Grachan

I've just seen a quite unbelievable incident on video from Canterbury v Milton Keynes in 1987. Does anyone remember it? A part of the tape was hanging down and so, during the race, the flag marshall actually stood on the track and held it up. He nearly got hit by the riders as they came round and MK's Troy Butler, who was in the lead, pulled up whilst the others carried on. Amazingly, the result of the race stood!

Good in his day though. Brilliant in his day, and one of the best gaters in Speedway history and one of my all time favourites. Trouble was he'd retired in about 1980!

Good riders, though Thomsen was past his best at Swindon. None of them were in the legendary, nil conquering 1983 side though. Second in the averages was Bjorn Andersson on an average of around six! Also in the side: Martin Yeates, Malcolm Holloway, Phil Herne, Alf Busk (ok, I'll admit he was brilliant), Per Sorensen, Milan Spinka and some old geezer called Bob Kilby. Trust me. If you'd been supporting them you would have known it was Phil Crump and a bunch of also-rans (much as I loved them all of course).

Ah, so was I. Only Crumpie could make a complete thrashing seem like a victory!

Great post, Lupus, though not sure I like the sound of your employers much! Sound like a couple of right snobs! So true about Crumpie plus a bunch of also rans. I think one year Malcolm Holloway was actually Swindon's second heat leader. Do you remember the match against the 1983 Cradley side, possibly the best team ever. They completely hammered Swindon - 29-49 I think it was. If I remember rightly, not one Swindon rider managed to beat a Cradley rider, with the exception of Crumpie, who scored an impeccable 15 point maximum. When the Cradley team came round on their lap of honour, half the crowd were on the greyhound track chanting 'Crumpie! Crumpie!'.

No idea how he is, but I remember him riding. Wasn't it a 2.00 junior in those days? Swindon didn't have anyone, though, so used him on loan from........ Peterborough was it?

How about THIS? It's a short video clip of the first ever meeting at Blunsdon - V Oxford in 1949.

I can do the final points tally's but not individual score charts. Is that any help or do you already have that much?

Konnichi Wa! Just been over to Japan and while I was there I managed to see a couple of Autorace meetings (Japan's own unique brand of Speedway). For anyone interested in getting an idea of what these meetings are like, here is some video footage I took. Start of a race - check out the noise of those bikes! A lap of a race

I had Ian Cartwright as well. I'd forgotten about that one. I used to copy his signature and dothe same when I practised my own for when I became famous.

I think I had Vic Harding, although it's a long time since I saw them. Definitely had Kevin Holden. Neatest autograph was deinitely Kevin Young of Oxford. Twice I got it, and both times had a perfectly written 'Best wishes Kevin Young'. God, I'd love to find those books one day!

Sound interesting. I don't know Gus Kuhn and Buster Frogley, but they're fantastic names! I used to collect Autographs in the Seventies when I was a little laddie. I'm sure I still have my books somewhere, but on the few occasions I've tried to located them I have failed. It wouldn't surprise me if my mum chucked them out at some point though, which would be a shame. My two favourites were Tommy Jansson, who I managed to get at Swindon when he won the Golden Helmet only about a week or so before he was killed. I also got Ivan Maugers autograph, which was effectively an 'I' with a line, which he decided to do in the middle of a loop in John Davis' signature. I hope I find them one day, but I'm not holding out much hope!

I think that was probably me, although I've only just popped on here so I may not be long. The site was www.dk4.dk I've got it on at the moment, although it's very stop start. Can you not get anything? Try clicking the TV set at the top left of the page, where there is the word 'NHYET' - or something like that.

I have to say, my eyes welled up reading this article. I'm fortunate never to have seen a fatal accident, and it's always been hard to imagine. Normally you get all the cold, factual details, but seeing it through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy really brought the whole thing home. The image of poor Vic being wheeled off the track, face down, with his helmet still on has lingered in my imagination ever since reading it. Well done for really giving Vic Harding the personal tribute he deserved. I'm sure the attendance at his meeting will rise as a result.

Not sure I 100% agree, although he certainly had a unique style. He certainly never had any problems getting round Swindon, and a move to a small track like Eastbourne never helped his career. I think it was more a case of a rather casual attitude than anything else, and I suspect that is what Ivan saw in him.

Here's something that might be quite intersting. It's Andrew Silver being interviewed by a typical 80s 'yoof TV' programme called Network 7, when they did a short piece to promote the 1987 British Final. Network 7 Clip 1 Network 7 Clip 2 Ooh, I've gone all Silver-stalgic now!

Ah, I've got it now. Thanks. Good to see there's one of him wearing the 'Suicidal Tendencies' hat!

Is the address correct? I can't get anything.

Wolves 1975 George Hunter in the front row, but I don't know who the big hairy DLT type lurking in the background is!

The race is Heat 4 of Swindon v Ipswich on 29 August 1988. Final score: Swindon 51 Ipswich 37. See my signature for the riders in the race.

It's great isn't it! I love the collective 'gasp' from the crowd when he picks up extra drive on the second lap.

He was number 8 in 1987, and joined full time in 1988. It's not often you actually want someone to be absent so you can use your no 8, but that's how I used to feel. Same as you, Jeffster. I was so pleased when he joined full time. He may not have ultimately fulfilled his potential, but he was by no means a failure in my book. It was a real joy to watch him ride, and when on top form he was totally amazing. I used to love it when he missed the gate on the outside, looked across and waited for everyone to go ahead, then cut under everyone on the first turn to come out in the lead. I saw that happen quite a few times at Blunsdon. I reckon his 'decline' came about because he had his hair cut, kinda like that Samson bloke. (No, not Lou or Mike! The one in the bible!)

Rothmans Middle East Speedway Spectacular at the Royal Kuwait Sporting Club during the 1978-79 close season (2 day event) Peter Collins 28 (15+13) Les Collins 25 (11+14) John Louis 24 (13+11) Chris Morton 21 (8+13) Dave Jessup 18 (7+11) Tom Owen 18 (8+10) Barry Thomas 17 (10+7) Jim McMillan 15 (7+5) Bernie Leigh 14 (8+6) John Davis 13 (6+7) Craig Pendlebury 13 (8+5) Reg Wilson 12 (11+1) Ian Cartwright 12 (5+7) Dave Morton 5 (3+2) Richard Greer 3 (0+3) Neil Middleditch 3 (1+2) Information obtained from 'The Peter Collins Speedway Book No 3'. There's a 4 page article on the meeting in there. See below: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Wasn't he invited to take part in an open meeting somewhere (Arena maybe?) a few years after his retirement, and surprised everyone by nearly winning the meeting. He was a bit of a World Class Snowboarder too, if I remember rightly.

Probably the most exciting rider I ever saw! Fantastic rider, but my feling is that he never really took Speedway that seriously. I don't really know what happened to him actually, but it's a shame as I think he could have gone on to great things. I remember him riding for Eastbourne and averaging around 5 points a meeting. I never could understand that. During his time at Swindon he was - when the mood took him - one of the best passers and team riders I ever saw.