Leigh Adams E-Book

Leigh Adams

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 448

Beschreibung

Leigh Adams has been one of the most successful speedway riders in the world. Having been a regular World Championship contender since 1996, he's spent over twenty years racing in the top leagues throughout Europe - winning countless individual and team honours. Leaving his family behind in Australia, teenager Adams arrived in Britain to ride for the Poole Pirates in 1989 where we made an immediate impact. He soon established himself as one of Australia's leading riders and a top-scorer for his team. Although he's raced for a variety of clubs, it's Swindon where he's regarded as a legend and he holds many club records. Famed for his professionalism and classy style, he reveals who really taught him the most during his early days, talks candidly about his clashed and rivalries with the top riders, his disputes with some of the sport's officials and the extraordinary lengths some teams go to in order to secure an advantage. From the training ground in Midura, Australia, to the glamour of the Millennium Stadium in Wales, the Australian also reflects on the triumphs, frustrations and bitter disappointment which is part and parcel of speedway racing. This remarkable biography combines Leigh's own revealing insight, with recollections from his rivals, family and team-mates to present an unrivalled account of life as an international speedway rider.

Leseprobe

Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

1 A Family Affair

2 Kids Today, Stars Tomorrow

3 The Master & the Apprentice

4 Pints, Points & Prizes

5 And then it Got Serious

6 The Grand Slam

7 Behind Every Great Man

8 The Best Laid Plans

9 The Masters Tour

10 New Challenges

11 The Turning Point

12 Team Triumphs

13 Finding Kong

14 The Glory Road

15 One Last Time Around the World

Major Honours

Bibliography

Plate Section

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Brian Burford

No matter how versed you might be in the subject matter, a project of this size is rarely completed without valuable assistance and co-operation of many people. Therefore I’d like to thank the following people for their help and giving up their valuable time: Pete Ansell, Richard Clark, Rod Colquhoun, Gordon Day, James Easter, Irek Igielski, Tony Jackson, Mark Loram, Jason Lyons, Tim Osmond, Randy Owen, Shane Parker, Mike Patrick, Mick Smith, Alan Whale, and thanks to the staff at The History Press.

A special thank you, of course, to Leigh for his generosity and his time, Kylie for her unwavering and dedicated help, and his parents for taking time out during their visit to contribute their memories of their son’s glittering career.

This book is dedicated to my little friend Tiger (may your spirit always roam free) and to my hero and very special friend, Kelly Moran – you were an inspiration. Travel well.

Leigh Adams

A big thanks to Brian for doing such a great job with this project. Thanks to Rocket for writing the foreword and Clarkie for the unique introduction, plus many great years of friendship. Of course, I must express my thanks to my family, who have sacrificed so much for my career, and Kylie for helping manage it all. Without the help of my parents I probably wouldn’t have had this career to write about. My gratitude also goes to Broady for his unfailing years of support, Tim Osmond and my various other mechanics/support team over the years. Finally thanks to Mike Patrick, Speedway Star, my sponsors and supporters, plus Randy Owen and all the crew from Owen Bros for 18 great years.

Foreword

Well, finally a book about Leigh Adams, the rider, the career and most importantly the man that gave new meaning to the term ‘control’. I first became aware of Leigh in the late ’80s when I went along to a knockabout speedway track an hour south of Sydney called Appin.

It was run by former Australian Champion Bob Sharpe, who had somehow coerced the one and only Phil Crump to take part in one of his Sunday afternoon meetings. Crump’s arrival in a two-tone Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive was met with much enthusiasm by the locals, as was their fascination for the skinny little kid he had with him – some ‘gun’ kid from down south.

The stars of the Appin shows were Craig Boyce, Todd Wiltshire and, on occasion, Mick Poole. The ‘Adams’ kid was unique in a number of ways when compared to his New South Wales adversaries, many of whom he was seeing for the first time. Firstly, he was very young, something that was rare for a speedway rider in NSW, as we didn’t have junior speedway like they did down south. Secondly, he wore JT Racing USA motocross body armour over his leathers – a bit weird, but interesting just the same. Thirdly, his bike was immaculate! It was as if he’d spent all week polishing it! Surely he didn’t go as well as he looked – he must be just another cocky Victorian from the town that was perceived by the Mildura locals to ‘own the sport’!

I can’t remember who won that day, but I remember everyone asking ‘who the hell is this Leigh Adams kid?’ He simply did not make mistakes and looked almost as if he wasn’t trying – I remember being at least a little envious of his technique.

My meetings with Leigh in the following couple of years were literally zero. I was a half-assed dirt tracker trying to ride speedway on a brand new bike that I only had because my mum won the lottery, while Leigh was on the crest of a wave and taking the Poole Pirates and the National League (now the Premier League) by storm.

Several years later, Leigh gave 15 competitors a free riding lesson in the 1992 Australian Championship at the now-defunct North Arm circuit in Adelaide, and I was unfortunate enough to be one of the students that night, as were some riders with far better credentials than me. He annihilated the field and the writing was on the wall that we were watching someone out of the ordinary.

I got to know Leigh much better in the years that followed and while I don’t claim to have all the answers, I think I know him better than most. Away from the track I believe Leigh is quite complex. We have been friends for the best part of 20 years and while I always get the feeling Leigh would bail me out if I were in some sort of trouble, we certainly aren’t ‘close’ in the way you might be with a best mate.

