IVAN MAUGER - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Who else but Ivan Mauger, the greatest rider in speedway history, to adorn the front cover of our first issue?
In our new, exclusive interview with the six times World Champion he talks candidly about his early career...his battles and long-running feud with promoter Mike Parker.
"With all due respect to Ronnie Greene and Charles Ochiltree, they were wimps compared to Parker," says Mauger, who explains why it was his disputes with his Newcastle boss that drove him to leave the Diamonds in 1969.
"If Parker had left Newcastle, I would never have joined Belle Vue," he added.
But the Kiwi legend admits that if it hadn't been for the launch of the Parker-inspired Provincial League in 1960, he would not have returned to England following his unsuccessful spell with Wimbledon in the late 50s, when he did a milk round to try and make ends meet.
Mauger reveals the influence he had on the Aces, how he turned them from also-rans to triple BL champs in the early 70s. He talks about Peter Collins and how he went before the Belle Vue board of directors to try and get PC in the team before he stepped up from Rochdale. "PC didn't even know I'd been to see them," he admitted.
OLLE NYGREN We're back with the Swedish maestro (part one of this interview appeared in the last-ever issue of VSM) for more remarkable revelations and memories.
In this issue, Nygren reflects on the hazardous nature of motorcycle sport, recalling incidents that led to the deaths of rivals, team-mates and old friends. Olle was the first on the scene, along with Joel Jansson, when fellow Swede Tommy Jansson lost his life in Stockholm in 1976.
We take up the story of Nygren's incredible career during his Norwich days in the early 60s and also hear what he made of his subsequent spells with Wimbledon, West Ham, Ipswich, Coventry and King's Lynn.
He also talks openly about race-fixing and ‘doing favours' in World Championship meetings. He pursued one rider who owed him £50 all the way to Australia! "There was a system in Sweden of ‘covering' races and I understood how it worked," says Olle, who revealed that he was in the pits at one World Final when a fellow countryman was offered a £1,000 bribe to throw a key race.
Powerful stuff from this Grandfather of Swedish speedway, who has just recovered from major heart bypass surgery.
NEIL STREET Many current day fans know Neil as team manager at Newport and as the influential grandfather of double World Champion Jason Crump, but in this interview we discover the background to Neil's respectable riding career.
He describes his voyage of adventure from Australia, the sacrifices he made to make the grade with Swindon and Exeter, and has a firm response to those who have described Newport's old Somerton Park as one of the most dangerous of all.
BRUCE CRIBB Kiwi Cribbie's career spanned three decades, but here we focus on his battle to find his way in his early days with Poole in the 60s.
"I wasn't a naturally talented rider and Poole could have sent me home years before I eventually came good for them," said Bruce, who played his part in solid Pirates' 1969 BL-title winning victory.
FLASHBACK We look back the years 1948, 1958 and 1968, featuring the BL Division Two introduced so successfully 40 years ago.
VIC HUXLEY One for the old-timers to savour, as we examine the impact made by speedway's first superstar.
NEW CROSS Looking at the impact made by Ron Johnson through the years at the south London track.
NAME THAT TRACK Can you recognise the two tracks featured in our picture quiz?
Plus your letters and much more.
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ISSUE 2 Autumn/Winter 2008
COLIN PRATT - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Our front cover subject is normally a man of few words, but former World Finalist Colin Pratt recalls the highs and lows of his racing career in issue 2 of Classic Speedway.
After learning his trade with Stoke in the Provincial League, ‘Pratty' established himself as a British League No.1 and England star with Hackney. The double London Riders' champion reflects on his six seasons as skipper at The Wick between 1964 and 1969, his long-term relationship with Hawks boss Len Silver - "one of the best" - and the disappointment of being denied a third consecutive LRC title.
