PETER COLLINS

A life sideways RIDING KENNY’S TZ YAMAHA CONNECTION MEETING THE QUEEN RESTO ADDICT

In 1977 Peter got the chance to race Kenny Roberts’ infamous Yamaha TZ750 dirt track bike at a big grasstrack meeting. “I couldn’t believe how fast it was, or how terribly it handled – it didn’t want to go sideways,” he says.

Peter thought a 250cc Yamaha grasstrack engine would be perfect for indoor meetings at Wembley Conference Centre, so fitted one in a speedway frame. Sadly he wasn’t allowed to race it – the organisers didn’t want it beating the 500s...

A patriotic man to his toes, he was very proud to represent his country on track. He could barely believe it when he got a letter from St James’s Palace in 2001 telling him he’d been awarded an MBE for services to motorcycle racing.

What has Peter done since retiring? Well, he’s helped save his beloved Belle Vue, commentated for Sky Sports and restored speedway bikes... lots of them (63 and counting). Above is his first ever race bike, a Hagon BSA.