I don’t think I’m the Lone Ranger there – Leigh has some good friends and he treats them well, but he’s not typical in a ‘mate’ sense. He’s not a loner either – he is generally drawn to extroverts and I’ve long believed this is a side-effect of his utter professionalism over such a long period, which simply does not allow for outlandish behaviour. What I’m saying is that Leigh gets his kicks from other people telling stories about their experiences. He giggles uncontrollably at any high-quality story told in the right manner and he’ll often request to hear the same story twice, such is his fascination for the stupidity of others.

One of the things that played a huge part in Leigh and I striking up a strong and enduring friendship, came in the early ’90s when he and I toured Poland as part of a young Australia team. I think two things became clear to Leigh that week (apart from the fact that I couldn’t ride). The first was that my bikes were absolute garbage and really weren’t fit to be used as doorstops, let alone for league racing; and second, was the fact that I came to life after the racing was done.

I was happier telling jokes and chasing chicks in the bar than lining up in a speedway race! This, I believe, was the catalyst for Leigh taking a shine to me – he’s always looking for a laugh and doesn’t want to have to generate the humour himself. I was the exact opposite of him and that made him laugh – everyone wants to laugh don’t they?

It was around the time Jason Crump hit the UK scene for the first time (1992) that Leigh and I had started to hang out and I also found Jason to be good company. He was a superb kid and a credit to his parents, Phil and Carole. We shared a love of music and he often came over to hear the latest stuff I had – much of which I’d received from Speedway Star’s Richard Clark, a great bloke and talented musician in his own right.

Interestingly, I actually find a musical bond with someone to be a huge step toward long-term friendship, but despite Leigh liking music that I found repulsive, we got on like a house on fire, as did young Jason and I.

I’m not sure that I was ever prompted to choose between Jason and Leigh as far as which of the two I would support in their endeavours to become the world’s best, and I have since learned that despite trying to convince myself otherwise, it is not until a race is in motion that I actually know who I’m cheering for – that is, I can’t hide it!

During the 1995 Australian Title at Gosford, NSW, a terrible off-camber 280-metre track an hour north of Sydney, Jason and Leigh went head-to-head for the then prestigious National Championship. When they clashed I cheered for Leigh and my path was set – I was a Leigh Adams fan and my loyalty has never wavered despite always maintaining a healthy respect and admiration for Jason and what he has achieved.

Back in the UK, I remember a set of identical twins who rode for Arena-Essex in the early ‘90s and one of them was riding reserve for Arena when Leigh was the number 1. Adams was in a league of his own around that place, a track that requires the utmost skill, and on this particular night he was sublime.

One of the twins (the Ledwith brothers) said to Leigh, ‘Man, that was insane, I’d cut off my arm to be able to do that.’ The combination of the accent and that statement made me laugh aloud, but he was quick to pull me up. ‘Hey, I’m serious mate,’ he said.

It made me appreciate very early just what an effect Adams was having on the UK scene and later I understood where the person in question was coming from. It is tough for a reserve or ‘struggling’ rider to watch the ease with which Adams rides and then go out and struggle themselves – this became more apparent and relevant to me as time went on.

Has there ever been a more successful rider than Leigh Adams? Definitely. Has there ever been a better speedway rider than Leigh Adams? That is something that could fuel a debate between speedway fans for days on end. Leigh has suffered very few injuries during his career; in fact I would suggest that most footballers would have a worse medical record than Adams – incredible when you consider the nature of the sport. This, again, is all down to control.

I have been fortunate enough to contribute to a couple of books before now and I think the words contained within the covers of a book need to be an honest assessment of the subject, not a chance to unleash unlimited praise on it – that is something I find extremely boring. I consider books to be a slightly risky forum simply because the words cannot be taken back, so let’s hope that won’t be necessary!

What sort of person is Leigh Adams? I was almost going to say I don’t really know, but I’d rather take a shot at it.

Leigh is a fiercely loyal family man and really I think he won his own personal World Championship the day he met Kylie. She’s smart, attractive, loyal, a great mum and focused. Winning Kylie may well be Leigh’s greatest victory to date. She treats his many house guests well, though I’m sure deep down, at least in my case, she must be thinking – ‘not this big-mouthed dickhead again!’

Leigh is a businessman. Sure, speedway is a fragmented sport that demands a gypsy lifestyle, but the Adams clan knows where every penny comes from and where every penny goes. He has been a mainstay of the British scene for twenty years and in my opinion the backbone of it for the last five. If not the backbone, certainly the key vertebrae! To be able to roll up at a local track and see a rider like Leigh Adams perform is a luxury – one that will soon be just a memory.

In my experience I have found that Leigh is not a good listener, but he has improved in this department over the past few years. He looks at you while you’re talking and politely nods his head, but I have often found there is no-one home. Perhaps he’s busy? Perhaps he’s distracted? Hard to say, but I’m enjoying speaking to him these days far more than I did five years ago.

He loves motor sport and has a ‘special place’ in his house where he gets away and watches anything that involves engines and wheels. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to this sort of thing and is a big fan of many drivers and riders, who unbeknown to him probably share mutual admiration.

So, with Leigh’s career now drawing to a close and no senior World Championship in the cabinet, how does that make me, his number one fan and more importantly, a friend, feel? Not as bad as I thought to be honest. I used to have sleepless nights in Australia waiting for the results of each Grand Prix and on reflection there was certainly more bad news than good. But the highs were high and the lows were okay.