He sought a move to Cradley Heath in 1970 and, after threatening to quit Britain and ride in Sweden or the USA, he was enjoying life at one of his favourite tracks when tragedy struck on the road near the Belgium town of Lokeren. The minibus carrying the West Ham team and manager Phil Bishop back from Holland crashed, killing four riders as well as Bishop. Pratt made what he describes as a "miracle escape" but after six months recovering from a broken neck and other serious injuries, he was advised by medical experts never to race again. "They warned me that if I broke the vertebra again, I'd end up paralysed from the neck down," he says.
TERRY BETTS One of the most popular riders of his generation and a legend at King's Lynn, it wasn't always plain sailing for the blond bombshell. In our second major exclusive in issue 2, ‘Bettsy' reveals the reasons why the Control Board banned him for nine months and he threatened to turn his back on the sport after a dispute with the Norwich management.
He tells how Ove Fundin's selfish hard-riding tactics at the Firs upset him and his team-mates but how it made him a much better rider too. "He'd take your leg away, ride right over your foot," says Terry.
Betts explains why he was at one time persona non grata at his former club, Wolverhampton and what riding for Lynn boss Maurice Littlechild meant to him. Littlechild was one mentor in Terry's life and the other key figure was Colin Pratt, who, he says, transformed his career in the early 70s. ERIC BOOTHROYD International rider and captain, world finalist, team manager, promoter, BSPA chairman and track curator . . . Eric Boothroyd has done the lot in speedway and he's still going strong in retirement in his native West Yorkshire.
In our third big exclusive of this issue, the Halifax title-winning captain of 1966 takes us through his long speedway journey, from his debut ride while serving in the army, though his spells with Birmingham, Oxford and Middlesbrough, his tours of South Africa and on to his influential role in the launch of the shale sport in his home town of Halifax.
Eric reveals why Ronnie Moore called him a "rotten devil" and why, at 41, he decided the time was right to finally hang up his leathers.
BRIAN CRUTCHER One of the best Brits never to win the World Final, the former Poole and Wembley favourite was still a top rider with Southampton when he stunned his supporters by announcing his retirement. The World No.2 of 1954 explains the reasons behind his decision and why he now regrets ending his racing days as early as he did.
FRANK VAREY The latest in our ‘Legend' series, we look back at one of the sport's great pioneering characters - the former Belle Vue and England wild man they called the ‘Red Devil'.
GOING TO THE DOGS? Can speedway and greyhound racing live without each other? Following the recent closure of Walthamstow Stadium, we ask if the two sports are the classic marriage of convenience?
NAME THAT TRACK Can you name the three tracks pictured in our latest photo quiz?
Plus...
Your letters, plus our regular columnists John Hyam and Ian Hoskins, and tributes to Willie Templeton, Joe Thurley, Bert Edwards, Darren Boocock and Snowy Beattie.
Previously unseen photographs and another whole helping of pure nostalgia.
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ISSUE 3 Winter 2008-09
BARRY BRIGGS - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Four times World Champion and the biggest name in the sport's history, BARRY BRIGGS looks back at the start and through the peak years of his illustrious career in our major exclusive that runs over 12 pages. Briggo recalls his early struggles to find his way under no-nonsense promoter Ronnie Greene at Wimbledon in the early 50s and why he wanted away from the Dons all for the sake of £30.
He remembers happier days at Southampton and riding for showman Charles Knott, who paid him a fiver to deliberately miss the start in the second-half final at Bannister Court. Barry led Swindon to the British League championship in 1967 but read why he believes he was not as good a captain as his Kiwi mate Ivan Mauger.
BB talks about his stormy relationship with great rival Ove Fundin, including their controversial clash that decided the 1957 World Final.
In 1964 Barry was officially declared runner-up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award but speedway people still insist the voting was rigged. Briggo shares his own thoughts on that and what it was like being the most famous face in the sport throughout the 60s.
RICK FRANCE He was a leading England international, BL star for Coventry and 1967 World Finalist but, as RICK FRANCE explains why a persistent shoulder problem hampered his once promising career.
Rick, now 70 and a great-grandad, recalls his escapades with the Bees and how he and his old pal and business partner Ron Mountford once landed themselves in trouble with promoter Charles Ochiltree.
