Riders with unique styles/characteristics.

[Zagarmeister]

Too much time on my hands at work tonight and was just thinking. Is the sport slightly bereft of 'characters' these days.

I remember the Michael Lee days at Lynn as a kid and went with my parents during '76' and '77' but was then lost to the sport until 1995.

Since then have been a Speedway fanatic. I'm too young to have seen Peter Craven and don't remember seeing Zenon Plech so this list starts at 1995.

Which riders would you recognise if you just saw a silhouette picture of them whilst riding?

Discuss........

 

1. Mark Loram- Furiously wa~#ing the throttle with one knee under his chin whilst passing everyone from the back.

2. Henka Gustafsson- Moving around all over the bike.

3. Bobby Ott-Bike upright with rider at ninety degrees.

4. Krzysztof Cegielski-Rubber man.

5. John 'Cowboy' Cook-Pulling wheelies and whipping his horse.

6. Ben Howe-Leg back and millimeters from the fence.

7. Joe Screen-Purely for the (low) position of his handlebars.

8. Todd Wiltshire-Always rested his left foot on the engine casing, never on the footrest.

9. Slawomir Drabik-Sitting on the bike sideways.

 

Edited December 6 by Zagarmeister

[Triple.H.]

Tomas Topinka had a very unusual style IMO, but wow he was quick, just seemed to have the knack of getting the wheels in line very quickly. Could've gone to the very top but the effects of the concussions slowed him down. Plus judging by the last photo of him i saw a few years back he must be sponsored by Nivea, he still looks like he's in his 20s.

[rearingtogo]

Peter Kildemand deffo.

[SaddlebowRoad]

emerson fairweather 

[midlandred]

Mike Broadbank, without a doubt

[Chris116]

Sören Sjösten. Rode in the same style as Peter Craven. I loved watching both of them.

[Chadster]

Nigel Boocock had a very distinctive style and, at certain moments, Emil Syfutdinov reminds me of him.

[chunky]

8 hours ago, midlandred said:

Mike Broadbank, without a doubt

And Les McGillivray, Leo McAuliffe, and Ron How.

[Technik]

Petri Kokko. Almost parked & signaled before going into the bends, I once heard Armando Castagna yelling at him whilst they were teamed at Reading " F**ing hell Kokko you must go into the turns fast or I will kill you"

[piston197]

Frank Smart, head under the inside bar

Carl Wilkinson, last of the leg trailers

[ONTWOMINUTES]

Simon Lambert 

[steve roberts]

I used to enjoy watching riders negotiating the bends with full lockers of which the Kennett Brothers were masters!

[WembleyLion]

Geoff 'leggy' Powell had an interesting style!

[Chadster]

If I look at photographs from back in the day, I can always recognise Ken McKinlay and Charlie Monk. Ove Fundin is pretty easy to identify, too.

[ch958]

Never saw him in real life but Fundin looks like poetry in motion 

[Gambo]

Col Cottrell, the original 'armchair rider'.

[spin king]

Surprise no one has mentioned Kelly Moran.

[Diamonds85]

Forgive me for putting him in the same thread as some of these legendary names, and I know there's a lot of people gonna laugh at this, but Ludvig Lindgren around the 3rd and 4th bends of Newcastle will always stick with me, he practically reversed it into the bends at times to get around the inside line.

We also had a rider during our 2011/2012 seasons called Claes Nedermark, he had a brilliant style on the bike and I was gutted when he left. Reminded me of a mini version of bomber. Speaking of which... Why has no one mentioned Bomber yet!!

I'm WAAAY too young to remember anyone else on this thread other than Simon Lambert. 🫣

Forgive me but I haven't seen many of the old style riders, I can only comment on who I've seen in person!!

[*JJ]

Malcolm Simmonds. He used to sit upright and relaxed.

[SJA]

Two styles I could always spot were Bo Petersen who was all legs and also Henka Gustafsson balancing, feet up on the pegs. The latter made riding a speedway bike look so effortless.