I consider myself very fortunate to have spent a considerable amount of time with Leigh over the past eighteen years and ride the waves of emotion that those years have brought. When he missed out on becoming world number three by the narrowest of margins in 2004 in Norway, I was trackside and I burst into tears. It might have looked stupid, but it’s how I felt and was an accurate measure of how passionately I wanted Leigh to succeed. The train and plane trip early the next morning would be easily the lowest points of my involvement in speedway, possibly my life. At that level everyone wants to win and how could I begrudge Greg Hancock taking Leigh’s number three? He is a great bloke himself.

I hope you get as much pleasure from reading this book as I have from being part of the Adams set-up for the last fifteen years. It’s been a blast and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

ROD COLQUHOUN

Long-time Leigh Adams media liaison and former rider

Introduction

It’s no good. You just can’t avoid it. Hide all the mirrors you want, it still won’t prevent that fleeting glance of an old(-ish!) geezer you catch as you pass HMV, Waterstone’s or a pub, i.e. places of interest in your high street. ‘Who the hell is that shabby, decrepit-looking bloke? Oh hell, it’s me!’

Time just doesn’t wait for any man. It stomps all over him, gives him a good kicking against the wall, drags him into the gutter before sprinting off gleefully, leaving him pathetically panting long, long in its wake. In short, time passes while you stand there getting old. The skin wrinkled. The hair grey. The pace more leisurely.

And it really doesn’t help matters when somebody you first met as a scrawny, curly-headed, wide-eyed Aussie youngster some 21 years ago (oh, lor!) turns to you and says ‘Mate, I’ve got to start thinking about retirement.’ Thanks. Thanks a bunch. Thanks for reminding me time has just done all of the above and a bit more. Yes, 21 years ago.

Leigh was with that well-known manager/mechanic and bearer of grudges, Norrie Allan. ‘Norm’, as he’s affectionately known, was looking after Leigh on his first visit to our shores. He even had a little hair in those days. That’s Norm I’m talking about.

My addled brain says it was Belle Vue and a washed-out meeting, but I wouldn’t even bet your last dollar on all of that. But I do know we went for a bite to eat somewhere, and that’s when I first talked with Leigh.

From the get-go he was friendly, approachable, intelligent, ever-curious and, as we all knew already, absolute dynamite on a speedway bike. I can’t even begin to count the number of times our paths have crossed since (and I know he wouldn’t want to!), but it’s up there in the hundreds. And I can’t even begin to count the number of laps I’ve watched this master at work. You’re talking thousands. And I can’t even begin to count the number of words I’ve written about the man. You’re talking tens of thousands. But I do know you’re going to struggle to find one bad word among that little lot. Come to think of it, you’re shovelling snow uphill in a heat-wave to try and find that many bad times or laps either!

Hell, I can even remember this friendly, approachable, intelligent, ever-curious, piece of dynamite on two wheels introducing me, a few months later, to a drop-dead gorgeous girl who just happened to be his girlfriend. And who just happened to end up marrying him. Life? Unfair? Don’t get me started.…

What do you give the man who’s got nearly everything? Oh all right, Kylie. (And that was despite a best effort on day two of Leigh’s ‘Bucks’ Do’, as Aussies prefer to call their stag parties, serenading her down the ‘phone from Swindon. Don’t bother, it didn’t work.)

Come to think of it, how come that time geezer has got it in for me but has left her completely alone? So, so unfair.

But, boy, have we had us some times in those 21 years and counting! You’re right, I did say ‘day two’ a few sentences earlier, and that was just two of those times!

We’ve travelled the length and breadth of Britain’s green and pleasant, Scotland, Wales and the home bit, to and fro to Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Czecho, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Australia and Swindon. We’ve even thrown Dublin into the mix.

And where speedway bikes are ridden, he has done so, usually brilliantly. He in search of much fame, and much good fortune. Me happy to string along for the ride, and occasionally attempt to make some sense from such chaos. That I succeeded, if I ever did, would be down to the man himself, as ever, freely giving of his time, patiently answering often inane questions through the best of times and sometimes the worst.

But, always, always willing to sit down and talk about the latest 15-pointer, the new track record, the ones that got away, the many, many highs, the few lows, the wins, the Grand Prix golds, the wins, the World Cup victories, the wins, the odd, extremely odd, mechanical mishap, and the wins. Thinking back now, the man has the patience of an absolute saint!

Mind you, maybe he just can’t face going through much more of that, and that’s why the word ‘retirement’ has popped into his head! Perhaps that patience has finally been worn down.

‘If he asks me that just one more time…’ .

We’ve sat in the van and chewed the fat over life, the universe, the after-life (if any), world affairs, television, music (that tends to be one of the shorter conversations with the old boy, different tastes are one thing but you’d struggle to call his ‘taste’), hopes, ambitions, and back to life again.

And speedway. Where all human life can be observed anyway. Edinburgh to Swindon. Workington to Swindon. Swindon to Stockholm. Stockholm to Wroclaw. Swindon to Swindon. Chewing up the miles like so much gum.

But in between all those miles, those wins, highs and lows, he’s always been the same old Leigh. Generous, gentlemanly, gregarious (look it up, Leigh). Before practice. After practice. Pre-meeting. Post-meeting. If he’s got the time, he has never ceased to share it (or his beer, come to that!).

‘Gentlemanly, there you go, that’s his downfall!’

Knew you’d leap on that one.

One word to all you doubters. Codswallop. (I can come up with much worse, but there’s a family audience out there.) Haven’t you been paying attention these past 21 years? The man’s been an absolute legend.

And if you don’t believe me, try taking a casual stroll through the streets of Leszno one morning in his company. It’s like trying to take David Beckham for a cookery lesson in Salford. Beatlemania? This is Adamsmania! The doubters have it down that he’ll be the one remembered for never achieving what he should have done. Balderdash! (Again, a softened term for family viewing.)

If you honestly think the Leigh Adams we’re talking about was an under-achiever, remove yourself from my company forthwith and never again darken my door. Perspective does seem to be one thing missing among some of those so eager to pounce upon a keyboard and share their every opinion and thought with the oh-so-lucky rest of us.

From that humble beginning those 20-odd years ago, Leigh Adams has gone on to become one of the greatest riders the sport has ever known. ‘Yes, but if he’d been a bit more aggressive…’. Oh, give it a rest. Ask Hans Andersen about Saturday 16 August 2008. He’ll readily, if not happily, recall leading the final of the Scandinavian Grand Prix at Malilla that day. And he’ll also remember Mr Adams roaring up the inside of him on the last lap, prisoners unacceptable. That was Leigh’s second GP win of that particular season, not bad for somebody some once said would never win one. Idiots! There’s that door again, darken it not!

And yet, through all this attainment of legendary status, titles, race wins, trophies, medals, etc., the Leigh Adams I know remains exactly the same as the one I first met. In today’s relentless (and tedious) haste by nobodies ridiculously anxious to pretend they’re somebodies, Leigh’s modest, unassuming and generous nature is a huge talent of itself. And I haven’t even got to his wonderful sense of humour. Tell ‘em about the duck, Leigh!

I’m proud to know Leigh and Kylie. I guess, summing up, what I’m trying to say is I’m as a big a fan of Leigh (and Kylie) as anyone out there (and now, probably one of his oldest!). And, believe me, when you’re a Leigh Adams fan, it’s for life, not just Christmas. Twinkle, twinkle, little star….

RICHARD CLARK

Editor, Speedway Star

A Family Affair

Christmas Day, 1976

John Adams was thankful that he was a fit man because pushing his then five-year-old son Leigh around the family’s 25-acre spread on a Honda MR50 was tiring. Up and down and in and out the orange trees they would go as his excited boy was trying to get to grips with this little motorcycle. While trying to teach him how to ride his new bike, he claims that he ran a mini marathon that day.

Anyone looking on at this scene wouldn’t have believed that Leigh would grow up to be one of the world’s greatest speedway riders. The smooth style that would characterise this racer certainly wasn’t on show yet, and neither was any sense of balance.

‘He couldn’t balance on the thing,’ his father recalls. ‘I think I must have run up and down the orange rows, backwards and forwards, ten times. I’d be pushing him and pushing him and then I’d let him go and he’d just crash straight into the orange tree! He couldn’t get the hang of using the handlebars to get his balance, but once he got that, he was okay. I was fit because I used to do a lot of training and running for the trials riding. I used to run three nights a week with Jason Lyons’ dad, Rodney. He was an umpire for Aussie Rules football, so he had to be fit.’

Unsurprisingly, having regular impacts with the trunk of an orange tree left a memorable impression with Leigh because this was his earliest recollection of riding a motorcycle. He says that he can ‘vaguely’ remember getting the MR50, which is a machine that has launched the careers of many future Aussie motorcycle stars, including multi-World Champion Mick Doohan and the tough-as-teak AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin.

Leigh Adams was born in Mildura, Victoria, on 28 April 1971. He was two years younger than his brother, Andrew, and they were born into a family that were enthusiastic about motorcycle riding. Their father estimated that, over the years, between them, they’ve had around thirty-five motorcycles in the family, including a trike that Andrew used to ride with a very young Leigh as a passenger.

A young Leigh in 1975. (Adams Family Archive)

Their mother, Joan, remembers, ‘It had three wheels and there was a little seat in the back, and Leigh used to sit up in this seat and he used to make out that he was in the sidecar. In Australia, sidecar speedway is very big, so they used to pretend that they were a sidecar team. Andrew was good enough that he could ride this three-wheeler bike on two wheels, with Leigh in the back.’

‘They used to ride all round the yard, out the front, down the footpath, just on two wheels, with Leigh hanging out of the back,’ John adds. ‘If they did it on three wheels it would have been a lot easier, but no, it had to be on two.’

With John riding competitively as a trials rider – he was runner-up in the Victorian Championship – this meant that the whole family would pack up and go off riding during the weekends. This took them to New South Wales as well as all over their native state of Victoria.

‘We used to cruise around with dad,’ says Leigh. ‘To be honest, in Mildura, everyone rode bikes. Where we came from was a farming area, and motocross and trials riding were really popular – motorbikes are a huge part of Mildura and it’s quite famous.’

Therefore, surrounded by motorcycles and all things associated with motorcycle racing, it seems likely that the boys, Leigh in particular, gained their enthusiasm for bikes from the many sources that encircled them.

‘That was the start,’ Joan agrees, ‘with John riding trials there would be other kids there with their motorbikes. And Andrew and Leigh thought, yes, we want to go into motorbikes.’

This vibrant scene was enhanced by the presence of Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway. Formed in 1947, the Mildura and District Motorcycle Club were given permission for their club’s site to officially be called Olympic Park by the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games committee after the club was selected to stage a 500cc Grand Prix on a road circuit close to where the Mildura Airport currently stands.

