fatface

Same here. Many happy hours leafing through Backtrack over the years. I have to be honest and say the quality has tailed off recently, with "The Life and Times..." little more than a rehash. But overall, it has been a very enjoyable read. Coupled with some excellent books under the same operation, especially the Kenny Carter and John Berry books, its a great body of work to be proud of. Well done Tony and Susie.

Some stuff I've hung on to. But more I've got rid of and regretted. I've still got a Chris Morton oil painting by Dave Ellis. Still got a Mort programme board by Speedart. Ones I have pangs of regret to have shifted on via ebay or otherwise are: Mike Patrick "World of Speedway" book which was packed with signed pages; PC, Carter, Mauger, Morans, Crump, Schwartz, Nielsen, Knudsen, Wigg, Mort, Gundersen etc. Soren Sjosten testimonial programme in mint condition signed by Sjosten Chris Morton Testimonial body colour signed Chris Morton England body colour signed

Some great tributes and kind words on this thread. There are real parallels in Nigel's passing and that of a successful cycling journalist I knew who also recently passed away far too early. 52 is certainly no age. But in that short time, he is someone who got his head above the parapet, crammed a lot into a short life, achieved a great deal and leaves behind a body of work to be proud of. That's something we can all draw inspiration from.

Very sad news for the sport. A real enthusiast and ambassador. I thought he was an excellent commentator. In what is an incredibly difficult job, he was knowledgeable, engaging and with a tempo that often perfectly complimented the action. He also had an obvious chemistry with Kelvin Tatum that worked brilliantly. He should rightly be remembered as the voice of speedway, particularly in the GP era. Condolences to those closest to him.

Harsh. Yet fair

It's not an easy job commentating at all. I've had a couple of very small dabbles at it. It's really not easy at all. You can plan, but are ultimately on the hoof. You are there to be shot at for what you say in the immediacy of a moment. I think speedway is pretty lucky in this regard. Back in the day, Dave Lanning called it brilliantly and I think Nigel and Kelvin are very good too. Pearson's voice suits the fast moving nature of the sport and he and Tatum have obvious chemistry. Of course, it's horses for courses...what works for speedway wouldn't work for other sports. Peter Allis, for example, was perfect for golf...

I don't envy you that bit of research. Glad you did though. Makes interesting reading. I kinda feel like I should have got Mort too. What is also says to me is what a stalwart Chris Harris has been for each club. I've seen him copping some flak on here many times. But he truly is a throwback rider, never giving less than 100% for each club. Plus delivering some of the most exciting moments in league speedway in the modern era.

Leigh Adams? Hans Andersen? Chris Harris? I admit I am guessing!

Tell you what...I'll have you a bet on that. Double it if you like? If there's less than 10k at Sunday's GP2 I'll give £100 to the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund. If it's more than 10k you hand over 100 notes to the same charity. Deal?

When life gives you Lemons.....

I know. Sick as a pig.

Cradley, Wembley, Bristol, Meadowbank, Trelawny.

Ouch. I'd be very surprised if there was anything deliberate. I never saw Ravn do anything remotely dirty in years of riding for Belle Vue.

Nice tagline. This was mentioned in a backtrack interview recently with Colin Richardson. Bonus was he got loads of them. Surprised they didn't use Roger Johnnies instead... Yep. Lucozade with simply GRIT emblazoned across a pic of Havvy. I confess I tried to nick one for my student pad in Edinburgh at the time....until a police car pulled up and asked why I was whacking a bus shelter with a grolsch bottle. I had more testosterone than brains back then. Cool poster though

It's not an incident I know much about. Tell us more. I would also add that Evitts was no saint, saw him take Andy Smith into the fence at Odsal and he broke his leg.

I never really rated Mavis, but he did reach the World Final that year? Of course. They won at Belle Vue on opening night....which was a rare one for the Dukes. Lance King is a common denominator here. I think he never really settled anywhere after being forced to leave Cradley due to averages. He really looked the part at one time, but his career kind of petered out.

