Just about to start racing..

Belle Vue v Peterborough for the title (over 2 legs)

Eurosport 2 Live

Back in the day I used to watch The Dukes at The Shay on a Saturday night.

I used to love it, but it seems like ancient history now.

When we moved to Kent we loved watching Canterbury Crusaders - many happy memories following them all over England and Scotland. Sadly the Crusaders were closed down due to increasing numbers of complaints about the noise. Eastbourne Eagles (they were the Blackburn of speedway) were closed down earlier this year.

Speedway!
Used to go and watch Reading Racers in my youth.
They started in the then new Div 2 and later upgraded to Div 1 and hasmd such greats as Anders Michanek, who became world champion.

Belle Vue were there then.

I remember Canterbury Crusaders. Ipswich Witches comes to mind. Swindon, Oxford, Cradley Heath.

The riders are fearless.

Belle Vue was a great away trip, it's amazing they are still going.

Remember Anders Michanek - we also went to Ipswich to see Ivan Mauger but got stuck in traffic, arrived after first race abs found that Mauger had crashed and broken his leg. We also went to the world final at Wembley when Bruce Penhall won the title - he later went on to appear in CHIPS on tv.

Nelson Admirals bring back memories of local speedway down seedhill.

HB Claret wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:34 pm

Remember Anders Michanek - we also went to Ipswich to see Ivan Mauger but got stuck in traffic, arrived after first race abs found that Mauger had crashed and broken his leg. We also went to the world final at Wembley when Bruce Penhall won the title - he later went on to appear in CHIPS on tv.

Think Ivan Mauger then you also think Ole Olson!

Peter Collins at Belle Vue.

Very close tonight. 46 - 44 to Belle Vue

Only been to GPs Got out to Gorzow a few years ago - great atmosphere.

dougcollins wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:05 pm

Back in the day I used to watch The Dukes at The Shay on a Saturday night.

I used to love it, but it seems like ancient history now.

I went for a few seasons to watch The Dukes, but that was at Odsal. Gary Havelock and the like. Went to the world final at Odsal too.

Was Kenny Carter racing when you were watching at Halifax?

I used to love the smell of the bike fumes as it wafted into the stands.

I half wondered if they might try to bring it back to Bradford, particularly now that Odsal is back up and running and they’ve got stock cars on there.

The local handyware shop owner in Padiham used to ride for Belle Vue, Eric Broadbent.
He's closed the shop today to attend the 2nd leg in Peterborough.

It's live again on Eurosport

dougcollins wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:29 pm

Belle Vue was a great away trip, it's amazing they are still going.

Very much a Phoenix from the ashes… they lost Hyde Road and raced at the greyhound track for several seasons but following its sale enough came forward to create a new dedicated stadium… the National stadium is as we saw the other night is an exciting track with plenty of opportunity for overtaking. Was one of the best meetings I’ve seen in a long while.

Peter Collins and Chris Morton is the partnership I always bring to mind for Belle Vue, pairs World Champions more than once.

A couple of blasts from the past in those posts. Kenny Carter became the face of the Halifax Dukes and their talisman. Sadly so much so that following his shocking suicide the Dukes never recovered.

Ivan Mauger my dad adored… though I only ever saw him ride against Belle Vue, for Cradley Heath, if memory serves. Havelock was a hell of a rider for Bradford, the Odsal was a large but strange place to watch speedway.

Went to Peterborough many times - a big wide track which offered the real racers a chance. If tonight matches the first leg it should be a good watch.

Crikey not seen Speedway since seeing Peter Collins at Belle Vue as a young kid . Morton was there too and remember seeing them race against Carter ( maybe season before he blew his head off) unbelievably exciting racing spectacle . Remember they used to sometimes have stock car racing on same night and have to brush the cinders? with some plough type thing on back of a tractor

AlargeClaret wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 14, 2021 11:34 am

Crikey not seen Speedway since seeing Peter Collins at Belle Vue as a young kid . Morton was there too and remember seeing them race against Carter ( maybe season before he blew his head off) unbelievably exciting racing spectacle . Remember they used to sometimes have stock car racing on same night and have to brush the cinders? with some plough type thing on back of a tractor

You are right they used to also have stock car meetings at Hyde Road. The tractor would be employed several times a meeting when weather dictated (or the ref insistence). If the surface is too tight the bikes have less grip making it even more dangerous, and they decided charging along at 70mph with no brakes and only a throttle for control was enough excitement without the bikes sliding around

IanMcL wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:29 pm

Speedway!
Used to go and watch Reading Racers in my youth...

The riders are fearless.

We watched Reading a couple of times a year when we were living down there in the early 80s, watched a bit at Halifax, Bell Vue and IIRC even Nelson (or was it just the stock cars and hot rods there?) in the late 60s/early 70s.

I never raced speedway but have ridden a few Jawa & Weslake speedway bikes on cinder ovals; once you get your head around the basic principals, it's not as scary as you might imagine and the lack of any brakes is a bit of an irrelevance, they're not really useful for anything once you''re out on track.

AfloatinClaret wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:24 pm

We watched Reading a couple of times a year when we were living down there in the early 80s, watched a bit at Halifax, Bell Vue and IIRC even Nelson (or was it just the stock cars and hot rods there?) in the late 60s/early 70s.

I never raced speedway but have ridden a few Jawa & Weslake speedway bikes on cinder ovals; once you get your head around the basic principals, it's not as scary as you might imagine and the lack of any brakes is a bit of an irrelevance, they're not really useful for anything once you''re out on track.

Interesting. I never thought the brakes were relevant, more likely to cause a problem than stop one. So many broken limbs amongst the novice riders!

conyoviejo wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:42 pm

Nelson Admirals bring back memories of local speedway down seedhill.

Brings back memories for me too. Went to Berwick speedway a couple of years ago, the smell and noise doesn't change

IanMcL wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:57 pm

Interesting. I never thought the brakes were relevant, more likely to cause a problem than stop one. So many broken limbs amongst the novice riders!

Exactly that, as a general rule you need to increase power to get out of trouble - reduce weight on the front wheel - If/when you need to slow down, the engine braking on those high compression 500cc single engines is phenomenal.

It was that first bend which always amazed me. Sheer bravery and trust in your fellow riders.

There was also the Rochdale Hornets locally, but before my time.

The final was some of the best racing I’d seen, think I’ll check out the National Stadium next season. I often went but never felt right at the Greyhound track, hopefully it will be more like Hyde Road used to be.

Aces lost to Peterborough, and unfortunately after being nip and tuck once Peterborough hit the front on average around heat 6 they never really looked like letting Belle Vue back in.