Seventies Grand Prix

[steve roberts 9,246]

1 hour ago, mikebv said:

One thing that does stand out from watching these old Speedway meetings is the riding styles and how they have changed. .

Most of the 60's, 70's and 80's racing has riders entering the turns almost 'straight legged' and 'straight wheeled', almost 'gliding' across the corner, (similar to most of the Grass track racing I have seen)..

They then, around a quarter into the turn, swing the back wheel round and bite the back wheel into the grip to assist launch down the straight. With the use of the throttle being far more prevelent as they control entry, navigation and exit from the bends...

This angle into the turns looked like it gave the riders behind much more room to pick a line to try and overtake as they too entered the turn, unlike today where it appears the modern rider is almost completely sideways before he actually hits the bend, making himself quite a wide target to get round, with almost every bend hit at full speed..

Overtaking must be so much more difficult..

The tracks haven't got any wider, in fact with air fences some will be narrower, so widening the entry and exits to the turns must be a natural progession surely to provide more space either side to counter the modern riding technique? 

Interesting observation. I grew up watching speedway during this era and it was the recognised style...not sure when riders adopted a 'trailing left leg' moving away from the more up right approach. May have been the American invasion of the late seventies/early eighties? I recall the 1987 World Final and Henny Kroeze was the only rider adopting the old style and he looked most out of place!

[Dave Goddard 356]

My parents remember the Grand Prix series, and especially the Berger Paints sponsorship, because apparently the audio from this TV ad was played either before or after every single heat!