Stats 5 Posted March 9, 2015 Came across the following post on an American message board about car racing - and the colour green being unlucky. Can anyone tell me if there was ever a green helmet colour????? It originated from solo (bike's) Speedway in England and Europe and related to the gate colours. Solo's run different helmet colours for each starting gate red=1, blue=2, green=3, white=4. Back in the day several riders were killed and seriously injured (safety wasn't real good then) and because gate 3 was difficult due to riders being on either side it was seen to be the most dangerous and it was quite often the green helmeted rider caught up in the incident. Many riders began to refuse to wear the green helmet covers and still do today because of the superstition; instead they will wear a yellow helmet cover with a black cross on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,092 Posted March 9, 2015 I don't know where the information in that post came from, because white was always the helmet colour for gate 3, and yellow & black for gate 4. Plus, the yellow & black was either striped (in the old days), or quartered. Green has long been considered an unlucky colour in speedway, which is why very few riders would have green leathers. As far as a green helmet colour, it was used in six-rider races, and in recent years, Sky replaced the white helmet colour with a green one. Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,984 Posted March 9, 2015 Few years back we had a thread along these lines about Leathers/Kevlars http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=44544&hl=%2Bgreen+%2Bleathers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted March 9, 2015 Was there not a rider in the 60's who bucked the trend and wore green leathers?. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucifer sam 3,953 Posted March 9, 2015 Simon Wigg was hugely successful wearing green leathers, including 5 World Longtrack Championships. All the best Rob 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsunami 10,219 Posted March 9, 2015 Simon Wigg was hugely successful wearing green leathers, including 5 World Longtrack Championships. All the best Rob Yes, and Tom Brown, a Welsh lad, rode in green with the Welsh dragon on them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ommer Mon 381 Posted March 9, 2015 Eric Broadbelt wore green leathers too if I remember rightly and he did ok at Belle Vue!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldace 1,678 Posted March 9, 2015 Came across the following post on an American message board about car racing - and the colour green being unlucky. Can anyone tell me if there was ever a green helmet colour????? It originated from solo (bike's) Speedway in England and Europe and related to the gate colours. Solo's run different helmet colours for each starting gate red=1, blue=2, green=3, white=4. Back in the day several riders were killed and seriously injured (safety wasn't real good then) and because gate 3 was difficult due to riders being on either side it was seen to be the most dangerous and it was quite often the green helmeted rider caught up in the incident. Many riders began to refuse to wear the green helmet covers and still do today because of the superstition; instead they will wear a yellow helmet cover with a black cross on it. Green was introduced instead of white about 8 or 9 years ago, it was to do with sky if I recall but only lasted a year or two before white came back When there are six rider races (Ivan Maugers farewell was one such meeting) the extra 2 colours were green and black/white) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,984 Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) Simon Wigg,Eric Broadbelt,George Stancl,Kevin Wölbert,Zdenek Kundra,Ivan Mauger,Okoniewski and lately Kacper Woryna have all worn green at some period in their career.Some longer than others.But a couple of polish teams have green in their official colours.Just seen a team line up and the guys are all in their official black/green shirts including Batch,Dakota North and Chris Harris!!!!! Edited March 9, 2015 by iris123 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 9, 2015 First Rider I saw wearing Green on his leathers was Dave Gatenby at Sunderland. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted March 9, 2015 Diverging slightly...Was it Ken le Breton who rode in White leathers? I remember Nigel Boocock in Blue and Mike Broadbank in Red. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 9, 2015 Diverging slightly...Was it Ken le Breton who rode in White leathers? I remember Nigel Boocock in Blue and Mike Broadbank in Red. Indeed it was CHR. He was known as the 'White Ghost'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted March 9, 2015 Thank you WK...good to know my 2 remaining brain cells are still functioning. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barney Rabbit 727 Posted March 9, 2015 First Rider I saw wearing Green on his leathers was Dave Gatenby at Sunderland. First rider I saw in green leathers was John Bowerman of Scunthorpe in a World Championship qualifier at Peterborough. Diverging slightly...Was it Ken le Breton who rode in White leathers? I remember Nigel Boocock in Blue and Mike Broadbank in Red. As did Todd Wiltshire, if I remember correctly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 9, 2015 First rider I saw in green leathers was John Bowerman of Scunthorpe in a World Championship qualifier at Peterborough. As did Todd Wiltshire, if I remember correctly. .............. and also Graeme Smith former Reading, Sunderland and Canterbury Rider. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