He talks about his Coventry team-mates, including Nigel Boocock. Rick says: "At Newcastle one night we didn't like the track, so we had words and pulled out - except for Nigel and John Harrhy. They were in every other race while the rest of us cleared off to the bar because we weren't going to be taken for idiots. That was another one of Mike Parker's tracks - it was terribly prepared.
"I remember Nigel being at a Control Board hearing after something or other had gone on and him saying that he'd ride on broken glass if he had to. Well, we wouldn't."
IVOR BROWN and the Internationale It was a big day out for Cradley Heath fans who had travelled down to south-west London from the Black Country for the 1965 Internationale. The amalgamation of the National League and Provincial League prior to the 1965 season had heralded the Heathens' arrival in big-time speedway and the massed ranks of supporters bedecked in green-and-white were determined to enjoy themselves and show their support for their man Ivor Brown, one of the leading lights and tough guys of the Provincial era who had earned his call-up for this prestige meeting with a string of fine scores in the opening months of the season.
We look back at that meeting - in words and pictures - that proved a disaster for the seriously injured Brown, who was stretchered off after a first bend incident with Ove Fundin in his opening ride. The Dudley Wood legend hardly rode again that season and he was never the same rider again.
LUBOS TOMICEK On the 40th anniversary of his father's tragic death in Prague, Lubos Tomicek talks movingly about the heartbreak and devastation of seeing his dad killed in action. The father of current Lakeside Hammer Lubos Tomicek junior also reveals how lucky he is to still be alive today.
ALAN HUNT Alan, or ‘Whacker' as the Birmingham legend was widely known, is one of speedway's immortals who lost his life in a racing crash. It happened in South Africa and he had risen to eminence, excellence and fame the hard way. When the Alan Hunt whirlwind first hit the cinder tracks of the Midlands, one promoter begged for him to be banned before other riders racing with him came to serious harm.
In this eight-page special on Hunt, we examine the eventful career of the former Cradley Heath, Birmingham and England.
Plus...
Your letters, plus our regular columnists John Hyam and Ian Hoskins.
Previously unseen photographs and another whole helping of pure nostalgia.
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ISSUE 4 Spring 2009
TREVOR HEDGE - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW A regular Great Britain and England international from the 60s, Trevor Hedge talks exclusively to Classic Speedway about his early days at Norwich before brief spells with Hackney and Leicester led him to Wimbledon, where he attained legendary status and even out-scored the great Ronnie Moore for two seasons.
The unassuming, ever-modest ‘Hedgey' looks back in detail at his career, including the 1969 campaign, his best in the sport, when he recorded 17 full maximums for the Dons.
The highlight was winning the annual Wills Internationale but he reveals why he felt such an undeserving winner of this once prestigious FIM meeting that was settled by his controversial run-off victory against Ivan Mauger.
"I didn't feel that I had any right to even be there. I didn't feel good enough to win those sort of meetings," he says with a remarkable candour so sadly lacking in most modern-day sports stars.
Trevor, the reluctant hero, talks of his respect for and relationship with Wimbledon supremo Ronnie Greene, while Pam Hedge recalls the special bond that existed between the riders and their respective wives.
The pity is that Trevor Hedge never earned the money from racing that his undoubted skills warranted. Indeed, he and Pam recall their conversation with Ronnie Moore that revealed the huge gulf in earnings between the two former Wimbledon stars.
KEN MIDDLEDITCH A Poole legend who captained the Pirates to league championship glory twice in the 50s, Ken takes us on his fascinating journey from his first speedway rides while serving in the RAF, through his development stages at Hastings, and all the way to him gaining international recognition.
He talks about his successful partnership with friend and team-mate Tony Lewis, which is still fondly remembered today by Poole fans of a certain age.
But there was - and still is - much more to this man than his enduring status as one of Poole's living legends. Ken reveals how he made more money from his numerous business interests away from the track, including a thriving fish shop near Poole that set him up for life.
