Gavan Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 I remember Richard Green being catapulted over the safety fence on the apex of the first and second bend at the County Ground and ending up down the embankment near the lane that ran near the perimeter of the Stadium. A real heart in mouth moment but thankfully one he walked away from. The Exeter riders in those days were awful hard and dangerous riders. Richard Green being one of the worst and rarely in control. I remember Ipswich going there and they fenced Dean Standing then fenced David Norris shocking riding. Always remember an interview with Jamie Habbin (remember him?) whose words were ' the track is dangerous , the riders are dangerous and if they ever decide to bulldoze the place then he would be at the front of the queue to drive the digger' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritPete Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 (edited) Ken McKinlay, in the early 60s at Swindon, came out of of the pits bend, and halfway along the straight, just as he reached full speed, his engine siezed up and he went straight over the handlebars! It was a miracle that he was able to walk away from that. Edited October 24, 2016 by BritPete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cheese Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I remember Richard Green being catapulted over the safety fence on the apex of the first and second bend at the County Ground and ending up down the embankment near the lane that ran near the perimeter of the Stadium. A real heart in mouth moment but thankfully one he walked away from. I thought that was Mark Simmonds If I remember correctly, didn't he have to use a ladder to come back over the safety fence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave69 Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 I thought that was Mark Simmonds It was.I was there.Wasn't his father in law killed there ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Tony Sanford ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 If I remember correctly, didn't he have to use a ladder to come back over the safety fence? Correct, didn't just walk away but climbed a ladder to get out of the garden behind the stadium. I'm sure he broke his pelvis though so maybe to say he walked away is pushing it, even if he technically did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave the Mic Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 (edited) The Exeter riders in those days were awful hard and dangerous riders. Richard Green being one of the worst and rarely in control. I remember Ipswich going there and they fenced Dean Standing then fenced David Norris shocking riding. Always remember an interview with Jamie Habbin (remember him?) whose words were ' the track is dangerous , the riders are dangerous and if they ever decide to bulldoze the place then he would be at the front of the queue to drive the digger' Sorry Gavan, that simply isn't true. I watched speedway at Exeter from 1975 until closure & whilst in the very early days (actually before I started attending) there were some harum scarum riders - Chris Julian ( I did see him ride a few times) & Chris Blewett spring to mind, they most certainly weren't dangerous or even particularly hard. And to say Green (or any of them) were rarely in control is ridiculous. Further, given the track's fearsome reputation, the truth is, there were very few serious accidents there, even the sadly missed Tony Sanford's crash seemed innocuous & it happened about 5 yards from where I stood, so I am qualified to comment. The Simmonds crash was in a fours meeting, when he tangled with Watto & speared the fence. He arrowed past me, missing by about a foot & disappeared down the bank behind. I can still see him flying at me now! There were plenty of riders who didn't like the place, I agree, but there were equally many who loved it. Ask both Phil & Jason Crump, PC & Mort, Booey, Andy Galvin, Martin Goodwin to name a handful. It was a track to be attacked & if you did that, many, many riders will tell you it was easy to ride. Fear it before you start & you were always going to struggle. The reality is, the vast majority of home riders new how to ride the track & some opposing riders were beaten before they arrived. Stoney hated the place, but turned up one week with the right approach & scored 16. State of mind, nothing more. Edited October 29, 2016 by Dave the Mic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulco Posted October 30, 2016 Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 Was at a Welsh Open at Newport one year , might have been the one the day after Harris won at Cardiff , and the Polish lad Marius Mroz ( think that was his first name ) went spectacularly into the fence , at the pits gate , face first . Hit it with an almighty clatter , but within a few minutes he was up waving to the crowd , thought he was a goner that day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted October 30, 2016 Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 Was at a Welsh Open at Newport one year , might have been the one the day after Harris won at Cardiff , and the Polish lad Marius Mroz ( think that was his first name ) went spectacularly into the fence , at the pits gate , face first . Hit it with an almighty clatter , but within a few minutes he was up waving to the crowd , thought he was a goner that day We were sat in front of the bar/refs box and the fence rippled a bit. What a shame Newport are no more while most of the facilities were very basic it was a bloody good racetrack. Just think what might very happened if Phil Morris had taken it over 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulco Posted October 30, 2016 Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 We were sat in front of the bar/refs box and the fence rippled a bit. What a shame Newport