The venue has remained steadfast while other famous places like the Exhibition Ground in Brisbane and the Sydney Showground closed their doors following the fall in popularity of motorcycle speedway. Therefore, Mildura is to Australian Speedway what Belle Vue is to England, Costa Mesa is to the USA and Pardubice is to the Czech Republic, established venues that have survived the various peaks and troughs that modern-day speedway racing suffers from.

Mildura’s healthy motorcycle club also catered for junior as well as senior competitors. Excited by the speed, the thrill of riding and inspired by their father’s competitive racing, both Leigh and Andrew took up motocross. To start with Leigh rode a Honda CR80, but that proved a bit problematic and it was replaced by a Yamaha YZ80.

‘The motorbike club was flourishing and it was so popular. When we used to do motocross there were grids of thirty kids, it was unbelievable,’ says Leigh.

It’s not surprising that motorcycles were all the rage in Mildura because the city is located in the Sunraysia region of the country. On a map, the area sits in the chest of the Murray Valley and spreads across the state border into south-western New South Wales.

The area is known for its above average sunshine hours with 122 clear days per year and with a yearly average temperature of 23.6°C, it’s an agreeable climate for riding bikes.

‘We’re pretty lucky in Mildura because about 21ks away there is what we call the Sunset Country where you can ride all day – actually it’s called the Murray Sunset National Park. That’s where these guys go now when Leigh comes home,’ John reveals.

Jason Lyons, son of former rider Rod Lyons, was another talented rider to emerge from Mildura at the same time as Leigh. With both families being friends, combined with their common interest in motorcycles, Jason would spend time with Leigh and his brother riding their bikes. He agrees that the region offered plenty of opportunities for bikers of all ages to go off, practice and have fun.

‘When we were learning to ride we used to go out and ride on the Nowingi Salt Flats where there was no fence and you could build your own track. We used to practice out there, weekend after weekend, and the family would have a barbecue. You could go out there any day of the week if you wanted to because there was nothing out there. Back in those days it was a lot easier if we wanted to have a practice and try something, you just throw the bike into the trailer, go down to the bush and burn some litres.’

The small city of Mildura is located in north-western Victoria in southern Australia and is approximately 337 miles (543km) from Melbourne. It’s positioned alongside the nation’s biggest river, the Murray, which forms a border between the states of Victoria and New South Wales. A census taken in 2006 recorded its population at just over 30,000 people.

With the Murray and Darling Rivers providing an irrigation corridor, Mildura is considered to be at the centre of what is often referred to as ‘Victoria’s Food Bowl’. Over 80 per cent of Victoria’s grape production comes from Mildura, but it’s also known as a major producer of citrus fruit, in particular oranges, which is the Adams’ family business.

Sited on the edge of the settlement, they have two properties that cover 40 acres and they have a shop on the road to Melbourne from which they sell their oranges.

John Adams says: ‘Citrus was and still is our business, but the majority now happens to be grapes. We’d pack all our own oranges, we’ve got a big machine that washes and waxes them, grades them into their sizes, then we put them into boxes, forklift them out to the back of the shop, bag them all, and sell them. We also sell things that are in season and are locally grown, like honey, jam, pistachio nuts, watermelons, pumpkins and so on.’

Unfortunately, as much as they liked riding their motorcycles, there was also the small matter of obtaining an education. Leigh began his school years at Irymple South Primary before moving to Mildura High School – now called Chaffey Secondary College. His final years of education were spent at Irymple Technical School – now called Irymple Secondary College. He describes his academic talents as ‘never a scholar, I just cruised through it.’

‘He wasn’t interested in that type of thing, he was more of a hands-on type of guy,’ says his father. ‘We never had any behavioural problems with him or anything like that.’

His mother recalls that his reading material mainly consisted of bike magazines. And while that might not be in the league of the classic works of Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, Joan does believe that her sons’ involvement in the motorcycle club in Mildura was a positive influence on their upbringing.

‘They always had friends around, and friends within motorcycling … all the families went and we went along as a family, so the kids didn’t go off as much in those days as they do now.’

The saying goes: the Devil makes work for idle hands. But not, it seems, if you’re a keen motorcyclist. Jason Lyons would join Leigh riding around and would eventually progress to be a Grand Prix rider himself and he remembers, ‘When we were messing around or something it was always on motorbikes, riding round the block. So we never really got up to mischief because we were occupied with riding.’

Speedway has a worthy reputation as a family sport. Not only because the whole family can attend a race meeting and not feel intimidated or threatened, but also because everyone involved in the business side, riders, mechanics, team managers, promoters, etc., treat it, for the most part, like a family – including all the ups and downs that families experience.

Having already competed in trials, the Adams family had established a close-knit group of friends and their home was so busy with all aspects of motorcycling that at times Joan felt as though they were running the Irymple South Motorcycle Club from their house. The Adams and the Lyons families were very close; in fact, to this day Joan remains close friends with Christine Lyons.

‘We’re only a mile or two miles away from each other,’ says Jason. ‘As boys we all grew up together with motorbikes and Leigh’s older brother used to race as well. We’d all go out over the weekends, even when we weren’t racing the families would be going out for tea or having a barbecue or something. But most of our time was spent at speedway and stuff like that.’

