Issue 61: Havvy, Wtc Of The 80s, Rosco, Etc

[TonyMac]

Issue 61 is out now and includes:

 

GARY HAVELOCK INTERVIEW

He became only the fifth English rider to win the world title but as Gary Havelock explains in this compelling in-depth interview with Martin Neal, the former England captain was never fully appreciated by the speedway powers that be.

Ahead of his farewell meeting at Poole on March 21, 2014, Havvy reflects on:

• The effects of his one-year ban for failing a drugs test.
• How calming a team-mate in a drunken rage cost him thousands in legal fees.
• How he rode illegally in 1984 and made his competitive debut at the age of just 15.
• Coming to blows with father and former rider, Brian.
• His 10 toughest opponents.
• On the lack of characters in the sport today and the effect of lay-downs.
• Winning the world title at probably the worst time in speedway history.
• The best track he has ever ridden.
• The career-ending crash that still leaves him in pain.

Quotes from Havvy:

 

“I felt they missed a big chance. They could have maybe hired a PR company to get behind me and push me. But all the PR we were doing in the weeks and months afterwards we arranged ourselves.”

 

“I got woken up by a Kalashnikov or something similar being poked in my face. Two armed police were there screaming at us and took us down to reception.”

 

“All I ever wanted to do was to be World Champion. I never dreamed of winning six or seven or two or four. I only ever dreamed of winning one and that’s maybe where I went wrong.”

 

“I’m still in a lot of pain. The bones seem to have healed OK but it’s the nerves and it drives me up the wall sometimes. I have good days and bad days and still take a lot of medication.”

 

“Young kids today haven’t really learned any throttle control because there’s only one way to ride a laydown bike and that’s fully pinned. Some of these guys don’t need a throttle – an on-off switch would do. I wouldn’t say laydowns have killed the sport but they’ve changed the riding style.”

 

“When I was a kid every team had a scrapper in it. Ours was Geoff Pusey. Every other meeting he’d have a nose-to-nose or a shouting match or fisticuffs with somebody. Every track had a telephone on the centre green and if a rider got excluded he’d be taking his helmet off, shouting into it in front of the fans and waving his arms about. That’s all gone. Riders don’t want to get stung with a £300 fine.”

WORLD TEAM CUPS OF THE 80s
Rob Peasley reflects on a decade in which one country virtually took ownership of the sport’s major team trophy. England started the decade with a triumph at Wroclaw in 1980 and ended it with a somewhat hollow victory at Bradford in 1989, in a meeting completely overshadowed by the life-threatening injuries sustained by Danish superstar Erik Gundersen. In between, but for a single American victory at White City in 1982, it was Denmark all the way. In Gundersen and Hans Nielsen, the Danes had the best two riders of the decade. Add in Ole Olsen, Tommy Knudsen, Jan O Pedersen, Bo Petersen and Preben Eriksen, and Denmark had an embarrassment of riches that no other nation could match.

 

PETERBOROUGH: 50 MEMORABLE MOMENTS
After another winter of uncertainty, Peterborough are now set to come to the tapes for their 45^th consecutive season. Rob Peasley looks back at the history of the Panthers and as well as team matters, he recalls former favourites such as Andy Ross, Richard Greer, John Davis, Brian Clark, Andy Hines, Nigel Couzens, Ian Barney, Kevin Hawkins, Mick Poole, Craig Hodgson, Kevin Jolly, Jason Crump, etc.

 

ALUN ROSSITER INTERVIEW

He won three league championships as a rider and, so far, two as team manager. No wonder Alun Rossiter reckons he hasn’t had a bad career in speedway. We caught up with the former railway worker cum new Great Britain team manager to find out more about the life and times of the real Rosco.

 

Quotes from Rosco:

 

“Each week, Bob KIlby would take me out on his bike on the parade . . . Bob was my biggest hero, even with people like Briggo and Martin Ashby in the team.”

 

“There were lots of bonuses and incentives for the riders and I always remember the late, great Bernard Crapper saying that one of my biggest mistakes was leaving Coventry at the end of '86.”

 

“Mechanics nowadays, they're charging £300, £400, £500 a week, yet in our day, it would have been your mate doing it. It was, 'look, come and give us a hand and I'll shout your dinner in the chippy on the way home and I'll shout you a couple of pints after the meeting'.”

“You can't lose the passion but it was too much, I was too wound up, too hyped up about it all, and you have to calm down.”

 

“I don't think I was that bad as a rider. I was always a team player. But I must admit, if the track got really dodgy, I was probably the first one packing up and going home!”

 

GRAHAM BROWN INTERVIEW: Team Manager’s Tales
In the first of a new series featuring interviews with former team managers, Graham Brown recalls his eventful time at Boston and the fall-out with promoter Cyril Crane that saw him leave the Lincs club.

FINN RUNE JENSEN INTERVIEW
Finn Jensen admits he was too busy with engines to focus on becoming a better rider. In this interview with Vitek Formanek, one of the top engine tuners in modern speedway recalls his career with Birmingham, Leicester and Cradley Heath.

 

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE

In the year that could bring Scottish independence, Doug Nicolson reflects on the period when Scotland stood alone as a true speedway nation and were regular contenders in the World Team Cup and World Pairs.

 

OPENING TIMES

Scunthorpe have had three different homes and this time we look back at the opening of their second venue, at Ashby Ville in 1979, with then Stags promoter Brian Osborn.

 

Plus . . .

 

Martin Neal’s Q&As with ROB TILBURY and IAN FARNHAM, Czech fan Vitek Formanek’s racejacket and autograph collection, your letters, report and pictures from the 2014 WSRA dinner and much more pure nostalgia.

 

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