Retro Speedway: Backtrack Back Issues (38-45)

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Backtrack Back Issues (38-45)

PLEASE NOTE BACKTRACK ISSUES 1-71 ARE NOW SOLD OUT

ISSUE 38 (May-June 2010)

KELVIN TATUM - exclusive interview
England's last World Cup-winning captain on pressure, regrets, coping with autism and much more.

The former Wimbledon and Coventry star and now SKY Sports TV commentator lifts the lid on his eventful career, which also took in later spells with Berwick, Bradford, London Lions and Arena-Essex.

He talks about his youthful naivety when starting out at Wimbledon in 1983: "When I signed for Wimbledon in 1983, I had no idea how much money speedway riders earned. I first rode for 4 and 8 - £4 per start and £8 per point - and was paid nothing upfront. I remember Maido telling me what they were offering and I said to him: 'Really? What, you're going to pay me?'"

Read about his mixed experiences with Coventry, were he won back-to-back league titles in the late 80s, and his uneasy relationship with Bees' boss Charles Ochiltree: "I knew where I stood with Ochiltree. He always favoured Tommy Knudsen and I knew it would be a struggle to have any influence at the club. We were two No.1s on 10-point averages and banging heads. We weren't mates but our rivalry inspired each other and it was also good for Coventry."

In only his third season of racing, Kelvin rode in all three World Championship finals - individual, team and pairs - which brought pressures he now admits he found very difficult to handle: "I was hugely nervous and worried quite a bit. I'm quite a twitchy character when I'm under pressure and 1985 ratcheted it up massively. In hindsight, if I'm being selfish, I needed more time out of that limelight before I was genuinely ready for it. Mentally, I wasn't strong enough to cope with all that."

The 1989 World Team Cup-winning skipper recalls the difficulties of leading the national side: "The BSPA were short-sighted. A successful national team would have brought the sport more national publicity and led to more people coming through the turnstiles. If they had just dipped into their pockets a little bit and given more help with things like hotels and travel, it would have made a difference."He admits, too, that he was never the most popular or charismatic rider in the eyes of his fellow riders and supporters.

"I definitely wasn't well liked by my fellow England riders but they respected me. I wasn't in the clique and I think they saw me as being different from them - public school educated, slightly posh and a bit up himself.

"They (the fans) probably found me a bit miserable, a bit distant and a bit arrogant maybe. I was there to do a job to the best of my ability and that didn't always make me the most approachable human being in the world. A lot of supporters probably looked at me as just a miserable bugger."

Kelvin also talks candidly about the struggles he and his devoted wife Debbie have had bringing up their autistic son, Oliver.

KELLY MORAN REMEMBERED
Following Kelly Moran's sad death on April 10 after his long battle against lung and liver disease, more of the Jelly Man's former team-mates, rivals and friends pay tribute to him and recall their favourite stories about the hugely popular American who leaves behind a rich tapestry of memories.

BRUCE PENHALL COLUMN
BP is back with an emotionally poignant piece about Kelly Moran and spending time with his former USA Test team-mate in his last days and hours in California.

SIMMO'S COLUMN
In typically forthright style, the former England No.1 expresses his personal view that what the fun-loving Americans brought to the party was not always a good thing for British speedway.

BILLY SANDERS REMEMBERED
On the 25^th anniversary of the former Australian star's death, our lead columnist John Berry - the man who brought 'The Kid' to Ipswich in 1972 - writes about the impact Billy's suicide had on him and others, and also explains why he has decided to abandon thoughts of writing a book on Billy.

STAN BEAR - exclusive interview
We track down the former Weymouth and Poole star in his native Brisbane, where he looks back on his brief but successful time in England in the mid-80s.

WORLD FINAL FLASHPOINTS
To coincide with the rlease of our new World Finals of the 70s DVD, Peter Collins looks back at the first of our 'flashpoint' moments from past finals when he recalls having a 'grandstand view' of Heat 19 of the 1973 World Final, and why he believes Zenon Plech was robbed of a place in the run-off alongside Jerzy Szczakiel and Ivan Mauger.

WILKIE AND IVAN BOOK EXTRACTS
We've an extract from the new Alan Wilkinson book, including a heart-rending account of the Belle Vue skipper's heroic battle to cope with his disability. Plus, Ivan Mauger recalls some unusually barren years in an excerpt from his forthcoming book, The Will To Win.

