czechhero

You're right Keith, the Big A did indeed ride the bike in the Milk Tray ad of circa 1972. He did it in one take, refusing to do the stunt more than once because, quote "it's too f**kin' dangerous" or words to that effect.

Derek Timms was at the Brummies' Public Meeting a couple of weeks back and is looking forward to the team's return next year. In fact I bumped into him in Asda on Sunday and I pointed out to him that as he and his wife are retired, that's the last place he should be on a Sunday afternoon!

Thanks Big Guy.

Can anyone tell me if Jason Lyons will be riding in Oz during the close season? I know he isn't competing in the Aussie championships, but if he is riding elsewhere, which track will it be? Thanks.

Thanks for the help with this, everyone. I'm a friend of Derek Timms, who rode with George at St Austell. He told me some great stories about his riding exploits. Cheers all.

Can anyone help with any pictures or info on George Newton, please? The particular pic I'm looking for is of Wee George in action at Fleetwood, if anyone has a copy of the excellent Cyril May's "Ride It, The Complete Book of Speedway" it is on page 122. Thank you.

Thank you for that.

Does anyone out there have any info on a rider by the name of Hugh Watkinson who was killed at Perry Barr in 1946, strangely in November? We do know that he wasn't contracted to the Brummies at the time, but can anybody fill in anymore details? Thank you.

There's a chapter in the 1972 Champions Book of Speedway in which Tony claims to be the luckiest rider in the sport because he hadn't missed a meeting for, I think, 3 seasons, may have been longer. I think he missed one or two after that though.

If anyone has the heat details for Eng v Czech at Canterbury on 13/04/74 please PM me. Thank you.

A great big THANK YOU to Brian Collins for some brilliant info on Red Star tours. What a star.

Thank you to you also. I seem to have put the Czech touring side and Golden Helmet to bed, it's just thr Red Star tours I'm short of now. Cheers.

Thanks for that, tidies things up nicely. Cheers. If anyone wants to read it, the Zdenek tribute on the Brummies site is at http://www.brummiespeedway.co.uk/czech1.htm Thanks again.

Thanks guys. The site clears up the Czech team question, but can anyone help with Red Star Prague? Also does anyone know if Zdenek ever won the Czech Golden Helmet? I found a link on the lubosports site but the page was unavailable, very frustrating. Thanks again.

Does anyone out there have any information on Czech touring sides through the 1970's? I'm researching an article on Zdenek Kudrna for a website. I recall seeing him in action at Stoke during Red Star Prague's 1978 tour but wondered if he had ridden in Britain before '78 either for Red Star or Young Czechoslovakia. Any help would be greatly appreciated. In fact if I could ascertain the date and place where he first turned a wheel over here, then that would be even better. Also, does anyone know a site that lists Czech Golden Helmet winners that is in English, please? Or if someone has a list, please let me know, thanks.

You should have a Brummies fan in 1976, absolutely baffling..........

25 years???????????? Bloody hell!! Remember it well, 90 mph down the M1 on the back of my mates BMW 1000, with Finilec (remember that?) in the back tyre 'cos he'd had a puncture the week before and couldn't be *rsed to fix it (you were only supposed to do 40mph for a max of 30 miles or so). Anyway, mustn't digress. We all thought that Hans was a dead cert for the title as he'd scored a 12 point max the night before against Sheffield and looked in fantastic form, little did we know.............. Also remember the Warwickshire fans in the services on the way home, p*ssed up because they'd won the B&H trophy, I think. The week after my mate and me both had severe throat infections and funnily enough found out that another 5 supporters we knew of had suffered the same, strange. A great, great meeting and I don't think a British GP could come close to that night, seeing as it's held so early in the season.

What about British riders then?

Ernie Roccio, Wimbledon? And Gene Woods of Birmingham, of course. Photos of the above can be found on the Brummies site (link below) on the Brummie Bonus page.

Mark Cherry. Steve Columbo. Keith Chrisco. All Birmingham, funnily enough.

Not really, but I've contacted a member of the Brummies' forum to see if he can help you (I think his wife is Czech), ok?

Can I just say how great all these riders were IMO.

It's been said many, many times on this forum at various times that noise is the big issue with the sport and the more you read of the problems of Exeter and Birmingham and others the more you come to realise that perhaps the bikes should be silenced further. I can remember when silencers were first used back in the 70s, most fans thought that the sport would never be the same, but the reality was that it was hard to tell any real difference. So perhaps the time has come for a more efficient silencer to be used. On the other hand, the nimbys will still complain even then. As far as costs go, another plan I recall from the late 70s, early 80s was to use petrol instead of methanol. I think the view was a move to normal fuel could attract more sponsorship from the big oil companies. I wonder, has this plan been looked at again since?

Blimey mate that's a list and a half, kind of proves the point though, doesn't it? More tracks = more fans. I remember when we reopened in '71 all the local tracks complained, but they weren't complaining when all those Brummies' fans turned up a couple of times a season. If only a quarter of those teams you mention reopened, just imagine the extra interest in the sport it would create. I've said this before but I know about 4 or 5 people at work who love watching speedway on Sky but have never seen the sport live. You can bet that my car will be full come the 1st night at Perry Barr (hopefully).

Actually Gresh, go ahead should have been, "go-ahead" (?).