TonyMac

ISSUE 89 (NOV-DEC, 2018) is on sale and here's a taste of what to expect . . . ARENA-ESSEX HAMMER BLOW In September, Arena-Essex became the latest in a long line of former speedway venues. MARTIN NEAL was at the Purfleet track on an emotional night to speak to some of the key figures in the early part of the club's 34-year history, including the first 1984 race winner Alan Sage, plus Andrew Silver, Martin Goodwin, Ian Humphreys, Troy Pratt, Sean Barker and former boss Peter Thorogood. Andrew says: “I had some great races with Martin Goodwin – I remember some 12-lappers – we had some massive battles along the way. You couldn’t have asked for more from a competitor on the track – we had some great times.” As our separate piece to the main Arena feature reveals, the Essex track became the 56th British venue lost to speedway since 1970 (soon followed by Rye House). THAT WAS THE YEAR: 1972 ANDREW SKEELS reflects on a memorable year in which Ivan Mauger won his fourth individual world title, led Great Britain to World Team Cup glory and guided Belle Vue to the British League and KO Cup double, while Crewe were crowned kings of Division Two, England won the World Pairs for the first time and the BL welcomed overseas newcomers in Billy Sanders and Tommy Jansson. SWINDON: 50 Memorable Moments ROB PEASLEY looks at the history of the first club to achieve back-to-back league titles in the top two divisions and where Blunsdon heroes included Barry Briggs, Martin Ashby, Bob Kilby, Phil Crump, Jimmy Nilsen and Leigh Adams. REG LUCKHURST – Exclusive interview In part two of PHIL CHARD'S interview with Reg Luckhurst, the popular former world finalist recalls his role in introducing the sport to the Spanish island of Majorca and explains why the island dream failed to take off, before returning to mainland Spain 20 years later to run three meetings in Valencia. The ex-Wimbledon and West Ham star also talks technical about his RL Weslake conversion and the tragic loss of Dons team-mate Tommy Jansson. 'Lucky' says: “The first meeting we held, we had nearly 3,000 spectators. Bernie and Ian thought they’d pull in British speedway supporters on holiday but it was the Spanish riders’ families and friends who came, locals supporting their boys." THE WRITE STUFF – MARTIN ROGERS Although best known as the hands-on promoter at three tracks in the 80s, Martin Rogers established himself as one of speedway's top scribes long before then. TONY McDONALD finds out more about this prolific, media-savvy wordsmith. Martin says: "These days, a lot of tracks have a caller in the box and a centre green presenter but in my general manager spell at Lynn I did both the pre-match parade and the general announcing. The intros always were great fun – Dave Lanning and Trevor Redmond, proper showmen, were my inspiration in that area. From both I learned how important it is to properly acknowledge the status and appeal of each and every rider from one to seven. They're all stars." COLIN ACKROYD – Exclusive interview ROB PEASLEY catches up with the once promising Oxford and Eastbourne prospect who was forced to quit racing at 25 and is now battling MS. Colin says: “Bernard Crapper and John Payne had a bet between them that I would reach an average of 6.00 by the end of my first full season. I didn’t realise until Bernard came up to me towards the end of the season and told me: ‘I need you to have a good one tonight!’. It was great fun at Oxford and I grew in confidence." GEOFF ROGERS – Exclusive interview DAVID BERESFORD re-visits the once quaint village of Partington, where world champions, international stars and numerous other speedway and grasstrack riders had their first skid on the farm owned by Peter Collins' dad. “Dad’s farm was a busy place,” recalled PC, “and not just with farming. There was always a group of us racing around on something even before we built our makeshift track on land that was reclaimed when the River Mersey was redirected during the building of the Manchester Ship Canal. Dad would be around and George Morton (father of Dave and Chris) was often there mending this, welding that, and his wife Hilary regularly provided first aid!" NEVER DID SAY 'GOODBYE' With the 2018 season now finished, DOUG NICOLSON hopes that fans made a point of getting along to their track's final meeting of the year because, well, you never know . . . To order this edition or subscribe for a year for as little as £22 (UK), please visit www.retro-speedway.com

You should receive it today or tomorrow...