From there, Ken and his wife Bridget opened Bailie House in the mid-60s and established it as speedway's best known guest house, where all the sport's greats and countless teams from the UK and all over the world were given a warm welcome by the Middleditches.
Oops! We're very sorry to say that the picture on page 13 is not one of Ken serving in his grocer's shop. It's another former rider, Cradley Heath kingpin Ivor Brown, that appears there in error!
DEREK CLOSE A former World Finalist and one of the most spectacular riders of the Northern speedways in the 50s, Derek reflects on an exciting career that took in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Leicester and Scottish track Motherwell.
He talks about the injury that still affects him to this day - a fractured skull sustained in a crash during a cup tie at Harringay - and why growing business interests persuaded him to quit the sport.
JACK YOUNG - and his 1951 World Final-winning bike Whatever happened to the JAP that Aussie champion Jack Young rode to victory in the 1951 World Championship at Wembley? Well, thanks to an avid collector of vintage machinery on the other side of the world, we can now reveal the truth . . . and show you new pictures of this beautifully restored bike. BILLY LAMONT The latest subject in our Legends series, we take a close look at the hair-raising exploits of the spectacular pre-war Aussie racer known as ‘Cyclone'.
Plus... Report and pictures from the first annual Celebration of Speedway event at Paradise Wildlife Park, home to the National Speedway Museum.
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ISSUE 5 Summer 2009
JIMMY GOOCH - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Jimmy Gooch has led an amazing life and some of the most extraordinary things he has achieved came after he completed his distinguished racing career with Wembley, Ipswich, Norwich, Oxford, Newport and Hackney. Classic Speedway headed to a remote part of coastal Essex to meet a remarkable man. Jimmy recalls the day he thumped team-mate Ove Fundin, why he stayed with Wembley when he could have gained more rides elsewhere and he names his best-ever team partner. And read why he admits he was "disgusted with himself" after his one and only World Final performance that had a heart-breaking postscript. Jimmy is pictured here racing for Wembley against Belle Vue's Ken Sharples at Hyde Road.
JACK GERAN - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW One of the most colourful and popular Aussies to grace the British scene, Jack Geran (left) was fortunate to avoid serious injury in a career spanning 20 years. We caught up with the Exeter Falcons legend at his Devon home, where he reminisced about his great friendship with Neil Street, his friendly rivalry with Ken McKinlay, riding in front of 70,000 at his only Wembley World Final appearance and his trophy-winning days with Oxford in the 60s.
TERRY STONE - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Welcome to the Stone Age! He might not have polled quite as many votes as Barack Obama in the USA, but World Speedway Riders' Association President Terry Stone is a selfless man of the speedway people. We talk to the former Rayleigh stalwart, who recalls his spells at opposite ends of the country with Glasgow, Exeter, Wolverhampton and West Ham before returning to Essex to complete his career with the Rockets.
BILL KITCHEN We take a close look at the life and times of our Vintage Legend Bill Kitchen (right), the veteran former Wembley skipper who was idolised by the Empire Stadium crowd even though he never quite scaled the heights of more illustrious Lions team-mates.
Plus...Remember those mysterious Russians who captured the fans' imagination on their first tours to Britain in the mid-60s? And, who needed Xbox, PS3, Wii or Game Boy back in the 50s and 60s when you could have had hours of fun playing . . . Subbuteo Speedway! Order your copy here now...
ISSUE 6 Autumn 2009
NIGEL BOOCOCK - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW England's leading rider of the 60s Nigel Boocock talks exclusively from his home in Queensland, Australia, while we also reflects on the ups and downs of a remarkable career that spanned 29 years and made him a popular speedway hero on both sides of the world.
The Coventry legend looks back on his 18 seasons at Brandon and talks of his relationship with promoter Charles Ochiltree.
He talks about his never-say-die attitude that thrilled thousands throughout his career and left him nursing some serious injuries almost from Day One, when he was a young rookie at Bradford.
Booey also explains how he came to wear his famous blue leathers, why he was disappointed not to make the top three in at least one of his eight World Final appearances and the riders he admired most.
