Grachan

Presumably Tony won then. Any other results?

Picture 89: Far Left is Ian 'Tiddler' Turner. i think second from the right is Bob Humphreys. Could the rider on the far right be Kelvin Mullarkey? Really not sure - not even sure if he rode for K.Lynn. Terry Betts at the front of the bike.

Some excellent photos there, and very interesting. I can't help much with the Canterbury riders, but in picture 71 the unidentified rider is Bernt Persson - presumably from the 1972 World Final.

Good old Per. I can just imagine him doing that. I used to go to Reading every week just to watch him do stuff like that – and he did it regularly. You’d even get Racers fans hoping he’d be last out of the start just to watch his cat & mouse tactics on the hapless race leader, before swooping on the final bend. I agree that if he had not been injured then many more World titles would have come his way. Fantastic rider. I only visited Halifax once, but I enjoyed it there – definitely the kind of track I enjoy. Swindon lost, but what I remember best is Phil Crump beating Kenny Carter twice in the match and then again in the second half final. (Pictures here)

I know they did this in the 16 lappers. Qualifying heats followed by an 8 man, 16 lap final, with the top 4 qualifiers off the back row. Can't think of any other instances though.

Sorry about that, Sir L. He's here.

Not sure of Ole in particular, but there have been handlebars of all shapes and sizes over the years. There are some excellent examples of different styles here

Interesting site - but that picture of 'Racing at Belle Vue' ain't from Belle Vue.

Dave Mullett?

The biggest memory I have of Ray Wilson is taking Martin Ashby on the last bend in the British Final and condemning my hero to reserve in the 1975 World Final. I still haven't forgiven him!

I thought it was 14 but you may be right. Whichever it was, hardly any other member of the Swindon team beat a Cradley rider all night. Now if there was a topic on the best one man team ever......

Looking back there are certain riders that seem to be at the start of a new trend due to their success with a certain machine - eg. Egon Muller with the GM and Neil Street/Phil Crump with 4 valves. Who was ther rider who started the trend for Weslakes in the first place? Was it Peter Collins?

Without doubt the best team I've ever seen too, and probably ever will. Phil Crump scored a maximum against them though!

And there was me thinking this thread had died ages ago and Cyclone had revived it!

To me it seems to be an obvious opportunity to give some GP experience to possible future contenders. It has to be David Howe and Simon Stead in my opinion as our top 'juniors'. These riders need experience at this level to bring them on and it would be interesting to see how they cope. To be honest I think they would still be a way behind, but it would be invaluable for them and auger well for the future.

I remember when Swindon signed Alf Busk in some cock up that led to Steve Bastable leaving. Basically, he was hopeless, but the Swindon fans were patient as it wasn't his fault and he was trying with little success. Then, suddenly, he top scored with 10 points at Belle Vue and from that point on proved to be a very capable and popular performer. Another one I remember was in 1975 when Bobby McNeil had done very little all year then, in the last match of the season, scored 14 points from 5 rides against Hull.

It’s certainly sometimes hard for fans to see their old favourites struggling and sporting that shiny little leather paunch underneath the race jacket. I suppose some riders are just happy to be there whereas others are forced to face up to the sad realisation that they are no longer World beaters. Most of the riders mentioned here soon retired after realising the young ‘uns had the beating of them. Others (eg Malcolm Simmons, Les Collins come to mind) seem quite happy to keep going for as long as they possibly can and just enjoy their racing.

On the Crumpie thing, I have to agree that it just didn't feel right watching Phil Crump on his come back. Sure, he may have done the job that was expected of him, but we're talking Crumpie here - the man who once had an article in Speedway Star headlined: 'The best rider in the World?' In defence of Bob Kilby - yes he was hopeless but wasn't he only persuaded to have a go due to a chronic injury problem in the Swindon team?

Martin Ashby riding as a reserve for Reading - oh how the mighty had fallen!!

At the risk of going into territory from another thread - got to be Michael Lee. If my memory etc. he top scored with 12 points for Boston in his first ever match, and averaged about 7.5 for Kings Lynn in Division One as their number 8. Not bad for a 16 year old!

Maybe not quite as dramatic but I remember a match around 1987 where King's Lynn were leading at Swindon by 12 points and the Robins come back to win 43-35.

Cliff Anderson and his golden handlebars come to mind.

I got Ivan's autograph once when I was about 14. He was standing at the back of the pits car park talking to Swindon Junior Melvin Soffe, and I was standing there ages with my little autograph book. Eventually he took my book, without breaking away from the conversation he was having, and signed it, then handed it back - still talking away. When I eventually saw his signature it was just an I with a line, right in the middle of my John Davis autograph!

Just to let you know I've added an extra page of photos that were sent to me by Steve and Marty. Click here

Don't have any myself, but try the Video Archive section here: http://www.bellevuezoo.co.uk/