A basic shortage of quality riders (among other things) has led to the ridiculous over-use of guests and doubling-up. So wouldn't reducing teams from 7 to 6 riders help to ease the above two problems and at the same time reduce the promoters' wage overheads? If not in league matches, then at least adopt it for one of the other competitions. Or why not run a KO Cup using four-man teams, to achieve further wage reductions? Obviously, a tweak of the race format would be necessary but six-man teams were used in the 60s. Or am I being too simplistic?

90 STARS OF BRITISH LEAGUE DOUBLE DISC (4-hour) SET . . . only £16 To commemorate 90 years of British speedway (1928-2018), we present 90 stars of the British League era from 1970 to 1990. Thrill again to classic action footage of many of the all-time greats who graced the top flight when the BL was universally recognised as the greatest league in world speedway. Featuring 17 past individual world champions: Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Anders Michanek, Peter Collins, Michael Lee, Bruce Penhall, Erik Gundersen, Hans Nielsen, Per Jonsson, Jan O. Pedersen, Gary Havelock, Sam Ermolenko, Greg Hancock, Billy Hamill and Mark Loram. Plus other track legends of England, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland and Finland. 1 Andersson 2 Ashby 3 Autrey 4 Bastable 5 Beaton 6 Betts 7 Boocock E 8 Boocock N 9 Boulger 10 Briggs 11 Carter 12 Cartwright 13 Collins L 14 Collins N 15 Collins Pe 16 Collins Ph 17 Cook J 18 Correy 19 Courtney 20 Cox 21 Cross 22 Crump 23 Davey 24 Davis 25 Doncaster 26 Dugard 27 Ermolenko 28 Evitts 29 Grahame Al 30 Grahame An 31 Gundersen 32 Hamill 33 Hancock 34 Harkins 35 Havelock 36 Jancarz 37 Jansson B 38 Jansson T 39 Jessup 40 Jonsson 41 Jorgensen 42 Karger 43 Kennett G 44 Kilby 45 King 46 Knight 47 Knudsen 48 Lee 49 Lofqvist 50 Loram 51 Louis 52 Lovaas 53 Mauger 54 McMillan 55 Michanek 56 Moore 57 Moran K 58 Moran S 59 Morton C 60 Morton D 61 Nielsen 62 Niemi 63 Nilsen 64 Olsen 65 Owen J 66 Pedersen 67 Penhall 68 Persson 69 Petersen 70 Plech 71 Pusey 72 Ross 73 Sanders 74 Schwartz 75 Shirra 76 Sigalos 77 Simmons 78 Smith A 79 Tatum 80 Thomas 81 Thomsen 82 Thorp 83 Titman 84 Valentine 85 Wigg 86 Wilkinson 87 Wilson Ray 88 Wilson Reg 89 Wiltshire 90 Wyer Let the arguments begin . . .!

You could say the same about Peter Collins and Dave Morton, to name just to who spring to mind (Mort admitted as much in his book). But it's always Simmo that gets singled out. As I say, he's made himself an easy target. Even Crumpie admitted Newport was a death-trap.

He loved going there after he joined Poole, when it became a 'local derby'.

Doubt you could defame Simmo more than he did himself. At least he had the balls to come out and admit his flaws and wrongdoings (well, most of them!) instead of trying to project a false image way beyond his racing days. The negative responses on this thread are virtually all of his own making, because those opinions are largely based on his own admissions. I'm sure people would think much less kindly on quite a few other big names if they had bared their souls with equal transparency but I don't blame them for not doing so. Believe me, there were other equally damning things Simmo wanted to put in his book but I advised him not to disclose. The mind boggles! I'm naturally biased, because he was always very good for Retro Speedway, but his genuine love for speedway and motorcycling in general never left him. When he became terminally ill, I suggested we drop his Backtrack column because he clearly had more important things to worry about. But he was indignant and insisted we carried on for as long as possible - one of his last pieces, I believe, was in support of the Iwade (Sittingbourne) training track. He cared deeply about how speedway has been mismanaged in the UK and expressed his very well founded fears in typical forthright fashion. Simmo earned a lot of money out of speedway (and wasted most of it) but he also gave a lot back and there are plenty of younger riders who benefited from his knowledge and experience. I will have nothing but fond memories of one of British speedway's all-time greats.

