SpeedwayPlus

Updated on 24th February 2006

Ray Bysouth has supplied us with some pictures of Custom House Stadium - the former home of West Ham. Ray maintains a website devoted to the Hammers, click here to visit it.
Reg Fearman has also given us an incredible aerial picture that shows German bombers above Custom House during WWII.

Berwick fan Philip Newton recalls their season in the top-flight with great fondness. One of the key Bandits that year was Jimmy Nilsen and he's included in Philip's Dream Team.

At some point in 2006 we'll be ruing a pesky shower that forced a meeting to be cancelled. Chris Seaward wonders if we could 'cover' that eventuallity by purchasing efficient track protection.

Our links page has been extended to include many international sites. We are indebted to Mike Hunter for allowing us to steal many of these from his excellent Friends of Edinburgh Speedway site. We've included a links menu at the top of the page to make finding the various sections that bit easier. As always, please use the form on the page to let us know of any dead and missing links.

Hugh Randolph on Almeria:
"Thanks for posting the magazine articles. We here in USA like to read more about UK speedway, keep up the good work. Thanks for the pictures of the track in Spain. What are the white blocks lining the infield line? They appear to be lightweight cement if so what do other thacks use? In USA we use 1" PVC pipe. Costa Mesa speedway in California, USA is reworking their entire track. You can view the work in progress on xtremespeedwayaction.com"
Max Power on Hyde Road:
"Great seeing pictures of Hyde Road. I was 11 when it got knocked down. It's where I caught the speedway bug. Although I suspect the pictures are just prior to demolition given that the whole stadium has been photographed, good that someone did it though."
Tracy Holmes on Hackney's Tour of Poland:
"I would like to thank Andy for the wonderful story and snaps. A lot of time and effort, so very much appreciated by someone at the bottom of the world who has never experienced such a life. Yes, its the riders who score the points and get their names and pictures in the papers/magazines but without all the 'Andys', that kind of trip just wouldnt happen! Thanks again, Brilliant!"
Richard Tyrrell on Hackney's Tour of Poland:
"What a great little story! Events like this should be recorded so thanks to 'Speedway Plus' for providing the means, and the writer for his memories."

Bob Tasker from GRTMedia will be busier than ever next season. As well as producing DVDs for Newcastle and Berwick he'll be taking on similar duties at Redcar and Workington. Their 2 and 4 match compilation DVDs can be made to order and can include any matches from their 2006 catalogue. This will enable fans to purchase their team's visits to all four circuits in one go.

Bandits on DVD
Diamonds on DVD
Comets on DVD
Bears on DVD

Updated on 17th February 2006

Andy Davidson was a mechanic on Hackney's tour to Poland in 1980. The Hawks took part in challenge matches at Leszno and Gdansk as well as competing in an open meeting. Andy shares his recollections of the trip, much of which he spent cooped up in a van with two other mechanics.

Norwich Stars were one of the sport's great clubs but it's the best part of half a century since we last saw them in action. For many of us they're a distant memory or a historical footnote but for others the memories remain vivid. Bryan Tungate has selected a 'Dream Team' that represents his all-time Norwich seven.

Russell Paine got in touch after seeing the pictures of his Almeria circuit on the site last week. In this short article he details the latest state of play with the track and his plans for a summer opening.

Don't forget the gathering at High Beech on Sunday - full details on the advert further down the page. The chaps from the VSRA would be delighted to see you there.

We've slightly re-jigged the menu bar at the top of the site - it's that orange line for those of who you've never spotted it before. The change is to accommodate new menu pages for our downloadable magazines and the book extracts we've featured.

JASON Crump is launching into print to bring an entirely contemporary perspective to the continuing flood of speedway publications.
The 2004 world champion and three-time World Cup winner, a fixture in the world's top two for the past five years, is rarely short of an opinion.
The appearance of A World of My Own, co-written with Australia-based former promoter and administrator Martin Rogers, puts a slick, professional modern spin on his life and times from bush baby to global superstar.
This 272-page book, which features 125 photographs including a 16-page full colour section, raises the bar with an honest, fast-paced chronicle of his highs and lows. There also is expert analysis, the thoughts of many of the most relevant names in the sport, and a rare behind the scenes insight from Jason's wife Melody.

Find out more about this book

Ritchie Hawkins has a new website that can be found at ritchiehawkins.co.uk. The site has been designed by SpenSites and has an orange, blue and red colourscheme. Ritchie will be lining up for the Workington Comets in the season ahead.

Scott David has put together an unofficial website for Shane Parker of the Glasgow Tigers. The address is www.shaneparker.tk.

The Reading Grid Girls should bring a touch of glamour to proceedings at Smallmead this season. Check out their new website for full details.

Russ Martin is building a site for the much-missed Ellesmere Port Gunners. He's hoping to raise awareness again in the local area in the hope that the sport will one day return. The site is still a work in progress and he needs the input of like-minded individuals to develop it further.

