30th March 2006

Jason Crump Autobiography Extract It is a tough, demanding gig but Jason Crump has started the 2006 season in a manner which suggests he is again going to be a front-running contender for world championship honours. He has also attracted plenty of acclaim for his newly-published life story A World of My Own, co-written with Australia-based journalist and former promoter Martin Rogers. In this edited excerpt from the book, which is already breaking sales records in England and Europe, Jason discusses the demands of the hectic schedule which confronts the modern Grand Prix rider

Canadian Crash Sequence Tom Marriott has supplied us with photographs of this nasty looking crash from Paris Speedway in Canada. The pictures were taken a few years ago and the unlucky rider above is Gary Hesmer. Sheffield's Kyle Legault was also in the race. Obviously none of the boys involved suffered any lasting damage. We've entitled this "Paris Crash", which is a blatant attempt to attract visitors who were really looking for information on conspiracy theories.

Dream Team: Alison Cowe Monarchs fan Alison Cowe includes the "Ladybank Express" in her Dream Seven. Geordie is joined by another Edinburgh legend and some of Alison's favourite world stars.

We mentioned Geoff Ridsdale's Sheffield Tigers website last week and suggested it may be the longest running speedway website. Geoff has worked out that he started the site in March 1996 but he thinks that Mark Lawton's Wolverhampton site pre-dates it. Geoff recalled: "I remember going to the Speedway Office to ask Neil Machin & Tim Lucking's permission to produce a webpage for the Tigers. The first question was, 'How much?'. When I said it would be free they were suddenly very interested." Kevin Twohigg was looking for heat details and placed a request on our Can You Help? page. He got the information he required and passed on the following message: "The Speedway community has once again pulled out the stops to help one of it's own, and I'd publicly and sincerely like to thank David Walker, Harry Ward, Bob Cole and Charles McKay for all their help. Needless to say, if I can ever help out any of those guys, (or any other budding statistician, for that matter), I'll do all I can."

 

27th March 2006

Soundbites: 27th March 2006 The season's now well underway so it's time to start recording the thoughts of those making the headlines. In our first "Soundbites" column of the season the topics include Ryan Sullivan, Workington's ambition to not finish first, Renat Gafurov, Joe Screen's desire to get racing again and Stephan Katt's surprise return to Somerset.

Northern Soul Revival Our recent article on Kevin Little's nomadic existence attracted some interesting feedback and it seems there was a significant omission from our list of riders that have ridden for five of the Northernmost clubs.

It's brilliant to see Plymouth Devils back in the sport this season. You can find out all about them at plymouthdevils.co.uk. Redcar's Dan Giffard has launched a personal website in conjunction with MadWebDesign. The address is dangiffardracing.co.uk. John Hyam needs a speedway photograph of Barry Lee for use in a publication. Full details on the Can You Help? page.

 

23rd March 2006

They Called Me Darling! The Speedway season only offers riders employment for two-thirds of the year, leaving many no choice but to seek work to get them through the winter. Dave Gifford recalls the winter of 1967 when he topped up his income by becoming a television stuntman. As always, Dave spins the yarn with considerable aplomb.

Poole Stadium - 70's Style Wimborne Road in Poole has seen quite a number of changes over the years. These pictures from Reg Fearman show how the circuit looked back in the early seventies.

Dream Team: Roger Hunt King's Lynn fan Roger Hunt has included the legendary Terry Betts in his Dream Team. Roger has restricted his selection by imposing his own points limit to ensure his side isn't just a collection of superstars.

You may have noticed that we've adopted a slightly new look here at Speedway Plus. We've ditched the "two column" approach and decided to consolidate all information about the site, new links and requests for help into this new "Plus Points" column. As always we welcome your feedback on the changes or any bug reports. Get in touch by emailing speedwayplus@hotmail.com or via the feedback form. The Friends of Speedway association has been relaunched. We've added a separate page to the site that details who they are, what they do and how you can join. The Redcar Bears official website is now live. It's been put together by Stressed Web Design who have long been behind Gary Havelock's official web presence. Christian Henry's new website is a typically classy implementation by GPNetMedia. The usual profile, gallery and news page are all present and correct. Shaun Tacey of Mildenhall and Arena Essex has a new official website. The address is www.shauntacey.com. Geoff Ridsdale's Sheffield Tigers site is possibly the longest running speedway website in the world. The site has now moved to a new address at sheffield-tigers.co.uk.