Having a browse through Peter Oakes' excellent history of British League Speedway book the other night. Found it interesting to see some teams that look the part and actually turned out to be not up to much. Also, the opposite, teams that looks pretty ordinary, but actually really clicked. Two examples... King's Lynn 1988 - Lance King, John Davis, Bo Petersen, Richard Knight, Allan Johannsen, Stephen Davies, Adrian Stevens - effectively four heat leaders and two really solid second strings. Finished 9th/11 Long Eaton 1984 - Dave Perks, Graham Drury, Paul Stead, Chris Piddock. Miles Evans, David Tyler, Mark Stevenson, John Frankland - mostly past their best, middle of road or untried...bottom in 1983, champions in 1984 Anyone else got any examples that drained away the start of year optimism or pessimism... ?

A regular run for me in SE London used to take me past Speedway Dry Cleaners in New Cross. I assume very close to where the old speedway used to be? Some nice memories here from Plough Lane. I only went to the speedway once for a 4TT in 1990 and then for Stock Car World Champs 2-3 years later and finally to the dogs about 10-12 years ago. Sorry to say the old place just grew more and more dilapidated. I had the same feeling the last time I went to Brandon too.

A World Final at Exeter? Can you imagine? A dear old place which I hold in great affection, but I'm glad the World Final never declined to the point it was at the County Ground Despite being a big Mort fan, I have to reluctantly agree with this. He could not get out of the gate consistently enough. The whole of the 1983 World Final is on YouTube....every race. On paper, it was quite an open field - until Muller wheeled his jet engine into the pits and had direction over track conditions, but I digress - and I would have Mort in the 8 or so riders good enough to win it that day. At the interval, he was doing pretty well on 6 points. But 4 of those were earned from the back. You just can't win World Finals earning 2/3 of your points that way. No one can....and he tailed off after the interval. Even had a World Final been held at Hyde Road, I still doubt it. It was great when he won the BLRC, but things out of his control helped him that day too. And if it had been a World Final at Belle Vue, with every rider peaking with the best machinery geared up to that day, all having prepared in practice, then I think his odds lengthen. Brilliant rider of course - as I am sure Nigel Boocock was - but there is a difference between being brilliant and being the best.

Funny I remember the series being bigger than that..I was much younger though. I'll file it away with curly wurlys and monster munch.

Shouldn't laugh really. He might have had a better chance without that unprecedented pedigree. No pressure eh? I think (hopefully someone else can confirm?) that Steve had a decent night for Cradley one night at Hyde Road, winning a race.

I wouldn't ask anyone outside to debate that. The anorak in me likes the age ranking order alongside their biggest achievements... Peter - 1st World Final Les - 1st Intercontinental Final Phil - 1st Overseas Final Neil - 3rd Commonwealth Final Steve - 1st, erm, in a GB Junior Grasstrack Final? But I can't help the nagging suspicion that Les's purple patch in 82 which resulted in the Intercontinental title and finishing 2nd in the World Final (and let's be honest, he really should have won it), owed a fair bit to having a the fastest bike. For whatever reason, that Jawa was ticking over brilliantly. Faster than Penhall's Eddie Bull-tuned Weslake, faster than anyone else. Les never reached those heights again, he was never an automatic for England and only ever averaged 8 at best in the BL. Loved watching him though. One of my favourite moments was seeing live the opening race of the Edinburgh - Glasgow KO Cup Final in 94? It was packed at Powderhall and Les brought the house down by rounding both Robert Nagy and Mick Powell on the last bend to win.

Is there a team of Parkers? Asking for an anorak.

I'll forgive you Always reckon Phil and Les are a closer match than most would suggest. Sure, Les had some standout individual success, particularly in 82. But Phil was a better rider for England than Les.

Peter, Les, Phil?