cityrebel

i went to the 1970 british final at custom house. there was 20,000 there that night and there was plenty of room for more. west ham was a big, wide 415 yard pacy track with plenty of racing lines. the place was steeped in speedway history and if you ever went to hyde road, then you will know exactly what it was like.

i hope it's still running. it's a great set up at lydd and i've thoroughly enjoyed attending the last two veterans championships staged there.

today is the 40th anniversary of west ham speedway's closure. despite being a dons fan custom house was the 'daddy' of the london tracks. it left a lasting impression on me as a child and i still miss it today.

my all time favourite must be west ham.

i sat in the stand last night just behind the tapes and saw both red lights, firstly on the camera and secondly the brake lights on the van in the car park. i fully understand james sargeant getting upset about the incident, but his actions during the race could have caused an accident, giving the ref no option but to stop the race.

i remember it well, but i think it was in the late 70's because i saw him jump at the white city as well, during the rebels era.

crayford was a tricky little track inside an excellent all covered stadium. with a connecting railway station serving the london main line, it was so easy to get to. how i wish it was still running today.

there is going to be some hard first bends at plymouth this season with that trio, plenty of fence repairs as well!

it might not be a bad thing if tomorrow nights meeting is rained off. after the awful events of last night, a few days off might do everyone involved some good.

you should be able to pick them up on ebay for about a pound if you are patient.

christer lofqvist, what a rider. my first ever meeting at west ham in 1970 was christer's debut for the hammers against my beloved dons. he certainly made a big impression on me as a young kid. his dicing with the fence on the wide open spaces at custom house will live with me forever. a few weeks later i saw him score a fifteen point maximum at wembley that secured his status as a speedway hero to me. i was gutted when the hammers closed and he moved to poole in 1972. i was over the moon when he was allocated to ride for the dons in 1976, but sadly it never happened. thanks for the memories christer.

i've made no secret of the fact that i don't like defunct clubs riding in the league. i don't include dudley because they don't use the cradley heath name. now that the raiders are back, i will be attending their meetings this season, weather permitting and regardless of their team strength!.

i'd better dig those speedway stars out from 1973!

i matched the race jacket from that excellent website, but i don't know what heat format was used in those meetings.

i've just aqquired a race jacket used in the 3 match senior poland v great britain test series in 1973. does anybody know who rode at number 3 for the brits in all of the 3 matches.

i'd nominate the great ronnie moore, a fantastic one club rider for the wimbledon dons. although i only saw mirac ride from 1969 to 1972, he made a lasting impression on me as a young fan that stays with me today.

as a neutral i'll be happy to see some close matches at the launch pad this year. those landslide home wins of seasons gone by bored me to tears, but i guess some rockets fans might prefer the latter.

i remember seeing the late steve bast ride for wembley 1970. i still have a photo of him in a lions race jacket in my collection. it must have been the only one ever sold at the empire stadium!

when i saw the first clip i thought it was norwich because of the grandstand and the houses surrounding the circuit, but i never went to the firs so i decided to keep quiet on the subject!

sadly there is very little footage of league racing from the 1970's. i've never seen any filmed action from white city or wembley league meetings. british pathe have got footage from the press and practice day at wood lane in 1976. you would have thought that someone with a cine camera would have filmed something at some of these historic venues.

the 1980's were a stange time for international speedway with loads of english fans supporting the yanks or the danes. whatever peoples views on kenny carter at least he was patriotic. as for bruce penhall, his antics at the white city in 1982 were blatant and unprofessional and finished his golden boy image with a lot of fans. i remember the incident like it was yesterday and the boos and the objects being thrown at him made it unforgettable.

you and me both shads. i went to watch the gooners on tuesday for a tenner, i wish every game we played was in the carling cup!

one of my first memorys of gote was watching him ride for the lions in 1971. a very stylish rider.

i saw him race regularly on the IOW and some of his fence scraping riding was scary to say the least!

any speedway promoter that runs two teams in this financial climate must have very deep pockets. i don't think the hornets will be the last casualty of this winter.