RADFORD TRAVELS
Our intrepid scribe reviews past trips to Reading, Rochdale, Romford, Rybnik, Rye House, San Bernardino, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Skien, Smederna, Stoke and Sunderland.

Plus...

We've Q&As with Duncan Meredith and Gene Woods, we find out what happened to Vic Cross, there's a look back at England's 1980 World Pairs victory, plus your letters and even more besides.

ISSUE 39 (July-August 2010)

BEST OF BRITISH - The 70s
The 1970s was generally an outstanding period of unprecedented success for British speedway, featuring as it did six World Team Cup victories for GB or England teams, four World Pairs wins and, of course, Peter Collins' individual World Championship in 1976.

But it wasn't just in the international arena where the Brits flourished like never before. In the domestic British League there was no shortage of very talented riders challenging, and at times toppling, the overseas giants led by Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen and Anders Michanek.

So who were the top Brits from this glorious decade and how would you rank them now? It's a tough task, but Backtrack's John Berry has never ducked a challenge.We asked JB to list, in order, his best 20 UK riders from the 70s, disregarding all performances before and after the cut-off dates. The term 'best' takes into account club and personal achievements from 1970 until 1979 inclusive.

See how many of his choices you agree with...

MICHAEL LEE - Exclusive interview
Shocking, hard-hitting and revealing . . . just some of the superlatives used to describe Retro Speedway's latest book. Backtrack's Tony McDonald, author of Michael Lee: Back From The Brink, provides a glimpse into the 336 pages and get's the former World Champion's reaction to a warts and all story that has the makings of a best-seller.

WORLD FINAL FLASHPOINTS - Wembley, 1975
Continuing our series where we recall a crucial moment in World Final history, Peter Collins recalls the race in 1975 when his title chances literally went up in a cloud of dust.

TIM SWALES - Meet the Boss
In the first of a new series in which we catch up with a former promoter, Martin Neal visited the home of Tim Swales, for so long the driving force behind Middlesbrough and long-time chairman of the BSPA.

BRUCE PENHALL COLUMN
Our American columnist and former double World Champion bemoans the lack of characters in speedway today and suggests this is one of the reason why the sport is now struggling to survive both here in the UK and his homeland. As Penhall points out, 10 of the British League tracks who were running when he arrived here in 1978 are now defunct.

Bruce also talks about one of his regrets in speedway and reacts to receiving a copy of former rival Mike Lee's new book - and why he rated Lee a more difficult opponent than either Ivan Mauger or Ole Olsen.

SIMMO'S COLUMN
AS Great Britain prepares for another daunting World Cup bid, our other columnist questions whether today's riders have the same pride in riding for their country as he and his England team-mates did in the 70s and 80s.

Simmo also continues his analysis of speedway engines of the past by running the rule over the Weslake that took the sport by storm in the mid-70s.

IVAN MAUGER - book extract
In the days before points limits governed team strengths, the BSPA favoured a system of rider control in its bid to balance team strengths - and its biggest 'fall guy' of all was Ivan Mauger.

But as Ivan tells in this excerpt from his autobiography The Will To Win, in double-quick time he went from being 'the rider Belle Vue had to lose to the rider Exeter had to have'.

His stunning switch to the Falcons after the start of the 1973 season paved the way to five years of unprecedented success and excitement at the County Ground.

ROLAND DANNO - Exclusive interview
He spent only two seasons in England in the late 80s with Hackney and then Belle Vue, but Roland Danno showed lots of promise and a bright future was predicted for him. Sadly, his career literally came crashing down in 1989 but, as Martin Neal reports, the Swede is still making a big success of his life.

PETER SCHROECK - Exclusive interview
Peter Schroeck made history as the first foreigner to compete in the National League. But as we discover, it was an uncomfortable time for Rye House's young German trailblazer.

RADFORD'S TRAVELS
The intrepid Bob concludes his journeys back in time with a look back at the following venues: Terenzano, Vargarna, Vetlanda, Ventura, Vojens, Wembley, West Ham, Weymouth, White City, Wimbledon, Wolverhampton and Workington.

UNSUNG RIDERS
Learn more about Former Wolves rider Lars Munkedal and early 70s Cradley Heath hopeful Richard Eslick.

IAN HUMPHREYS Q&A
The former Weymouth, Arena Essex and Exeter rider recalls the highs and lows of his National League career.

A TO Z OF INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Start of a regular new feature where we take a slightly cynical and, at times, irreverent look back at the men of influence and other things of interest from the Backtrack era. In this issue we cover A and B, which means mentions for:

Peter Adams, Americans, Jan Andersson, announcers, anoraks, Arlington Academy, Martin Ashby, Australia, Scott Autrey, badges, Stuart Bamforth, George Barclay, Dick Barrie, Mick Bell, Belle Vue (Hyde Road), John Berry, Terry Betts, Dr Carlo Biagi, BLRC, the Boococks, Eric Boothroyd, Dick Bracher, Bradford, Barry Briggs, British Final, British League, British Lions and the BSPA.

1980 GRAND SLAM ANNIVERSARY
In the second of our three-part series looking back at England's unique Grand Slam achievement in 1980, Richard Bott recalls the highlight of Michael Lee's racing career.

MIKHAIL STAROSTIN - Exclusive interview
A rare insight from Vitek Formanek into the life and times of Russia's top rider from the late 70s and early 80s, including his special memories from his appearance in the 1982 World Final in Los Angeles.

Plus...your letters and another feast of great pictures from a golden era!

ISSUE 40 (September-October 2010)

SIMON WIGG - SPORTING HERO AND HIS LEGACY
As the 10^th anniversary of the death of Simon Wigg approaches, we look back at the successful racing career and the life and times of one of tracksport's most colourful and popular characters. We've the personal thoughts of John Berry followed by an in-depth profile by Tony McDonald, who used to 'ghost' Wiggy's weekly column in Speedway Mail. They recall a supreme talent and a special person over a special 8-page tribute to one of the sport's biggest personalities.

OXFORD REUNION
After our look back at the life and times of former Oxford star Wiggy, we've a bonus for Cheetahs' fans. Even though there has been no speedway at Cowley for three years, Rob Peasley rekindled a host of memories when he attended the recent Cheetahs' reunion, catching up with old favourites from the club's National League era, including new interviews with Dave Perks, John Hack, Steve Crockett, Kevin Smart, Colin Meredith, Keith Booth and Malcolm Holloway.

FOREIGNERS - Top 20 of the 70s
After selecting his Top 20 British Riders of the 70s in our last issue, John Berry turns his attention to the Top 20 Foreigners of the same decade. Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Anders Michanek, Phil Crump and Billy Sanders are obvious prime contenders for top 6 places but who came out on top, who made it into JB's final cut and who was left out? His choices are bound to provoke another major debate.

BRUCE PENHALL COLUMN
The former double World Champion offers his prayers for his big mate Peter Collins, who suffered a stroke, and talks about the psychology of racing, the turning point of his British career, plus a beating he took at Glasgow.

MALCOLM SIMMONS COLUMN
The outspoken Simmo on why he wanted Tomasz Gollob to become World Champion and the pick of the Poles he raced against, plus his personal reflections on Simon Wigg and his take on the Godden GR500 engine.

TORMOD LANGLI Exclusive interview
The former Norwegian star, who had promising spells with Newport, Bristol and Halifax, tells Martin Neal about riding at two of the sport's most despised tracks, that bizarre accident which ended his speedway career and how education set him on the right path again.

JOE OWEN Exclusive interview
Newcastle's history is laced with superstars but none are remembered with more affection than Joe Owen, the ultimate 'Diamond Geezer'. Here, the former Hull and Ellesmere Port ace reflects candidly on the fantastic highs and the awful lows of a fine career tragically cut short, his ongoing battle to cope with his paralysis and Joe also explains why his bitter experience has made him a better man.

MEET THE BOSS: COLIN PRATT
Continuing the series where we catch up with a promoter from the Backtrack era, this time we chat with long-serving Colin Pratt, a highly respected figure and former World Finalist who began his long stint on the other side of the fence as successful co-promoter and team boss at Rye House, had 12 seasons with Cradley Heath, team managing spells with King's Lynn, Bradford, London Lions and England and is still very much involved at Coventry today.

1980 GRAND SLAM ANNIVERSARY: PART 3 - The World Team Cup
In this third and concluding account of England's historic grand slam 30 years ago, Richard Bott recalls how the Lions roared in Poland to complete the treble with victory in the World Team Cup Final - and why national glory didn't please every Englishman.

SCREENSPORT
Sky Sports have been showing domestic live matches from the British leagues since the mid-90s but they were not the first broadcaster to do so. Rob McCaffery recalls a bold plan to bring weekly speedway to UK living rooms in the 80s and explains why the stand-alone sports channel ultimately failed.

UNSUNG HEROES
Former USA Test rider STEVE LUCERO is the subject of our overseas rider Q&A. We catch up with ex-Coventry hopeful DAVID CLARKE and we're On Two Minutes with JIM WELLS, formerly with Sunderland and Stoke.

ISSUE 41 (November-December 2010)

TOP 20 BRITS OF THE 80s
Despite the decade being largely dominated by Danish stars Hans Nielsen and Erik Gundersen and the American ace Bruce Penhall, there were still a number of British heroes, too. John Berry turns back the clock and names his top 20 riders. So who came out on top - Kenny Carter, Chris Morton or maybe Michael Lee? - and who missed the cut? All is revealed inside.

Berry says: "My list is not about pure results or longevity this time. It is about picking out those riders who shone at some stage during the 80s but not necessarily through the whole decade. It rewards those who quickened the pulse, threw a long shadow, and left a genuine mark on the sport."

JIRI STANCL - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
They gave us the Jawa engine and a string of quality riders over the years too. But the greatest Czech of them all has to be Jiri Stancl - a true international star who broke free of the shackles of his then communist country to be a major player on the world stage. Martin Neal caught up with Jiri on his recent visit to England to compile the most revealing interview he has ever given.

MEET THE BOSS: PETER ADAMS - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
He managed the great Ole Olsen at his peak and worked very closely with two other world champions in Bruce Penhall and Erik Gundersen in the course of becoming the most successful team manager in British League history after guiding Coventry, Cradley Heath and Wolverhampton to the highest honours. But his world was suddenly turned upside down in 1986, when his Wolves promotion went bust and his marriage ended. Now Tony McDonald gets Peter Adams to open up like never before in this, the first of a compelling two-part exclusive with one of the sport's all-time top administrators.

COLIN TUCKER - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
He built the biggest and fastest track in British speedway and played a key role in the construction and reshaping of others during his days as a second division hopeful.

BRADFORD - Time to show some respect?
If, as most people suspect, Bradford's Odsal Stadium is now 'dead' as a speedway venue, isn't it time we gave the old place a decent funeral? Richard Bott relives the highs and lows of the West Yorkshire venue.

STEVE FINCH - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
One of the leading lights of the National League for many years, Ellesmere Port legend Steve Finch talks to Rob McCaffery about riding with John Jackson, his spells with Berwick, Halifax and Edinburgh and much more.

JOHN HACK - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Doctors fully expected John Hack to die from the injuries he sustained in the crash that ended his career 30 years ago. But, as Rob Peasley happily reports, the former Oxford and Cradley Heath prospect has fought back against all odds and is very much alive and well.

NIGEL FLATMAN - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Nigel Flatman and Billy Sanders were great mates when they rode together at Ipswich and few took the Australian star's suicide harder than the man who probably saw him last. We caught up with the former Witches and Peterborough rider on his emotional recent to the UK.

ON TWO MINUTES WITH . . . KARL FIALA
The popular former Rye House star reveals different aspects about his career and explains why he suddenly quit so soon after helping Rockets to the NL title.

RAY WILSON
To coincide with the launch of his new DVD, 'World Cup Willy' relives one of the most thrilling races of his career, that epic clash with Martin Ashby at the 1975 British Final.

SIMMO'S COLUMN
'Super Simmo' reveals why he's just had the best Christmas present he could have wished for. The former England No.1 and skipper also recalls his controversial British Final clash with Ray Wilson, gives his thoughts on the proposed new track at Sittingbourne and runs the rule over the single overhead cam Jawa he favoured while with Wimbledon and Hackney in the early 80s.

Plus your letters, great pictures and pure nostalgia all the way!

ISSUE 42 (January-February 2011)

TOP 20 FOREIGNERS OF THE 80s
Of the 10 World Finals staged in the 80s, only England's Michael Lee and Germany's Egon Muller - cashing in on home ground at Norden in '83 - managed to interrupt a decade of domination by three genuine superstars of the sport.

American Bruce Penhall succeeded Lee as World No.1 in 1981, in the last final held at Wembley, before retaining his crown in his native California a year later.

After Penhall suddenly quit racing that year, the sport was monopolised throughout the rest of the 80s by Danes, and Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen in particular.

They both won three individual world titles apiece between 1984 and 1989, not to mention a host of World Team Cup and World Pairs gold medals as Denmark emerged as the super power of the decade.

But how to split the top three in a list of Top 20 Foreigners from the 80s? Once again, we've entrusted John Berry with that difficult task . . .

BRUCE PENHALL COLUMN
Following on from the Top 20, the American former double World Champion gives his insight into his main rivals of the 80s, including the Great Danes, his fellow Californians and Kenny Carter.

MALCOLM SIMMONS COLUMN
Super Simmo hankers for the return of the Golden Helmet mnatch-race championship and the World Pairs. He also voices his fears for his former club King's Lynn and runs the rule over the GM engine.

CHRIS & GEOFF PUSEY
He was one of the most colourful characters of the 70s but talented Chris Pusey never fulfilled his enormous potential and died prematurely. We reveal what happened to the Belle Vue and Halifax star who became a near recluse.

We also talk to Geoff Pusey, who has his strong views on what happened to his elder brother, as well as reflecting on his career that took in spells with Belle Vue, Stoke, Long Eaton and his NL title-winning heroics for Middlesbrough.

PETER ADAMS INTERVIEW
In the second of our two-part interview with Peter Adams, the Wolverhampton team manager tells how he came back to the sport, the key to his success, future ambitions, why he has never wanted to manage the Brits, as well as revealing a funny side that few have seen.

AND ANOTHER THING . . .
Introducing a new series in which we examine the major issues that changed the shape of British speedway during the Backtrack era. This time we look at 'Foreign Flops' and the Anzacs who flooded into the British Leagues, including a full list of every Australian and New Zealander who rode here from 1970-90.

RICHARD GREEN INTERVIEW
His never-say-die attitude to racing made him a cult hero at Exeter. But as former King's Lynn and Mildenhall youngster Richard Green reveals, his hard riding reputation made him a marked man elsewhere.

BERNARD CRAPPER
A tribute to a key man from the Oxford Cheetahs' glory days whose commitment and caring nature continues to benefit others.

THE ART OF MANAGING
John Berry (along with Ron Bagley) guided Ipswich to back-to-back league titles in the mid-70s before managing England to World Team Cup glory in Poland in 1977. Here he explains the now dying art of team management and names those he rated most highly.

Plus...Time to salute Briggo, plus Q&As with Geoff Bouchard and Ernst Bogh and more...

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ISSUE 43 (March-April 2011)

SHAWN MORAN INTERVIEW
The story behind the spectacular rise and fall of one of the sport's biggest stars, Shawn Moran, is a compelling one. The former USA, Sheffield and Belle Vue favourite talks candidly about hitting rock bottom after his glittering career came to an end and how he's now beginning part two of his life.

Here's a very brief taster of the kind of honesty 'Shooey' has displayed in our exclusive interview:

"I'd say my drinking got really bad from year 2000. I'd mainly stick to beer but every four-to-six months I'd knock back shots - as if to remind myself where NOT to go. I'd wake up some mornings and not know what had happened the previous night. It was hopeless really but it became a way of life that I got used to."

"I still like a couple of beers but that's all I have now - usually no more than two per day and Sabine makes sure that's my limit," he says. "She's got me under control. I can't say that I exactly wanted it but I guess I needed it!

"We did what we wanted to do and had a great time doing it. Titles and trophies are great to have but they are just things on the wall. To have won more, even the World Championship, wouldn't have changed us as people in any way. We enjoyed our sport, big-time. It was all good."

John Berry also presents his own profile of the popular California who went so close to winning the world title in 1990.

TOMMY ROPER INTERVIEW
In another revealing and candid interview, we talk to former Belle Vue, Halifax and Hull rider Tommy Roper about what might have been and how he turned speedway regrets into lasting success away from the track.

Tommy says: "I was a bit upset when I finished speedway that I didn't put more effort into it and take it more seriously. But had I done so, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. I enjoyed speedway more than most other guys. But I do look back at it now and think I could have achieved so much more. On my night, when I wasn't tired out and my bike was running good, I could beat anybody on the right track."

TONY CLARKE INTERVIEW
He was a No.1 for West Ham and Newport before ending his career with Wimbledon and Wolves. But the name of Tony Clarke is also associated with Russian bikes that went missing before the 1972 World Final. Read on for the truth about that and much more.

"Yeah, I nicked 'em. In those days the Russians used to bring over lots of bikes, engines and equipment - not to use as spares, but to sell while they were here to get their hands on some western currency. I didn't have the money to buy it from them, so I thought, 'f*** it, I'll help meself' - simple as that. They had everything stored in a lock-up near Wembley Stadium car park - anyone could have nicked it. I know who grassed us up, though, although he would never admit it."

THE BOSS: RONNIE RUSSELL INTERVIEW
He's a larger-than-life East London "geezer" and one of the most no-nonsense promoters the sport has known. But Ronnie Russell is better known for his heroic role in foiling a dramatic attempt to kidnap a member of the royal family. In this revealing new interview he re-lives that fateful day in detail, looks back on his introduction to speedway and explains why he made arrangements for his own funeral.

Ronnie recalled: "Ian Ball went round the other side of the car and came behind me. Mark Phillips saw this and pulled Princess Anne back inside the car. I turned round and there was Ball, standing and pointing his gun at me. He had a very drained look on his face, glazed eyes and I thought, 'either you're going to shoot me or I'm going to hit you, whichever comes first' - and obviously it was easier for him to pull the trigger."

MICHAEL LEE INTERVIEW
For new Mildenhall co-promoters Michael Lee and Kevin Jolly, their new venture signals a return to the venue where they first raced speedway.

Mike says: "I remember those days very fondly. When I first rode at Mildenhall as a 13 or 14-year-old, the track had just been built by Bernie and Barry Klatt in a potato field and they had straw bales for a safety fence. Kevin and I both rode for the Tiger Cubs in their winter training school matches and we were talking about that the other day. We travelled to places like Stoke, Crewe and Iwade in a lorry - riders, mechanics, friends and our bikes and equipment all piled into the back of a 40ft container. We had a lot of fun and they were memorable times."

ROBERT HENRY INTERVIEW
As Mildenhall mark their welcome return to league speedway in 2011, we caught up with Fen Tigers legend Robert Henry, probably the National League's ultimate team man.

Rob says: "I thought I was a fair rider and had the same respect from opponents. I never did the dirty on anybody and I don't think anyone did to me. I went through 11 seasons with no serious injury, so my approach must have worked."

IAN THOMAS TRIBUTE
Speedway has lost a great showmen and one of its most successful promoters and team managers. Richard Bott, who read the eulogy to Ian Thomas at his recent funeral, leads the tributes to a magical man who will be sadly missed.

"He wasn't averse to staging confrontations with visiting team managers. If a speedway meeting was going a bit flat, Ian would grab the centre green microphone and shout abuse at his opposite number or even the referee."

MARK LORAM INTERVIEW
With a new DVD out to coincide with his recent farewell meeting, Mark Loram is back in the spotlight again. Here we recall with him the early stages of the brilliant career of Britain's last World Champion.

Mark says: "As a kid you dreamed of becoming World Champion and to do it was obviously very nice at the time. It was my reward for all the hard work I'd put into my racing over the years and a way of giving something back to my sponsors and all the people who helped me to get to the top. But what meant just as much to me was entertaining the fans. To have people come up to you in the bar or the pits car park afterwards and say how much they had enjoyed watching me ride meant a lot to me."

DAVE PERKS INTERVIEW
One of the unsung heroes of Cradley Heath who later became a National League star with Nottingham, Oxford and Long Eaton, Dave Perks looks back.

Dave says: "That was just fabulous, to win those two trophies with Cradley. The fans had supported the club through some pretty lean years, so it was great to finally give them something to celebrate."

Plus...
Q&As with KEITH CHRISCO, KEVIN HOWLAND and JULIAN PARR.

We mingle with former LEICESTER riders and bosses at the Lions' recent relaunch meeting.

AND ANOTHER THING . . . John Berry presents a history of Rider Control.

ISSUE 44 (May-June 2011)

ALAN CARTER - new light on Carter tragedies
The younger brother of the late Kenny Carter opens his heart to reveal a life of pain and suffering in his astonishing new book, Light in the Darkness . . .

Twenty-five years have elapsed since speedway was stunned by the tragic deaths of Pam and Kenny Carter at their Bradshaw, West Yorkshire farmhouse on May 21, 1986. Even now, whenever the former Halifax, Bradford and England No.1 is mentioned in conversation, people still shake their heads and ask the same question: why?

Why did the 25-year-old reigning British Champion shoot his wife and then end his own life on that horrific Wednesday evening?

It is the same question Alan Carter has been asking himself about his brother, too, and for him the chilling events have rarely been far from his mind.

Since the age of six, when his younger brother was killed in a car driven by his mother Christine, who was paralysed from the waist down in the same accident, Alan has had to live with a succession of family tragedies.

In 1979, aged 15, he was called from a school disco in Halifax to be informed that his mum had taken her own life after spending nearly a decade wracked in pain caused by her fatal crash.

In 1986, aged 21, Alan lost his other brother when Kenny lost the plot and did what he did.

And in 2002 he suffered another devastating blow when his baby daughter, Charlie, died just moments after being born.Uncle Alan has also seen his nephew Malcolm - Kenny's son - imprisoned for causing death by dangerous driving.

The loss of a loved one is too much for most of us to bear under any circumstances, so we cannot begin to imagine what father of three Alan Carter has been through.

KENNY v BRUCE - the final disgrace
Everyone has had their say about the infamous bruising battle between Bruce Penhall and his bitter rival Kenny Carter that made the 1982 World Final so memorable. Now Kenny's equally outspoken brother Alan Carter has the last word in this compelling extract from his brilliant new book.

GRAHAM PLANT INTERVIEW
A hard rider who had a bit of 'wild man' reputation, Graham Plant looks back on his career with Teesside, Leicester, Halifax, Newport and Milton Keynes.

COLIN MEREDITH INTERVIEW
Track curators often get the dirt thrown at them when conditions are less than perfect, but former rider and team manager Colin Meredith has built a reputation as one of the best in the business. He's talking here about graders, granite and quarries and also looking back at his riding days for Bradford, Wolverhampton and Oxford.

JOHN JACKSON INTERVIEW
He was one of the outstanding stars of the National League, so why didn't John Jackson move onwards and upwards to top flight fame? We talk to the Crewe, Ellesmere Port and Stoke star to try and solve the puzzle.

HEAD2HEAD - PETER COLLINS versus MALCOLM SIMMONS in 1976
In the first of a new series comparing two track giants of a certain era, we look back at the 1976 season when Peter Collins and Malcolm Simmons were riding high for England. They met 15 times throughout that sizzling summer in meetings for their clubs and as individuals, so find out how they scored.

MALCOLM SIMMONS COLUMN
Super Simmo pays a moving tribute to his former friend, hero, mentor and rival, the late Don Godden, whom he describes as the "Ivan Mauger of grass-track."

BRUCE PENHALL COLUMN
Bruce and Kenny Carter were bitter rivals in the early 80s who hated each other, so read here what columnist BP makes of Alan Carter's sensational new book.

THE BOSS: STUART BAMFORTH
He is remembered mainly as the man who closed down the original Belle Vue, but Stuart Bamforth upset plenty of others in different ways. Here we look back at the controversial impact made by the no-nonsense 'Bammy'.

Plus Q&As with . . . ROBERT MOUNCER, CHRIS ROYNON and DARRELL BRANFORD.

And Another Thing . . . JOHN BERRY recalls the days when Englishmen considered it an honour to race for their country.

ISSUE 45 (July-Aug 2011)

GOLDEN HELMET
He's not quite as old as the Golden Helmet itself, but John Berry has seen plenty of the match-race championship in all its various guises. Here he looks back at its origins and the pro's and con's of what for many years was one of the sport's most coveted titles.

