Christer and Reidar

[E I Addio 15,841]

The Sverre Harrfeldt thread got a bit side tracked by a discussion about Christer Loftqvist andReidar Eide  so rather than spoil that thread I thought I would start a separate one as both were involved in two of the most memorable races I have ever seen. I say memorable rather than great because we can have different opinions on what is a great race but sometimes you see a race or races that just seem to define everything you love about speedway.

The two races in question took place in a West Ham v Wembley match 13th October 1970 . There was a great build up to them .  Reidar went out and won heat one over a second faster than anyone else rode that night, and inflicted Olle Nygrens only defeat of the evening. He was back out in heat 5 and whopped Tony Clarke and Barry Crowson. Two heats later he came out on a tac sub to beat Christer Loftqvist. He was looking invincible and the fans resigned themselves to him going through the card. 

Then came a fabulous heat 11 , when Loftqvist and Eide were programmed against each other. Reidar made the gate (just) but with  Christer  scraping the fence as only he could , he slowly edged in front , but with barely half a bikes length lead he locked up sightly coming out of bend two lap 3 allowing Reide back in front by a matter of inches. I think Christer had the throttle hard against the stop for the rest of the race and came back to win by about half a bikes length.

Heat 13 was a repeat of Heat 11 except that this time Christer was round the line unusually for him and Reidar round the boards. Christer again locked up a bit, same place ad before, but being on the inside, he recovered more quickly and again won by about half a length. Speedway at its absolute best. Anyone else remember it ? One of the few programmes I still have.

West Ham closed down for redevelopment soon after and I felt bereft. I continued to Hackney for a time but it was never quite the same to me and eventually I drifted away for many years until returning to Lakeside, which for me somehow captured the mood of Wets Ham in a way that Hackney never did, not for me anyway.

Edited February 17, 2019 by E I Addio

[andout 649]

"Lofty" was quite the rider, very spectacular style.....absolutely loved every race he was in.....taken from us far too young!

Reider was a good rider but never caught my eye the way "Lofty" did.

Have to agree with you E I Addio, after West Ham closed, I too kinda drifted away, came to Canada soon after but never drifted away the sport.

 

[norbold 7,098]

I was at the meeting and I have just got my programme out to see if I wrote anything on it as I sometimes did if there was anything worth recording. However, the only thing I wrote was on Heat 13 where I wrote, "Christer from behind."

I don't particularly remember those races like you do, E.I., but I was always very impressed by Reidar Eide at West Ham. He rode it very well and it was always a bit of a surprise to me that he never quite made it to the big time the same way Sverre did.