TonyMac 720 Posted December 8, 2003 Probably the wildest of all the many East European hardmen was Czech Zdenek Kudrna. He made Charles Bronson look angelic and as well as riding ruthlessly on speedway tracks, he was lethal on the ice, too. He did plenty of damage before paying the ultimate price himself when he died in a track smash. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandman 0 Posted December 9, 2003 and from what i hear, Demon, as was his nickname, was an extremely pleasant fellow in real life.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest maddriver Posted December 11, 2003 Kudrna's nickname was kermit as far as i knew. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandman 0 Posted December 11, 2003 no,.. it was Demon.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spin king 1,925 Posted December 12, 2003 Another name to add to the list Joe Owen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jayne 312 Posted December 12, 2003 Kudrna's nickname was kermit as far as i knew. He was known as 'Kermit' at B'ham and was a favourite with the Brummies fans. A sad day when he was killed, remember his wife and daughter visiting Perry Barr afterwards. Never heard him called 'Demon' though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frigbo 524 Posted December 12, 2003 From what i've read, Jack Unstead was a bit chewy! Rode with a plaster cast on one leg for best part of a 1/4 of a season Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandman 0 Posted December 12, 2003 sigh.. i give up..one last time..... Demon... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandman 0 Posted December 12, 2003 and while we are at it,.. tough one? Forget the rest, Chris Pusey was the toughest! He would eat and spit out most mentioned here... for breakfast... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kimhomestead 1 Posted December 16, 2003 Sandman. Agree that Chris Pusey was a rough, tough little character, but he certainly wouldn't have spat out, as you put it, old timers such as 'Gentleman' Aub Lawson, Olle Nygren, Dent Oliver, Belle Vue skipper, Ron Johnstone, a no nonsense Kiwi, or veteran Halifax captain, Eric Boothroyd. They also, ALL reached at least one world final, something Chris Pusey never achieved. kimhomestead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whowasthatberntpersson 108 Posted December 18, 2003 Sandman. Agree that Chris Pusey was a rough, tough little character, but he certainly wouldn't have spat out, as you put it, old timers such as 'Gentleman' Aub Lawson, Olle Nygren, Dent Oliver, Belle Vue skipper, Ron Johnstone, a no nonsense Kiwi, or veteran Halifax captain, Eric Boothroyd. They also, ALL reached at least one world final, something Chris Pusey never achieved. kimhomestead I actually met Olle Nygren recently, still a nuggety yet fit looking type of bloke even at 70..ish. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,170 Posted December 23, 2003 How about Ronnie Moore? See Brian Burford's article in last week's Speedway Star. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boxer123 3 Posted December 24, 2003 Jack Unstead would go thro gaps that were not there, regardless. Unfortunately I was at Foxhall the night he got killed. Tony Childs was "warned off" after he "speared" a couple of juniors in after meeting races at Ipswich in the 90s. Tomaz Gollob in his heydays at Ipswich would not give an inch to anyone.I saw him and Chris Louis ,I think,get a 5-1 to win the meeting at Arlington, dispite the fact the Eastbourn starter kicked the support pole (no pun intended) from the tapes infront of him so he had to ride over that. He still came back to get the 5-1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spaarky 0 Posted January 8, 2004 He might not be hard off track but on track Kevin Doolan has gotta rank as one of the toughest speedway riders around. He's like rubber... the amount of times i have seen him crash this season and get back up is amazing... special awards must go to his crashes at Glasgow and at Hull, Glasgow Vs. Edinburgh: Kevin went smashing through the 4th bend fence wrecking his bike and tangling himself in the fence... as the paramedics went to go over to him to check how he was he got out of the fence... picked up his bike and pushed it over the start finish line...!!! Hull (Individual) Doolan snapped the fence boards in half with his bike and he was thrown over the fence its self and landed on the concrete steps of one of the stands. Yet again he got straight back up volted back over the fence and walked back into the pits unaided! (plus riding most of the season for us (Glasgow) with an injured ankle.) Sparky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandman 0 Posted January 14, 2004 Sandman. Agree that Chris Pusey was a rough, tough little character, but he certainly wouldn't have spat out, as you put it, old timers such as 'Gentleman' Aub Lawson, Olle Nygren, Dent Oliver, Belle Vue skipper, Ron Johnstone, a no nonsense Kiwi, or veteran Halifax captain, Eric Boothroyd. They also, ALL reached at least one world final, something Chris Pusey never achieved. kimhomestead oh i guess i left out the most important word... include.. "Grasstrack.".. ahemm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