The Adams’ business and that acreage would provide the boys with plenty of opportunities to combine their chores with honing their motorbike skills by riding around their property. At the end of their school day, they would drop their bags of learning material, get changed, and kick-start their motorcycles. Their father had set them a task of picking oranges for an hour after school, but their enthusiasm for riding their machines often overrode their duty.

‘Of course, I could hear them coming,’ their father remembers. ‘They’d get off the school bus, drop all their gear, and away they’d go, wam, wam! They’d come here and they’d say, “Hey dad, how ya going?”. “How’s it going Leigh, how’s it going Andrew – where’s your bags?” I’d reply. “Oh we forgot our bags!” And then off they’d go all the way back, wam! wam!, all the way back to the shed, and then come roaring back again with their bags of picked oranges. We used to say, “Here they come, with no bags!”’

Joan smiles at the memory and says, ‘I always knew that my children were home because I could hear them.’

‘I’d be riding my motorcycle every night,’ Leigh recalls. ‘It probably wasn’t every night, but as often as I could I’d be riding my bike.’

Although Andrew and Leigh both shared an interest in motorcycles, they were quite different. Sometimes there is a fierce rivalry between siblings, especially when both of them are engaged in something competitive. However, while there is always some form of competition between brothers, there wasn’t the spirited rivalry that was shown by some.

While Leigh displayed some of his smooth approach to racing early in motocross, his brother Andrew was the opposite.

‘Andrew’s very different,’ says John. ‘He rode motocross very aggressively. He was a good starter and a hard rider, he’d push and shove. But he just liked the social side of things more than Leigh. He never set his mind to it and he never really wanted to be a professional rider. He’s only just stopped riding motorbikes, but now he’s got back into it because he’s got three boys and he’s doing the same now, they’re all into riding and playing footie. He’s in the business with us, he runs it basically.’

‘He was a motocrosser,’ Leigh assesses. ‘He didn’t have much style and he was a bit bigger and older than me.’

Australia was accepted as the birthplace of speedway racing when Johnnie Hoskins staged the first speedway meeting at West Maitland in 1923. While Leigh was taking his first shaky rides on a Honda MR50, Australian Speedway had been given a boost when Mildura local Phil Crump finished third in the 1976 World Individual Speedway Championships. Along with Aub Lawson’s third place in 1958, it was the closest that an Aussie had come to claiming the individual crown since Jack Young’s back-to-back title triumphs in 1951 and 1952.

Furthermore, that same year, Australia won their first World Team Cup title and fulfilled the potential that this new generation of Aussie racers had displayed when they first headed for Europe. Billy Sanders, Phil Herne, Gary Middleton and John Boulger joined Crumpie in the victorious side that defeated Poland, Sweden and the Soviet Union at London’s White City stadium.

Therefore, Australian Speedway was enjoying an upswing in popularity both at home and on the world’s stage – and Phil Crump was hailed as a hero in Mildura. On the back of Crumpie’s success, speedway racing in Mildura grew in both stature and popularity.

‘Crumpie was the benchmark for speedway in Mildura,’ John Adams says. ‘He was one of the pioneers of that time, him and John Boulger, they were the first ones that I recognised that went over there (to the British League) and did well. When they came home, they went faster than anyone else – that’s how we saw what speedway was all about.’

During those days it was common that the sport’s top stars would ‘winter’ in Australia. In fact, England used to send a Test side to race against the Australians. It was a handy way of taking a break from the pressure of racing in Europe, while at the same time they could keep themselves sharp and race fit by competing in a few meetings as well.

Although his international commitments prevented him from getting directly involved with the club, they were able to call on Crump’s contacts in order to bring over some of the big names to Mildura.

By now John Adams was heavily involved in the motorcycle club in Mildura (he was the President in 1979) and the success of Crumpie, Billy Sanders and others proved to be an inspiration for many.

John Adams says, ‘We decided that we’d promote it pretty well. We had the one speedway co-ordinator, Sy Nunan, and he actually organised the programmes. He used to call Crumpie and ask him to see if he could get a couple of English guys to come over here and ride speedway. He worked for Telecom Australia and used to spend hours on the phone organising all these riders and he lifted the standard. So we brought over Bruce Penhall, Ivan Mauger, the whole lot, we’d run big meetings with big-name riders. They went up the Gold Coast, did a few meetings there, and then to Adelaide. Then my brother, Brian, coordinated the speedway for a while. Back in those days there wasn’t the (European racing) activity going on like it is now.’

Meanwhile, over the state border into South Australia, Adelaide pointed the way forward with their Sidewinders junior project. News spread fast.

‘We heard about this Sidewinders speedway and Mildura Speedway was quite strong,’ recalls John. ‘So one afternoon a few of us decided – those that were interested – to hop on a bus and go and see this Sidewinders.’

Formed in 1976 by a group of fathers and their sons, Sidewinders began with a track behind the gas works. As a place to ride it was fine, but was quite unpopular with the spectators. Via a Mini Bike Club another site was found at Wingfield. A team of volunteers began the process of building a 112-metre dolomite track, erecting a safety fence, installing lights and all the other facilities needed to run junior speedway meetings.

All the effort and hard work that the volunteers had put into Sidewinders paid off when Steve Baker became the first Australian to win the 1983 European Junior Championship – the forerunner to the World Under-21 Championship.

Mildura may have been put on the speedway map by the success of Phil Crump, but when the Mildura Motorcycle Club travelled to Adelaide to see the Sidewinders set-up, they were inspired to put in place a similar junior programme that would set in motion a conveyor belt of talent that is still producing young stars today.

