A Facebook Q&a With Peter Collins Last Year.

[Jim Blanchard]

1. What is your best speedway memory and why?

Answer:

I have so many fantastic memories of my speedway career but obviously the best one has to be winning the world championship in Poland in 1976. At the time I thought everyone wanted to be world champion so of course fulfilling my life long ambition to win it aged 22 has to be it for me.

 

2. What are your Feelings about that Saturday night at Hyde road when you sustained the injury which I feel cruelly robbed you of a 2nd world title, and do you blame anyone?

Answer:

It would have been great for me to win more than one individual world title. This was one which definitely got away from me. I feel that the person that watered the track in the interval and dragged the hose pipe across the drain cover and dislodged it was very careless not to notice what he had done and should have put it back over the drain properly. As when I hit it, it almost severed my leg and cost me the 1977 world championship. I have never tried to find out who it was but he will know it was his fault and I hope he feels as bad about it as I do.

 

3. Whose idea was it to modify your bike - clutch and throttle for the Reading Meeting in The KO Cup and how on earth did you manage to ride so brilliantly ?

Answer:

 

Dave and Chris Morton had Lambretta scooters which we used in the fields when we were kids trying to learn how to ride motorbikes. When I broke my left clutch hand 6 days before the KO cup final, I thought back to those days when I rode their bikes and remembered that you had to pull in the clutch and change gear with the same left hand. So I thought if I could do both with my left hand, why not be able to work the clutch and the throttle both with my right hand. That is where the idea came from and it worked very well for me especially for the great run off with Anders Michanek. It was only a little difficult at the start, but after that it was okay. Good Days.

 

4. who was your childhood hero

Answer:

I first saw Peter Craven in 1961 at Belle Vue and what he could do on a bike was a massive influence on me at 8 years old, and planted the seed of me becoming a speedway rider. Right from those early days I wanted to be world champion. Then in 1967 Chris Pusey turned up at Belle Vue and I watched him make a name for himself. He was like Peter Craven in being such a spectacular rider and could defy gravity and they were both simply amazing to watch.

 

5. Most respected opponents ?

Answer:

I tended to respect all opponents really because I found if you did not it could cost you dearly and lose vital points to any rider if you did not treat them all with the same respect.

 

 

6. do you miss co commenting on sky sports these days

Answer:

Yes I do, and I feel very bitter about what happened there. I believe that the speedway on Sky has a very high Southern bias. All through the history of Speedway racing there has been a North - South divide but in the days when Belle Vue were very successful this was suppressed a great deal though in recent times and Belle Vue have not had good fortunes which has made the Southern issue to be more dominant and for them to take a dim view of BV so my association with them has cost me dear.

I was only told by the producers that I was being replaced after being with them from the early days in the 1990s by other commentators, but with no reasons why. I must say that some of the people used after myself have not been very knowledgeable about the sport which has been a disappointment to me. Whether its an age thing I dont know but the younger ones do not necessarily know everything. You cant substitute experience for youth. I always tried to be as informative as possible so new viewers could understand what was going on and not using to much speedway slang and terminology. If that was not was wanted they should have let me know. TV people can be very fickle and easily let you down so what can you expect? I think they resented bringing me down from Manchester as I was not part of the Southern Set I always made myself available for meetings and even cut down on my other business interests so I did not let them down.

 

 

7. Who were the biggest influences in your speedway career ?

Answer:

 

As per question 4. Peter Craven and Chris Pusey were my initial influences and the catalysts to spark my passion for Speedway. Though when I started racing at Belle Vue, Ivan Mauger was my role model and influence as I felt I could ride the bikes okay but what I needed was to learn the mechanics and machine preparation which Ivan was the master of. I learned so much from him for two seasons at Belle Vue which was a great help. Also, though Eric Boocock helped me a great deal with his preparation and mechanical knowledge.

 

8. Rochdale Hornets were considered a feeder for the Aces and the likes of Paul Tyrer, Alan Wilkinson and yourself were nurtured through the lower league. Do you think there should be better or even official ties between clubs in the different leagues in the hope that it would give young British riders a better opportunity?

Answer:

I think that today we have a lot of riders who are benefiting from riding for clubs in the Elite, Premier and National leagues doubling up and even trebling up which I think can only be very good, the more experience and riding the better and as many races and laps as possible.

 

9. can you tell us what happened when you suddenly left the promotion at the start of the new Belle Vue.

Answer:

I can be very proud to say that I was the instigator and main mover in transferring the entire speedway operation from old Hyde Road to the present home at Kirkmanshulme Lane. I saved Belle Vue.

Unfortunately, like any partnership it became very rocky during our second season in 1989 and one of the partners; John Perrin, was not the easiest of men to get along with, and I wanted to run Belle Vue on a sound business footing but Johnhad his own ideas. One thing he was very insistent about was he wanted to be in charge of the team and riders. I was totally against the team which John put together for the 1989 season at great expense.