Following JB's intro, we present an in-depth six-page history of the Golden Helmet in the Backtrack era, spanning from its reintroduction in 1970 until its demise in 1987, the year the Helmet was stolen.

Whether it was the meeting-by-meeting challenge or the monthly best-of-three contest between 1974 and 1984, we reproduce all the results, plus pictures of some of the main protagonists and anecdotal highlights.

DENZIL KENT INTERVIEW
For years very few knew of the whereabouts of Denzil Kent or what had become of him since the mid-80s. But we tracked him down in Johannesburg, where the former Canterbury favourite tells Backtrack about his all too brief racing career, his personal struggles away from the track and how he hopes to lead a South African speedway revival.

At his lowest ebb, Denzil admits he was drinking a case of beer and a bottle of rum on most days. "That was about two-and-a-half to three years ago but I realised something had to change and I'm glad I changed that side of me. I asked myself, 'why be at the bottom of the barrel?' I knew I shouldn't be there and it was down to one person - me - to change it.

"It's been a long, uphill battle but drinking doesn't bother me anymore. I don't think about sitting in the garden drinking beer all day."

MARTIN YEATES INTERVIEW
As a second division star, Martin Yeates made history when he sailed through the British Final in 1984 and he was always a credit to the National League throughout his spells with Weymouth, Oxford and Poole. We talk to a man who literally began speedway in the deep end.

Martin, who also had spells doubling-up with Poole and Swindon in the British League, says: "I remember one season I did 115 meetings. It wasn't like these days when the riders gallivant all over the continent, nearly all of those 115 meetings were in the UK. Most clubs had at least one open meeting and if you were going well, you were invited to those.

"I once did 15 meetings in 16 days and in the middle of that, my first child was born. I finished one meeting, went to the hospital to see the birth, and then went home to wash the bike for the following meeting!"

THE BOSS: ALAN HODDER
The British Elite League was torn apart last winter by the acrimonious dispute involving Coventry and Peterborough but a quarter-of-a-century ago the sport was split asunder for four years as the National League decided it was time to come out from under the British League's control and run its own administration.

At the eye of the storm from 1987 to 1990 was National League General Manager Alan Hodder who recalls events as they unfolded.

Alan says: "It was right for the National League promoters but it shouldn't have happened. A sport with just two leagues doesn't need two separate administrations, that was obvious, but the NL promoters thought they had to make a stand."

HEAD2HEAD Ole Olsen v Ivan Mauger in 1972
The early 70s were dominated by two riders, Ivan Mauger and his former protÃ©gÃ© Ole Olsen. Between them, the Kiwi and the Dane grabbed most of the individual domestic and international honours and were outstanding for their British League teams, Belle Vue and Wolverhampton respectively.

Here we look back at their fascinating battles throughout the 1972 season. Ole went into the campaign as defending World Champion, while Ivan was determined to regain the crown he'd held for three years before losing it to his former Newcastle team-mate in Gothenburg at the end of 1971.

OLE OLSEN and OVE FUNDIN
The big Os, Sweden's Ove Fundin and Denmark's Ole Olsen, were unlikely bed-fellows. For a start, Fundin's illustrious career was coming to an end just as Olsen's was beginning and there was no love lost between the two Scandinavian nations when it came to on-track rivalry.

But after winning the first of his three world titles, in Gothenburg in 1971, Ole revealed that the man who helped him to fulfil his life's ambition was not his mentor Ivan Mauger but the wily old 'Fox' Fundin.

Here we look back at their unlikely relationship and also Fundin's brief 14-match spell with Wembley Lions in the 1970 British League.

MIKE FULLERTON
He was no Moore, Briggs or Mauger but as we recall here, Kiwi Mike Fullerton made his mark in British speedway for Bradford, Paisley and Berwick and did himself proud in New Zealand too.

Plus...

Q&As with ANDY HIBBS, TERRY MUSSETT and RAY TAAFE; a photo spread of SHAWN MORAN on his recent return to Britain; a personal tribute to former Speedway Mail editor TONY BARNARD and what new items of 'memorabilia' could be destined for the NATIONAL SPEEDWAY MUSEUM.

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