S.African Speedway Riders Portraits from the 1970s to the '00s.
To complement the collage of SA dirt track speedway rider of the immediate post-war period produced previously, presented below is a collage of riders from the near past, - 1970s to mid- '00s - , including all SA National champions during this period.
Click for full screen, adjusting your Zoom to suit.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
A young trio spanning the decades, - seen in their UK league colours:
- Peter Murray was a UK London born rider that travel to Rhodesia and S.Africa in the '70s and later promoted at Corobrik where he also ran training schools.
- Deon Prinsloo was the Rhodesian born son of Chris Prinsloo and nephew of Peter. He rode in the UK for Wimbledon and Long Eaton in the years between 1990 and '94 and was still riding at Walkerville, SA, when in Feb.2011 he lost his life in an RTA, aged 38.
- Bevan Compton was born in Roodeport, SA, and spent the 2001 season at Berwick, UK, gaining a healthy 5.27pt average.
Peter Murray (Wimbledon 1973), Deon Prinsloo (Wimbledon 1991), Bevan Compton (Berwick 2001)
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................
A Briggs- & Mauger-led troupe of past, present and future World speedway champions toured South Africa and Rhodesia in November 1975. Meetings were staged at Jo'burg (Nov.7th & 28th), Durban (8th & 29th) Cape Town (21st), Salisbury (14th), and Bulawayo (15th.)
 and Olsen.jpg?timestamp=1529608634722)
Egon Muller GY, John Louis GB, Barry Briggs NZ, Ivan Mauger NZ, Ole Olsen DK, Scott Autrey US.
Wld Champ:1983(+LgTk:'74,'75,'78); 3rd 1985 (GB '75); 1957, '58, '64, '66; 1968, '69, '70, '72, '77, '78;. 1971, '75, '78; 3rd 1978.
Sidecar speedway action from Dunswart, 1968-'72 (#1-3, plus #4 at Wembley)
.....................................................................................................................................................................
After the hiatus of the
'60s South Africa was anxious to re-build speedway racing but in 1972
even Buddy Fuller struggled to tempt a British squad to tour. His
solution, - invite the Yanks ! A 4-man team comprising current
US champ Rick Woods, Scott Autry, Mike Carusso and Sumner McKnight
raced the new Republic in a Test Series at Wembley (Johannesburg),
Dunswart (Benoni), and Hoy Park (Durban) after Fuller had ripped up
the tarmac.
After their decade in the wilderness the local
riders had to concede the Series to the visitors but the sport had
been awakened, and the Yanks success in turn convinced them to spend
their next summer in UK domestic racing.
Full RSA v. USA results
HERE
Wembley press promotions, 1972 and '77:
Champion Spark Plug's Golden Helmet, 1972; Wembley Golden Helmet, 1977. (Winner, James Bruins)
( Winner Rick Woods, USA ) Speedway, Motocross, Flat Track. Admission R1.50
.................................................................................................................................................................................Action from the 1973 South African Championship at Hoy Park, Durban,
( - strictly, the SA 'Open Championship' this year, after the AA refused to recognize the SA Championship.)
Dennis Newton leads Jimmy Gallacher on lap 2 of the Final. Dennis went on to win this race,
his 6th and last National Championship success, a feat not bettered by anyone before or since.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
Etienne Olivier traveled to Scotland in 1973, making one pointless appearance for Division 1 team Coatbridge in August before securing a Br.Lge. Div.II. place with border-town Berwick in September of that year. In 8 league matches he averaged 4.15, capping off the season with his best performance of the year with two 7-point scores in the Bandits' October curtain-closer double header. He chose not to return to UK the following year.