BOB ANDREWS - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Speedway was in turmoil in 1964 and Bob Andrews was at the centre of the National League/Provincial League conflict. Here the ‘rebel' Kiwi, explains why he ended up in the high court at the Old Bailey after being sued by his club and briefly shunned by team-mates.
Bob talks candidly about his early days with California and then progressing from novice to heat leader in the great Wimbledon team of the 50s before his bust-up with Ronnie Greene caused by his brief switch to Wolverhampton.
He provides a fascinating insight into his World Pairs championship success with Ivan Mauger at Stockholm in 1969 and reveals why a late-night visit to a Swedish sex shop played its part in their unorthodox build up to the big night!
VIC WHITE - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW He wasn¹t the greatest rider in the world, but Vic White has done more than most in a sport that has seen him succeed on both sides of the fence. We caught up with the driving force behind the WSRA, who had spells with Cradley Heath, Long Eaton, Newport and Leicester before becoming a team manager and promoter.
ERIC WILLIAMS & LOUIS LAWSON We pay tribute to two former favourites who recently passed away. The ‘Little Welshman' Eric Williams of Wembley Lions fame and Belle Vue legend Louis Lawson, who went close to winning the 1949 World Championship.
Plus:
How the Provincial League came into being and much more in this latest feast of pre-70 nostalgia.
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ISSUE 7 Winter 2009-10
BILLY BALES - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW One of the most popular riders in the long history of Norwich Speedway, Billy Bales looks back over his career that promised much but was ultimately handicapped by a series of injuries.
A diminutive racer with a huge heart, Billy reveals how his first promoter gave him a new Christian name that stuck for life.
He recalls his early days with Yarmouth Bloaters before his move up into the senior league with his local Norwich Stars team, where his regular race partners included the great Ove Fundin. Billy gives us his own views on the controversial Swede and how he, too, benefited from Ove's acclaimed mechanic Les Mullins.
Although a legend at Norwich, Billy explains why he enjoyed spending the last five seasons of his career riding for Sheffield Tigers before he finally retired at the end of 1969.
"Fortunately, apart from a little bit of concussion, I never suffered any bad head injuries. I consider myself very lucky to be here today," says Billy, who celebrated his 80th birthday last June.
GEORGE WHITE - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Our second major interview is with the former Swindon star George White, one of the most spectacular riders to grace the British scene in the 50s and early 60s. After spells as a rookie with Yarmouth and then a brief spell in the juniors at New Cross, George blossomed at Blunsdon, where he became a huge crowd favourite with his fearless style and distinctive all-white leathers. "I had no fear and used to love going out wide and around the fence," he told Classic Speedway.
RON JOHNSON - LEGEND In this in-depth profile, we chart the rise and fall of the former Australia and New Cross legend Ron Johnson, one of the most dynamic personalities of the late-40s and early-50s.
Johnno's story covers his rapid emergence as a Johnnie Hoskins discovery in Perth, Western Australia, through his golden period of international stardom as hero of the mighty ‘Rangers' down the Old Kent Road and residence at the swanky Dorchester Hotel, to his subsequent sad demise - serious head injuries, failed comeback bids for Ashfield, West Ham and Edinburgh and two prison sentences for drink-driving.He spent his latter years confined to a wheelchair following a road accident. He had been dead for a week before his body was discovered in 1983.
LEO McAULIFFE Q&A with the one-time World Finalist and former Eastbourne, New Cross, Wimbledon and Oxford rider who was forced to retire after fracturing his skull in a bad smash at Halifax in 1969.
LEN SILVER We produce an edited extract from his new book, As Luck Would Have It: A Cockney's Tale, in which Len looks back on his early days as a struggling and accident-prone novice - "the two-lap champion" - before he got his chance with Ipswich under the management of a regimental man he quickly came to curse.
JIMMY TANNOCK Fellow Scot Bert Harkins brings us up to date with his former Edinburgh Monarchs team-mate Jimmy Tannock and explains why he became known as ‘The Laird of Glen Orchy'.
Plus...