Our popular links page has had one of its periodical tidy-ups and any dead links have been removed. We've also added a simple form at the top of the page that you can use to tell us about dead or missing links. Thanks to those of you who have already used the form to good effect, it appears we were missing sites for a few Swedish riders, inexplicably including a six-times World Champion! We expect that many new sites will appear in the build-up to the season, so if you're involved with a new site or hear about one then let us know and we'll include the details here.

Updated on 10th February 2006

Russell Paine's brave attempt to establish speedway in Spain was recently featured on the BBC's "Living in the Sun" series. The track is still under construction and the fence from Wimbledon is currently en-route to Spain. Harry Ward visited the circuit and supplied us with a dozen shots of how it presently looks.

Mark Lucas was one of the first to respond to our request for 'Dream Teams'. Mark is an Edinburgh fan but selects some world stars alongside some Monarchs favourites.

The fund-raising is continuing for the National Speedway Museum project. George Barclay brings us up to date in his latest report.

Thanks to everyone who has submitted their 'Dream Teams' for publication. The response has exceeded our expectations and it will take us many weeks to get them all onto the site. You can continue to submit them, but please be aware that it may be some time before they feature on the site.

The Workington 'Brolly Dollys' are holding a disco in Workington British Legion club on Friday 17th February at 7.30pm. All proceeds go to the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund. Further details on their website.

Martin on Magazine Issue 3:
"I've only just come across the website in the past week or so - first thing I did was to add it to my AOL 'toolbar' for quicker access! Great idea - hope it lasts! I've now printed the 3 copies of the magazine to read at my leisure, and will then pass on to friends and relations who like speedway as much as I do! Keep up the good work - I look forward to the next magazine!"
Derek Watson on Rules are made to be forgotten:
"Just to add to the article I remember 1981 also having in the NLKOC a no R/R or guest rule (guests were rare anyway) which meant some one sided matches that year. Strangely Berwick were allowed a guest in the final because it was outwith the season (November)!!"

SpeedwayPhotos.org.uk is a new website that allows you to post your own speedway pictures for others to view.

Tom Marriott wants to find out more about Charlie Appleby who died in a crash at Newcastle.

Updated on 5th February 2006

During this year's BSPA conference the promoters, for once, seemed to resist the temptation to tinker too greatly with the sport's regulations. It hasn't always been the case! We look back at some shortlived innovations from previous years in 'Rules are Made to be Forgotten'.

The Canadian Speedway Riders Association have been out and about publicising their activities. They recently took a stand at the Toronto International Motorcycle show that attracted a lot of interest. David Hensby was on hand with his camera.

Bearings4Speedway offer all commonly used SKF speedway bearings at a very good price. We supply all the top riders, but are opening up these prices to everyone.
It must be remembered that bearings are one of the most important and used parts on the bike and must be replaced regularly to maintain performance. These SKF bearings are of the highest quality and all come individually packed.
The full range and price list is available on the website.
When phoning please ask for Chris and mention that you saw this advert on SpeedwayPlus.

www.bearings4speedway.com

We want you to tell us about your favourite riders. Select seven, tell us why you've picked each one and we'll add it to the site.

They don't all need to have been World Champions, in fact it's much better if they're not.

Were you a fan on Brian Brett, Cyril Roger, Carl Askew, Billy Burton, Eric Monaghan, Thierry Hillaire or some other unsung hero? If so, tell us about them.

Submit Your Dream Team

Jim Liddell on Magazine Issue 3:

"Excellent magazine, has a wide variety of articles to suit all types of speedway fan. Keep up the good work. By the way I'm a Glasgow Tigers fan and have been since about 1964."

Colin Mackie on Reg Fearman: Right to Reply:

"After reading the above article, I must request that you please don't allow SpeedwayPlus to go down the road of a number of speedway websites where people just want to throw mud at one another. I've always found the site to be very entertaining."

Reg has replied again and this particular 'discussion' is now at an end. Both Reg and John have been friends of the site in the past and we therefore felt it only right to allow them to have their say.

Speedway Fantasy League is free to enter and features riders from every single British track that is fielding a team this coming season. Entering a team couldn't be any easier and within a few minutes entrants can be 'up and running' with their ideal speedway team. The scoring mechanism is simple - points scored by riders in the real world are also scored by that rider in the game. Every team gets 16 transfers to use across the season, all the maths is taken care of and every entrant has complete control over the management of their own team.

Bryn Williams, currently spending another winter watching the bikes down under, has spotted that some of the Aussie tracks are missing from our links page.

Mildura

Pioneer Park

Gosford

Broadford

Drop us an email if you feel that we haven't already listed any other worthwhile sites.

Ken McKinlay's family are looking for memorabilia from his racing career or video footage of Ken.