Walkerville Action in the new Millenium
With apologies for the quality of these photographs, taken early in the new millennium, . . . but we are thus now able to see rare action shots of Stefani, Lakatos and Magosi, against Mssrs Swart, Meier, Devine, etc. (as captions on each,) in the early days of Walkerville Raceway.
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Walkerville's Teenage Champions of the '00s
Seen below, Byron Bekker receives a special recognition award for 100 consecutive league appearances for his UK club, Scunthorpe Scorpions, at the Lincolnshire track in 2008. Brendan Coughlan is seen in action at Walkerville and, inset, with the S.A. national trophy.
At the start of the decade 13-year old Byron Bekker took the national U21 speedway title, a feat he repeated in the following year, 2001, and with a few more years under his belt he took off for Europe to ride professionally in the U.K. league at Scunthorpe. While BB was in Britain another teenager was was making a similar impact in Gauteng: in Byron's absence 15-year old Brendan Coughlan claimed the SA senior title in successive years, 2006 and '07. (Photo courtesy of D.Bekker/K.MacLeod.)
Bevan Compton, seen indoor ice racing in the USA, c.2000
Bevan Compton spent time in the States around the turn of the millennium participating in the I.C.E. Series, (International Championship Events",) World Cup Series staged across the USA. More correctly termed 'speedway on ice' as distinct from European Ice racing, the machines were conventional speedway bikes with studs rather than spikes that thus allowed some sliding on the small tight ice skating rinks.
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MSA Presentations to
the S.African National Speedway Champions of 2001
ALEX LAKATOS
(left), the 2001 SA National Speedway Champion,
and 14 year old BYRON
BEKKER the SA Junior Champion,
are seen at
the MSA's annual award ceremony at Caesar's Palace, Boksburg
receiving their 'Motorsports South Africa' trophies from Tom Claasen,
President of its off-road motorcycling commission. The MSA Gala
Dinner was held in February 2002, subsequent to the riders' successes
in the 4-round events, raced at Walkerville, Nelspruit, Lichtenburg
and Klerksdorp during the 2001 season.
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Eugene Smith
the 2002 SA National Champion,
in action at Walkerville in 2002.
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Rustenburg Red Devils & Walkerville Wizards teams of 2003, at Rustenburg 31.5.03
complete with girl mascots, Cherie Crock & Lauren Bekker. (click image.)
RUSTENBURG comprised Ian Hutchinson, Alex Lakatos, Wiekus Pretorius, Rhett Crock;
WALKERVILLE Eugene Smith, Martin Bekker, Deon Swart, Byron Bekker, Jonno van Wyk, Neil Thompson.
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South Africa on the World Championship stage, 2003.
Further to the piece on Karl Lecky's involvement in international World Championship events in 1997 & '98, (Gallery p2,) below are 2 shots of Warren Meier taken at Heusden-Zolder, Belgium when he took part in the WC Quarter-Final there in 2003. 
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The Passing of Buddy Fuller, "Mr. Oval Track", 2005
Below is the obituary that appeared in 'The Citizen' on the death at 89 in 2005 of Buddy Fuller, the great motorsport promoter and one-time Springbok speedway champion and national captain. Shown also is a poster specially produced in his honour by the many appreciative riders & drivers that rode for him, - several seen below at the gathering for the service - , and an image of the old Wembley Stadium where so many of the events that he organised, dirt-track and tarmac, 2-, 3- and 4-wheeled, were staged.
Lt.>Rt: Dudley Bekker, Dennis Newton, ? , Fred Wills, ?, Colin Aitken, (4 unknown,) Noddy Naude,
Boet Strydom, Henry Long, Arthur Bruins; knlg Denzil Kent.
Buddy , - in his prime . . . . . . and in his latter days, (with his grandson.)
Former National champ of 2006 and 2007, Brendan Coughlan recently returned to the track in 2015, seven years after his last ride, for an appearance in the 'SSRC Rebels' team in their match against the 'Walkerville Wizards'. Below is a collection of 'now & then' shots of Brendan and of his father Wayne Coughlan who graced the speedway tracks back in the '70s & '80s. (Both also have active musical interests and regularly perform live at various venues and events.)
Above: November 2015 Below: dramatic action in 2007
Taking the prizes in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, - Boet Strijdom presenting.
15-yearold Wayne Coughlan on a Jap in his first season of 1976, up against Vic Pretorius at Daggafontein, Springs. Later, Jawa-mounted for Durban Hornets.
Father and son: present-day Wayne and Brendan Coughlan in 2015, performing together on guitar.
Taken at Walkerville around 2007 /'08, the line-up here is believed to be: -
- Damien Devine,
- Brendan Coughlan,
- Martin Bekker,
- ? ,
- Deon Prinsloo,
- Dudley Bekker,
- ? ,
- Neil Pettit.
Can anyone add the
2 missing names?
( via the contacts page.)
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Ex-speedway riders at Zwartkops Raceway, 2008
Martin Bekker, Ian Groat, Keith Zeeman,
Jim Redman, Alan Harris, Paddy Driver, John Robertson;
kneeling, Jimmy Guthrie
jnr.
The two mechanics, (lft and rt,) are well known
ex-speedway riders Martin Bekker (2005 South African champion, cousin of Byron Bekker)
and John Robertson. There is a third ex-speedway rider in the
pic, namely Alan Harris, who was a cycle speedway ("Skid
Kids" in Southern Africa) star in the '50s and rode two full
speedway tests for Rhodesia in the '70s. Keith Zeeman is the son of Old Barn rider Laurie Z, and father of latter-day rider Brad Zeeman. See both in action, above (Courtesy Ken
MacLeod /John Robertson; Picture by Jay Groat.)
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Walkerville's Sidecar Speedway Riders
n.b: Sidecar passengers crewed for different drivers over time. Many other pairings competed over this period but absence of photos and/or limited appearances preclude inclusion. (For Solo rider's collage see Gallery p4.)
Profiles, Sidecar crews
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Walkerville, 2008
stdg: Peter Buck, Robin Brill, Ashley Brill, Mac Magill, Brandon Devine, Neil Pettit, ? , Gio Nunes;
frt: Bobby Bulmer, DJ Devine, Chad Durieaux, Bobby Devine, Deon Prinsloo, Mike Russell.
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Orkney Showground, Klerksdorp, 2009
Neil Pettit, Mac Magill, Dudley Bekker, Gio Nunes, Deon Prinsloo, ? , Bobby Devine