Johns treatment of such riders as Carl Stonehewer, Paul Smith and Roland Danno from our first year left them trackless or moved on. I had two or three excellent prospects who were desperate to come to Belle Vue. Unfortunately, John team did not do very well and were languishing at the bottom of the league tableand most people assumed that it was my doing, which could not have been further than the truth. John was very difficult to get on with and things were going from bad to worse. So I decided to leave him to it and jump ship. This was a very sad time for me as I had big plans for Belle Vue. I did not want to commit financial suicide.

 

10. Your accident at Cradley.....the meeting should never have even started. Yes or No?

Answer:

This meeting brought my speedway career to a premature end and should never have started. It was the 2nd leg of the KO cup final and was originally called off at 10am on the Saturday morning of the meeting. I had a call from the Cradley management to say it was rained off as did all the other Belle Vue riders.

I have got to get to the bottom of this yet, but I will. It is something I want to include in my forthcoming book, which I am working on.

Then at about 12.00pm midday we get another call to say that the BSPA has over ruled the Cradley management decision to cancel and says that the meeting must go ahead in the atrocious conditions as its the end of October and we cant run in November.

Arriving at the track at 6.00pm its obvious that the track is in a terrible state. The track staff had bladed a large amount of mud and slop to the outside of the track by the fence and all the way around and left on the racing line and what can only be described as a sticky, clay, putty, plasticine surface.

When the meeting started it was obvious that we the riders could not get the rear wheels to spin, to turn the bikes. In my second ride I made a good start from the outside only to be wiped out by a young Erik Gundersen, who could not turn his bike in these conditions and Erik and I and two bikes cart wheeled into the fence with me ending up with a fracture dislocation of the head of the Humerus - shattered shoulder.

I had earlier seen my brother Phil run into my team mate Chris Morton and Tee Bone him bringing him down in a heavy heap. These incidents were purely down to the extremely dangerous track conditions. It is my intention to find out who within the BSPA were responsible for insisting that the meeting should go ahead after the Cradley management had called it off.

I want to know who was on the Management Committee in 1980 who was secretary and who was responsible for virtually ending my racing career. My shoulder is still not right after many operations and years of physiotherapy and I am still in constant pain and had to race from 1981 to 1987 only 50% fit. I want to know who was sat in the their warm offices making such life threatening decisions.

No. The meeting should not have started at all.

 

11. who are your modern day fav riders and who would you have in your team if no limits existed ?

Answer:

Darcy Ward, Tai Woffinden, Chris Holder, Greg Hancock, Peter Karlson, Tomasz Gollob, Emil Sayfundinov and Antonio Lindback.

 

12. What do we need to do , to discover another set of "Partington Boys ?"

Answer:

We the Partington Boys were very in a very unique situation. The world was ready to be conquered as far as speedway was concerned. A. We all had the passionate interest to do it. B. Were able to use and help each other to prime our riding skills. C. We had the great Belle Vue, Hyde Road, only about 15 miles away. D. We had the farm and land where I lived to ride our bikes and practice before we were old enough to race. E. Our families parents were right behind us all and encouraged us, my dad Bill, allowed us to ride on the farm fields. F. We did not have the anti motorcycle brigade on our backs all the time. G. We were one of the first batches of children with motorcycling experience to take to the tracks.

These days people and children are very different and are more influenced by the TV, Computer Games, indoor activities, mobile phones, alcohol, drugs, crime and anti social behaviour. We were just normal kids with a very focussed common interest.

I doubt our time can ever be repeated. 'Its unique'.

13. During you long career, what was your favourite type of engine and bike setup?

Answer:

My best bike and set up was what I had in 1976 which I won the world championship on. Weslake engine prepared by Dave Nourish with 83 cam, large 38mm port and Amal MK2 concentric carb with cut Dunlop rear tyre. Jawa side port frame. I had many successes on bikes set up this way. Perfect on all sized tracks and conditions. The bike just worked everywhere. In 1977, I had the same bike with magnesium crankcases motor with 2 - 26mm carbs.

Message for Steve Magro: I will photograph this bike for you Steve, quite soon and send you the photographs as promised.

Also, Steve my best memories of racing in Australia and favourite tracks scoring 18 point maximums in test matches for British Lions at tracks like; Claremont in Perth, The exhibition Brisbane, Sydney Showground and Newcastle Motordrome, also, the \old \Liverpool and later the smaller one and Pioneer Park Ayr. Winning races at these venues was very exhilarating and the best feeling.

Sydney Showground was so frightening and dangerous as its legendary history shows, but breathtaking to win races there. Such a privilege. Very Special.

The big tracks were usually my favourites although I could win on the small ones also.

 

14. What was it that made Hyde Road so special ?

Answer:

Belle Vue for me was the best rack in the world. Having raced on most of them it was such a perfect oval with enough banking to build up good speed around the outside as well as the inside. The straights had a slight curve in them being able to change direction in a split second to gain an advantage worked so often for me. There were so many fast racing lines that for me starting was not so important. I looked upon Hyde Road as my playground. Fantastic. So sad that its gone.

