Dream Team : Chris Gosling

Betts	Lee

My name is Chris Gosling. I am a daffodil grower living in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada since April 2003. Prior to that I was a regular Kings Lynn fan since 1968, my team is made up of the best riders to ride for Kings Lynn, in my opinion since then.

Terry Betts
Surely the greatest rider to ever wear a Stars race jacket, not only was Terry a superb rider capable of beating anyone during his time, he was adored by the Kings Lynn public in a way that will never be equalled by anyone. He did it all in style and with a very large grin on his face!

Malcolm Simmons
A superb stylist, never did I see anyone look more comfortable on a bike than Simmo, he was a terrific rider who sadly needed to leave Kings Lynn to get the recognition he deserved. He did get on well with Terry Betts, but could never quite achieve the hero worship status that Terry managed to have at Saddlebow Road.

Ian Turner
Surely the most exciting rider ever to ride at Kings Lynn, followed his career from the 2nd halves to heat leader status, when Ian first rode in the 2nd halves no-one went home early. How could someone so small in stature control a machine at all? Ian did not achieve all that he had promised early in his career but still was capable of beating the best for several seasons. Can well remember him appearing against Ipswich in front of the tv cameras in June 78 when Ian went from last to first in each of his opening 3 rides and narrowly missed a full maximum in his 4th.

Michael Lee
The rider who had it all, the only genuine Kings Lynn produced World Champion, was a shame to see Michael waste what most other riders never had - natural talent. It was great seeing him develop his ability at such a fast pace, was hero worshipped by most of the crowd at Kings Lynn, only to see him rapidly fall from grace. I was at Wembley the night he lost his crown to Bruce Penhall, Michael behaved impeccably that night despite being given a rough ride by some of the fans.

Richard Hellsen
Another superb stylist, hard riding Swede, who developed into a 9 point plus rider from being a very raw recruit in 1975 when he first came to England. Rode with class and destinction for ten years.

Henka Gustaffson
Another very exciting rider with the ability to come from nowhere and find lines on the track that no-one else could find, greatly missed by all the fans at Kings Lynn, who saw far too little of him.

Shane Parker
A rider from the more recent era at Kings Lynn, embodied the fighting spirit instilled by new promoter Keith "Buster" Chapman when he re-opened the track in 1997. Never knew when he was beaten, very good with the fans, a great bloke in every respect.

This article was first published on 18th July 2004

Vic Norris:

"Brilliant. I'm 50 now and my father started me watching speedway at King's Lynn, we'd stand on the second bend, he still goes at 78. I was there the very first night, the traffic was tailed back down the A47!"