are no more while most of the facilities were very basic it was a bloody good racetrack. Just think what might very happened if Phil Morris had taken it over I loved my trips to Newport , especially the Newport v Glasgow clashes the night before Cardiff . They never disappointed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Was at a Welsh Open at Newport one year , might have been the one the day after Harris won at Cardiff , and the Polish lad Marius Mroz ( think that was his first name ) went spectacularly into the fence , at the pits gate , face first . Hit it with an almighty clatter , but within a few minutes he was up waving to the crowd , thought he was a goner that day Yes, I was there as well. Possibly on the second bend talking to SCB and Pinny I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert72 Posted November 1, 2016 Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) The Exeter riders in those days were awful hard and dangerous riders. Richard Green being one of the worst and rarely in control. I remember Ipswich going there and they fenced Dean Standing then fenced David Norris shocking riding. Always remember an interview with Jamie Habbin (remember him?) whose words were ' the track is dangerous , the riders are dangerous and if they ever decide to bulldoze the place then he would be at the front of the queue to drive the digger' Not one of my fave tracks but it was not dangerous.Habbin was a softie that wore pink and was scared to mix it there along with a number of others like him. Exeter was a track for the real men for sure I would of loved to have seen a GP there Edited November 1, 2016 by robert72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Goddard Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Sorry to bump a slightly old thread but have been wondering, did Lee fully recover from his injuries? I remember after the crash he never seemed to be mentioned again in the speedway press, anyone know how (and where) he is now? No-one able to answer? Just remembered another one - can't remember who it was but during a sidecar race at King's Lynn in about 2002, one of the passengers fell off the back of his outfit and was literally run over by the following machine. I thought he'd just been seriously mangled but after a minute or two he got up and walked away. And I don't think everyone walked away unhurt from this one unfortunately, but I remember Aidan Collins losing it on one of the turns at Workington, and his bike shot onto the centre green and hit one of the photographers. A truly horrible moment. Richard Lawson and Peter Karlsson's crash at Monmore Green earlier this year was very scary too and not easy to commentate on for the meeting DVD - I thought that Lawson's bike had smashed into the Wolves flag girl at first and it was a couple of meetings before she returned to the track. But in terms of horrible crashes, there are two from car racing I struggle to watch footage of at all - Alex Zanardi's IndyCar crash from 2001, and Tom Pryce in the 1977 South African GP. Yes there is footage online of both of them, and no you definitely do not want to see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Don`t know if any of these have been mentioned already but I saw Josef Franc and Seemond Stephens demolish most of the first bend fencing at Berwick one night in a Berwick v Exeter match, another one was Gino Franchetti being catapulted over the fence and hitting the flood light pylon on the exit of bend two, again at Berwick.How Franchetti walk away from that crash is incredible he was physically jammed head down between the floodlight pylon and the fence.Lucky lad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert72 Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 How Franchetti walk away from that crash is incredible he was physically jammed head down between the floodlight pylon and the fence.Lucky lad. Was that at the old berwick track ? I hated that place, it was as bad as lakeside and I thought dangerous as it was so tight. I have seen some horrific crashes and many have walked away but also seen riders slide off and have bad spinal injuries, think it was crossy I saw who slid off and broke his back and can't think of the names of a few others I saw who it looked nothing but was a bad back injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Was that at the old berwick track ? I hated that place, it was as bad as lakeside and I thought dangerous as it was so tight. I have seen some horrific crashes and many have walked away but also seen riders slide off and have bad spinal injuries, think it was crossy I saw who slid off and broke his back and can't think of the names of a few others I saw who it looked nothing but was a bad back injury. No it was at the present venue in the Peter Waite era ( can't quite remember the year).2007/8 roughly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaboy279 Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 If you want to see the worst Speedway crash ever, imo...then this is it. It's maddening and so dumb...you can't believe it could happen or be allowed. I'll warn you it's not pleasant.... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6bd_1465779302 That's truly horific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien76 Posted November 3, 2016 Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 https://youtu.be/e9YyAvNY57g Jason Lyons and Lubos tomichek at Somerset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted November 3, 2016 Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 Jason Lyons and Lubos tomichek at SomersetI was there for that one and at the time thought it was a terrible move. Seeing it again years later and able to watch it in slo-mo I'm still convinced that was one of the dirtiest moves I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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