The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 2, 2015 The racing at New Cross was always very exciting because it was so small. There was never time for a race to become boring! But talking about the best prepared track for good racing, I think I'd have to say the best I visited was Hackney under Len Silver. Len Silver put a very good Track down at Sunderland. A number of Away Riders praised it and some of them rode it very well indeed. Bruce Forrester was superb around Sunderland others who rode it well included Mal MacKay, Dave Baugh, Alan Knapkin, Richard Greer, Doug Wyer and most of the Eastbourne Riders. The Track was only 312 yards in length, which probably goes to explain why Eastbourne liked it so much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldace 1,678 Posted March 2, 2015 The racing at New Cross was always very exciting because it was so small. There was never time for a race to become boring! But talking about the best prepared track for good racing, I think I'd have to say the best I visited was Hackney under Len Silver. Hackney was a death trap. Any rider with an ounce of self preservation stayed on the line. Yes if you brave (mad) enough there was a decent line out wide but you ran the risk of hitting someting liable to do harm if it went wrong. In a list of genuinley good race tracks Hackney would be a long way down Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mickthemuppet 976 Posted March 2, 2015 Hackney was a death trap. Any rider with an ounce of self preservation stayed on the line. Yes if you brave (mad) enough there was a decent line out wide but you ran the risk of hitting someting liable to do harm if it went wrong. In a list of genuinley good race tracks Hackney would be a long way down Have to agree completely Hackney was one of the most dangerous tracks ever. The light stanchions were built into the safety fence.. It was like waiting for an accident to happen.and they did. They would never build a track like that today . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bruiser McHuge 589 Posted March 3, 2015 Certainly a lot of riders thought Hackney was a very dangerous track. I was introduced to speedway at Hyde Road in the 70's and that was the only track I saw for a good while so I think I was totally spoilt and just thought that Hyde Road was what all speedway was like...of course watching Peter Collins and Chris Morton there every week spoilt you as well.. It was later when we became hooked that we started going away and being quite shocked that speedway wasn't the same at all tracks...in fact I'm sure that if Hyde Road hadn't been the track that I first went to then I don't think I'd have become such a big fan. I can never get the love for the Shay though....I went there reguarly watching Belle Vue and I always found the racing very fast but very processional ..it certainly wasn't my favourite.....Sheffield I did always like though but outside of Hyde Road I think my favourite UK track was Cradley...I used to really like that track. Outside the UK I loved Claremont in Australia where I saw plenty of meetings...when it was prepared properly for bikes it was a fantastic track with a great atmosphere and a great night out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sommelier 1,118 Posted March 3, 2015 So surprised no one has mentioned Coatbridge yet ?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terry 1,319 Posted March 3, 2015 (edited) Hackney was a death trap. Any rider with an ounce of self preservation stayed on the line. Yes if you brave (mad) enough there was a decent line out wide but you ran the risk of hitting someting liable to do harm if it went wrong. In a list of genuinley good race tracks Hackney would be a long way down Have to agree completely Hackney was one of the most dangerous tracks ever. The light stanchions were built into the safety fence.. It was like waiting for an accident to happen.and they did. They would never build a track like that today . Totally disagree. We had the best racing in the land on a superbly prepared track every week. It's true the lamp standards were too close to the track which caused the Vic Harding and Denny Pyeatt tragedies but the outside overtaking from Thomas, Morton, Plech, Petersen, Galvin and Loram was breathtaking at times. I don't think the more conservative riders enjoyed Waterden road but the true racers used to love it. Edited March 3, 2015 by Telboy68 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sommelier 1,118 Posted March 3, 2015 Totally disagree. We had the best racing in the land on a superbly prepared track every week. It's true the lamp standards were too close to the track which caused the Vic Harding and Denny Pyeatt tragedys but the outside overtaking from Thomas, Morton, Plech, Petersen, Galvin and Loram was breathtaking at times. I don't think the more conservative riders enjoyed Waterden road but the true racers used to love it. No Finn Thomsen in your list! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stratton 1,491 Posted March 3, 2015 Hackney was one of my favourite tracks i ever went to,under Silver Friday at eight was a decent night out.Death trap has been mentioned but surely Exeter was as dangerous? all tracks were dangerous.And alot of the tracks that were run were old fashioned stadiums that were run down even Wimbledon looked dangerous Exeter was the scariest track i ever went to.A very fast track exciting and i enjoyed my every visit, as i did at the great Shay again that was a very fast circuit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted March 3, 2015 I have to agree with you Telboy. As a regular visitor to Waterden Road back in the day, I must say there was some fantastic racing. I'm not sure about the danger angle...having sadly witnessed the Dave Wills and Tad Teodorowicz tragedies at West Ham I can't say Hackney was more dangerous. Tragedies have occurred at tracks everywhere, particularly 40+ years ago when safety standards were much lower, so I would not have labeled Hackney a death-trap. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terry 1,319 Posted March 3, 2015 No Finn Thomsen in your list! Great team man Finn, but never the most exciting! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,121 Posted March 3, 2015 I have to agree with you Telboy. As a regular visitor to Waterden Road back in the day, I must say there was some fantastic racing. I'm not sure about the danger angle...having sadly witnessed the Dave Wills and Tad Teodorowicz tragedies at West Ham I can't say Hackney was more dangerous. Tragedies have occurred at tracks everywhere, particularly 40+ years ago when safety standards were much lower, so I would not have labeled Hackney a death-trap. I do agree that Hackney wasn't the safest of tracks, a fact shown by the number of tragedies there. However (and as a Wimbledon supporter, this is embarrassing for me to say!), it was also a superb racing track. It was a track with multiple racing lines, including out in the dirt. Watching Thommo in action there was brilliant! Steve 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 467 Posted March 3, 2015 Re Coatbridge- I went there once (19th July 1968). It was very interesting to me partly because it was also Albion Rovers Football ground, plus the whole area including adjacent towns like Airdrie. It was programmed as Monarchs v. Belle Vue but half the Belle Vue riders didn't show up--- they were Levai, Maidment, Sjosten(thanx a million guys!!). Bill Powell, Tommy Roper and Chris Pusey did-good for them .I felt really sorry for Ian Hoskins and the Monarchs fans. A meeting was cobbled together called Monarchs v. Northern Aces-with Lex Milloy(didn't he become a stuntman in various movies ) Bobby Beaton and good old Jimmy Tannock. I understand that this scenario of riders not turning up was an ongoing problem for Hoskins- Coatbridge was ,what , say 400 miles from London, 250 from Manchester say-that's about as far as Toronto from Montreal(London)or Toronto to Windsor(Manchester)and I just couldn't believe that riders would fail to show -couldn't they just get their act together!! Anybody remember that, in fact anybody at that meeting. Having said all that- Coatbridge did strike me on that long ago day as a well prepared track. Again too bad the fans(nice folks as I recall) were let down by the no show riders!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arnieg 3,662 Posted March 4, 2015 I do agree that Hackney wasn't the safest of tracks, a fact shown by the number of tragedies there. However (and as a Wimbledon supporter, this is embarrassing for me to say!), it was also a superb racing track. It was a track with multiple racing lines, including out in the dirt. Watching Thommo in action there was brilliant! Steve When I first went I thought it was a great racing track, but in my view the advent of 4 valves moved the racing line out and effectively made the track narrower and more dangerous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted March 4, 2015 Romford was also a pretty scary track with a concrete wall as a safety fence for three quarters of the circuit. A nice stadium though, with huge crowds surrounded by houses!. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted March 4, 2015 I was at Romford's opening meeting and fully agree. As I understand it only one householder complained about the noise but he still got Romford shut down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
