Coventry Speedway

Morning MR, I am not an avid fan of the tracks these days but I do read your 'Bees' posts and it's not always a happy one when reading of a rider's critical event. One can only hope of a happier outcome for Gollob. As a matter of interest at what age do riders normally retire these days? I get the idea they think they can go on for ever!

Morning! I would suggest that riders generally retire mid-30s, unless forced to earlier through injury There are exceptions of course Nigel Boocock rode in the UK leagues in his 42nd year; Ken McKinlay went on till 45; current world champion Greg Hancock is 46 Tomasz Gollob's last season was 2015 - his accident has occurred at motocross, rather than speedway

Thanks for your post MR, a risky business either way, but as long as they enjoy it ......... (Good evening to you from here - 8.46 pm)

Don't really know whether this report is of any significance regarding Bees future

I was the Clerk of the Course at a speedway meeting in Broadford, near Melbourne, a few years ago. The referee in the control tower noticed one of the riders was not wearing gloves, and instructed me to have a few words with him, and that he shouldn't be allowed back on the track "improperly dressed for racing". I had never seen this rider before and didn't recognize his name (I remember it was Neville something), so I followed him when he returned to the pits and parked his bike. He was having trouble getting his helmet off, and it turned out that his specs were getting tangled up, and his mechanic - a little woman of advanced age - had to help him. When his face finally emerged from the helmet, I noticed that he, too, was not as young as the average rider. At Club days like this, we often had young hopefuls turning up to try out in the novices races, but his face betrayed a life already well lived! Anyway, I passed on the message from the referee, and Neville apologized, explaining that he'd had trouble getting the bike to fire and had forgotten all about the gloves. That settled, I said that I hadn't seen him racing before, and asked how long he'd been racing speedway. His mechanic - actually his wife - butted in and said "The silly bugger's 71 years old, and never been on a speedway bike in his life - this is his first meeting!" Apparently, Neville had been racing motocross for many years, but it was getting a bit "hairy" due to his worsening eyesight, and he figured that it might be easier if he only had to turn left from time to time! And I thought I'd left it a bit late when I had my first race at the age of thirty nine and a half!

It has been reported in the last few days that former Bees rider Kenni Larsen has been forced to retire as a result of the head wound he suffered in last year's shooting accident

Telegraph article "Could Coventry Bees speedway team be saved by this dramatic move?"

Going back to this question - I was interested to see former Bees rider Wayne Broadhurst in action at a grasstrack meeting on Sunday, at the age of 50. Wayne rode for Bees in 1987-89, and called time on his speedway career in 2003. Here's my photo of Wayne in action in a 350cc race

OK, so it's not "Coventry Speedway", but some vintage Chris "Bomber" Harris action riding for Peterborough at Sheffield last night. Enjoy

Hi & thank you, I did enjoy, but where was the crowd?

The terracing on the far side at Owlerton - ie between the first and third bends - has been closed for many years (a lot of tracks have done this with declining attendances). Some stand under the cover between the third and fourth bends, but generally spectators choose the area in front of the main glass fronted grandstand or inside in the bar and restaurant areas

Another clip of Chris Harris in typical racing action, at yesterday's Championship Fours event at Peterborough

Statement today from "Save Coventry Speedway and Stox"

Remember the Bunty's buses to Wembley for the World Championships Finals? My sister (back row, second from the left) and I think this is from 1963, when the Bees were represented by Nigel Boocock, Jim Lightfoot, Olle Soderman and Ron Mountford was reserve. Ove Fundin won it from Bjorn Knutsson and Barry Briggs. Anyone recognise themselves? I'm back row, on the right.

Mention of Olle Soderman, JW His time with Bees was too early for me (1956-58) but how I wish I'd seen him in his debut season. Per Olaf Soederman first appeared in black & gold on 11 August 1956, scoring a 15 point maximum at home to Oxford. By the time of his last appearance that season, on 15 September, when he scored another 15 point maximum at home to Swindon, he had featured in 42 races, of which he had won 39, and been beaten only three times, by Alby Golden at Southampton, and Ken McKinlay (Leicester) and Jack Biggs (Poole) at Brandon. His calculated average for those eight meetings was 11.71 (out of 12). He started off 1957 in a similar vein with a paid and a full maximum from his first two meetings, followed by a 13 point return in the following meeting. Double figure scores featured largely throughout the season, apart from three disastrous meetings. When Bees lost at home to Oxford 43-53, Olle returned only a five point score, with a 2 minute exclusion, a tapes exclusion and a retirement in his five races. At Birmingham, Bees lost 29-67, Olle failed to win a race, with two seconds, three thirds and a last place giving him seven points from six races. Even worse for Bees was a 24-72 defeat at Southampton, and Olle's return was two seconds, two thirds and two retirements, for six points. He didn't appear for Bees in 1958 until 12 July, when he recorded 13 points from 5 rides. Next meeting he returned only a paid five score from five rides, then he reeled off a series of double points scores - 12, 14, 14, 15 - before his scores dropped off alarmingly, with retuns of 5, 7+1, 6+1, 7 and 7, each from five rides. That was the end of his Bees career, having featured in 8 meetings in 1956, 14 in 1957 and only 11 in 1958. He reached four World Championship Finals. 1956, not surprisingly, given his Bees form, was his best, when, after a pointless first ride, he finished with 10 points, for sixth place behind champion Ove Fundin. The following year he appeared again at The Empire Stadium, returning a seven point score for 9th place. In the 1963 final, which Johnnie Walker refers to, he finished 12th with five points (Nigel Boocock was 7th with eight, Jim Lightfoot 14th with four, Ron Mountford (reserve) did not ride). When the 1966 final was held at Ullevi, Gothenburg, it was a miserable night for Olle, with just one point to show and last place.