Coventry Bees Speedway - Brandon Stadium

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!

Police investigation ends, no action - report

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"

No return to Brandon for Bees No great surprise there, then, but some hope for a new stadium