steve roberts 9,242 Posted July 7, 2020 An Antti Pajari appeared in twelve meetings for the "Bees" in 1959. Does anyone know anything about him? What nationality was he and what happened to him? He only competed in the UK for the one season as far as I can make out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sidney the robin 4,735 Posted July 7, 2020 (edited) 17 minutes ago, steve roberts said: An Antti Pajari appeared in twelve meetings for the "Bees" in 1959. Does anyone know anything about him? What nationality was he and what happened to him? He only competed in the UK for the one season as far as I can make out. He was the Finish National champion in 1956/57/58 Steve and came over to ride in the UK in early 1959.He averaged just under five points a meeting and by all accounts was a harem scarem type of rider a real fence scraper. Coventry wanted him to comeback but the lure of the lucrative continental meetings stopped that happening. Edited July 7, 2020 by Sidney the robin 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,242 Posted July 7, 2020 11 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: He was the Finish National champion in 1956/57/58 Steve and came over to ride in the UK in early 1959.He averaged just under five points a meeting and by all accounts was a harem scarem type of rider a real fence scraper. Coventry wanted him to comeback but the lure of the lucrative continental meetings stopped that happening. Thanks for that Sid! Welcome back by the way. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,137 Posted July 7, 2020 I didn’t realise he only did 12 meetings for Coventry. I got to see him at Belle Vue when Coventry came visiting, I was only 12 at the time but remember we used to call him ”Aunties Pyjamas”. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,085 Posted July 7, 2020 (edited) He actually made 18 appearances for the Bees, including 10 NL matches. He was also runner-up in the 1959 World Longtrack Championship (behind Josef Hofmeister). Longtrack is why he only spent the one year in Britain, which as Sidney said, was worth a lot more than the CO would offer him at Coventry. My dad got to see him ride. Edited July 7, 2020 by chunky 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bavarian 765 Posted July 7, 2020 John Hyam has written about Antti Pajari at the Online Speedway Museum http://www.speedwaymuseumonline.co.uk/anttipajari.html 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,242 Posted July 7, 2020 Thanks for all your comments! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted July 7, 2020 6 hours ago, Bavarian said: John Hyam has written about Antti Pajari at the Online Speedway Museum http://www.speedwaymuseumonline.co.uk/anttipajari.html Probably a good story, but the pic is a bit warped. Don't think he was that fat when riding Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,935 Posted July 7, 2020 35 minutes ago, f-s-p said: Probably a good story, but the pic is a bit warped. Don't think he was that fat when riding Also a bit misleading the way I read it at least. He had a number of meetings before riding at Wimbledon and seemed to be in and out of the team and his season petered out and was hardly scoring at all near the end..... Some good bits of film of Finnish speedway from the 50s online, including Pajari I think. That Helsinki Velodrome looks a great place 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,085 Posted July 7, 2020 48 minutes ago, iris123 said: Also a bit misleading the way I read it at least. He had a number of meetings before riding at Wimbledon and seemed to be in and out of the team and his season petered out and was hardly scoring at all near the end.... Plus, John states that he didn't score a point at Plough Lane, yet records indicate that he scored 2 and a bonus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tigerowl 630 Posted July 18, 2020 PAJARI, Antti Born: August 27, 1932, Sippola, Finland. When Antti Pajari signed for Coventry at the start of the 1959 season he became the first Finn to race in league speedway in Britain. He was an accomplished performer on both shale and ice and had been involved in speedway for around nine years in Scandinavia, having to return to action after breaking both legs in an ice-speedway crash in 1952. By the latter part of the decade Antti was Finland’s top trackman and claimed three successive national speedway titles between 1956 and 1958. His reputation was excellent and he soon endeared himself to the Coventry fans with his own spectacular brand of riding, scoring ten, paid eleven, in his second league match against Norwich. Some of his form in the early part of the season was outstanding but he suffered a confidence sapping run of machine problems which reduced his average to below five points per match. He was struggling with the smaller and slicker British tracks and made it known that he would not be back for a second season at the end of the year. After leaving Brandon Antti’s standing in Scandinavian speedway dimmed somewhat and he never really reached the same heights domestically again, losing his place as Finland’s number one to the up and coming Timo Laine. Year Club Division M R P BP TP CMA FM PM 1959 Coventry NL 12 46 45 8 53 4.61 - - Individual Honours: Finnish Champion 1956, 1957, 1958. International Honours: Finnish international – 14 caps, 58 points. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,935 Posted July 22, 2020 Good post. More realistic than the speedway museum link, which is as ever, a bit dodgy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jrs 3,290 Posted July 22, 2020 I well remember all the publicity and fanfare in the local papers when he was signed, and he lived up to his reputation and gave us some lively meetings. CO was quite enterprising at bringing foreign surprises in to ride for us. Soderman, Zyto, Warren, Young, Biggs were just a few of the names that he brought in to add some real quality into the Bees and keep us happy. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted July 23, 2020 3 hours ago, jrs said: I well remember all the publicity and fanfare in the local papers when he was signed, and he lived up to his reputation and gave us some lively meetings. CO was quite enterprising at bringing foreign surprises in to ride for us. Soderman, Zyto, Warren, Young, Biggs were just a few of the names that he brought in to add some real quality into the Bees and keep us happy. Guess it was some serious work to track new riders back in the day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,935 Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, f-s-p said: Guess it was some serious work to track new riders back in the day. Always looking for the new kid on the block. Plus there was a bit of the exotic crowd puller to it. Even as late as the 80s I remember all the hype abround Sergei Baltacha, when he became the first Soviet football player in England. I even went to his debut game......... The Polish riders and the first of the Americans(Keeter and Bast) I think caused a little sensation, just as the USSR touring team did Edited July 23, 2020 by iris123 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
