TonyMac

The Polish riders who appeared for British clubs in the 70s and 80s left their mark one way or another. I thought Zenon Plech was the pick of the Poles, for sheer skill, entertainment, bravery and for what he achieved, but then I'm biased! But what do others remember about our Polish friends from their old days in the British League? Some obviously fared much better than others. To get your memory juices flowing, here are a few names to throw into the ring... Roman Jankowski-Hackney Andy Huszcza-Hackney/Leicester Eddie Jancarz-Wimbledon Greg Szcepanik-Leicester Leonard Raba-Swindon Marek Cieslak-Reading/White City Bolek Proch-Reading Adam Olkiewicz-Halifax

Kiwi, it's a pity you didn't have a copy of the 1937 World Final programme stashed away somewhere, cos it just sold on eBay tonight for £183! Speedway Stars from the 60s-70s tend to sell on eBay for around £1 each but, as Gary says, you might be better off selling complete volumes for around £15-20 if it's cash you are looking for. Visit www.ebay.co.uk and type in the word 'speedway' to find pages and pages of memorabilia...

Bo Petersen must be worth a shout. He could beat anyone on his day around The Wick and proved himself at international level for Denmark, too.

Sharon, Just checked out the Canterbury site and it's brilliant. All those old pics of past Crusaders simply ooze nostalgia, although the pics of the overgrown old track will bring tears to a glass eye. I particularly enjoyed the 'where are they now?' section. Great stuff. We could do with a few more sites like yours. Congratulations to all involved in the construction of the site. My memories of Kingsmead, apart from Barney Kennett storming across the football pitch on the first bend, include announcer Malcolm Mitchell struggling to remember to say the winning race times! Anyone else remember him for that, or did I just catch him on a bad night? Great, jolly character, though. Regards to Uncle Ted, who I knew from his successful days at Rye House.

I hope so - he looked in good nick at the VSRA dinner in Coventry last March.

Probably the wildest of all the many East European hardmen was Czech Zdenek Kudrna. He made Charles Bronson look angelic and as well as riding ruthlessly on speedway tracks, he was lethal on the ice, too. He did plenty of damage before paying the ultimate price himself when he died in a track smash.

No one has mentioned John Louis yet, but what a race he had with Bruce Penhall at the 1979 BLRC. 'Tiger John' could mix it with the best when he had to. That meeting was better than most World Finals for pure quality, class in depth. If you scored six points you had done well!

Janice, sincere condolences from all true fans, especially those of us fortunate enough to have seen Chris light up the track with his skill, bravery and colourful character. He will never be forgotten by any of us who saw speedway in the 70s - those trademark sideburns and polka dots leathers are his legacy. One of the first riders to bring real colour to the sport.

Which riders, from the 60s-to-late-80s eras, would you pay good money and travel hundreds of miles to watch? I'll throw a few names into the ring to get the memory juices flowing...but what about some of the more obscure names we shouldn't forget? Christer Lofqvist, Barry Thomas, John Cook, Kenny Carter, Henka Gustafsson, most of the 'wild' Czechs, Zenon Plech, Chris Mort, PC, Jan O Pedersen.

Anybody know what any of the old Romford riders are up to now? Brooklands was a scary place at times, so does anyone remember any particular races and scrapes from this great, old track with its solid, concrete 'safety' fence? Remember how the 'mad Czechs' tore up the place every year? Crying shame, it's a housing estate now... I'm trying to collect every programme from Romford days. Does anyone have any they'd be prepared to sell?

It's a tricky argument - one-off World Final v GP - but in a way I'm glad for Ivan Mauger that Tony Rickardsson didn't manage to emulate his record six individual title wins this year. Nothing against Tony, of coyrse, who is a great champion in his own right. It's just that Mauger deserves to continue to reign supreme in history. Had the GP series been in place years earlier he would doubtless have been crowned champion almost every year throughout the 70s, as well as the last two years of the previous decade. Oh, what have I said? OK, PC would have taken some beating in 1976 & '77, had the GP applied then but could he have quite matched Ivan's incredible consistency. Blimey, though, remember when PC courageously ignored his terrible leg injury to race in the wet at Gothenburgh in '77? What an effort that was. I suppose the Ole Olsen fans will be on my case now, too... Why did I start this argument? No, I'm sticking with Ivan. He would have won at least 8 titles under the GP format, but I can't see Tony adding three more to his impressive haul - not now that Pedersen has broken through and Jason Crump, Ryan Sullivan and Leigh Adams are also on the charge... Well, what do you think????

Many thanks to all for your kind comments and encouragement. And also for beating me to it in pointing Sandman in the right direction of a subscription from Pete Lipscomb! So glad you enjoyed the film evening and more such gatherings should be on the agenda... The Lokeren story deserves re-telling because it had such a profound effect on those who survived and serve as a reminder of those who were taken from us. Perhaps a joint-interview with Stan Stevens and Colin Pratt, another survivor, would make interesting, if sad, reading?

Great news about Bruce appearing at Telford. The sport has never fully recovered from his absence - he's badly missed in so many different ways. Anyone got any special memories of his racing days in the UK? And please don't cane him for the all-American 'fix' in the World Championship qualifier at White City. The man did so many other really good things for the sport that, only since he quit racing, have most people come to appreciate his true value.

How many people on here buy the quarterly Vintage Speedway Magazine, or have heard of it? I was asked to succeed John Chaplin as Editor of VSM earlier this year and after producing the last 3 issues, I must say how good it is to be back involved with our great sport again after leaving Speedway Mail in 1992. But that's enough about me. The point is, I would be very interested to receive any feedback - not only from those of you who already get VSM but, just as importantly, from those of you who don't, for whatever reason. We have introduced some slightly less vintage content to the mag since last February - for instance, the latest issue includes a big exclusive with Kelly Moran on his battleagainst the booze. Regular columnist Andrew Edwards writes about the missing Penhall factor in British speedway today, while John Berry recalls his promoting experiences at Doncaster and Dave Lanning takes a look at the Kennett family. In the previous issue, John Berry wrote with typical candour about the rise and fall of Mike Lee. Your suggestions for articles, interviews and other possible content in future issues (next one due out Feb 1) would be very welcome. All the best. Tony McDonald