Our new London Speedway Tracks & Teams DVD has footage of Simmo (and other Hammers and Dons) competing in this very meeting covered above in such depth...

2018 AUTUMN EDITION Welcome to issue 42 of our quarterly magazine MIRAC: Man of the People Following the death of New Zealand and Wimbledon legend Ronnie Moore, TONY McDONALD looks back on the life and times of a man many rate as the greatest speedway rider of all-time. We also present a list of the 42 UK tracks 'Mirac' rode at between 1950 and his final farewell in 1974. Plus, Ronnie's Timeline – from birth in Hobart, Tasmania in 1933, via two individual world titles, a host of other domestic success, Dons glory and the life-threatening crash that ended his career, up to his sad passing in August, 2018, aged 85. BOB ANDREWS – exclusive interview Former Cradley Heath, Hackney and Wimbledon star Bob Andrews on his quest to finally be reunited with the World Pairs trophy – nearly 50 years after he and Ivan Mauger won it for New Zealand in Sweden on the most glorious night of Bob's career. DICK BRADLEY – exclusive interview Former Bristol star and world finalist Dick Bradley was a reluctant hero when England came calling. But, as PHIL CHARD recalls, the 1952 Test against Australia at Harringay turned out to be the greatest night of his career. MIKE ERSKINE: Man of many parts JOHN CHAPLIN reflects on the multi-talented achievements of old Etonian Mike Erskine, a mechanical boffin whose engineering skills helped transform other riders into stars. MICK HANDLEY – exclusive interview Mick Handley had his local Black Country clubs Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath vying for his services but, as ROB PEASLEY explains, it was the chance to shine for Crayford's new second division Highwaymen that proved a shot in the arm . . . WHITE SPIRIT Coming up for 50 years since Glasgow White City staged its last speedway meeting, DOUG NICOLSON looks at the life and times of his spiritual home, where Tommy Miller, Junior Bainbridge, Ken McKinlay, Charlie Monk and Jim McMillan were among legends in stripes. BRADFORD: 50 Memorable Moments Bradford’s huge Odsal Stadium later became the venue of the 1985 and 1990 World Finals, after a million-pound investment from Bradford Council. ROB PEASLEY looks back at the origins of the sport in the city, when the likes of Arthur Forrest, Ron Clarke, Eddie Rigg and Jack Biggs were heroes. Plus . . . obits on Bob Dugard, Joe Weichlbauer and Kevin Hayden, crossword, your letters and full-page 1968 King's Lynn team photo. To order this single edition or subscribe for a year for a silly amount, please visit us at www.retro-speedway.com or phone Susie on 01708 734 502.

