Many iconic board games rely on a degree of imagination, skill, and chance, be it acting the part of a property tycoon in Monopoly, a sleuth in Cluedo or simply rolling a die and hoping you avoid a certain category in Trivial Pursuit. So where does speedway feature in this hall of fame? Has the thrill of the sport, aided by a measure of inventiveness, ever been replicated?
Reflecting upon the nominations collected from various fans across several speedway social media forums, I decided to put the limited, yet arguably innovative examples, to the test.
So, how important is imagination? Albert Einstein addressed this conundrum by pragmatically stating, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Who can argue with that?
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet Chevalier de Lamarck (no doubt known to his close chums as ‘Lamy’) was a French naturalist, born in 1744. He theorised that the organs you use the most, over time, get stronger. Equally, those we underuse suffer the opposite affliction. Poke around any gym and this hypothesis is tangible to both the eyes and the nose (the not so wonderful whiff of the body odour of the person next to you). Strong arms and legs allow us to carry heavy weights and sometimes the burdens of others – often the latter for those who think more whacky thoughts, regularly drive around in top of the range Ferraris, and live in a Beverley Hills style mansion. Like any other organ, your brain needs exercise. Those disparate regions of grey matter don’t connect by accident. The onset of adultness had, amongst other things, furloughed my imagination. It was time to reflect, rejoice and remember …
Imagination is at its most incendiary during childhood and as a kid I was drawn to those games that allowed fantasy to ferment. My Subbuteo Notts County team became invincible! Each plastic figure, hand painted in the famous black and white stripes, were numbered too. And if Eric Probert had a blob of brown paint over the side of his face, it didn’t matter! These pieces of plastic, which were flicked to kick, had been elevated to a near reality by my imagination! Then a magical event occurred, and my dad flipped my chipboard mounted pitch and built me a Subbuteo speedway track on the other side!
Each race contained the same four pieces, propelled around one lap by a ball bearing rolled down a steel tube that, as an engineer, my dad had modified at work. The first heat would have the number one riders at the tapes ─ the elite performers. Heat two, the reserves race ─ always good for a faller. The same pieces every time. Only my imagination made them real! If my team ever trailed by six points, I would bring in a tactical substitute. You guessed it, the same figure but endowed with the extra speed and track craft of my imagination!
According to some this member of the famous Subbuteo stable was founder Peter Adolph’s favourite game.
(Images reproduced by kind permission of Peter Upton – www.peter-upton.co.uk)
I’m in agreement with this sentiment since, like the football counterpart, skill played a factor. Angles akin to snooker, and pinpoint contact with the ball bearing often propelled the rider along the straight like a bullet! The advertising spiel was, to say the least, a tad flamboyant – “The patented apparatus enables the reproduction of different gear ratios to be selected… Machine somersaults and over slides, bumping, track records and lap dashes are all contained in the game… as in real Speedway ─ the rider who can follow the white line and gates successfully is generally the winner” ─ since the gear ratios would have been different sized ball bearings, when only the biggest one would do the trick!
A variety of dice based games were introduced to the market with this example engaging with a series of skids, some hazardous and some advantageous, like the blinding overtake from the outside of the first to the inside of the second bend, in perfect Chris Harris style! Not forgetting the painful engine failure just before the finish line. I was pretty addicted to this version and a complete season for my White City Rebels saw a mediocre mid-table finish, with Gordon Kennett finishing top of the team averages with a sub-eight point CMA. I managed to dig out an old photograph, although I cannot remember the manufacturer’s name.
The Owzat Games edition of the timeless classic ‘Speedway Scene’, reproduced under licence from Lambourne Games, was more sophisticated, although in my opinion this attempt to replicate the greatest show on earth failed to surpass the Subbuteo experience.
The compulsive yet ingeniously simple pursuit that is ‘The Speedway Game’ is a rapid card playing game. Thrown into the mix are falls, injuries, tape infringements and blown big ends!
(Reproduced by kind permission of Redcar Bear)
Today the market share is dominated by computer games generating incredible virtual images of the top Grand Prix riders, down to their distinctive leathers and characteristic riding styles, leaving little to the imagination. Yet, like imagination, speedway is unpredictable, raw, and often fall of awe. As John Lennon once remarked, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” My reality was once a piece of red plastic that in heat one was always Gordon Kennett – and that still brings a smile to my face!
© Ian Kirke 2022 and uncredited photograph
Title picture Photo by Edge2Edge Media on Unsplash