Dream Team: Norman Johns

Grasstrack, Speedway and Longtrack fan, from Cornwall. Went to my first Grasstrack at the age of 3 months, my father rode on the grass locally, so I was in the pits with all the noise around me, Gran thought I'd howl all the way through....I fell asleep. My team has to be all Cornish, so here goes.

Seemond Stephens

Chris Harris
British Speedway Champion 3 times, British Grasstrack Champion 2 times, British under 21 Grasstrack Champion, British under 16 Speedway Champion, British SGP winner, World Speedway 6th place overall, World Longtrack 2nd place overall. British Elite League Speedway winning captain. Rarely complains about refereeing decisions or track conditions, just gets on with the racing, same for everyone. Not a great gater, but one heck of a good racer, quick, can turn on a sixpence, man of steel. He's the captain as he's a great team man too.

Chris Julian
Mad as a bag of frogs, a brave battler, Barry Briggs once said, "I like to be as far away from Chris Julian as I can be, preferably half a lap away and don't much care if I'm in front or behind him, as long as he's half a lap away from me." Chris had a reputation of being a hard rider, and could sometimes be controversial, but he was a very friendly guy off track, with a great sense of humour, so he'd be the team joker, keep the spirits up.

Mark Simmonds
Mark was a very quick rider, particularly around Exeter's large fast County Ground track, started as a Grasstrack rider, was on the rostrum in the British 350cc Championship. He was quite fearless around the County Ground, and once ended in a neighbouring garden, having gone over the fence and the crowd and their garden wall, had to climb a ladder back into the track....with a broken pelvis.....another hard man.

Wayne Barrett
Mr. Dependable, one of the most consistent riders in St.Austell Gulls conference League days, seemed to score double figures in every home match and quite a lot of away ones too. Also a safe and well prepared rider, rarely had a fall, mechanical problem or an exclusion, over a season he'd score a whole heap of points, also a good team rider. Started in Grasstrack as a youngster.

Ben Barker
Another who started on Grasstrack in Cornwall, being the son of a Cornish Champion Sidecar Passenger. A track record holder at Plymouth, very quick, a hard rider, sometimes can be a bit controversial, he's an entertainer though a 100% trier, never knows when he's beaten, 3rd in the British Speedway final twice and a GB World Cup team member. Always encouraging his team mates, a good team man.

Seemond Stephens
Seemond was an extrovert, a showman, Started on youth Grasstrack, winning Cornish Championships, moved to Moto Cross, 10x Cornish Champion and British finalist. Speedway opened at Clay Country Moto Park, and in the second season he started, topped the Conference League averages, moved to the much bigger and faster Exeter track and really flew in the next league up, eventually ended up as captain at Plymouth. Since retiring from Speedway he has taken up Sidecar Trials, and is as good at that as anything else, a very highly skilled multi discipline motorcycle rider.

Adrian Kessell
Kess was a legend in Cornwall, winning multiple Cornish Grasstrack titles, I think it was about 11, on 250, 350 and 500 cc, also a multiple British Vintage Champion. Kess did sprint racing, hill climb, Moto cross, and trials too, with great success, another multi discipline rider. He rode in the 1960's for St.Austell Gulls, not for long though, the track closed in the early 60's but Kess built his own frames and prepared bikes for many top South West racers, his speedway career was short but he showed promise, so I have him at number 7, his best values in the team might have been his mechanical skills and racing experience.

This article was first published on 22nd September 2024

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