Garry1603

Didn't he also wear black leathers? - quite 'old school'

He was certainly a great rider. I used to enjoy him riding in Sheffield's visits to Hyde Road.

Really pleased (and surprised ) to see Nicki back in the UK. Love him or hate him, he's box office and will provide plenty of banter for fans. Hope he can stay fit and have a successful season. A great, bold move by Sheffield.

It's a brilliant interview, one of the best I've read in Backtrack. It certainly gives things a lot more perspective and allows Gary to tell his side of the story. I always thought he was a little bit of a hot head, and his riding was 'forceful' to say the least, but the interview is very thoughtful and reflective. I don't think that there's any doubt that he was held as a bit of a scapegoat for the drug problems of the era as he wasn't as 'box office' as the Americans or Michael Lee.

Alan Wilkinson - the perfect club captain.

Always came across as a thoroughly nice bloke as well as a very talented rider. Maybe not quite good enough to be a world champion (very few are!) but a mainstay in the GPs for many years. Have a long and happy retirement AJ and thanks for the memories. So glad he's come through it relatively unscathed.

Yes, 9-00 I think after a 7-00 start on a Saturday night. Meetings usually ran like clockwork. You could tell what time it was by looking to see which race was on!

I think the debate about the BSPA ruling is overlooking the fact that Belle Vue were well beaten tonight with only Fricke (and to a smaller extent Lidsey) coming out with any credit. The two point deficit flattered the Aces and unfortunately it looks like we are a little short of top class when it comes down to it. The most concerning thing for me is the form of Bewley and Worrall who both look (understandably) a level below last season. I think we all suspected that entrusting Dan with a heat leader role was going to be a leap of faith, but sadly it looks like he's going to take longer than anticipated to step up. Don't think we need to change any personnel, but we might just have to live with an 'if only' season and review again in the winter.

I guess it comes down to the question if the sport (as opposed to the promoters with vested interests) need two 'top' leagues or not. If keeping them separate to allow the top riders to ride / earn at the top level, well that clearly doesn't work with only Doyle of the true 'Elite' still riding here. So why not accept the facts and adapt accordingly. Having a different team visiting each week rather than seeing a rotation of a few teams every couple of months would surely encourage the general fan base to come back each week. Clearly, there's not a big gap between the leagues anymore. so integration would be so much easier than in previous attempts. I used to hate the Rider Control idea as I was a Belle Vue fan, but needs must and if the sport is to survive, EVERY team needs to be competitive and more importantly, viable. When I was 11 in 1971 and going to my first season's meetings with Mum & Dad I'd be reading the Speedway Star on a Thursday and extolling the abilities of Reider Eide or Martin Ashby to them to 'persuade' them to take me on a Saturday to Hyde Road (they always did!) - I can't Imagine a young person now saying "oh, it's Brady Kurtz, Jacob Thorsell, Chris Harris coming to the NSS for the THIRD time in the last two months, can we go to watch.?" Adapt or die I'm afraid,

Really interesting article about brothers in speedway with an interview with Peter Collins. Always wondered if there was a reason that each successive Collins brother didn't quite achieve what their elder brother did!

When it came to the track design at the NSS, I wonder if there had been detailed plans retained about the Hyde Road track (length / width of track, gradients etc) or did Mort just design it from memory? Also, did he take into account the different aspects of the bikes these days? Either way, he did a fantastic job.

Every time I see a race like that at the NSS I secretly thank Chris Morton.

Yes, a well thought out and reasonable reply. Speedway at that time had other issues rather than 'tittle tattle' rubbish from the tabloids.

At the end of the day, that's the crux of the matter. TV bosses these days want a finale to their sports events, whether it's an end of season Super Bowl, Champions League Final or whatever. If they get a Premier League going down to the last day, it's a bonus. On a more event based basis, they want each GP to have a winner, so they can promote it for the next one, to try to attract viewers.

Very sunny in Manchester now - might end up being dusty track conditions unless they've heavily watered it.

Thank you for posting my question to Martin and to him for the excellent, well thought out reply. It's nice to be able to get an honest answer from a man who was at the centre of our sport when it was at it's best. Pity we don't have more promoters like him now.

Yes, the 1978 team were an excellent blend of youth and experience -so tragic about Wilkie.

I agree that Jack Millen was extremely hard - his battles with Frank Auffret were something to behold. No love lost there at all!

Interesting read that Moxey. For various reasons I had fallen out of love with the sport from the early 90s, so although I knew that Belle Vue had won the league in 1993, I never realised the circumstances behind it. Still, the record books show that we won it! Thanks.

Very interesting interview with Kym Mauger, so good to see that he made a success of his life in a different field. Must be so hard to be a son of a legend if you try to go into the same sport.

From a personal point of view, I don't think expanding the coverage would stop anyone from buying the magazine as long as it stays true to it's 'Golden Era' of the 70s. There will always be new angles to take with riders previously interviewed. As far as the 90s goes It would certainly be interesting to hear about the riders / promoters views regarding the dawning of the GP era and emerging riders of the time (Crump, Rickardson, Loram, Adams etc)

BV have the potential to be play off contenders but there are several unknown quantities this season. The starting seven will probably not be the team come around June anyway (like most clubs) so there's no point speculating their final position yet.

I must admit that I fell out of love with the sport for most of the 90s so I'd welcome the chance to learn more about that era.

I love the magazine and it's a real delight to receive it very couple of months, but is it time to move the timeline from 70s/80s to 80s/90s? It would open up a lot more riders to be included (and let's be honest, just about every decent rider has been discussed / interviewed now). Might even tempt some 90s fans to buy it as well. Not meant as a criticism at all, just an opinion.

Great post pathfinder. Personally I'd like to see some regionalisation to try to attract a few more away fans to local derbies. There can still be playoffs between the Northern and Southern champions to give the tv companies an end of season finale, but it might keep costs down a little and create more local rivalry if for example Belle Vue meet Sheffield four times over the league season. More technology needs to be integrated into the sport, which surely wouldn't be difficult to achieve, and riders encouraged to get out to speak with local journalists / sponsors / marketeers. It is very noticeable that the sport is still very white / male orientated too with only Antonio Lindback in the top category. In the current era surely a more ethnically diverse product could gain more support? Races for women should be encouraged too, perhaps starting as 'second half' rides after the team match but hopefully increasing as time goes by.