HGould 2,213 Posted March 7 Interview with one of the bravest of the brave. Incredible details I wasn't aware of. If it doesn't make you cry then I doubt you have any emotion. Ultimately though a story of incredible bravery, hope, determination and fortitude over the most awful injuries. Respect for all concerned. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldhawk 76 Posted March 9 i subscribe to the the Star but haven't fully read the article yet . I was there at Hackney that night on the 4th bend where the sickening crash occurred. Milo ( "The Red Knight" ) was making great strides.at Hackney and wowing the fans every week with his daredevil swoops round the fence. Tragic crash. Hackney was an outstanding race track but the lamp standards there at that time caused many injuries, indeed worse. It is brilliant that they now have to be away from fence and have air fences. If Milo had had that crash today very likely he would have got up and walked away. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brianbuck 928 Posted March 9 Yes - a most enlightening and sobering article that graphically highlights the risks that all speedway riders take every time they take to the track. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tinker 203 Posted March 10 I have just read the article and must admit I wasn't aware of the full details of the incident. Sounded absolutely awful. I then started to remember all the other crashes/fatalities/injuries that took place at Hackney over the years so my question to anyone who attended at the time is, how dangerous was it? Why were there seemingly more serious injuries/fatalities than other tracks and was it just the lamp standards or were other factors to blame in addition? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chadster 221 Posted March 11 I was there the night Denny Pyeatt was killed and that was the lamp standards, which the next had all been covered in old tyres. It's difficult to explain, because it didn't seem to have a scary reputation like Exeter, with its steel fence, nor was it seen as a difficult track to ride like Newport, which a lot of riders seemed to absolutely hate and Len Silver was well known for always trying to provide a good surface. It may be that it was just one of those tracks that encouraged riders to have a go and that may have caused accidents. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salty 2,202 Posted March 11 No expert, because I was only an occasional visitor to Hackney and wasn't present for any bad crashes, but I always felt that the racing line got so wide it encouraged riders to blast out by the fence. A slight misjudgement at such speed then brought those oft mentioned lamp standards into play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,093 Posted March 11 8 minutes ago, salty said: No expert, because I was only an occasional visitor to Hackney and wasn't present for any bad crashes, but I always felt that the racing line got so wide it encouraged riders to blast out by the fence. A slight misjudgement at such speed then brought those oft mentioned lamp standards into play. Thing is, even now, some riders love to ride out wide - often right up against the fence (we've seen certain riders actually USE the fence - so what do you do? By its very nature, speedway is a dangerous sport, and no amount of air fences, helmets, or padding will change that. In ANY motorsport, competitors will take chances, as they look for a little extra. Yes, it's risky, but that's why riders enjoy riding, and we enjoy watching .. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salty 2,202 Posted March 11 2 minutes ago, chunky said: Thing is, even now, some riders love to ride out wide - often right up against the fence (we've seen certain riders actually USE the fence - so what do you do? By its very nature, speedway is a dangerous sport, and no amount of air fences, helmets, or padding will change that. In ANY motorsport, competitors will take chances, as they look for a little extra. Yes, it's risky, but that's why riders enjoy riding, and we enjoy watching .. All true. I just felt Waterden Road encouraged riders to go ever wider, more than other tracks (in my memory). I guess we should be thankful that the sport is "safer" now than it was back in the day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,093 Posted March 11 1 hour ago, salty said: All true. I just felt Waterden Road encouraged riders to go ever wider, more than other tracks (in my memory). I guess we should be thankful that the sport is "safer" now than it was back in the day. The way that modern bikes rev and kick, it needs to be! I still don't get why we need all that power, just for wheelspin, and then it picks up a bit of dirt, and they're over the fence... Thing is, Hackney was just one of many where the (or 'a') racing line moved out during the meeting - and it made for great racing. I grew up never hearing the term "blue groove", but it seems to be what the riders want these days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chadster 221 Posted March 12 Thinking on, the bad accidents seemed to happen from the mid 70s on, so was it that the track struggled to accomodate the faster bikes that developed with the introduction of four valves? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arnieg 3,643 Posted March 12 11 minutes ago, Chadster said: Thinking on, the bad accidents seemed to happen from the mid 70s on, so was it that the track struggled to accomodate the faster bikes that developed with the introduction of four valves? That's always been my view. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,093 Posted March 12 3 hours ago, arnieg said: That's always been my view. Trust me, there were MANY bad accidents happening before the mid-70's... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted March 12 Sadly many at Custom House in the mid/late. 60’s. Wills and Teodorowicz come to mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bunce 347 Posted March 13 On 3/9/2024 at 7:40 AM, Goldhawk said: i subscribe to the the Star but haven't fully read the article yet . I was there at Hackney that night on the 4th bend where the sickening crash occurred. Milo ( "The Red Knight" ) was making great strides.at Hackney and wowing the fans every week with his daredevil swoops round the fence. Tragic crash. Hackney was an outstanding race track but the lamp standards there at that time caused many injuries, indeed worse. It is brilliant that they now have to be away from fence and have air fences. If Milo had had that crash today very likely he would have got up and walked away. I was also at Hackney that night, standing near the starting gate. My memory of the event is a little hazy, but at the time I thought his throttle had stuck open as he appeared to be travelling very fast around the outside when he hit the fence. A terrible thing to happen to a rider and as others have said, with the introduction of air fences, how many major injuries have they saved over the last few years? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E I Addio 15,845 Posted March 13 Interesting comments from everyone but I think all of our memories play tricks on us at times. The Sad fact is that ALL forms of motor and motorcycle racing are dangerous and people are going to,get hurt at times. Although safety features , notably air fences have enhanced safety , that , in my opinion is cancelled out by the fact that there are far more crashes. I can’t remember a single meeting back in the day when we were 20 minutes into a meeting and had only run two or three heats because of crashes, yet it seems to be a frequent occurrence today. I remember talking to Olle Nygren not long before he died and he was saying that when he was riding he reckoned to do about 100 meetings a year and only fell off once or twice and that “Briggs Mauger and the others were the same” , but these days he reckoned most were falling off more than that every month. Speedway tracks are much harder to land on than most spectators realise. There seems to be little doubt that tuners have got a lot to do with it. You can’t get a quart out of a pint pot , and every time you squeeze more power from the engine you shorten the power band so power comes in more suddenly and unpredictably making the bike more difficult to ride. Incidentally, can anyone update me on what SS said about Graham Miles post accident? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
