Peter Collins MBE is without doubt one of the most successful British riders of all time, and a Belle Vue Aces legend. He's finally put together his autobiography called Keeping It On The Tyres, and recently at his book launch at Longsight Sports on Social Club on Kirkmanshulme Lane, I managed to get some time with him beside his world title winning bike..!

His book is over 500 pages and documents everything you could ever want to know, and you can get hold of it at retro-speedway.com

An overnight sensation when he burst onto the Cheshire grasstrack scene as a 16-year-old, Mancunian PC quickly shot to speedway fame, too, as a Rochdale rookie in the early 70s and became the most famous graduate of the Belle Vue training school.

His 16 loyal seasons with Belle Vue – the local club he supported from the age of eight when he dreamed of emulating his boyhood hero Peter Craven – brought him the highest league and cup honours and, thanks to his trademark thrilling bursts from the back, a permanent place among the pantheon of Aces and England greats.

He was beyond compare, the supreme racer who took the breath away, admired by fans and TV audiences worldwide. No other rider in the history of speedway has dominated the front and back pages of top-selling English tabloid newspapers as Peter did the day after his biggest triumph in front of a capacity 120,000 crowd at Katowice, Poland in 1976.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices