tomcat

Cheers TMC... I'll have to get my penny's sorted and get the back issues. Apart from the Tiger one, there was another where John Berry talks about Shrimp Davey.... still a friend to this day.

Just got my copy through the post today (Friday). Read it from cover to cover already. Absolutely love the fantastic piece on JellyMan, most of which had me chuckling away, didn't he just love to live to the max.. Shame you couldn't have contacted John Louis, he had some amazing stories to tell about his 'encounters' with the Moran brothers.... then again better not, as some may not be suitable for print.. Loved the Tiger Louis piece too, but would it be possible to get a more indepth interview with the Tiger? Having worked very closely with JL over a fair number of years, he has some amazing stuff to tell and obviously his career was fantastic for one so late into speedway. You've managed to grab my attention and keep it yet again with this issue, nice one and Thankyou for allowing people like myself to relive our past memories of speedway during the 70's and 80's.

Hi Miles, I know where your coming from regards this. I started out, at around 16, got a clapped out Honda 125 Grass bike for £120, took myself off to local fields and practiced, to get the hang of the bike, progressed onto a Jawa 2 valve for £250 and I was off and running. I then smashed myself up a tad and packed in for a few years, got married and got the bug again. 2 weeks into a new marriage, I took myself off from Kent down to Swindon to a guy called Roy, who ran RDS racing. Got a MK4 Weslake and some other kit, helmet, boots, steel shoe and gloves for £500. Then coughed up £400 for a set of new leathers, then invested in a new back protector and so on. I used that bike and kit for 2 years or so, then had my last big spill and had to pack in or probably die trying to make it... I still had no fear, even at age 23. I sold everything for a mere £150.... Ok I was desperate for money, having been out of work due to the injuries sustained, so I just wanted the cash and rid of the bike, before I did myself a seriously bad mischief. In 1996 my lad came along, he started wanting to ride a bike at age 4, so we got him this little Fantacini monkey bike, that cost us £200, then helmet, gloves, goggles and body armour etc, that was the best part of £600 gone. After riding that bike about 3 or 4 times, he was complaining it was too slow and we upgraded him to a Moto X bike, 80cc, semi auto. £800 for that, plus new protective gear, race suit, boots, steel show, as he could ride on the shale with it, we bolted the rear end down to clamp the rear suspension, body armour, etc etc... nearly 2 grand later and he is starting to get into this racing lark. Then he starts to grow quicker than we can earn the money, needing new race suits, boots and so on. It soon starts to get damn expensive. We moved over here to NI 3 years ago, and he hasn't ridden any bikes since. But... we are talking about coming back over the Irish sea to live within the next couple of years and he has started asking if he can get back into the racing and in particular speedway.... like yourself, how do you tell a kid No. I know he's my son, but he does have a really uncanny sense of balance and has handled everything thats been thrown at him machinery wise, as he has had goes on speedway bikes, which gave me a heart attack, he did a practice start, the very first time on it, went down the straight at what looked like a 100 miles and hour, I thought he was going to hit the first bend fence, but just laid the bike over and went round the turn like he had been riding for decades. A born racer and a natural on a bike. And no I'm not trying to be biased as I wouldn't build my boy up only to see him knocked down. If he was crap, I'd tell him to forget it, but he isn't and here I sit today, knowing I will be unable to afford to get him back into speedway. This is where I think speedway shoots itself in the foot. Its us parents that have to cop for the costs and not one person within the speedway heirachy gives a damn. I realise that you can't stop progress, but speedway is one of those sports where progress and technology has slowly strangled the sport, alienating the beginners out there via the huge amounts of money needed to even start riding, let alone compete and race in a league. This then creeps into the lower league, where kids and parents are struggling to afford the machinery to compete. And so it goes on to the upper levels, which we have all seen. The obvious haves and have nots, the two races in one scenario that many like to bang on about. Its not all about limited ability, the major problem is the difference in budgets for the tuning, special parts and so on. As I said in a previous post, let the GP stars have their rocket ships, but lets have standardised engines for League racing. I would actually like to know, how many youngsters have been lost to the sport due to not having unlimited finances to pour into their bikes. I bet there's a heck of a lot gone by the wayside due to that particular problem. The trouble is, a majority of those that have been lost because of that will never be seen racing again, at least not at the top levels and I include the three current leagues in Britain in that statement. Amateur racing is fine and dandy, I've had a dabble in that myself, its a lot of fun, but it won't make you a League winner, or a World Champion, as your racing at a level where it doesn't matter if your bike isn't up to GP standard, its all about the fun of taking part. Get the machinery and running costs of that machinery down and watch the kids come out of the woodwork to have a go. Make this compulsary in League racing in the UK and the racing must improve. Closer racing means the fans get the entertainment they crave, the hero's to follow and then crowds may increase. If it keeps on as it is, we'll end up with a form of Super League, for the few riders that can afford the costs, if there are enough left to form enough teams. The rest will end up riding amateur club meetings or being lost to the sport. Once thats been sorted out, then we can start to look at the stadia that are a shambles. I know some that I wouldn't let my dog take a poop in, let alone want to stand and watch a sport in. But, until we get the on track product right, you could have weekly racing at the new Wembley and no-one would bother after the first month with regards to watching as the racing would be rubbish, as it seems to be a lot of the time now. Start at the bottom, racing needs sorting out, then worry about the surroundings. Oh... and this constant promise of simplifying the rule book by the BSPA/SCB needs addressing asap. We all know that speedway is a simple sport, ruined by the ridiculous amount of stupid and petty rules. They need to either get it done or allow someone to do it for them... and I would gladly volunteer to sit down for 6 months over a summer and try to do that for them... Free of charge, as my beloved sport comes above and beyond any financial reward. Passionate about my speedway... You bet I am, angry at the way speedway has gone with costs and technology.... Too right. Time to put our house in order within British Speedway or lose it as a professional sport.

Whilst I believe that the majority of fans would agree, that current stadia are eye sores, run down etc etc, the basic problem is that fans can no longer identify with the sport, as we did when I was a youngster. Like many thousands of others, I would be on the terraces at a meeting and be day dreaming of being the next John Louis or Ivan Mauger etc, as it was financially possible to get into the sport and compete on or very near to their level with regards to machinery etc. But, today, unless you have thousands to chuck at the sport, then the average youngster has no chance what so ever of becoming a speedway rider and emulating their hero's. Its no good having a state of the art stadium and track and then filling your team with foreign journeymen. What the British public want, as far as I can gather, is a team of British riders, preferably local talent, with whom they can identify and support year in year out. Make the costs prohibitive regarding machinery and that is never going to happen, the proof is right here and now. I use the Ipswich Witches as an example in the 1970's. We had John Louis, Tony Davey, Mike Lanham, Trevor Jones, Billy Sanders (Adopted son of Suffolk), Ted Howgego et al, who were all local, stayed with the team for more than a season or two and identified with by every Witches fan. Back then you could get a machine, ready to race for very little outlay and suddenly your dream of being the next Witches star was a reality. It won't happen today as it really is just too damn expensive. Quite simply, get the product right first, then worry about how posh your stadium looks etc. If the racing is conducted on a level playing field, where Fred Bloggs stands just as much chance of winning a race more than once, against the likes of the Crumps, Adams and so on, then the fans will feel that they are being properly entertained. Instead we currently have a situation, where the guy with the biggest bank balance will win time and again, well in most cases anyway. Like it or not, speedway fans love an underdog and the chance that said underdog can suddenly compete with the so called stars of the sport will mean more interest and hopefully more fans returning. Keep on with the way we are today, where we have a select few winning everything, then the sport will die on its backside. Look at the GP threads, its already down to about 4 riders that have any chance of lifting the World Crown, likewise the Leagues, its virtually the same team names that are considered able to win the titles year after year. Even the machinery out and suddenly everyone becomes capable of winning. Now and again you'll get a suprise team come along and win, someone that was never even considered as potential Champions, but thats as rare as hens teeth, as they say here in Northern Ireland. Fans look at the fixture list and see, for example, Poole V Ipswich this season, no way are Ipswich going to get near Poole, but put those 14 riders on the same machinery, untuned, out of the crate and suddenly anything is possible. As a fan again now, I wouldn't waste my money travelling and paying to see that kind of one sided slaughter, but if we had an even chance of giving them a close match or maybe an away win, then many more fans would be inclined to travel and cheer their team on. OK, there could be a very slim chance that we get something down at Poole, but the odds are so heavily stacked against us, or any other team, that the crowd levels will be affected. Even home fans will start looking at this and staying away, as one sided matches are not what people want to see. I probably haven't put any of the above that well, but hopefully some people will get what I am on about and see the bigger picture. I used to love going to meetings, home and away, knowing that one of the lesser stars could compete and possibly grab a maximum or beat the oppositions No1 a couple of times, because he was aboard machinery of a comparable standard. Its not about going back to the 'Good Old Days' of uprights, black leathers etc, but it is about giving possible future riders the chance to compete with the current stars and maybe pulling off a shock or several. Just think.... the possibility of not ever having to watch a race where there are two very seperate races going on at the same time, due to the haves and the have nots.... IMO, if British speedway got its act together and instigated this, we would see a very real upturn in attendances throughout the country. This in turn would mean more financial stability within British speedway and the sport hopefully returning to somewhere near its former level with the TV and media in general. We may also rid our sport of this common thought, that the first out of the gate wins every time, which IS how speedway is percieved by many people these days.

As you quoted me, I'll try and explain what I mean't. No club, whether they be from Poland, the UK or anywhere else can sustain the level of wages being paid, as per Poland right now. There have been a few Polish clubs that have been sailing very close to the wind, late payments, or 11th hour payments to riders, to enable them to get their licence for the next season. At least one Polish club, who's name I cannot remember off hand, but it is on this forum somewhere, who went bust and have re-invented themselves under another name. Its all well and good saying they can afford the money being paid to the top riders, due to sponsors etc, but what happens when these sponsors suddenly hit the wall and no longer have the funds to back these big paying clubs. You have to budget accordingly and I don't see or read any evidence of this from Polish or Swedish clubs. Just because they are managing to meet the demands of the top riders at present, doesn't mean that they will continue to be able to. Sooner or later they will sink and be no more. The bubble will burst. I don't know the exact details, but is that now two Swedish clubs that have gone bust and are no more? What price Polish clubs going the same way? Its simple economics. Take my hobby, WW2 re-enactment. In Northern Ireland, all the big groups have been demanding thousands to do a few hours at a show. I warned them 2 years ago, that the gravy train would halt very soon. The credit crunch means that the money available will suddenly stop being there. Well, this year its happened. We now have groups going down the tubes, why? Because they didn't listen, whilst my group only charged for expenses, up to a maximum of £300, we have shows to do this year, whilst the others won't have anything that will pay them. We also put our money into the bank and left it there. Resulting in us having funds to enable us to pay our Public Liability Insurance for the next 2 years at least. Get greedy or chuck big money at something long enough and it will go very very wrong eventually. My phone is ringing off the hook from event organisers that wouldn't even give us the time of day for 2 years, now they want to book us as we only charge for expenses. They won't get us booked, as we are loyal to those that used us previously, if we have any spare dates, we'll look into it again, but at the present time we just don't have the dates available. The moral of all of that is.... Use your money wisely, or you will end up with nothing and go bust in a big way. Polish and Swedish speedway cannot sustain that kind of spending and not suffer for it. Pay the top guys big bucks, but remember that the slightly lesser riders that you ignored to be able to pay the big money will suddenly seem very appealing later on, when you can no longer afford Gollob, Crump etc and they may just stick two fingers up at you when you come calling. Thats why I believe that British Speedway is going in the right direction as far as the GP riders and greedy ones are concerned, we use our 'Lesser' riders and have a good league, OK, maybe not the best in the World anymore, but at least we're not on the verge of going bust and the league possibly collapsing. Too many people seem to dismiss the idea that Poland and Sweden are in trouble as far as speedway clubs go. Do so at your peril.

Sorry if I missed a post about this on here, but how has Gettingarna closed down? Not another team gone from Sweden? As much as I have made my feelings known about Swedish and Polish teams that have over stretched themselves financially, I still hate to see any team close down. World speedway needs as many teams and tracks as possible.

What about something on Alan Sage? Or Tony Davey.... Ray Wilson is another I'd be interested in reading about. We used to take the mickey out of his Bostik sponsored leathers, but he was a brilliant rider and servant to British Speedway. Also be nice to have a series maybe, on the Golden Helmet match race series, particularly the 70's and 80's era, as that was my time and I used to love seeing those races before the main meeting started.

I see your less than intelligent response has suddenly gone.... good job someone quoted you, or you wouldn't have the chance to answer...what exactly is your problem. Just re-read your posts since Steve posted the link for us fans. Why say, "So What"... it just doesn't make any sense at all. And as for your post about belonging to the Swedish nobility... as has been said WTF... or more to the point, What are you on? Or maybe we shouldn't feed the Troll??... For those that do live in the real world, Thanks to Steve for the link to the broadcast, some of us appreciated it.

There's always one....

The music used at Ipswich in the 70's was "A Walk In The Black Forest". I came across it as a download last year, just listening to that again brought back a flood of great memories from that era, complete with the image of John Earrey presenting and his verbal battles with the legendary Soldier Boy. That was also the time of the Bugler, who used to play a few tunes on the 2nd bend at Foxhall, 'What A Load Of Rubbish' being a favourite if we lost a heat advantage, or a rider didn't do the business.... oh those were the days.

Finally seen the light and got myself a subscription to Backtrack. A classic case of, "Should have done it sooner". Loved the Jan O article, a real pocket rocket for Cradley and how unlucky can one rider be regarding the World Final. Now off to get into the rest of this edition. Cheers for the chance to look back on a wonderful time for speedway and a chance for me to take a nice trip back down memory lane.

Well working on those figures given above, for Sweden and Poland and basing it on scoring the combined 251 points, that worked out at £2290.836 per point. As I said, I have no axe to grind with Tomasz, if he has the nounce to negotiate that kind of money and the Swedes and Poles pay it, thats their look out. But I do agree, how can any club expect to stay in business paying that kind of money to any rider is beyond me.

It is indeed. Apparently Jason is missing a chunk of his bicep, which means he doesn't have the strength to hold onto a bike whilst racing. I know some people will probably be anti Crump, but I really hope that he can get this sorted and continue his career. I've gone from hating the guy to taking a shine to him as a racer over the past few years, as he has matured into a really great racer and always gives it 100%.

Although I dont go in for this prediction lark that much, if Emil can curb his temper a bit, he could just do it. I say curb his temper a bit, as he does fly off the handle a bit at times and for the daftest things. His pit crew doesn't do a lot to help, from what I have seen, with their windups of other riders, but if Emil was to channel that fiery side in the right direction, I can see him lifting the crown in 2010. I also fancy Tomasz Gollob to be there or there abouts this season too. Shame to hear about Crumpys injury problems still. It was a nasty one to suffer and I seriously hope he can get fit in time for the new season ahead.

If you haven't already done so, treat yourself to Simmo's great DVD set. He speaks about his days at Lynn and the Littlechilds on there. Its a great set and Thanks must go to Simmo for being brave and honest enough to do that for the public. Thoroughly enjoyed the DVD's and also the issue of Backtrack under discussion on this thread. Bruce Penhall may not be everyones cup of tea, but he has told it as he see's it, regarding Kenny Carter, you can't knock the guy for that. Like Bruce, I could never forgive Kenny for what he did that fateful day, but by the same token, I was and still am a fan of Kenny Carter the speedway rider. The guy had the world at his feet, but those personal demons got the better of him in the end and he ruined four lives that day, lets not forget that fact. Some of the comments on here are bordering on the moronic, everyone has a right to have their say, but lets not crucify one guy, just because his views on what happened differ from yours. As for Backtrack, keep it coming. I love the magazine, its contributors and am going to treat myself to a subscription within the next month or so, when I get my finances sorted a bit better. One thing that doesn't appear to have been mentioned from this issue is the call for John Louis to be honoured officially for his services to British Speedway. John Berry has it spot on in my opinion, its about time JL was given an MBE or OBE, something to honour the guy for his 40 years in the sport, as a rider, team manager and now promoter at Ipswich. One question I would ask is, How do you go about getting someone nominated for an honour such as an OBE or MBE?

What has Copper Nickers got to do with it... Sorry, I'll get me coat.

Bet you're not far off with the title for the 3rd GP in Poland.... Odds on its "Not YET Another Polish GP"... Don't know why IMG don't just run the entire thing in Poland and Denmark, then the UK could do its own thing. Like the World Cup, other sports hold their World Cups in one country, why does speedway have to run it all over the shop each year?

Would love to see a Scottish National team up and running again. I can vividly remember those UK World Cup rounds held at Ipswich in the 70's, when we had England, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia doing battle. Bert and Bobby Beaton stand out as the more memorable riders for the Scots, along with I think, Jimmy McMillen and I cant remember who else was in their team back then.... memory isn't what it was. And I can even remember when those nutty Scots turned up wearing their Kilts too, I'm sure I still have an old speedway star somewhere with a picture of Bert Harkins sat on his bike wearing a kilt.

Just going back to my pots about banning special parts in engines etc. I have just read, on the Scunthorpe Promoter Fear for NL thread, or whatever its entitled, as it descended into a bit of a barney between a few posters on there, a poster called halifaxduke, NOT our mate from Mildenhall I must add, this halifaxduke chap says about days gone by, when a youngster could get an old jap/jawa for around £80 and still go out and compete at a decent level, scoring points. Nowadays we obvioulsy cant get a bike for £80, but to read of the reported £10k just to get started is just ridiculous. Keep the bikes as they come out of the crate, tilt the scales back towards what we used to have and maybe more people would give our sport a go. My lad wanted to ride, but after kitting him out with a racesuit, boots, body armour, helmet, googles, gloves, back protector etc etc, then a half decent machine, it just broke us. Trying to get sponsorship help is just about impossible, as most company's only want to be associated with sportsmen or women that are somewhat established already, which a complete newcomer is not going to be. At this time, my lad cannot even start to think about racing again anytime soon, due purely to costs. How many more kids are out there in the same boat financially. I keep reading about altering the points limits, banning certain riders from certain other country's, but thats not the real answer. We have to reduce the startup costs, by doing that, maybe it will have a knock on effect throughout speedway, specially in the UK. Like it or not, speedway IS becoming a rich kids sport, if you have the financial clout to get supertuned fast bikes and all the trimmings, then your made, if not, tough luck, you cant even begin to have a career in speedway. Speedway was a working class mans sport, both for the fans and riders, but now its all money money money....it has to stop. I'll give you an example of how speedway was... and not that long ago. One Kevin Teager, altered a Jawa upright to the Laydown configuration. Didn't cost him the earth, but he would still pop out ahead of the 'proper' laydown mounted stars and win a heat here and there. I actually get very sick of reading about us so called dinosaurs, who advocate speedway from the past being better. These comments come largely from people that were not around during the 70's and 80's. All they see are a few YouTube clips and think they've seen it all. Maybe, just maybe, if they listened to those of us that witnessed a better sport back then, we may not have such a mess now. Speedway in the 70's and 80's was better to me..why? Because anyone could afford to take the sport up and have a good go at it. As an example of rich kids involved, take Andreas Jonsson (No I'm not picking in AJ personally), he is reported to be financially set for life. He doesn't have to worry about how he is going to afford the latest piece of engineering wizardry. For that reason, he doesn't have to put in the effort that lesser riders have to to make ends meet. To those lesser riders, points scored could mean the difference between a long career or a very short one due to being broke, just to be competitive. Making that latest piece of engineering kit unaffordable to the lesser rider leaves him way behind the rich kids, both on track and financially. I know I've waffled on a lot here, but hopefully someone will understand the point I am trying to make here. Just Make Speedway Affordable to riders throughout speedway, no matter what their level is.

