It's All About You... Peter Preece

White City (London)

Tell us about your introduction to speedway

My brother and I started going to Grasstracks in 1973, and heard about speedway from there, our first meeting was at Brandon, but it rained and was called off, we went a week later and got hooked from there. We have been all over the world watching this great sport, following the brummies till they closed down at the end of 1986 at the wheels and then just going where we pleased till the return of the Brummies in 2007 and started to follow the lads again.

Tell us about your favourite meeting of all time

1981 world final, wembley, what a dump, but the speedway that night was something else. Who would have thought that one year later Penhall would throw it all away to go into TV when he was at the top of his game.

Tell us about your favourite rider of all time

Andy Grahame, we saw him develop from a second halfer to become British Champion, I've still got a pennent from the Brummies saying ANDY GRAHAME BRITISH CHAMPION. We followed him from the Milton Keynes days to that glorious night at Brandon when he was crowned british champion. I'd never been so proud to be a Brummies supporter.

Tell us about your favourite track/stadium

I always liked going to White City, a real day out, I aslo liked the Shay and that banking, the old Perry Barr was a great stadium as is Coventry, but it has to be Hyde road, what a place, great viewing, fantastic track and so many great memories.

What are the best things about speedway?

The supporters, never any trouble, you can always have a good laugh, and the sheer divesity of the tracks no two are the same. Three different leagues, all with their plus and minus sides, speedway is speedway no matter where you watch it.

What are the worst things about speedway?

Stupid rules and I'd get rid of the word joker, it makes it sounds like It's a Knockout. Rain offs, Ive been going to speedway for over 30 years and as yet nobody has come up with a way to cover the tracks, there is nothing worse than getting to a stadium to find the meeting off because of the weather and then driving home in the sunshine. The fixtures, let's have them out before Christmas and not a couple of weeks before the new season starts. Speedway is a great big secret, when other sports start, you know they are coming back, big advertising campaigns at the start of the season, Tv, radio, newspapers, but Speedway the only people that know it's coming back are the people that follow it, it has to be pushed to the general public and not just in the local papers, it's got to be big, let everybody know it's here and a great sport to follow.

What one thing would you do to improve speedway?

Find a way to cover the tracks, all these experts, surely some one has an idea?

Tell us about a rider you wish you'd seen

Peter Craven, two times world champion, master of balance, he would have been some rider to see.

What does the future hold for speedway?

It looks bright at the moment and the TV coverage helps there, we need to help the british youngster more and restrict the overseas riders for a while, so that we can catch up with the rest of the world. It's looking good and is getting better all the time. long may it continue.

This article was first published on 1st April 2010