Bill Elliot on Hyde Road: "Brilliant pictures of "the" Belle Vue which immediately took me back into a time warp of 30 years past. So many great memories of great BLRC meetings there under floodlights at the end of every season, special one for me and probably a lot of Glasgow fans of my generation when Jimmy Mac got a rostrum place in 1971 and the Tigers' fans made enough noise to make it sound like a Scotland victory at Wembley!" Dudley Jones on A sport of speed and exhilaration: "I have just read David Hensby's interesting article. I have been watching speedway for more than 40 years and I think that there is one aspect that he has missed - quality of racing. This depends very much on the track, Kings Lynn, Ipswich and Somerset are examples of good ones. However, the modern bikes may be faster, but does that make better racing? I first became aware, at the Golden Greats meeting at Coventry in 1988, that modern bikes did not mean better racing. In terms of entertainment, the riders of the 60's and 70's were much better racers. The meeting also contained then modern Division 2 racers, who tended to go wider and full throttle, but lacked the shoulder to shoulder stuff which kept me going back to the terraces at Norwich, Rayleigh and Ipswich. Ove Fundin, in his new biography, makes the point very clearly. I believe that we should take a tip from F1, and ensure that the bikes are the optimum racing machines, not the optimum speed machines. " Click here to leave your own feedback

Updated on 17th March 2006 David Hensby describes speedway as "a sport of speed and exhilaration". He shares his passion for the sport in this article and considers how the sport has changed since he began watching it more than 30 years ago. The Redcar Bears will be taking to the track in a few weeks time at their new circuit on Teeside. Dennis Beeforth has been along with his camera to get an early peek at the new venue. Jim Liddell is the latest to feature in our 'Dream Team' series. He's a Glasgow fan and he includes the publicity shy Charlie Monk amongst his seven.

Bryan Tungate on Norfolk Arena: "Buster and his team are to be congratulated on the job they have done at the Saddlebow Road track over the last few years. The continuing improvements show the Promotion are now getting things right both on and off the track. Whilst the track has always been acceptable the Stadium as a whole now is far more presentable and welcoming." Woody on Premier Preview: "Sheffield in 11th, that's really quiet laughable! The writer of this clearly knows as much about speedway as I do about brain surgery. A team that will win every home meeting and win most bonus points is going to finish a lot higher than 11th. Anyway, it will be nice to see me proved right. Watch the kid Legault by the way, he's pure class. If he stays injury free for the season he's set to make a massive impression." Bob Thomas on Running for Cover: "Well put Chris, I agree totally. We were thinking of going to the World Cup this year but to travel all that way - from Norfolk - and face a rain off? No thanks! Bring on the covers." Eunice Finch has a Swedish number 3 racejacket that was worn by Tommy Jansson. Does anyone know which meeting this was from? Rob Devine is looking for contact details for Kelly Moran.

Have you downloaded issue 3 of our free speedway magazine? It's in PDF format and showcases some of the best features we've included on the site. Inside Issue 3 2005 - A Season in Summary Track Pictures - Hull, Costa Mesa, Leszno & Trelawny The Mike Bennett Column Running for Cover Simon Wigg - In his own words Together in Electric Dreams Sunderland Potted History Calling All Angelz West Ham's title success in 1965 Fiction - Sliding into Hell CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MAGAZINE

Updated on 10th March 2006 The team-strengths have been diluted slightly but this year's Premier League championship should be as exciting as ever. The title will be decided after a series of play-offs that will add a whole new dimension to the season. We look now at the runners and riders. The Norfolk Arena has apparently undergone further re-development over the winter. It was already a much-improved venue last season as these pictures show. Keith Butler has sent in his Coventry 'Dream Team'. It spans the generations and includes both Tom Farndon and Scotty Nicholls. Makes for very interesting reading. The re-christened Reading Bulldogs have launched their new official website. It's an interesting affair that has attracted a lot of comment. Check it out for yourself at readingbulldogs.com. Swindon 'Pit Crew' supporters group have a new website where you can find out who they are and what they do. There's a new speedway website at simonstead.com. We won't spoil the surprise by telling you what it's all about! Redcar's hot American prospect Chris Kerr has gone online as well. Click here to visit his site.

