24th December 2009

The Very Best of Speedway Plus 2009 This 36 page downloadable publication features some of the best articles to appear on this site throughout 2009. It's in the popular PDF format and can be saved to your local disk, printed or read on screen. The file size of 1.2Mb shouldn't trouble even the slowest internet connection. Download the PDF

Many Thanks To... Thanks to everybody who has assisted us or contributed to the site in 2009. * Ian Adam * Richard Austin * Robert Bamford * David Barnett * Dave Beecroft * Ivan Blacka * Jim Blanchard * Neil Burston * John Callaghan * Bob Cole * Graeme Coleman * Graham Cooke * Cary Cotterman * Philip Dalling * Mark Dell * Bobby Duncan * Bill Elliot * Dave Gifford * Ian Gill * Trish Gorman * Tim Grant * Dave Green * Jim Henry * David Hensby * Tracy Holmes * Steve Hone * Paul Houghton * John Hyam * Matt Jackson * Dave Jones * Dudley Jones * George P. Kearns * Soren Kjaer * Geoff Langley * Kelvin Lapworth * Dave Laycock * Tom Marriott * Mark Meynell * George Miles * John Nethercott * Ken Nicholson * Steve Quarterman * Alex Raby * Maggie Radcliffe * Phil Rice * Colin Richardson * Robert J. Rogers * Craig Saunders * Jeff Scott * Christian Seliger * James Smith * Roger Stevens * Nail Strudwick * Colin Taylor * Stuart Towner * Pavel Vana * David Walsh * Harry Ward * Tony Webb * Howard Williams * Marcus Williams * Mark Wilson Thanks also to all those who have left feedback or taken part in our 'Dream Team' or 'All About You' features. We'll be back for more in 2010.

 

17th December 2009

More than 1000 Races Soren Kjaer tells the remarkable story of Svend Engstrom the 1931 Nordic Champion who celebrated his 100th birthday in March. This article is in PDF format and is beautifully illustrated with pictures from the Engstrom family album.

It's All About You....Derek Watson Derek has been watching the Glasgow Tigers since they were based at either Hampden or Coatbridge, he can't quite remember as he was very young at the time. He nominates the National League's all time top scorer as his favourite rider and a classic Brough Park cup tie as his best his ever meeting.

We featured a Mystery Painting on the site a couple of weeks back but sadly we've been unable to uncover much about its origins. The consensus seems to be that the picture shows Barry Briggs falling in heat 5 of the 1972 World Final in which he lost a finger. Bernie Persson is the rider leading the race and Valeri Gordeev from the USSR is about to hit Briggs. The fourth rider in the race is Grigori Chlynovski.

Ivan Blacka on Snapper's Shots of the Season: "Great shot of that snapped chain. Don't think you could ever duplicate that again. EVER...................." Steve Metcalf on It's All About You....Matt Jackson "Well said Matt Jackson, I agree with almost everything you said (I was a Dukes supporter and well remember the Sheffield - Halifax derbies at the Shay, unfortunately we had a habit of losing too often for comfort!). I also used to visit Owlerton starting in the Jim Airey/Arnold Haley days through to Dougie Wyer, Reg Wilson era. My favourite memory would have to be the night Tommy Knudsen tried to "fence" Reg on the first bend when Reggie was sweeping round the outside of him. Reg was so incensed he waited for Knudsen at the pit gate and landed a few punches before the track staff parted them! It was a shame when they stopped fans watching from the back straight at Owlerton because the view from opposite the starting gate just showed what incredible acceleration a speedway bike has." Ian Muir Martin on The World Championship, New or Old?: "I would like to wholeheartedly agree over the one off World Final issue. How can someone who is SELECTED for a Grand?? Prix after winning the Grand Prix series be classed as World Champion - it beggars belief. MOST Speedway Riders have NO CHANCE of getting to be World Champion under this system. Who knows - someone MAY have won it outside of the select few. I have been to Cardiff and there is no doubt that the British GP is a great spectacle and occasion - BUT - so was the 'one off' World Final. Suffice to say that Jack Young as a Second Division Rider and Jerzy Szczakiel - a REAL surprise in Poland 1973 would AGAIN have NO CHANCE of winning the ultimate Title. They would not even be in it. At least in the old days any Speedway Rider who was riding Club Speedway was in with a theoretical chance of being World Champion - there was always a chance of an upset. I believe that eventually the SGP will split from British League Speedway and when that day comes, once again, we could hold Qualifying Rounds and end up with a TRUE World Champion - NOT a manufactured one." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

10th December 2009

Book Extract: Quantum of Shale We're delighted to bring you a second extract from Jeff Scott's brilliant Quantum of Shale book. The book covers Jeff's travels around the tracks in the 2008 season and recently received an 'honourable mention' in The Observer's Sports Books of the Year column (see here for the Observer article). In this chapter he visits Redcar and elicits some fascinating insights from then promoter Glynn Taylor. Anybody ever considering running a speeedway track should read this first. Quantum of Shale and Jeff's other books can be purchased from MethanolPress.com with some titles now discounted by up to 66%.

It's All About You....Harry Ward Harry first watched his speedway at Custom House but is now a devoted fan of the Rye House Rockets. He makes the point that we're all watching two different sports these days - GP and domestic speedway. Difficult to argue with that.

Jim Blanchard has another of his stunning prints available, this time featuring Tai Woffinden. This is strictly a limited edition with only 250 available, a number of which will be signed by Tai. Unsigned ones will be available at £24.99 and those signed by Tai will be £29.99. Both prices include p&p in the UK. Size of the print is 640mm x 500mm (or 26" x 20") printed on 300gsm art media. Full details and ordering information can be found at jbsportsimages.co.uk Former Edinburgh rider Mike McLuskey would like to hear from those he used to ride with and against. He can be contacted on mike.mcluskey@oceantrailers.co.uk if you'd like to get in touch.