Sy Nunan had long harboured a dream to produce a motorcycle that was suitable for juniors, and seeing the Sidewinders project was the last piece of inspiration he required to get to work. Although it was modelled on a Jawa, he designed a junior speedway bike from scratch. He scaled all the dimensions down to 85 per cent and all the features were made with safety uppermost in his mind. Made from solid aluminium, the rear wheel hub in particular was difficult to make and it took Nunan four hours of work on his lathe to complete. The frame itself cost in the region of $350, but the Honda motor, a 125cc four-stroke to begin with, was extra. Sy’s brother Tim made the fibreglass tanks and mudguards, and then the prototype was finished.

Children often want to be like the grown-ups, and do grown-up things. Unfortunately, as they’re usually smaller than the average adult, this means that most of these things are too big for them. Therefore, a mini version of something that your parents use is bound to attract interest. The junior speedway bike was a stunning piece of engineering that looked, and was, a smaller version of a conventional speedway machine.

Nunan took the bike to the club and a syndicate was formed that included Nunan, Fred Hancock, Royce Fawdry, Rupert Wheatland, Rod Brighton, Jim O’Brian, Mick Storer, Mrs Jean Duncan and John Adams. Eventually a junior motorcycle club followed.

John sums up the events that led to the construction of the bikes and the formation of the syndicate, ‘We had a look at the Sidewinder set-up there, and we measured all the bikes, track size and what have you. Then we decided we’d form a syndicate of about ten or twelve of us, and we would build some junior speedway bikes. What they had was old Jawa bikes that had been cut down, different sizes and shapes, different wheels and that sort of thing. So we set this syndicate up. Sy Nunan designed the bike, and Joan and Fred Hancock co-ordinated it all, which was pretty hard to do. But we ended up with, all together, ten bikes. I did all the wheels, laced all the wheels, we got all these bikes going, and in the meantime we built the track in the centre of Mildura. It sort of went from there.’

The track was built on the inside of the existing speedway track and measured 118 metres (130 yards) and the straights approximately measured 29 metres (32 yards). Meanwhile, every member of the syndicate contributed something to the construction of the machines. Their talents and enthusiasm for the project were put to use on the premises belonging to Sy Nunan, Fred Hancock or Rupert Wheatland, whether that was some practical expertise with a lathe, making a jig for the frames, welding, filing down parts to fit, or just painting.

When Kim Hancock took the prototype out onto the track at Mildura for a demonstration, local journalist Bob Fox reported that ‘inquiries poured in regarding the machines and the proposed new club.’

John Adams recalls, ‘The kids were still racing motocross, but then they got a bit interested in speedway. We got to a stage where we started travelling away with the speedway and Leigh basically branched off into that. Andrew also fell into juniors for a while, but then he went junior water skiing with some people – so we bought a boat.’

Encouraged by the performances of Phil Crump and seeing some of the world’s top stars, Leigh and Andrew were keen on the sport. However, the hot climate also had a say in giving junior speedway a go as their mother reveals: ‘When you’re in Australia, summer is really too hot for motocross – you don’t do any really. They weren’t active in the summer, so we used to go to the speedway. When it was suggested that they build these junior speedway bikes, we thought we’d start them in junior speedway. That’s the way it all started.’

Left to right: Leigh, brother Andrew Adams, Kim Hancock and David O’Brian admire the junior bike that was financed and built by members of the Mildura Motorcycle Club syndicate. (Adams Family Archive)

‘Traditionally, speedway was staged on a Sunday in Mildura – always Sunday night,’ Leigh says. ‘The syndicate was where it all started. I was nine and my brother was eleven. We built the bikes and we did speedway. It got more popular, but we continued with motocross and enduros as well for a bit of fun, so yeah, bikes were a huge part of our lives.’

Kids Today, Stars Tomorrow

‘Leigh was just so happy to wait at the line and let the others take off. He’d go, “Mmm,” then he’d catch them up, but he wouldn’t pass,’ recalls Joan Adams.

Although it was obvious that he had the speed and the ability, it became a talking point among the other parents that Leigh Adams appeared to be happy to follow his rivals rather than blast by them.

‘Leigh was only ready to go racing when he wanted to race, which was fair enough, I was never going to force him,’ says his father. ‘He just enjoyed riding; and people used to say to me, “Why don’t you get him to start racing?” Then all of a sudden he just started racing, and in that year I don’t think he lost one race. He just decided that he was going to go for it. I reckon that’s how he learned. He was prepared to learn how to do it before he went racing.’

The calculated and thinking side of Leigh’s character came to the fore during the early days of junior racing. Although he was obviously used to riding bikes and racing motorcycles in competition, he didn’t rush headlong into racing a speedway bike until he was comfortable with the machine he was riding and the different aspects of racing speedway.

Meanwhile his brother, Andrew, brought his motocross skills to the sport and felt no compunction at all to hold back.

‘He was the gater. He wasn’t like a speedway rider as such. He would push and shove and would cause chaos on the first corner, no doubt about that,’ their father smiles. ‘If he wanted to win, he would win. He wasn’t the best slider or anything, but if someone was beside him, look out!’

‘When they first started, Andrew was probably better than Leigh,’ Joan adds. ‘But then Leigh became the better rider, more spectacular to watch. Ever since he got on that little bike he always looked like he was in control, except at the start when he was just happy to trail along behind the others.’

Not for long, though. Eventually, that competitive spirit that would carry him to the sport’s ultimate competition took over, and he never looked back. So what was it that turned the happy, laid-back Leigh, into the smooth racer Leigh? With so many kids, and mainly boys, all together in a competitive environment, it seems inevitable that there would be some ribbing among them. However, while that was sure to have taken place, Leigh says that wasn’t one of the reasons why he began racing.

He shakes his head: ‘Not at all. I just enjoyed it and I was always fast. All of a sudden, bang! I just started getting involved and made some starts. You just mature don’t you; you’re a kid and then you’re a teenager.’

While Leigh began to get to grips with riding speedway and also began showing the style that would thrill millions across the globe, Andrew’s interest would eventually take an altogether different direction, swapping terra firma for water skiing.

Mildura’s success for nurturing young talent was due to the enthusiasm of the syndicate, whose own credentials were helped by having former rider Rod Lyons in the organisation. He was Jason’s father and was among the first successful riders when Mildura’s Olympic Park began staging solo speedway in 1960. Therefore his experience was a valuable asset when it came to coaching the young riders.

Meanwhile, in Adelaide, Lenny Bowes, Shane Bowes’ father, was instrumental in the running of the Sidewinders club and Shane Parker’s dad used to prepare the track. Riders from both venues would travel between the two every weekend to practice and race.

‘We used to do some miles,’ Leigh recalls. ‘We’d go over in the morning and then come back that night. It was a four-hour drive (eight-hour round trip). It was popular, the Normans, the Parkers, Craig Hodgson, and all those kids were there. They were good times.

‘We’re talking twenty-five kids or more, there were A-grade and B-grade riders and that’s where we all came from. Pretty much all the Aussies who came over to the UK came from those two junior clubs. Craig Boyce and Todd Wiltshire were an exception, they came from flat track, the short circuit, it’s a bit different, like a speedway track but you’ve got a right-hand loop in it and they run motocross bikes on that.’

‘The best part of it was that between all the juniors and the two clubs, there was a good relationship and we both grew because of it,’ John Adams believes. ‘There was no hate between the Mildura kids and the Sidewinder kids, they all raced like crazy on the track, but after they were all good mates. Even on the management side of it, they were only too happy to have us over there, and we were only too happy to have their kids at our club.’

However, Adelaide is a big city, especially when compared with sleepy little Mildura. The South Australian city is the fifth largest in the country with over one million inhabitants, and the boys from that area brought a little bit of that decadent city lifestyle with them, as Leigh recalls. ‘The South Australian boys were pretty wild lads, they didn’t mind a party. When I walked out the back of the changing rooms once, I found some of them were smoking a big fat joint!’

John Adams adds: ‘We went to a twenty-five year reunion and Shane Parker was saying “Do you remember that big hill where we all used to go over there after the meeting and puff away!”’

These were interesting times for the young riders, a time that was filled with new experiences as they juggled their lives between racing junior speedway, schooling and, of course, all the other things that are part of growing up when you’re a teenager. However, the family atmosphere of the club ensured that nothing really progressed much beyond boys trying out new things and testing the boundaries.

‘they all raced like crazy on the track, but after they were all good mates.’

John Adams

Understandably, because the Sidewinders club had been operating longer than Mildura’s junior programme, they were a bit further down the road than their Victoria counterparts in terms of machine developments. At this stage Leigh was riding the machines that had been built by the syndicate, but now that he had shaken off his cautious side he wanted to win races and was eager to improve his bike to be on the pace.

‘We were running these bikes that dad built for many years,’ Leigh explains. ‘In Adelaide they had the Jawa frames cut down, and they were always a little bit better. They played with the dimensions on them and had them pretty much dialled in. So we went and bought this bike in Adelaide. When we got that machine, off we went and we kept it until the end.’

‘They were a little bit bigger and they had done a lot of work, they had played with them and shortened the back end,’ John describes. ‘Leigh rode it once and he said that it handled beautifully.’

All racing is competitive, but when it comes to junior racing there is often the added dimension of competitive parents. Many good junior programmes have been damaged by the attitude of some parents who can place too much pressure on their children to succeed – often trying to live their dreams through their kids.

Furthermore, their desire to see little Johnny at the front often brings them into conflict with the organisers of the club itself by making demands that are designed to favour their child. This causes resentment among the other parents and young riders, and also confrontation with the organisers. At the very least such conflicts can cause good people, with a valuable contribution, to walk away; and at worst it can be responsible for the end of the junior programme. Pretty quickly they’ve forgotten why they were there in the first place and it’s the kids who suffer and, of course, the sport as a whole.

Happily, this didn’t happen in Mildura. The family atmosphere was maintained and, in fact, a unique bond was formed between everyone that was involved, as John Adams points out. ‘Everywhere you go you run into somebody who benefited from the junior days. A lot of people that are racing in the UK would say that they used to come to our house for a barbecue during their junior racing days. We were all close and we tried to keep a family atmosphere.

‘I remember one time we went to Perth, and the Lyons and the Aldertons came with us. Christine Lyons, Jason’s mum, is really good friends with Joan. I was good friends with Rodney Lyons and Nigel Alderton’s dad, Brian and I, are best mates, to this day. If we went anywhere, all three of us would go together. Even now, we’ve got wonderful relationships with all the parents that we had in those younger days.