We asked everbody listed on our Can You Help? page to confirm whether their request is still 'active'. Any that have been resolved, or which featured a dead email address, have been removed. Why not review the list and see if you can assist? Dave Gifford was listed on that page and was hoping to find a 1961 World Final programme for his buddy Tracy Holmes. That programme typically sells for around £250 but a Swedish contact gave a copy to Tracy for nothing. Lucky man! Dave's advert had one unexpected side effect - he was contacted by a man whose Grandfather worked in the same coalmine in Kent as Giffy's did. Isn't the internet amazing! Jim Mitchell had come to a dead-end when collating details of racejackets through the years. He asked for help and he got his questions answered. He now reckons he's answered as many questions as he's had answered! If you've got a racejacket query then get in touch with us and we'll put you in contact with Jim. Jim Brown left a request looking for sponsorship for his son. Sadly it appears that we featured the wrong email address alongside his request and the mails were being diverted to an increasingly annoyed third party. If Jim gets in touch we'll let you all know his real email address. Tom Wareham is trying to track down Ronnie Moore. The email address he has for him is incorrect. Pete Greg has a collection of Speedway Stars dating from 1964 to 1977 and from 1997 to the present available. There are 52 magazines for each year with only one or two magazines missing from the complete set. The magazines have been stored in dry conditions and wrapped in carrier bags for a number of years so they are in pretty good condition. Pete is based in Aberdare in South Wales. If you want to make him an offer or find out more then mail him at pete.greg@speedwayplus.com Our downloadable magazines receive a positive review in the new edition of the Speedway Researcher magazine. That's only the second time we've seen a reference to the site in any printed media - the first being in an early edition of Backtrack. If you've seen the site mentioned elsewhere, at any time, then let us know so we can find out what people are saying about us!

 

Updated on 3rd March 2006 The new season gets underway this weekend, so it's time for us to start previewing the months ahead. This week we look at the Elite League and predict how each of the teams will fare. Fans of the teams we don't fancy should take comfort from the fact that we're seldom right. Premier League will follow next week. We think that Kevin Little's move to Redcar makes him the first rider to ever appear for all six of the Northernmost clubs. He's been a Tiger, a Bandit, a Monarch, a Diamond, a Comet and he's about become a Bear. We discuss this further and search out his closest challengers in 'Kevin Little - Northern Soul'. Dean Hall is a Belle Vue fan but he allows one Halifax Duke to slip into his Dream Team. He also includes a pair of American brothers who provided more thrills than most.

JASON Crump will be personally signing copies of his new book A WORLD OF MY OWN at the following UK venues in March: Belle Vue Stadium, Saturday, March 4 from 11am to 2pm King's Lynn, Wednesday, March 8 (before Ashley Jones Memorial meeting) Sheffield, Sunday, March 12 (from 3pm before Sean Wilson testimonial meeting) Coventry, Friday, March 17 (before Bees v Belle Vue Elite Shield) Peterborough, Thursday, March 23 (before Peterborough v Belle Vue Elite League) Find out more about this book The proposed speedway museum project is now supported by its own website. Keep up to date at speedwaymuseum.co.uk. Shane Colvin Racing have a new website for the new season. The address is shanecolvin-racing.co.uk. Weymouth Wildcats may have been forced onto the sidelines, but they've launched a new official website. The slightly unusual address is wildcatsweymouth.co.uk. Aussie enthusiast Anth Maguire is the man behind 2xtv.com a new website offering a delayed video and audio style webcast of grass roots Australian speedway and other disciplines. Well worth checking out. The Viccary family are trying to find out more about Alf Viccary who raced in the late 1940's.