Chris Wilcox on Scotland for the World Cup!: "Thanks for a great article Bill. I too have memories of Jimmy and Bill MacMillan and all the rest at Glasgow and Bertola etc at Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh. As to getting the Tigers and Monarchs to amalgamate it could be like grasping fog! Alas I'm exiled in England but keep a close eye on the Scots. Roll on 2029!!!!" Jim Henry on Mystery Oil Painting: "Can you show it at a larger scale so we can have a go at dating it please? Also - has the signature been checked and correctly interpreted." Larger versions of the picture and signature can now be seen via the original article. Bert Harkins on Previous Feedback: "Re. the anonymous letter about Sverre Harfeldt which appreared in Speedway Plus recently. Sverre lives near Oslo in Norway and is still very fit. Despite problems in walking any great distance owing to the horric leg injuries he received, he still cycles around the Norwegian countryside every day. He has had a replacement knee fitted and reports that it is working well and he still keeps in touch with many of his old Speedway friends. In November 2009, he was one of the guests at Olle Nygren's 80th Birthday party, the 'Motorfest Dinner' in Norkopping, Sweden along with other stars from Speedway, Motocross and Road Racing. Sverre is also a regular visitor to Teneriffe for the annual winter Wimbledon Get-Together organized by former Dons' fans, Darryl & Sue Mason. He also visits the UK to attend the annual WSRA (World Speedway Riders' Association) Dinner & Dance at the Leicester Marriott every March. Incidently, Sverre's daughter is a qualified airline pilot flying passenger planes for Norwegian Airways, so speed runs in the family! Sverre says, "She went on a school trip to be shown around the airport and all the other girls came away wanting to be Air Stewardesses, but she wanted to be a pilot and eventually she succeeded"." Ivan Blacka on Threat to Costa Mesa: "It would be a real shame to see Costa Mesa go. It's a living legend. So lets hope it does not die." Richard Austin has reported the following update on Costa Mesa: "Yesterday, in the LA Times, it appears a number of elected officials who originally voted for the auctioning off the Orange County Fairgrounds, now have changed their collective minds, and will vote against the auction. (who knows). Keeping my fingers crossed." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

3rd December 2009

Mystery Oil Painting The owner of this impressive oil painting would love to know more about its history. Do we have any art lovers out there who may be able to assist?

It's All About You....Matt Jackson Matt, one of the authors behind the marvellous Speedway A-Z cds, is next in line in this series. He nominates The Shay as his favourite venue and is willing to solve all speedway's ills if we pay him enough!

A Letter from Blue Peter Dave Jones wrote to Blue Peter back in 1974 and received a very nice reply from the legendary Biddy Baxter. He's sent it us so that all of you can see it as well.

Norman Jacobs and John Chaplin have written a book about the legendary Tom Farndon. It will be published in February and we'll hopefully bring you extracts prior to its publication. Further details can be found on the The History Press website. Ian Gill's marvellous Trackin' Down book is still available and falls into ideal 'stocking filler' territory. The book includes lengthy interviews with four former Long Eaton riders and don't forget that the proceeds will help injured riders. More details and an extract from an interview with Vic White can be found here. Marcin Rygielski is looking for information on Ole Hansen - Can You Help? Cliff Ellis is still looking for a copy of 'Circuits of Gold' and has DVD longtrack action to offer in exchange - Can You Help?

Ross Dow on Scotland for the World Cup!: "I'm just devastated to find out, after all these years, that Charlie Monk and Reidar Eide aren't Scottish!! I'm away to burn my flag!!! I cannot believe that Ian Hoskins would have tried to pull the wool - maybe he did not know." Bert Harkins on Riders to Remember: Basse Hveem: "I was interested to read the article by Soren Kjaer about Norwegian rider, Basse Hveem. 'Way back when I was a wee schoolboy in Glasgow, I saw Basse racing in a World Championship Round at Glasgow White City and became a Basse Hveem fan on the spot. White City was a difficult track to ride, with long M1-style straights and very tight corners and I remember that Basse was so very fast down the straights, probably the fastest rider I had seen at White City in my schooldays, but not so quick on the tight corners. I can't remember his point score for the meeting but I think he was up there in the top three and he left a very big impression on me, both with his speed and with his exotic name as he was the first foreign rider I had seen in Scotland. That was the only time I ever saw him race although I ocassionally saw his name featured in the Speedway press and read about his early exploits in Norway when he hid his Speedway bike from the approaching Germans during the Second World War. Real 'Boys' Own Comic' book stuff! Glad to see that his Speedway bike survived and that it is in a Museum in Oslo which will make a good excuse to visit Norway even if they don't have a GP there any more! " Denise on Previous Feedback: "Can I just comment on Ian Harwood's comments on my recollections hee hee. I was just saying that in the 70s you had plenty of passing and an odd bad meeting/race whereas now we have no passing, gate and go and an odd good meeting/race....they were better days, especially when wearing my rose tinted specs!!" Ivan Blacka on Perris Auto Speedway: "Any news on any Speedway track is fantastic. Even if it was in the middle of the Serengeti National Park. Nice article." Fred Atkins: "For Gods sake stop going on about the old world championship versus G P. I have been a fan for 60 yrs and have to say the GP is better, a rider can have a bad night and still win but with a one off as Ivan will tell you a 2 bob washer can stop you. So I am 70 and let's stop moaning and get in the 21st century. And thank God for Sky TV." Click here to leave your own feedback