Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

E I Addio

Members
  • Content count

    19,361
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    91

E I Addio last won the day on March 10

E I Addio had the most liked content!

Community Reputation

15,807 Excellent

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Essex

Recent Profile Visitors

4,216 profile views
  1. I think the riders being flung head first into the safety fence or lamp standards was a common feature of many fatal and serious accidents both at home and abroad. On a slightly different tack regarding riders riding wide on the bends at Hackney, I remember reading an interview with Colin Pratt in Classic Speedway in which he was saying when he rode for Hackney he would always get to the track early so he could make sure Len Silver would always prepare the inside line the way he wanted it done and that was where almost all of his wins came from .I found that interesting because Pratty’s time at Hackney was probably the best of his career . It’s interesting how track preparation helps different riders.
  2. E I Addio

    Speedway Season

    Agreed. We have to remember that promoters lose money by calling a meeting off. I forget exactly how the system works but Jon Cooke used to say that once you get to a certain point the losses run into several thousand pounds so that money is saved by earlier call offs. Cooke used to have about 3 or4 weather forecasts from different sources before calling a meeting off. It’s a difficult decision for promoters and they sometimes get it wrong. A pain for the fans when meetings get called off, but when the sport is being run on a shoestring anyway it hits them hard in the pocket if meetings are called off too late.
  3. Interesting comments from everyone but I think all of our memories play tricks on us at times. The Sad fact is that ALL forms of motor and motorcycle racing are dangerous and people are going to,get hurt at times. Although safety features , notably air fences have enhanced safety , that , in my opinion is cancelled out by the fact that there are far more crashes. I can’t remember a single meeting back in the day when we were 20 minutes into a meeting and had only run two or three heats because of crashes, yet it seems to be a frequent occurrence today. I remember talking to Olle Nygren not long before he died and he was saying that when he was riding he reckoned to do about 100 meetings a year and only fell off once or twice and that “Briggs Mauger and the others were the same” , but these days he reckoned most were falling off more than that every month. Speedway tracks are much harder to land on than most spectators realise. There seems to be little doubt that tuners have got a lot to do with it. You can’t get a quart out of a pint pot , and every time you squeeze more power from the engine you shorten the power band so power comes in more suddenly and unpredictably making the bike more difficult to ride. Incidentally, can anyone update me on what SS said about Graham Miles post accident?
  4. E I Addio

    Oldest First time World Final Winner

    Thank you . Everything I’ve ever read about Tommy Price suggests he was a far better rider than results suggest, perhaps not in his technical skills but he certainly seems to have been a “hard man” and somewhat ahead of the game mechanically. He apparently geared his bike half a tooth lower than everyone else round Wembley on the basis that if he got in front by the first bend, he was such a hard man to pass that he was likely to hang on to that a early lead. In the workshop he drilled extra oil ways to avoid the engine failures occurring to the early J.A,P’s in those days. He also used to start warming his bike up earlier than anyone else because had a special barrel in his JAP engine although I can’t remember what it was made of, or whether it actually was a special barrel or just psychological mind games to con or intimidate the others ! Certainly one rider I wish I’d seen and it’s probably fair to say that if WW2 had not intervened he would likely have had a much better record than he has today.
  5. E I Addio

    Garry Hay RIP

    I’ve only just noticed that sad announcement. Always a double tragedy when a rider suffers life changing injuries as the innocent victim of track crash. Does anyone know the circumstances of the crash and how he rebuilt his life subsequently ?
  6. Apologies if this has been mentioned before but I was looking at some material about Tommy Price recently and it suddenly dawned on me that he must have been about 37 when he won his world title. I know there have been some , notably Greg Hancock , who became World Champion and an older age but I can’t think of any off hand who were older at the time of their first win ? I am sure Bobbath and maybe a few others have the information to hand so can anyone give us a table of the oldest first time winners? Thanks
  7. E I Addio

    Pits crew attire

    Hi Dean, is there a foolproof way of limiting revs to 10,000, and what would be the effect on the racing ? I ask that because some years ago Lewis Bridger did a pre- Season warm up meeting on an upright and he got blown away by everyone mainly, I think he said, because he lacked acceleration out of the bends. I know everyone would be in the same situation but would it affect the spectacle do you think.?
  8. E I Addio

    Pits crew attire

    No more than two per rider are normally allowed in the pits and that seems to be the norm for most TV meetings. Two per rider means28 personnel, plus 14 riders, plus Clerk of the Course, plus Pit Marshal , plus team managers plus promoters, and Machine Examiners. I make that 50in total before TV crew. Ŵ
  9. E I Addio

    27 years on

    I think there is much more to it than that. Sitting in a freezing cold stadium for two months of a six months season is not going to get modern punters through the doors, especially the times when you are 30 minutes into the meeting and have only run maybe three or four races due to delays. Most people have fairly comfortable homes these days and a variety of TV channels and choices. It’s not like the ‘50’s when people had at best poorer quality homes and BBC only on TV. No incentive to stay at home in those days. And all that is before we even get to what goes on at the track . Dog racing is the same. There were around 40 dog tracks in London alone in the ‘40’s and 50’s but only one I think left today. People just don’t want that sort of stadium based entertainment anymore. In many ways the sport has shot itself in the foot but I very much doubt whether it would even be big again in the modern world but even if the sport got its act together . I think less and less people want that sort of entertainment.
  10. E I Addio

    Hans Andersen retires

    Yes, he could be a bit prickly in his younger days but looking back over his career it has been quite outstanding. Never gave less than value for money, and as everyone seems to agree a great servant to the sport and always seems to have had time for the fans. Sad to seem him go, but a great career over 20+ years
  11. E I Addio

    Mike Parker - Saint or sinner?

    I’d take Mike Parker any day over , Godfrey, Chapman. , and the present shower.
  12. E I Addio

    Leicester 1959

    Speedway Researcher quotes a report from Speedway Star claiming their were 15,000 there but I don’t know how accurate that is. The Researcher also says that for the second meeting the crowd were so many that it took Bjorn Knutsson half an hour to get into the stadium.
  13. E I Addio

    100 Years Ago Today

    Thanks. The last two paragraphs were something I didn’t know.
  14. E I Addio

    100 Years Ago Today

    A nice history norbold, but something I’ve often pondered on is when did speedway become “ speedway “ . It seems to me that there was common ancestry with grass track, long track and arguably board racing. Even early films around High Beech only suggest a loose relationship with the sport as we now know it . Certainly films of the very early 1930’s are clearly identify it as the sport we see today. Do you happen to know by what date it was being marketed and recognised as “Speedway “ ? Personally I would have said 1928 when the first dedicated stadiums where built over here, but that’s without much knowledge of how things panned out abroad . So what in your opinion would be the date my which it was universally recognised as the sport we know today?
  15. E I Addio

    Richie Worrall statement

    Assuming Richie is factually correct. Bottom line is if he never had cocaine in his system he wouldn’t have got a £1,500 fine if he took his punishment instead spouting off all over social media he wouldn’t have got the £3000 fine. No point in blaming everyone else.
×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy