Reigning 1976 world speedway champion Peter Collins was ready to defend his title, but his last minute preparations were hit by a major snag. He broke his leg, badly.
The timing couldn’t have been worse, just a week before the 1977 final was due to be held, with 12 months’ planning ready to be binned. A withdrawal from the one-off final in Gothenburg, Sweden would seemingly be the only possible thing to do.
After all, you can't ride, let alone win a bruising speedway world final, with a busted leg. Speedway: A sport where a few inches separate four riders on a tight 400 metre shale track. All competitors are on 500cc four-stroke single cylinder methanol burning bikes, tuned to within an inch of their lives to achieve 0-60mph in less than three seconds on that slippery, bumpy surface. Speeds hit 75mph or more on the short straights and the ‘safety’ fence enticingly hovers just inches away from foot-rest and handlebars, ready to suck you in for a heart-stopping crash: 75mph to zero in a split, body crunching second.
Collins, at his home Belle Vue Aces Hyde Road track in Manchester, one of the fastest shale ovals in the country, had been riding in a trophy-only second half race with the official match already won, when he smashed his leg to pieces in the most bizarre of circumstances. Peter said: “It was a freak accident, my left leg was sliced to the bone, severing muscles and with a compound fracture of the fibula and about 200 stitches inside the leg and 32 outside. I hit a steel
