1975: Reg Luckhurst - SPEEDWAY RIDER | Tonight | Classic BBC Sport | BBC Archive

David Lomax profiles Reg 'Lucky' Luckhurst, a one-time top speedway rider who reached the Speedway World Championship final in 1965. Now aged 49, veteran Reg is still riding professionally for the Wimbledon Dons motorcycle speedway team. As the injuries begin to take their toll, however, he is planing to retire.
The BBC Tonight cameras follow Reg as he turns out to race at the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane for what might be the last time ever.
Originally broadcast 3 November, 1975.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you through our classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - kzbin.info?...

[@garryleeks4848]

He’s 87 now , all those injuries he’s still smiling

[@ltipst2962]

He's really cool having done this. I wish when I was really young I'd have had the option to go watch races like this.

[@swaneknoctic9555]

No no....He is 97 now as he was 49 here.....The BBC is always right.

[@onlyme219]

Genuinely good to know :)

[@BryanClark-gk6ie]

​@@swaneknoctic9555 @2:10 says he's 39.

[@MrRicksticks]

Met him in the pub outside Millennium stadium, Cardiff, a few years back. Top chap.

[@leefinney592]

The mechanic with a cigarette in his mouth. Omg different times!!

[@brianporter9508]

and when the most used item on a bike was insulating tape. It was the go to for everything. 🤣🤣🤣

[@whiteonggoy7009]

Used to go to canterbury stadium,smell of castro r. Brings back memories from the 60,s

[@alanlittle3941]

The 2nd most popular spectator sport back in the day. Memories of Brough Park Newcastle in the 70s.Happy days

[@TheBill9999]

Lucky man. Tom and Joe were fantastic

[@williamnethercott4364]

Yep, that's where I used to be every Monday night.

[@cedricfarquharson5842]

I watched Reg when he was at West Ham, Custom House in the 1964 season. A great character and great speedway rider. Thank you Reg, it was a real privilege watching you.

[@jasonayres]

(1:02) Reminds me of the old one about the ad in the newspaper that read, "Lost dog. Three legs, blind in one eye. Bladder issues. Answers to the name, 'Lucky". He *was* the lucky Mr. Luckhurst, wasn't he. Good on him 🙂👍

[@nervo6321]

Some nice glimpses of the late Tommy Jansson in this video RIP

[@comond]

Rode for Canterbury the following season (1976), before then retiring. His sons Jamie and Jeremy also became speedway riders.

[@TheDjcarlos67]

Regional Bbc at its best

[@hazelswain9768]

How I miss Wimbledon Speedway !!!!

[@petercarrington2560]

I was born in 1962 at went to Belle Vue watching the likes of Ivan Mauger and Peter Collins .. didn’t know how good we had it .. great speedway and lovely memories

[@FlibDokky]

what happened to it?

[@hazelswain9768]

@@FlibDokky closed down and stadium sold off by the Greyhound racing owners

[@BrianGayAnglingImages]

What a Gent. Love how he turned up in a suit and tie! I started watching speedway in ‘74 at Weymouth, good times.

[@a34rwl]

What a cracking bloke.

[@brianmorecombe2726]

Remember Speedway was on TV quite a lot in the 70s,i also remembered a tv soap about it on kids tv back in the 70s.King Cinder(Just googled it.)

[@markko0313]

I believe King Cinder was filmed at Rye House. I watched it and used to visit Rye House most weekends!

[@abrahamdraper1911]

My mother's cousin. Remember visiting his house as a kid, and spending quite a bit of time at his mum's house near Dover... Great Aunt Helena, my favourite relative when I was little ❤

[@MrRicksticks]

Briggo, Tommy Jansson RiP, Roger Johns....

[@car6737]

Fantastic I clearly remember Reggie going around the boards at Newport (old Stadium)

[@barrythomas9131]

A really nice bloke.saw reg ride at Rhodes minis when I was a kid and he was phenomenal(hard to spell)lol.anyway all the best reg.

[@onlyme219]

Cool as, brave as. Kudos to all of them, especially Reg. NO BREAKS, WTF, You all did us proud 👍

[@markhancock7527]

Brilliant thanks many a happy day watching the Dons.

[@nervo6321]

Fantastic historical video I have been trying to find for ages…cheers.