ISSUE 88 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2018) RONNIE MOORE – HUMBLE HERO MARTIN ROGERS leads the tributes to one of the greatest, a track giant always spoken about in reverential terms by his peers and supporters alike. The double World Champion and Wimbledon legend passed away in his native Christchurch, New Zealand on August 18, 2018, aged 85. Martin writes: "Statistics can be twisted and turned to prove or disprove anything, armchair pundits can believe whatever they want, but if you take the word of Ivan Mauger and Briggo, who won 10 individual world titles between them, there was nobody like Ronnie." BOB DUGARD – MISTER EASTBOURNE Bobby Dugard, the man who kept Eastbourne Eagles flying higher and longer than anyone, died, aged 76, on August 5, 2018. Former Eastbourne co-promoter and team manager RUSSELL LANNING pays tribute to his old mentor and inspiration and looks back on four meetings that encapsulate his memories of Bob. Readers also express their views on the irreplaceable Arlington legend. Russ writes: "Underneath that hard-as-nails exterior was the softest, most gentle generous guy who was happiest sitting in the background watching ‘his’ team take the plaudits. His passion to create successful sides also gelled with his love of producing a track surface that the majority of the current British circuit curators could only dream about. He knew every inch of every track he worked on." THAT WAS THE YEAR: 1981 Looking back on another momentous year with ANDREW SKEELS, who recalls the sudden decline in England's fortunes and the rise of the Danes, dominant Bruce Penhall in the last Wembley final, first championships for Cradley Heath and Middlesbrough, and the closure of Hull . . . REG LUCKHURST – Exclusive interview PHIL CHARD talks to a seasoned performer with Wimbledon, West Ham and Canterbury who was a hit on and off track. Reg reflects on his successful time as a recording artist, signing tunes such as Your Cheatin' Heart and In The Misty Moonlight. Reg says: “They promoted it on Housewives’ Choice (a popular BBC radio record request programme), Radio Luxembourg and Radio London and Colin asked: ‘Is there any other way you can promote it?’ “I said: ‘if you take a record to every speedway track in the country and say I’ll sign the disc for everyone who buys it at the speedway track, that’ll do for a start', and it did go down well. “We sold 11,000 records in a week. Decca couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t heard of anyone like me making a record for the first time selling 11,000 that fast before. “We got 6d a record (37 pence today) and the Decca sales director said: ‘Would you like to record another one?’" 'Lucky' also talks about building his own speedway practice track in his native Kent, shares his thoughts on the racing careers of his sons Jamie and Jeremy, and why he regretted managing Canterbury. CREWE: 50 Memorable Moments Speedway ran at Crewe for only eight seasons, from 1969 to 1976, but as ROB PEASLEY recalls, Kings were crowned league and cup double winners and featured second tier stars including Geoff Curtis, record-breaking Barry Meeks, Phil Crump, John Jackson, Dave Morton, Garry Flood, Jack Millen TONY LOMAS – Exclusive interview (Part 2) After earning international acclaim with his local club Coventry and winning the BL title with Exeter, Tony Lomas lost enthusiasm for the sport and ended up walking out on Leicester. But as he explains in the second and final part of his candid interview with TONY McDONALD, a spell back in the second tier with Stoke rekindled the flame before safety concerns convinced him to retire. Tony also explains the 'secrets' of his lightning gating technique, the effect the death of former team-mate Kevin Holden had on the Lomas family, how and why the Midland Riders' Championship was "fixed". Tony says: "I went to one or two of the other riders and told them: 'It's a death-trap and I'm not going to ride but if you choose to do so, it's up to you'. They said: 'Oh yeah, we'll back you up' but, of course, as it got closer to the start of the meeting, they were all putting their leathers on. "I had my leathers on too but then I thought, 'do I bloody well need this?'. I said to Kevin Ellery, my mechanic – he was a bricklayer from Rugby and in the close season I worked for him as a hod carrier: 'Go and get my bikes, we're going home'. "My leathers were down around my knees when Ron Wilson came rushing into the dressing room and said: 'What the hell are you doing?' I replied: 'I'm getting changed and then going home – I'm finished'. "I was just about to drive out of the car park when I met Ivan (Mauger), who was just arriving – Exeter were on second in the meeting. I told him what had happened and that I'd had enough, and he said: 'If you feel like that, it's probably the best thing to do, otherwise you could hurt yourself'." Here come the . . . CZECHS In the last of the series, MARTIN ROGERS looks back at the impact of the bouncing Czechs who invariably delivered high thrills and spills, if not always best results. Featured riders include Antonin Kasper, Jiri Stancl, Vaclav and Jan Verner, Zdenek Kudrna, Ales Dryml and Milan Spinka. Readers also remember their favourite Czechs, with mentions for Emil Sova and the touring team that rocked Romford. BEST & WORST DOUG NICOLSON trawled the record books for biggest wins and losses in the British League and National League years (1970-90) and figured out that Happiness Wasn't Always 40-38. THE WRITE STUFF – JOHN CHAPLIN TONY McDONALD talks to the prolific author, former magazine editor and publisher and, at 84, still a weekly columnist who made it his mission to preserve speedway's history. Defending himself over his controversial Ivan Mauger book, John says: "I sent a complete disk of the narrative of that book to Ivan well in advance of publication, so he had ample time to object to anything I had written. He didn’t. And I respected him even more for that. "Incidentally, I have had a good relationship with the Mauger family for many years and still do. And I regret not a single word that appears in that book and there has never been any adverse criticism of the content. There is far more positive comment favourable to Ivan than there is negative. It is a book I am intensely proud of." WHATEVER HAPPENED TO . . . STUART ULPH MARTIN NEAL catches up with the former Sheffield and Doncaster prospect whose short-lived racing career was effectively ended by a crash. Stuart says: “I once rode at Belle Vue in a bloody thunderstorm! It was tanking it down and by the time you’d got 100 yards out of the gate you couldn’t see where you were going and you had to take your goggles off. We didn’t worry about that, though – we weren’t bothered about getting our fancy leathers dirty! “You were all mates back then. If your bike broke down, before the two minutes were up there was somebody out there saying: ‘Here, take my bike’. I used to carry spare sprockets and if anyone wanted to borrow one, I used to lend them it. Now they hardly even talk to each other." To order this single issue or subscribe for £22 a year (UK), please visit www.retro-speedway.com

