Garry Middleton

[schumi]

Just written the race report for the 1969 British Final, and one thing caught my eye. Garry Middleton was excluded for breaking the tapes in his final heat when he needed only one point to go through to the World Final.

The referee, expecting a protest from Middleton, ran the race quickly without a reserve replacement. He was right to expect a fuss, as Middleton refused to accept the decision, came out of the pits on his bike at the start of the re-run, and chased the three legitimate riders for four laps to the chequered flag, before stopping in front of the referee's box and attempting to plead his case.

It seems Middleton had a bit of a reputation. Does anyone have any other stories like that? Not necessarily Middleton, but strange races, or wacky occurrences?

[admin]

Edinburgh's Brett Saunders did some whacky things over the years - I have vague memories of him protesting about the lighting at one track (could have been Berrington Lough) by appearing for a race with a torch attached to his handle bars. On another occasion at a rain soaked Brough Park he angered Ian Thomas, then Newcastle promoter, by turning up at the starting gate for Ht 7 with an umbrella - the referee, from memory, took the hint and abandoned the meeting, much to the fury of Thomas.

[Deleted]

Barney Kennett always used to wind up the Eastbourne fans, and on his way to the tapes one afternoon, a handbag was thrown from the Arlington terraces. He caught said handbag, and carried it to victory in the race before throwing it back into the crowd on his victory lap.

[admin]

Going off at a tangent, can anyone spot the terrible mistake on the front cover of this programme from the 1981 WTC Intercontinental Final held at King's Lynn:

www.speedway.org/programs/us/England/images/GB810628WCT-01.jpg

[Deleted]

A proof reader with a sense of humour, like it ;D

[Deleted]

One I have heard many times from Cradley is described below:

"In August an incident happened at Cradley Heath which was probably the first of the legendary Middleton stories. During a hard fought race with Cradley’s Roy Trigg, Garry ended up in the fence. On his return to the pits Garry pulled a gun from his toolbox and bailed up Triggy. The police were called in and our hero left the stadium under police escort"

Taken from an article on speedwayplus: www.speedwayplus.com/GarryMiddleton.shtml

Though I'm sure the people who told me the story said it was Middleton's fault he ended up in the fence in the first place

[schumi]

Crikey, was it usual to be packing heat in the old toolbox in those days?

[Deleted]

I couldn't tell you, being only a young pup myself

[admin]

Jan 19, 2009 20:18:35 GMT admin said:

On another occasion at a rain soaked Brough Park he angered Ian Thomas, then Newcastle promoter, by turning up at the starting gate for Ht 7 with an umbrella - the referee, from memory, took the hint and abandoned the meeting, much to the fury of Thomas.

Came across the meeting report in The Journal the other day and it certainly was a meeting that had its bizarre moments.
In Ht 6 Edinburgh's Benny Rourke was excluded for "technically breaking the no assistance rule" when he stopped before the end of the race to pick up Mark Fiora (who had already either fallen or ground to a halt earlier in the heat) and give him a lift across the finish line.
In Ht 7 Brett Saunders (one of paulco's favourites) turned up at the tapes with his umbrella and after handing it to his team manager he gesticulated at the meeting referee Vic Harris.
Then after a couple of laps of Ht 7 the floodlighting at Brough Park failed and the riders were plunged into total darkness (this was an autumn fixture) at full race speed.
The referee called a halt to the meeting after that. Although some might find the comments of then Newcastle promoter Ian Thomas interesting, bearing in mind his comments after the abandoned Young Shield meeting at Berwick last season. Mr Thomas said of the abandoned Newcastle meeting: "Our riders were prepared to carry on but Edinburgh were unhappy and the referee got cold feet".