Columnist Ian Hoskins recalls the watershed World Final of 1950, a tribute to the late Sandor Levai, Hungary's greatest ever speedway rider, your letters, news updates and much more...
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ISSUE 8 Spring 2010
Welcome to Issue 8 of our quarterly retro magazine. There's another feast of speedway nostalgia for your enjoyment...
SVERRE HARRFELDT - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW He is probably the greatest speedway rider Norway has ever produced . . . and now Sverre Harrfeldt has taken time out to look back over his eventful career with Classic Speedway.
The former Wimbledon, West Ham and Wembley crowd favourite talks candidly and for the first time about THAT controversial night of the 1963 Internationale that was marred by accusations of bribery in which greats Ove Fundin and the late Peter Craven were both implicated.
Read Sverre's account of that big rumpus at Wimbledon and why he refused to shake Craven's hand.Sverre also recalls how he was just three laps away from winning the world title in 1966 and why he blew his chances in 1965 by arriving a day late for the European Final!
In the European Final three years later, Sverre was involved in a horrifying crash that put him out of speedway for 18 months and almost cost him his life. And he reveals how he had a very lucky escape again when he was unable to go on the fateful tour to Holland that killed his friends and West Ham team-mates in 1970.
DANNY DUNTON - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW One of the sport's most popular and enduring characters, Danny looks back at his career as a rider with Harringay, Ipswich, Belle Vue and Oxford, among others. He recalls beating Jack Parker from the back on his first visit to Hyde Road and says: "I hadn't even heard of him - I didn't know any riders at the time!"
REG DUVAL Q&A Popular former Coventry and Liverpool favourite Reg Duval is the subject of our Q&A this time, as he recalls his overseas adventures in Europe and South Africa, where he competed in his last meeting at the age of 47, as well as his British racing experiences. He talks about Jack Young, his most respected Coventry team-mate, and also explains why his promoting attempts at Liverpool ended in disappointment and strife.
MIROSLAV VERNER - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW One of the finest Czech riders ever, Miroslav Verner reflects on a career that took him to two Wembley World Team Cup finals and a host of British second division tracks where his full throttle exploits are still fondly remembered.
SPLIT WATERMAN, JACK YOUNG AND THE GOLDEN HELMET ROW In the summer of 1952, Harringay star Split Waterman was hauled before a Control Board tribunal after refusing to race against ex-World Champion Jack Young, of West Ham, in the coveted Golden Helmet match-race championship. John Hyam explains the story behind the row and why the charismatic Waterman was harshly treated. TOM FARNDON - IS HE THE GREATEST EVER? Some fellas we know called Mauger, Fundin, Briggs and Rickardsson may have something to say about this very bold claim, but that is what the title of the new book on the former New Cross idol is claiming anyway! Here, John Chaplin examines the impact Farndon had on speedway, explains why he was such a huge star in south-east London and, arguably, the best the sport has seen before his tragic death in 1935, aged just 24.
Plus...
Barry Briggs returns to Wembley, columnist Ian Hoskins, your letters and much more...
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ISSUE 9 Summer 2010
BENGT JANSSON - Exclusive interview In his most candid interview yet, Bengt Jansson tells Classic Speedway what really happened on that momentous night in 1967 when the world title slipped away from him.
There have been one or two conspiracy theories put forward about the run-off to decide the 1967 World Championship between ‘Benga' and his fellow Swede Ove Fundin after they had both finished with 14 points. One of them was that Bengt had in some way been compromised by Swedish speedway politics that favoured Fundin over himself.
It has even been suggested that he was under strict orders from SVEMO bosses not to try and beat the Swedish great, who was bidding to go one better than the record four title victories he shared with Barry Briggs.
Now Jansson tell us the truth about that night . . . what he said to Fundin as they walked the Wembley track before the run-off . . . why he thought he was the best rider on the night . . . and his deep disappointment at losing out.