[@jamesauld5145]

Proper top man, if only the world had more like him!

[@davids_model_flying]

Great to see this, used to watch Reg and Barry at Southampton in the 60's.

[@retromechanicalengineer]

Good memories, I used to watch at Hull and later at Swindon after relocating.

[@williamnethercott4364]

I think I saw him once, near the end of his career and he was still quick. You can see the way slightly slower reactions at the gate put him at a disadvantage.

[@rob51e]

Remember watching this on BBC.

[@MezOfficial]

Fantastic

[@frankrowland]

Saw him riding for New Cross Rangers,early sixties.

[@brianporter9508]

Memories.....The narrators reference to 'wood alcohol' just got me. I rode as a guest in Southern Russia and confused people by calling it tree vodka.

[@longnetter]

Great film and insight to speedway in the 70's when i started watching it. Sadly with so many other activities for people to do now speedway team racing will never get the crowds back to make it a viable sport for much longer 😢.

[@hazelswain9768]

great pits footage and a shot of the late great Tommy Jansen ...

[@Dommer1973]

39 here not 49. Says so in the film.

[@ant7936]

They didn't slacken their throttles, to let him win his last race! 😢

[@robbflynn4325]

Arguing the toss over £2.40 , incredible, takes some bottle to do this.

[@alpiekaar]

a lot of money back then....AVE. weeks wage was probably only 30 or 40 quid. maybe a bit more

[@tedsmith3407]

He was a great grass track racer enjoy your retirement from tedsmith Durban South Africa

[@rockypupoxo]

Remember watching Les at Wimbledon a couple of times with my Dad in the 70's happier times when speedway was huge was good to see the late great Tommy janson in this , used to go to Hackney and mainly crayford then years later at Arena Essex where his son Jamie rode for a while if i remember rightly .

[@barrycuda3769]

Here in New Zealand 'Iv'e had very little to do with speedway ' I went to a long track event in 1987 in Dunedin ' they used the horse racing track' and I saw Ivan Mauger ' apart from that I went to an event in Melbourne which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment 'as the bikes all had big car mufflers fitted to quieten them down. I would have seen a lot of speedway if I'd lived in Christchurch .What I liked a lot about speedway is the smell of the burnt alcohol ' do they also use castor oil mixed in with it ? and if so why ' I can understand it being used in a 2 stroke. I've also heard of Castrol R ( castor oil ?) being used in race cars as sump oil ' do the cars mix it in with the fuel as well 'always wondered.

[@syambakar409]

If he raced today, he'd be doing very well financially from all the big sponsors and endorsements

[@timmelia7551]

Nice Cortina , a GXL I think .

[@robertmarsh3588]

Great days. I love speedway unfortunately my team who I've followed for 40 years, the Swindon Robins, have been left without a track since winning the league in 2018.

[@scottallan1441]

That's sad news especially after winning the league

[@user-gi5nh6ng7g]

It must’ve been some accident that resulted in both collarbones ending up in his left arm!

[@nervo6321]

Both his boys became decent riders especially Jamie who could have been world class given a few better breaks.

[@barrycuda3769]

I noticed one of the riders wearing Yamaha leathers ' would that mean his bike was powered by a TT500 motor.

[@randolph795]

An accent you don’t hear so much now. All mockney in Kent now.

[@johnturner1073]

Sadly, not the sport it once was and will probably be extinct within a decade.

[@alpiekaar]

im surprised its still going now,...a few die hard clubs, good that Oxford is racing again, but not enough sadly

[@malthusXIII-fo3ep]

Shame really but I don't think his bike was fast enough. Assuming he'd endured a poor season, hardly ever winning, it looks to me as though he should have retired much sooner. Seems as though he did actually go on for a further season at Canterbury - 1976.

[@davidford2169]

God bless him from Kings Lynn raceway..

[@timmelia7551]

Nice Cortina.

[@robinhaines4960]

Sorry but I've got to say it, proper bikes with no silencers. Also hardly anyone wearing ear defenders.

[@christopherhague6184]

Well done reg I watch from a young boy ps said to my dad some bloke is doing the splits on grass track days said that's reg pps dad used to watch him ride cycle speedway Cubs wood eagles