Rhodesian Mike Ferreira however did fly to Scotland in 1974, where Coatbridge had elected to move down a division. Ferreira was given a reserve slot from the off but pulling up no trees, lost his place after a month. He returned home at the end of the season to race at Bulawayo and Salisbury, returning to the UK only in 1978 after solo speedway had ended at home. This time, in the South of England at Canterbury and Swindon, he showed steady improvement, winning the Div'n II Riders Championship in '81, and ending his European career with the legendary Wimbledon Dons. His many championship successes in Rhodesia and South Africa are logged on THIS page, (incl'g Spplt.1: 'MRCs and Rhodesian Track Championships'.).
.................................................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Daggafontein, Springs 1975
Wayne Coughlan leads Vic Pretorius at Daggafontein in 1975.
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Wembley, 28.10.1977 Rainbow, c.1977
L > R; Arthur Bruins, Boet Strydom, Graham Long Graham Long & James Bruins
....................................................................................................................................................................
Bruins Brothers, c.1977
LT: James Bruins & Graham Long (plus Golden Helmet.) RT, + below Lt. in action: Arthur Bruins.
.........................................................................................................................................................................
1978 Southern African Championship, Pre-meeting Line-Up with sponsors jackets.
(Taken at Ponte, Hillbrow-Jbg; Race venue, Rainbow Speedway.)
Rear: Alex Hughson (prom'tn), Boet Strydom, Danie Fourie, Ronnie Ferguson (prom'tn), Graham Long, Chris Davies, James Bruins, Tommy Fox;
Frt: Peter Prinsloo, Nigel Close, Bert Harkins (winner), Bennie Rourke.
...............................................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Dennis Brunton during the Golden Helmet meeting at Ladysmith in 1978
(which was won by Wayne Coughlan.)
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Dunswart Devils/Bees, 1979 > 1984.
The 2 photo below are of Dunswart teams, taken between the late '70s and early '80s.
Two teams emerged in the Republic near the end of the 'seventies, – Tarlton Tomahawks and Dunswart Devils – , representing the two existing Transvaal tracks. They were formed to provide team racing for the public to supplement the repetition of individual meetings, but seems to have been only moderately successful as the fans tired of matches between the same two teams. The first photograph, showing the Devils team of around 1979, captained by Arthur Bruins, is thought to probably have been taken at Tarlton, it being a large 400m-plus track.
When racing began to tail off at Tarlton, and Pretoria opened, these derby matches were replaced by Pretoria v. Dunswart matches. Pretoria adopted their old nickname, the Eagles whilst Dunswart dropped the Devils moniker and became the Dunswart Stars.
By 1983 the Honeylube Oil company had been secured as sponsors, conditional on a name change. Dunswart Honeybees, more familiarly known as The Bees, can be seen in the second picture, captained by the remaining former Devil, Noddy Naude.
1980 SouthERN African Championship at Dunswart,
Gary Prommel (2nd), Alan Simpson, (Winner), Vic Pretorius (3rd.)
..............................................................................................................................................................................
Collage of photos from the '80s, received from Markus van den Berg,
Action from Dunswart,(ctr. Lt), Ottawa (ctr. Rt.) Also incl'd, stalwart Peter Water, bt.Rt,
1981, - S..Africa v. Overseas, Milner Park Johannesburg, 24.1.81.
Indoor shale track 3-day meeting, the Test on final day being first of four Series, won 3-1 by the visitors.
Front: Wayne Coughlan, Alan Simpson, Denzil Kent, Mike Ferreira (cptn.);
Rear: Arthur Bruins, James Bruins, Derek Harrison, Gary Prommel.
.................................................................................................................................................................................
1982: Action from the same period, one year later. 19.1.1982, SA v USA at Milner Park.
Denzil Kent chasing Tom Dickerson, while Rob Borg and Noddy Naude get into trouble.
....................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................................
Video of the 1983 first Test Match, South Afica v. Overseas at Milner Park, Jo'burg, 17.2.83.
- Prinsloo, Prommel, Simpson, Harrison, Kent, Naude, Cothill versus the visitors.
below: - a rare shot of the Xanadu training track, 1980's - John Robertson in action.
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Denzil Kent, 1983 - riding for S.Africa against Overseas at King's Park, Durban
.....................................................................................................................................................................
