keepturningleft

Charming. What lovely people we have on these forums.

You've only got to watch a match filmed by the any of the semi-pro video companies to realise that easily the most effective way of filming a race is to use a single camera. It's easy to get disorientated when cameras are switching around all over the place. Exactly. Back in the day when I used to watch Halifax, it didn't matter if the league was already lost or won, Saturday night was speedway night and we all went to cheer the team no matter what. It's entertainment as well as sport.

My point exactly...which is why I can't understand the amount of negativity on this forum. I could watch Zmarzlik, Gollob, (let's not forget him), Collins, Gundersen and others, just going round the track on their own. Personally I would rather watch the world's most boring speedway match than the world's most exciting football match. Speedway is intoxicating and has magical elements found in no other sport. And, Norbold, given the amount of persausive recollections by yourself and others, I fully accept that Peter Craven was a spectacular rider and you were indeed fortunate to see him ride! I will be at Belle Vue next month for the PC memorial Trophy.

No intention to disparage the great riders from the past, but few, if any people on this forum ever saw Craven ride and there is precious little action footage of him, so we can't really make a judgemental comparison other than listening to other people's reminiscences.

GP's, without a doubt. I saw 3 world finals, Wembley '69 and Odsal '85 & 90, great occasions all, but GP's are a much better way of doing things. Besides we get to have a magnificent big time occasion every single year at Cardiff. Previously the big night only came to the UK once every 5 years or so. Some are moaning about a likely 2 horse race this year between Laguta and Zmarzlik, but honestly what's not to like. Zmarzlik is incredible to watch, a hundred times more spectacular than Mauger, Briggs, Olsen and many others put together and he pulls off moves you would never have see any of those afore mentioned riders make.

In the 1960's when speedway was huge, there was one, maybe two meetings screened by the BBC all year, and even they were short edited highlights programmes. Now, speedway is no longer huge, but there are dozens of meetings, league and GP, screened during the year. Not too much to complain about really.

A great journalist. RIP

I thought Charlie Webster did a great job in the studio. Along with the dirtometer, Kelvin now needs to introduce the shirtometer to monitor Scott's attire.

A timely showing this morning on the Talking Pictures channel of the 1953 film 'Skid Kids', with a story centred around cycle speedway. The article on the sport in the mag was very interesting, and, what a terrific picture on page 15!

Greg Hancock!!

Personally I wouldn't watch speedway at a track If I had to peer through a mesh fence which is bound to degrade the viewing experience.

I have have only been to Kings Lynn once back in the 80's, but I am confused by the grilling which appears to encircle the track. Do you really have to watch the action peering through little square holes?

They said Belle Vue would never happen.

OK, It wasn't a good moment for Peter Adams to be asked for an interview, but he could have politely declined. No excuse for rudeness to the people who are giving us speedway every week on our TV for which we should be eternally thankful. As for the small track, big track debate, with very few exceptions, tracks in Europe are big. Tragically speedway has fallen out of kilter with the rest of the world in this regard. I can't imagine what Polish fans must think If they watched last night's meeting. I seriously want speedway and all it's venues to survive, but I can't see how the sport can thrive with the way things are right now. Oh, and by the way, my track's better than your track....

At a time when speedway needs all the friends it can get, it was shocking to see Peter Adams being so rude to Eurosport staff. At least he apologised but god only knows what casual viewers and Eurosport bosses must have thought of him. The poor visuals are not down to the camera operators but to the vision controller in the box who's decision it it is to switch to different cameras, and last night he/she made a complete hash of it. Agree with many of the above comments, there is always a sense of impending carnage on small trick tracks which you never get on proper track such as Belle Vue.

Fair enough

Watching the videos, the track doesn't appear to have quite the same shape as it did. The corners look much tighter.

Lap of honour should be obligatory.

I'm with Mr Rising on this - stats are mind numbingly dull most of the time.

An excellent standard of coverage from Eurosport I thought. One positive thing which struck me and which I hope carries on, was the welcome absence of the pointless interviews with the riders during the course of the meeting - "Yeah, I'm taking each race as it comes and we'll see how it goes", type of thing which I always find quite irksome.

Yes, the secret world of speedway attendances would make a great storyline for the next Mission Impossible film. Your mission Jim, should you decide to accept it, is infiltrate the BSPA and extract, expose and publish UK speedway attendance stats once and for all. Good luck Jim.

TDTESS is also one of my favourite films. About ten years ago I contacted Billy Gray through his website and was very pleased to engage in communication with him for a short time. I remember asking him why he don't follow his fellow his compatriots over to the UK in the late seventies - I can't clearly remember his answer however. Seems amazing that someone appearing in a seminal science fiction film should go on to become a speedway rider! Bruce Penhall in reverse. Klaatu barada nikto

How magnificent it is to see the words 'Belle Vue v Sheffield' after all this time. Can anyone confirm the last time this happened? Always seemed crazy that as speedway struggled, two big name clubs less than an hours drive from each other were in different leagues thus depriving fans of long cherished derby matches and presumably bumper attendances.

In interviews and documentaries, Gundersen comes across as being a thoroughly intelligent, decent and likeable person. The idea that he could have been involved in race fixing is too ridiculous for words.

Those early BLRC meetings truly were magnificent occasions. I saw four of them '68 to '71 and can honestly say that no other speedway meetings out of the hundreds I have seen ever made such an impression. It wasn't just the racing, it was the whole Belle Vue experience, mainly the funfair before and after. I was a Halifax fan and in '68, Eric Boocock almost won. Very exciting! The unique nature of the formula, one rider from each club guaranteeing all teams were represented, may have been frustrating for those with higher averages, but the nature of that formula meant that we saw fans from every single club on the terraces and the capacity crowds are testimony to the huge success of the event. Maybe you could see an assortment of fans at World Finals and now GP's, but the BLCR was a domestic event and that made it different and a bit special. For most of us it was also the final meeting of the season and so represented a farewell to speedway until the following year. I don't have a clear memory as to why I didn't go to any more BLRC's but I was 17/18, it was on a Saturday night, and other interests were tugging away at my loyalties. Nevertheless, speedway memories don't get any more magical than the BLRC!