THE MAN with the gleaming leathers all speedway knew as Hurri-Ken, Ken McKinlay, has died.
Ironically, this year was his 75th - so he was exactly as old as British speedway. Ken McKinlay was a multi-world finalist, an internationalist,
a prolific scorer in domestic competition, and will be remembered as the very finest and most successful speedway rider to come from north of the border.
Originally from Blantyre, he was a grocer and farmer before taking up speedway in Germany just after the war, while serving as a despatch rider.
He made his debut for Glasgow in 1949, and though the Tigers were a strong outfit - including the likes of Joe Crowther, Junior Bainbridge, Gordon McGregor, Will Lowther, and Norman Lindsay - Ken soon became a regular.
Within a few seasons he was pushing Tommy Miller for the top spot.
On a trip to Australia in the winter of 1951-52, he finished second highest scorer to England skipper Jack Parker in the Test series, and he was to be a regular visitor for the next two decades.
When Glasgow closed in 1954, Ken moved to Leicester, easily making the jump to world class when the second division and first division merged in 1957, outscoring the likes of Aub Lawson, Ove Fundin, and Brian Crutcher, with only Peter Craven, Barry Briggs, Ronnie Moore, and Bob Roger being better.
The following year he achieved his highest place in all his 12 world finals, losing to Aub Lawson and Peter Craven in a run-off for third place.
Ken spent three years with Coventry from 1962 and then skippered West Ham to the
treble at the start of the new era of speedway in 1965 after the amalgamation of the national and provincial leagues.
Under his captaincy, the Hammers won the league, the Knock Out Cup, and the
London Cup.
Margaret Price, wife of that year's team boss Tommy Price, the former world champion, said of Ken from her Freemantle home: ''He was such a thoroughly nice man and we particularly enjoyed having him in the West Ham team when we opened it in the sixties.''
Ken was acknowledged as a great captain, encouraging emerging youngsters with advice, help, and often well-intentioned reprimands. He was never known to ride an unfair race, not even in retaliation.
At the age of 40 he returned to Coventry, continuing to favour JAP engines in spite of the new JAWA favoured by most of the top riders at the time. A move to Oxford found him unhappy with the tighter Cowley circuit and though he was fortunate in avoiding major injuries throughout his career, his track retirement was hastened by a particularly nasty fall in the divison two riders' championship final at Wimbledon in 1974.
Ken represented Scotland, England, and Great Britain and rode in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Denmark, and Holland.
Apart from his dozen world final appearances, he was Australian champion in 1964, the first to win the Midland riders title three times, and he held the British, Scottish, and division two match race championships.
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