RETRO Speedway is delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with 1976 World Champion Peter Collins to publish his autobiography later this year.
PC, the most decorated British rider in speedway World Championship history with 10 FIM gold medals, has begun collaborating with Retro Speedway's Tony McDonald.
The target launch date is Saturday, August 13 – at the British GP in Cardiff.
Tony Mac said: “Peter approached us last year about working with him and publishing his life story and, of course, we didn’t hesitate. It’s a great privilege to be involved in such an exciting project.
“Like many fans of the 70s, I loved watching him race in individual meetings, as well as for England and Belle Vue. Along with Ivan Mauger and Ole Olsen, he was one of the trio of true greats from that golden era we all keep reminiscing about – but he was the most exciting of all to watch.
“Winning the world title at Katowice in ’76 was not only PC’s career highlight, it was the pinnacle for British speedway, too.
“It says everything about his outstanding achievement and lofty standing in the world of sport around that time that, the day after winning in Poland, he was very prominently pictured on the FRONT cover AND also featured as the back page lead story in the Daily Mirror. Back then, The Mirror was the most popular UK newspaper, selling an average 3.85 million copies a day. You can’t imagine another speedway rider ever gaining that much national publicity again.
“Just like his glittering racing career, PC is taking the book very seriously and has great attention to detail. When I arrived at his home near Knutsford for the first of our now regular weekly meetings in January, he presented me with an A4-size journal containing the first four hand-written chapters spanning some 40 pages. He took himself off to his and wife Angela’s holiday home in North Wales to write it up in peace and isolation.
“There will be lot of new material on PC that no-one has previously read or heard of and rare, previously unpublished photographs.
“Straight-talking controversy? Oh yes, there will be plenty of that, too.”
“I want to get it all done and in print while I can still remember everything – and Retro Speedway are the best people to help me do that,” added Peter, who will be 68 on March 24.
MAGAZINES
BACKTRACK Issue 110 out now! For fans who loved speedway in the 1970s & 80s
CLASSIC SPEEDWAY Issue 57 out now! Launched in May 2008, the glossy quarterly specialising in the 50s and 60s eras
BLOGS
THE best, most thought-provoking, pieces written by our knowledgeable team of writers that have appeared in Backtrack and Classic Speedway magazine since Retro Speedway was formed in 2004.