Plus we examine why the former popular West Ham, Edinburgh and Hackney star never came that close to winning the world title again, and what the 67-year-old is doing now. PETER COLLINS Former World Champion Peter Collins is a keen speedway historian and a collector who has accumulated some 40 bikes - from early-30s JAPs to the much more modern Jawa, Weslakes and GMs.
In this exclusive interview, PC talks about his passionate hobby in which he lovingly restores vintage machinery, including early 1930s JAPs that used to belong to Belle Vue legend Eric Langton.
IVAN MAUGER Lay-down engines, leading link front forks, dirt deflectors, four-valve motors and silencers are part and parcel of speedway today but, as six times World Champion Ivan Mauger points out and our accompanying pictures confirm, there is nothing new about any of them.
ALF HAGON - Exclusive interview The former Harringay, Wimbledon, Leicester, Oxford, Poole and West Ham rider is the latest to feature in our Q&A series, reflecting on the highs and lows of his eventful career in the capital.
JAROSLAV VOLF - Exclusive interview We talk to the first Czech rider to appear in the individual World Final.
SECOND SCENE In our new series on the British League second division we turn the clock back to 1968 and the re-launch of the sport at Middlesbrough, where the Teesside Teessiders got off to a winning start against North-East rivals Berwick.
BUDDY FULLER Recalling the career of a speedway trailblazing entrepreneur from South Africa, the latest in our Legends series.
Plus columnists Ian Hoskins and John Hyam, your letters and much more...
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ISSUE 10 Autumn 2010
BEST OF BRITISH - The top 20 of the 50s The early 50s were a very successful period for British riders. After Tommy Price had won the last World Championship of the 40s, his fellow Wembley star Freddie Williams put Wales on the speedway map by winning the coveted title in 1951 and again in 1953.
In 1955 (cover man) Peter Craven became only England's second World Champion after Price but, otherwise, the decade was largely dominated at the highest level by Aussie Jack Young and, in the late 50s, the Kiwi duo of Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs, plus Swedish ace Ove Fundin.So, apart from Williams and Craven, who were the other main British challengers from this era and how would you rank them now?
It's a tough ask but respected and prolific author Norman Jacobs readily rose to the challenge and has compiled his Top 20 Brits of the 50s. RONNIE GENZ - Exclusive interview He rode throughout the 50s and 60s and was 42 when he finally retired at Newport in 1972. Here Oxford legend Ronnie Genz talks to Classic Speedway about the highs and lows of a long career spent mostly in the top flight and which also included successful spells with Yarmouth and Poole after an eye-opening baptism among the big boys at New Cross.
One of the many issues we discussed with Ron, now 80, was the time he rode for Exeter under a false name.
NORMAN PARKER He may not have quite had brother Jack's talent, but Norman Parker was still a class act who made his mark on the sport. We look back over the career of the man who became a star at Wimbledon and a speedway legend in his own right.
DINGLE BROWN Our Q&A this time is with one of the sport's most likeable characters, former Rayleigh favourite Dingle Brown, who reveals the highs and lows of his eventful career that began at Stoke in the early 60s.
SECOND SCENE We continue our look back at the early days of British League Division Two by recalling the opening night meeting at Crayford, where the Highwaymen went into battle with Nelson.
ALF WEEDON In a new series where we turn the spotlight on non-riders who made their mark in other areas of speedway, here's a fascinating insight into the sport's most recognisable and enduring photographer. Alf recently celebrated his 90th birthday, so we found out how he got into speedway and what happened to him thereafter.
Plus columnists Ian Hoskins and John Hyam, your letters and much more...
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MAGAZINES
BACKTRACK Issue 39 out now! For fans who loved speedway in the 1970s & 80s
CLASSIC SPEEDWAY Issue 10 out now! Launched in May 2007, the glossy quarterly specialising in the 50s and 60s eras
FIRST-EVER ISSUE!
ISSUE 2
ISSUE 3
ISSUE 4
ISSUE 6
BILLY BALES - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
SVERRE HARRFELDT - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
BENGT JANSSON - Exclusive interview
BEST OF BRITISH - The top 20 of the 50s
