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What Is The History Behind....


Anders`

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The speedway helmet colours come from Greyhound racing traps: 1 = red, 2 = blue, 3 = white, 4 = black combined with 5 = yellow.

 

Some early league meetings had both home riders in red and away in blue.

 

The covers themselves were, I believe, originally waterproof covers worn over cork crash helmets, as used by early aviators and I've seen pictures of riders in the IoM TT wearing them in the '20s.

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That's very interesting miro.

 

The only thing I would say is that all the pre-War programmes I have show the fourth rider as wearing yellow, not yellow and black. Maybe they were yellow and black but they just printed yellow in the programme?

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Now you say it Norbold I can't picture anyone in the pre-war years wearing a yellow and black helmet colour, all very ad hoc in those days of course. The black and yellow halves were from the 1940s to 1956 when the quadrant came in then I guess. The Swedes used plain yellow and a black cross on yellow too.

 

Ah Speedway trivia, you can't beat it to pass the time.

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Now you say it Norbold I can't picture anyone in the pre-war years wearing a yellow and black helmet colour, all very ad hoc in those days of course. The black and yellow halves were from the 1940s to 1956 when the quadrant came in then I guess. The Swedes used plain yellow and a black cross on yellow too.

 

Ah Speedway trivia, you can't beat it to pass the time.

I seem to remember somewhere in the back of my brain that the Yellow / Black helmet had something to do with TV coverage....but I cannot think of it now...maybe I will have prodded someone else by this post.

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I can understand the confusion with the early white and the yellow helmet covers on black and white photographs, that's probably why they quartered the yellow helment cover with black, or there again perhaps not, it was just a thought.

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  • 4 months later...

In the early days in Australia, I belive it started in 1926 the promotors gave each rider a coloured vest jockey style to identify the the riders they kept to that coulor all season.

But as numbers grew it got difficult as there were up to 100 bikes at a meet.

So I am guessing here some one came up with the START colour idea.

Edited by spiderweb
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I seem to remember somewhere in the back of my brain that the Yellow / Black helmet had something to do with TV coverage....but I cannot think of it now...maybe I will have prodded someone else by this post.

 

Sorry to have to disagree with your brain but the yellow and black helmet covers were standard issue when I first watched speedway at Hyde Road in 1946.

 

My wife, Margaret, and I bought our first television set in 1954 [only one channel, BBC]. It was several years before speedway was televised. Colour television was, arguably, introduced generally in the mid 60s.

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  • 3 years later...
Why did yellow/black helmet cover change to green??Anyone know??

 

Er, have you been on the sauce!? :blink:

 

It was the WHITE helmet colour which changed to green!!!! :shock:

 

I understand this was Sky TV who wanted this change - but have to say that makes little sense; and too often you find shades of green which are as yellow in hue as the yellow!! I say bring back yellow and balack AND white!!! :approve:

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Er, have you been on the sauce!? :blink:

 

It was the WHITE helmet colour which changed to green!!!! :shock:

 

I understand this was Sky TV who wanted this change - but have to say that makes little sense; and too often you find shades of green which are as yellow in hue as the yellow!! I say bring back yellow and balack AND white!!! :approve:

 

.....makes even less sense when they still continue to use the white helmet colour for the SGP and SWC :blink: But I agree, the white and the yellow and balck helmet covers should return to league racing.

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Don't forget also, that years ago, the Y/B helmet colour was actually yellow with a black hoop, rather than quartered. Don't know when the quarters became standard...

 

Steve

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Sorry,mervjankefanclub-haven't seen a UK meeting in years-sometimes go on youtube-so let me get this straight-its now Red,Blue, Green,Yellow-why the hell did they get rid of the y/b-I liked r,b,w y/b- can't they stop tinkering with the old ways when did these changes occur??Its ridiculous. P.S. Don't knock the sauce-as Oscar Wilde said"work is the curse of the drinling classes" Hic!!

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