on the grass and longtracks around Europe during his career. One incident I remember was at White City in 1977 when Reading 'stole' a victory at Wood Lane when Bernie caused, in my view, Gordon Kennett to fall but wasn't excluded! Turned out at Swindon in 1974 wearing a striking pair of blue and yellow leathers.

If I recall six-man teams were also implemented during 1997 (?) when the home team were numbered 1-6 and the away team 7-12 to help simplyfy identification.