Ivan Mauger


Book Description

This is the first book to the reveal the complex personality behind the public image that is Ivan Mauger, the dedicated and often ruthlessly efficient speedway multi- World Champion. Driven by uncompromising determination and naked ambition he became, to terrace fans and on-track rivals alike, a virtual sporting automaton. His motorcycle racing achievements - 15 world titles on speedway and long track - are testament to his pursuit of excellence. He elevated a minority sport to a new and higher dimension with professionalism that made him at once envied and feared, admired and hated. And it launched him from the obscurity of his small-town New Zealand origins to worldwide acclaim, which continues to enjoy. Here, renowned speedway historian and journalist John Chaplin reveals, through the words of opponents, friends, enemies, business associated, fans, rivals and his own family, the real Ivan Mauger... the man behind the myth.




Wembley and Beyond


Book Description

It started on a cold, frosty morning in 1951 in Christchurch, New Zealand, with a seventeen-year-old-boy, a crate of sheeps' kidneys and a dream. The boss of the city's Belfast meatworks, had arrived an hour early to set up for the day, when he noticed one of his workers packing up a crate on the countertop. The young lad was battling to move it so the boss went over to help. When asked what time he'd started, the boy replied 'Five o'clock this morning'. Stunned, and amused, the boss told him he'd be earning a good bonus at the end of the week, and wondered aloud what he'd spend it on. But the boy knew, and immediately replied, 'I'm going to race speedway in England.' And he did. That boy was Barry Briggs, and it was just the start of his great adventure. Little did he know he was soon to become the legendary speedway racer more commonly known as Briggo, and later as Barry Briggs MBE. From dangerous encounters in the jungles of Liberia to teaching Steve McQueen to slide a speedway bike, Briggo's incredible story is one of strength, determination and a life lived firmly in the fast lane.




Riders, Teams and Stadiums


Book Description

This is a pictorial scrapbook of memories of speedway between the years 1974 to 1978- a collection of photos taken by journalist and trackside photographer, Keith Lawson. The photos have been scanned from rescued negatives that had long been neglected in a box in his attic but the current trend of nostalgia for the golden age of speedway drove him to spend hundreds of hours on the task, so they could be shared and enjoyed. Anyone involved in speedway at this time, will love the trip down memory lane.




Kelly Moran


Book Description

This is the book that speedway fans the world over have been waiting for: the inside story of the Californian hell-raiser, Kelly Moran. The charismatic American was one of the most spectacular and naturally talented riders to race speedway and very few share that incredible ability which ensured that he performed at the highest level for most of his career. A three-times World Finalist, double World Team Champio and US National Champion, Kelly's talent as a racer took him around the world, while his exploits off the trace have become legendary - making him one of the most popular riders ever. From leading the USA to world glory, via a near-death hotel accident, to joy-riding in a president's bus, Brian Burford's new book mixes the legendary tales of excess of the track with the success and popularity on the race circuit. With contributions from his family, friends and rivals, and written by one of his closest friends, this book finally brings you the real story of Kelly Moran.




American Motorcyclist


Book Description

American Motorcyclist magazine, the official journal of the American Motorcyclist Associaton, tells the stories of the people who make motorcycling the sport that it is. It's available monthly to AMA members. Become a part of the largest, most diverse and most enthusiastic group of riders in the country by visiting our website or calling 800-AMA-JOIN.




Hammerin' Around


Book Description

This is a history of speedway at the West Ham stadium, from its first-ever dirt track meeting in 1928 to its final season in 1971. Exhaustively researched and supplemented with detailed statistical appendixes, this is a nostalgic but worthy tribute to the track heroes of a bygone era.




MCN Days, Speedway Nights


Book Description

During his time as speedway reporter for MCN, Andrew Edwards travelled extensively witnessing first-hand the thrills and spills of world class speedway, meeting the top riders and hearing and reporting on stories of epic euphoric success and sometimes tragedy. Here Andrew recounts his own story from humble beginnings in provincial journalism in the West Midlands to national newspaper reporting of Grand Prix world meetings with anecdotes and characters described in his own style with a fair bit of humour along the way. How he met with some of the greatest headline makers over decades of speedway reporting becoming great friends of many along the way including legendary names like Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs, Bruce Penhall, Peter Collins, Simon Wigg, Jason Crump and Kenny Carter. There is also the story of how Andrew experienced major changes in the publishing industry, from hot metal presses, the days when clanky ink ribbon typewriters were the latest technology and even before mobile phones were invented, right through to a new dawn of the new digital printing revolution.




Daily Mirror


Book Description




Ivan Mauger


Book Description




Both Sides of the Fence


Book Description

'Reg Fearman is the man who knows all of speedway’s secrets ... and is prepared to reveal them. He has taken a unique, full-throttle, white-knuckle ride to the top as an international rider, a world-class team manager, a successful promoter and a formidable administrator. He has never ducked a confrontation, on or off the speedway track; he knows the glamorous and the murky side of a tough, fabulously exciting and sometimes cruel sport, and he spares no one's blushes ... not even his own' - John Chaplin, speedway's leading historian. 'From humble origins in London’s East End, this is the story of how Reg Fearman became a local hero with West Ham, the cockney giants of speedway, and went on to represent his country, first as a rider at the tender age of 17, and then as an international manager. A captivating mixture of sporting achievement, politics and business and social history, it also looks at how speedway was resurrected from the doldrums of the late 1950s and dragged into a new ‘Jet Age’ golden era, a time which paved the way for the heights that the sport has enjoyed in the twenty-first century as a global phenomenon.Including a plethora of untold truths, revelations and a rich treasure trove of photographs, Reg lays bare for the first time the sensational inside story of the resurrection of speedway ... warts and all!' - Dr Brian Belton, JP and author