Update to the original list . . . Ronnie Moore's first appearance at Rye House was on Sunday August 28, 1960, the opening of the 'new' track. He appeared in a series of match-races v Mike Broadbank before watching the Ronnie Moore All Star Trophy, which was won by Tommy Sweetman (whose son, Chris, confirmed these details): Champions’ Match Race Ht1 Mike Broadbanks bt Ronnie Moore 70.4* Ht2 Ronnie Moore bt Mike Broadbanks 73.0 Ht3 Ronnie Moore bt Mike Broadbanks 73.2

LONDON SPEEDWAY TRACKS & TEAMS IT'S RAW, IT'S RARE, IT'S RETRO! THANKS to very rare and previously unseen 8mm cine footage from the 60 and 70s, plus video film from the 80s, you can now relive magical memories of speedway at sadly defunct London venues Hackney, West Ham, Wimbledon, White City and Wembley on this unique double-disc set. Featuring more than 200 races from 40+ meetings, plus 90 London riders and many other opponents, including: HACKNEY HAWKS v HAMMERS (1968) WCQR (1968) England v Poland (1974) HAWKS v Oxford (1974 & 1975) Oxford v HAWKS (1974) GOLDEN JUBILEE (1978) Berwick v HACKNEY (1985 & 1986) Colin Pratt, Gerry Jackson, Roy Trigg, Les McGillivray, Malcolm Brown, Barry Thomas, Dag Lovaas, Dave Morton, Christer Lofqvist, Mike Broadbank, Dave Kennett, Steve Lomas, Laurie Etheridge, Ted Hubbard, Zenon Plech, Finn Thomsen, Bo Petersen, Vic Harding, Bent Rasmussen, Bobby McNeil, Jens Rasmussen, Toni Kasper, John Titman, Sean Willmott, Martin Hagon, Andy Galvin, Paul Bosley, Trevor Banks, Paul Whittaker. WEST HAM HAMMERS v Swindon (1966) Rye House v HAMMERS (1966) England v USSR (1966 & 1968) HAMMERS v Newcastle (1968) HAMMERS v Coatbridge (1969) HAMMERS v Belle Vue (1970) Ken McKinlay, Sverre Harrfeldt, Norman Hunter, Malcolm Simmons, Brian Leonard, Tony Clarke, Reg Trott, Ted Ede, Ray Wickett, Stan Stevens, George Barclay, Christer Lofqvist, Olle Nygren, Martyn Piddock, Garry Hay. WIMBLEDON DONS v Belle Vue (1960, starring Peter Craven) DONS v HAMMERS (1965 x 2 & 1966) DONS v HAWKS (1965 & 1982) WILLS INTERNATIONALE (1966, 1974 & 1975) Belle Vue v DONS (1977) Oxford v DONS (1974 & 1975) DONS v Poole (1983) Arena-Essex v DONS (1989) DONS v Ipswich (1989) DONS v Eastbourne (1989) Ronnie Moore, Olle Nygren, Reg Luckhurst, Trevor Hedge, Jim Tebby, Bob Dugard, Johnny Edwards, Barry Briggs, Tommy Jansson, Larry Ross, Bert Harkins, Graeme Stapleton, Barry Crowson, Mick Hines, Roger Johns, Colin Richardson, Stefan Salomonsson, Rudy Muts, Malcolm Simmons, Dave Jessup, Kai Niemi, Anders Eriksson, Brad Oxley, Kelvin Tatum, Mike Ferreira, Alan Mogridge, Ari Koponen, Todd Wiltshire, Ray Morton, Neville Tatum, Nathan Simpson, Rodney Payne, Scott Humphries, Paul Woods (guest). WHITE CITY World Team Cup Final (1976) REBELS v DONS (1977) Wolves v REBELS (1977 BL title decider) REBELS v HAWKS (1978) Mildenhall v REBELS (1978) Gordon Kennett, Steve Weatherley, Kai Niemi, Trevor Geer, Marek Cieslak, Mike Sampson, Paul Gachet, Dave Kennett, Andrzej Jurczynski. WEMBLEY LIONS away to Leicester (1971) England v Sweden (1973 inc Christer Lofqvist) World Final practice sessions (1967, 1969 & 1981) Bert Harkins, Sverre Harrfeldt, Brian Leonard, Brian Collins, Tony Clarke. If you can spare 5.30 mins, please check out this preview . . . and to order for just £16 (UK post-free) please visit www.retro-speedway.com