 

 

15. I'm sure I once heard you didn't dislike any track - except Exeter! Is that true, and if so what was it about that circuit you particularly disliked?

Answer:

Newport the old one was a track which did not suit me at all. It was square around the football pitch with the fence being always on the racing line. I had a few encounters with the fence there. If I had not made the start when trying to race other riders, very difficult to overtake.

The old Bradford Odsal was also square, similar but bigger. Exeter was usually usually rough and bumpy as well as being narrow. But I did win a lot of races there, specially if I made the start.

 

16. Do you think the 'proposed' National Stadium at Belle Vue will be useful in bringing on all young talent or will the Aces benefit from it most? Or do you consider the money could be better spent elsewhere or in other ways?

Answer:

I feel that the new Belle Vue proposals will be fantastic not just for BV but for Speedway in general.

The Belle Vue name is the most famous in world speedway and after its demise it is ready to be resurrected. It can only be good for the sport especially if the track bares a similarity to the old one. I think that the Manchester City council still have blood on their hands for allowing the old stadium to be lost. So I think that the public money which will regenerate Belle Vue will be money well spent, and is not before time. I am sure that the new talent will be queuing up to ride at Belle vue.

You only have to look at what the Manchester Velodrome has done for cycling in the UK with all the world champions and Olympic gold medallists they have produced. Plus, the council have also built and funded the new stadium for the Salford Rugby Club

 

17. what have you and your brothers been doing after retiring from speedway?

(Peter declined to answer this question as he does not feel justified in giving out information regarding the rest of his family. However, he has included one of his own..)

 

17.b What am I doing now after my illness and very difficult 18 months?

Answer:

To be honest I have made a great recovery after my brain haemorrhage on the 9th September 2010 considering having spent 10 weeks in hospital being unable toget out of bed or walk even.. I am now back to how I should be and able to do everything necessary for normal life. I actually went to the summit of mount Snowden last year which was quite an achievement. I feel I am very lucky to have made such a recovery. People say its most likely down to my determination and competitive spirit, balance and fitness etc after being a speedway rider.

I would like to thank everyone for their support and best wishes, Letters, Phone calls and cards. It has been a great help to me having those kind thoughts and encouragement during one of the most difficult and challenging times of my life.

18. is it true you and Kenny Carter did not like each other and did not get on at all ?

Answer:

This is a difficult question and would require a lot of time and space to answer it in full. One of the previous questions about respecting other riders will help with this one.

Unfortunately, Kenny did not seem to have any respect for any of his fellow riders or people in general. This was the key for him and I to be on a collision course.

When Kenny started speedway - I had all the things that Kenny wanted; being England number one and world champion. He wanted to take these things away from me one way or another, by fair means or foul. Kenny made losts of enemies along the way, especially with his fellow riders, and had an unhealthy relationship with the top American riders at the time. Most of the Americans were my mates, especially Bruce Penhall. Unfortunately, Kennys relationship with his peers made it very difficult for him because everyone wanted to beat him because of this aggro and lack of respect. He made it an uphill battle.

He would have been far more successful had he just got on with his racing and kept his mouth shut. It all ended so sadly especially for his family. Although Kenny and I did have some success together winning The World Best Pairs Championship at Gothenberg in 1983.

 

 

19. pc what is the one thing you would change in speedway ?

Answer:

What a difficult question. I would need about a month to answer this one. I think that there are just to many crazy and detrimental rules and regulations in the sport now. I would sweep most of them away and start again with a clean sheet. Such a lot of the recent ones seem to be so wrong to me. I dont see how some of the older more experienced promoters and riders have allowed this new stuff to come in. Such a lot of these rules are far to complicated and many are just down to cost cutting, especially doing away with the tactical ride and introducing double point rides when the dont pay for double points.

A lot of cost cutting could be achieved by reducing the number of sub standard foreign and European riders especially with their travel costs. The whole League thing should be kept more simple.

The whole system of equalising team strengths seems to throw up so many injustices which often affect the UK riders the most. Unfortunately, I can only scratch the surface on this one.

 

 

20. You started on Grass Track and then became World Champion at Speedway. Which racing discipline did you enjoy the most and why?

Answer:

From the age of 8 years old, I set my goal to be the World Speedway Champion.

Grass track was the perfect way to get started as it was a stepping stone for me into speedway. Here I learned all the basics and got the taste for winning. Speedway was my favourite as in my time it was such a bigger deal and had far more prestige, better prospects for fame and fortune. I feel I was very fortunate to have my time in the 70s & 80s when speedway was at its peak and was on a massive scale. I am sure that my time; the 1970s was the best and I would not want to change a thing about it and would not want to be just beginning now.

 

 

Arranged by Jim Blanchard & Steve Hartley with thanks to PC. Copyright: Jim Blanchard & Peter Collins

[stratton]

A great read very interesting indeed, some of it i have heard before but have learned a bit.I have a strong recollection of the past and i have really enjoyed it but alot of what PC says has no relevance to today's speedway. The sport has moved on it is a different world now whether it is better or not it is all down to what the individual thinks i suppose.