Grant Foley John Robertson @ Corobrik 1986 
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Alan Simpson leads John Robertson, Corobrik 1986
..................................................................................................................................................................................
Denzil Kent Interview.
4-page article on Denzil Kent in July 2011 by Tony McDonald of Backtrack magazine; the ex-Canterbury Crusader talks of the highs and lows of his career in the UK in the 1980s, his present-day activities in Edenvale, and his hopes for the future. (See also DVD clip of interview on Gallery p5.)
..........................................................................................................................................................................
1986 SA Pairs Champions, Wayne Coughlan and Eddie Cox, seen after winning the event at Corobrik.
Eddie went to the UK in '88 where he had rides with Long Eaton's junior league team.
Below, Eddie in action on home soil.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
1988 was Speedway's 60th Anniversary year.
This photograph depicts the gathering of speedway riders at the Corobrik track in that year.
Stdg, L>R: Bob Serrurier, Fred Wills, Burt X, ?, 5th Boet Strydom, Fred Lang, Doug Lang, Neil Mortimer;
On bikes: Toby Boshoff, Doug Serrurier, Roy Bester, Graham Long, Henry Long, Buddy Fuller;
Knlg : Danie Fourie, Des Haswell, Doug Maddern.
Action at Corobrik, Germiston, c.1990
Dean Foley, Ivan Michelle, Ian Hemmings, Chris Smith, Richard Smuts Steyn .
- the Starting Marshall is Danie Fourie, and the fella on the centre in red & white is Boet Strydom.
1991 Inter-Province Sidecar Speedway Challenge Match
- Transvaal v. Orange Free State v. Natal
1991 Inter-Province Challenge Match - Transvaal 45, Orange Free State 26, Natal 24
C Aitken/Batchelor 14, M Aitken/du Duallier 9, Coetzee/du Toit 9, Allsopp/Cowdy 7, Kotze/Springorum 6.
Naas Louw/Frikkie de Bruin 10, George Oelofse/Willem Burger 9, Willie Hawkey/Des Bekker 3, Chris de Beer/nk 2, Brian Flowerday/Hans Zahlauer 2
Fred Slabbert/Grant Rust 12, Andy Cox/Michael McDaniel 7, Leon Vermaak/nk 4, Colin Bezuidenhout/Terrence McDaniel 1, Roy Slabbert/Colin Atkinson 0.
..................................................................................................................................................................................
Corobrik 1991 & '92,
Collection of shots of Warren Meier, SA Champ of 1991 & '92, and contemporaries.
Two shots from the early '90s courtesy of Jason MacFayden,
who is seen in action @ Corobrik and @ the Akasia long track north of Pretoria
.......................................................................................................................................................................
Below, another shot of dirt track boys from the early 1990's. Can you help with the locatiom, year, and the 3 missing names ?
Rear, L>Rt; Alan Simpson, Grant Foley, Denzil Kent, Ian Richter, Warren Meier, Deon Prinsloo, Ivan v.Niekerk, ? ; Front, L.Rt; Darryl Baldwin, Noddy Naude, ? , Gary Prommel. 
2nd shot . .
G. Prommel,A. Simpson, I. Richter, W.Meier, D.Prinsloo, D/Kent, F RT: N.Naude & G.Foley.
............................................................................................................................................................................
The 2 picture below are from the 3rd Test between Hungary and South Africa at Nyiregyhaza.
Results of the 3 matches, at Miskolc, Debrecen and Nyiregyhaza, can be found on the Test Matches p2 webpage.
.......................................................................................................................................................................
"The Laurels" Corobrik 1993.
Below is seen the podium presentation of the 1993 South African "Laurels" event:
- 3rd, Gary Havelock, UK; Winner, Robert Nagy, HG; 2nd, Deon Prinsloo, RSA, (plus sponsor.)
The SA version of "The Laurels" was first held in the capital Pretoria in the mid fifties, but disappeared from the programme following the SCB/SRA dispute and the Republic's isolation of the 'sixties. It was resurrected in 1992 but this '93 event, won by Glasgow's Robert Nagy, is believed to have been the last staged.
RESULTS: 1956 Pretoria - Olle Nygren, SW; 1957 Pretoria - Barry Briggs, NZ;
1992 Corobrik - John Wainwright, GB; 1993 Corobrik - Robert Nagy, HG. (Full reports & scores)
..........................................................................................................................................................................
stdg: Darryl Baldwin, Karl Lechky, Bevan Compton, Noddy Naude ;
frt: (guest S.Buskiewicz,) Laszlo Stefani, Attila Stefani, Ivan van Niekerk, Karl Lechky Snr, manager.
LS = Laszlo Stefani, AS = Attila Stefani, NN = Noddy Naude, KL = Karl Lechky,
DB = Darryl Baldwin, BC = B.Compton, IvK = Ivan van Niekerk.
Lublin,
Ostrow, Czechakowa, Rybnik,
Swietochlowice
Below, 4 shots taken at Ostrow, Poland during the 1994 tour of Polish Div'n 2 clubs.
The 1996 South African team that raced against Poland in the return 4-match Test series of Nov. '96, -
Lt. > Rt.: Deon Swart, Karl Lechky Sr. (manager), Grant Bayne, Deon Prinsloo, Warren Meier,(captain),
Darryl Baldwin, Karl Lechky, Bevan Compton.
1996 South African Speedway League.
This T-shirt, right, clearly identifies the composition, - teams and riders - , of a 4TT league set up in 1996, which seems to have been the forerunner of the similarly- structured 'National Speedway Association League' operating between 1997 and '99, ( see article “Speedway League Racing in South Africa, Pt. 2: 1977 – 2003”, on the Speedway History page.)
It details the 4 teams as:
- Red Eagles (of Ndube, - Dundee Dirt Oval, Natal),
- LK Tuning (Brakpan, Gauteng),
- Nelspruit Aces (Mpumalanga),
- HBC (Hisbay Co, Klerksdorp, North-West.)
As in the NSAL of the subsequent years, the 4-man teams were made up of local and visiting riders, and in '96 comprised 2 South African and 2 European visitors in each side: -
- Red Eagles: Bevan Compton, Franz Leitner(AS), Tomas Stadler(AS), Deon Swart; Jnr: Clint Slowgrove.
- LK Tuning: Karl Lechky, Gabor Roth (HG), Laslo Bodi (HG), Warren Meier; Jnr: Anton Plancko.
- Nelspruit Aces: Deon Prinsloo, Tomasz Fajfer (PL), Gienek Tudziez (PL), Darrly Baldwin; Jnr: Alfred Slowgrove.
- Hisbay Co: Grant Baynes, Sebastian Ulamek (PL), Rafal Osumek (PL), Andrew Szilagyi; Jnr: Ashton v.Niekerk.
No results of matches or of final league positions are known:
any information would be appreciated, (via Website Admin on Contacts page.)
...............................................................................................................................................................
Karl Lechky @ Bradford UK, 1997.
Karoly 'Karl' Lechky was S.African Champion in 1997 and as such qualified for the Overseas Final of the World Championship held that year at the Odsal Stadium, Bradford. He had been riding for a Polish Div'n 2 team that European summer. The following year he again rode in the Overseas Final, held at Poole, UK. This article accompanied the photo from the Speedway Star of 28.6.97.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
...........................................................................................................................................................................
The picture below was taken at Brakpan circa 1997 and shows the lads that were racing there at that time. If you can help with the names missing from the line up please do so via the Contact box on the last webpage.
Rear: ? , Deon Swart, Bobby Devine, ? , ?(Eugene Smith? tbc) .
Knlg: Darryl Baldwin, Deon Prinsloo, Bevan Compton, ? ( perhaps Grant Baynes ?), Karl Lechky, ? 
...............................................................................................................................................................................