Many thanks to BL65 for putting together this list of British tracks Ronnie appeared at, along with dates on which he paid his first visit. If there are any others that need to be added (perhaps Division Two venues where he may have appeared in unofficial match-races or open events, etc), then plse let us know. Cheers. Ronnie Moore – First Appearances at British Tracks Aldershot 21 July 1951 Match Races v Trevor Redmond and Geoff Mardon Belle Vue 15 April 1950 Belle Vue v WIMBLEDON (Spring Cup) Birmingham 2 June 1951 Birmingham v WIMBLEDON (National League Division 1) Bradford Odsal 17 June 1950 Bradford v WIMBLEDON (National League Division )) Bristol 21 April 1950 Bristol v WIMBLEDON (Spring Cup) Coatbridge 17 May 1969 World Championship Qualifying Round (Individual) Coventry 26 September 1950 Brandonapolis (Individual) Cradley Heath 21 April 1951 Midlands v KANGAROOS IChallenge) Edinburgh 18 August 1951 Match Races v Jack Young Exeter 21 April 1969 Exeter v WIMBLEDON (British League) Glasgow White City 4 July 1951 Scots v KIWIS (Challenge) Glasgow Hampden Park 3 July 1970 GREAT BRITAIN v Sweden (International) Hackney 4 July 1969 Hackney v WIMBLEDON (British League Division 1) Halifax 26 April 1969 The Dews Trophy (Individual) Harringay 26 May 1950 Harringay v WIMBLEDON (National League Division 1) Hull 7 August 1974 Hull v COVENTRY (British League Division 1) Ipswich 3 May 1956 Golden Helmet Match Races v Peter Craven King’s Lynn 10 May 1969 King’s Lynn v WIMBLEDON (British League Division 1) Leicester 12 October 1951 Leicester v WIMBLEDON (Challenge) Motherwell 21 May 1954 Motherwell v WIMBLEDON (Challenge) New Cross 12 April 1950 New Cross v WIMBLEDON (Spring Cup) Newcastle 14 July 1969 Newcastle v WIMBLEDON (British League Division 1) Newport 23 May 1969 World Championship Qualifying Round (Individual) Norwich 31 May 1952 Norwich v WIMBLEDON (National League Division 1) Oxford 21 June 1951 Match Races v Ernie Rawlins Plymouth 3 October 1952 Southern Stars v NEW ZEALAND (Challenge) Poole 16 June 1953 Scratch Races Rayleigh 2 July 1955 Rayleigh v WIMBLEDON (Challenge) Reading 29 March 1971 Reading v WIMBLEDON (Metropolitan Gold Cup) St Austell 9 October 1951 Scratch Races Sheffield 8 October 1969 Sheffield v WIMBLEDON (Division 1 KO Cup Final 1st Leg) Southampton 18 August 1953 Southampton v Oxford v WIMBLEDON (2nd Half Challenge) Stoke 1 August 1953 Stoke v WIMBLEDON (National Trophy) Swindon 2 October 1954 Swindon v WIMBLEDON (Challenge) Wembley 18 May 1950 Wembley v WIMBLEDON (National League Division 1) West Ham 27 June 1950 West Ham v WIMBLEDON (National League Division 1) White City London 25 May 1954 Match Races v Cyril Roger and Freddie Williams Wigan 20 June 1952 Wigan v NEW ZEALAND (Challenge) Wimbledon 27 March 1950 Junior Scratch Races Wolverhampton 26 September 1969 Pride of the Midlands Trophy (Individual) Yarmouth 18 August 1951 Match Races v Jack Young