Good for you, for standing up for your Dad Cortney. As for those that seem to want to have a pop at a lot of riders, promoters and fans on this forum, Think on. People DO read this forum from those mentioned above, including family members, some of whom are youngsters. I have just been onto the Elite League section, where once again, the usual suspects are letting rip at people. YOU don't like it being done to you, which is blatantly obvious by the responses, so don't do it to others. This entire forum has gone to Hell In a Handcart in recent months and its starting to become a big joke worldwide. No-one minds a bit of banter between rival fans, but there are far too many so called fans attacking posters etc on here just because they can. It's like its become a sport for those that do it and some are of an age where they should know a lot better, some are at an age, where we could make the excuse that they don't know any better and might get better with age, but my view is, if you have the ability to sign up for a forum, read and write and submit posts, you have enough intelligence to NOT resort to the childishness we keep witnessing. Regarding Andy Galvin, or any other persons awaiting a trial etc, its a fact that British law says you are INNOCENT until proven guilty.

Been sitting here mulling over how speedway could get its act together and become more competitive and attractive to both riders and the public again. We've all gone down the road of machinery, but I really do believe that this is one serious area that needs looking at. Rather than the "Why not get the mainstream manufacturers in", ie: Honda etc, why not just stop the use of all the special parts. We have riders using lightweight flywheels, special cams, etc etc. Ban the lot, make the riders keep the engines as they came out of the crate, as they were in years gone by. A lot of people seem to forget, that speedway started out as basic road going bikes, with the extra's ripped off to lighten them. So, lets go back to basics again. There would be no need for special tuning, just routine maintenance, all riders would be on equal machinery and those with the skill, or brass balls to race hard enough will triumph. Rather than the "My dads got more money than yours" brigade pouring a shed load of money into producing rocket ships, that quite frankly the average youngster just cannot afford to buy. I suggest the above for League racing, GP riders should have the choice if they wish to have a super tuned engine or several. Any League machine suspected of being illegal could be checked, or better still, instigate random checks. Its been done countless times when a team lodges a complaint about a suspected oversized engine, so whats the difference. We sit here bemoaning the complete lack of youngsters coming through in British speedway, but its not all down to a lack of a training programme, the costs of getting started and then becoming competitive are prohibitive to most. No doubt I'll get a ton of negatives as to why it shouldn't be done, but something has to, sooner rather than later and its the best place I can think of to start the process off. All we keep reading is rider X is a gating tart, rider Y has such fast machinery, but put them onto the standard thing and they suddenly become mortal again, giving others a much better chance of challenging the half dozen or so riders that are ruling speedway right now.

Agree, lets see how he does. There is no way to predict how any rider will fair until the series starts. Zorro has rightfully earned his place and will no doubt give it everything he has on track. Good Luck to the fella.

Cheers for that Bluejam.

When is the Final round at Newcastle being run?

Thoroughly enjoyed the racing clips provided. I lost touch/interest in the Ice Racing scene for a good few years, but having found this thread and having a good read through, I find my interest renewed again. Fantastic to watch the racing and see the new riders of today, plus the old names still doing the business. Thankyou.