Allegro.... or Skoda?

HERE COME THE . . . CZECHS In the next issue (88) of Backtrack, Martin Rogers will be looking back at the Czech Republic riders who competed in the British League between 1970 and 1990.in the 70s & 80s... Alongside the main piece will be a section of supporters' comments about the Czechs who raced in the UK during that era, so please either post your personal recollections, anecdotes, memories or opinions here or email us at: editorial@retro-speedway.com As well as the recognised big names, Antonin Kasper Snr and Jnr, Jiri Stancl, Vaclav and Jan Verner, Zdenek Kudrna, Ales Dryml and Petr Ondrasik, what do you recall of lesser lights such as Emil Sova, Ladislav Hradecky, Zdenek 'Sam' Tesar, Bo Brhel, etc? Or perhaps your most vivid memories relate to one of the many international tour matches raced in Britain at BL2/NL level, when the 'bouncing Czechs' were usually guaranteed to enliven proceedings? We look forward to hearing from you ASAP – respond and you might well get your name in Backtrack! Thanks, Tony Mac

VERY sad news from New Zealand, where former double World Champion Ronnie Moore has been diagnosed with incurable lung cancer after seeing specialists in his home city of Christchurch. The Wimbledon legend, 85, recently spent three days in hospital and is now set to undergo radiotherapy treatment to ease his breathing, although not cure his terminal illness. Obviously, our thoughts go out to Ronnie - probably the most popular World Champion ever - and his family at this very difficult time.

Our brand new DVD out this week.... all about a once top notch world event that the FIM diluted to nothing. Love the emotive line from Chris Morton: "A couple of scraggy-arsed kids from Partington beat the world." £20 for an epic 6 hours of action and candid interviews from www.retro-speedway.com

It was a great pleasure interviewing Zenon Plech, one of my boyhood heroes at Hackney, in his home town of Gdansk a few years ago. Here's a sampler that might just whet your appetite for our ZENON PLECH DVD - £16 from www.retro-speedway.com

MEMORIES OF COVENTRY SPEEDWAY DVD On sale from Retro Speedway for just £16 at www.retro-speedway.com Sadly, memories are all we are now likely to have left of this great, old venue.

MEMORIES OF BERWICK SPEEDWAY DVD £16 from www.retro-speedway.com

MEMORIES OF HALIFAX SPEEDWAY DVD £16 from www.retro-speedway.com

MEMORIES OF SWINDON SPEEDWAY DVD £16 from www.retro-speedway.com

AMERICANS IN BRITAIN RACING DVD £16 from www.retro-speedway.com

101 BIG WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENTS (1970-94) £16 from www.retro-speedway.com

It will be out next week, Steve.