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I T was a career that nearly only lasted two weeks but turned into two decades. Theo Pijper has revealed a sliding doors moment in 2002 when, after just two meetings with Edinburgh, he wanted to return home to the Netherlands. But the dogged Dutch daredevil stuck at his new club and it unleashed a hugelysuccessful run on the shale, grass and longtracks. Pijper, now 42, is one of the unsung heroes of British speedway. An erstwhile performer who never fails to give it 100 per cent and always a vital engine-room points machine in winning sides. That has delivered second tier league titles with Edinburgh and Glasgow, an Elite Shield with Swindon and a Fours Championship also with the Monarchs. Add in a couple of European Grasstrack wins and it’s clear to understand Pijper’s incredible versatility alongside a long-time bid for longtrack glory over 20 years. But it all might never have happened if not for his dad. Theo Pijper is happy for his boys to follow him onto the track...and even daughter Bonnie. By PHIL LANNING PIED PIJ Th do a lot for it, we have our own gym in the house. We are trying to do as much as we can to keep on top of everything. “The biggest thing for me is the mental strength. I try to teach them to deal with the ups and downs. If you have a good race, you are all high and everybody loves you; if you have a bad race, it goes the other way. “You have to learn to maintain a consistency and pick yourself up from the bad ones and come back to be just as strong. “I still have that now at my age. If I have a race stuck at the back but then still fight to win the next one. It’s all in the mind sometimes. “The boys are my flesh and blood and I’ll do everything I can to support He revealed: “In 1998, I did a Worlds qualifier at Peterborough and some Edinburgh people supported me. “A year and a bit later, I was here. The first season was always tough because I hadn’t done much speedway. I did grasstrack and road racing. “They wanted me to race here, I couldn’t hardly speak any English. I was here on my own. “A couple of meetings in, I ‘phoned my dad and told him I thought it was time to come home. But he said what you have started, you finish it. From then on, I stayed obviously. “It was hard. Everyone always said that Theo was good on the big tracks, I fancied the small speedway tracks more. “I’m quite chuffed my dad said that to me. It was a sliding doors moment. Who knows, if I had gone home, I may not have married Carrie and then had the kids and had a big career in the UK. “My dad told me to stay. He wasn’t coming to get me anyway!” Now Theo faces a new challenge in life on the track with both sons Ace and Stene starting out careers with Berwick. He really is the Pied Pijper of racing in the family. But, knowing the pitfalls and dangers of the track, how does he cope? It’s an entirely new challenge to watch your own kids race, especially for wife Carrie. He told me: “It’s pretty hard, they want to race, we don’t tell them to race. It’s their dream to do this. “When they were little they were always with us, that’s the life they saw and I think that has a big role to play in where we are now. “It’s a hard task to keep that balance of wanting the boys to do well but also be safe and healthy. “The boys are young, fit and healthy. They 2 speedway star May 7, 2022
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heo Pijper JPER them. If it’s speedway, it will be speedway. If it’s something else, then we’ll do that. “It’s a way of life, it is hard going because it’s 24/7 in the workshop to get the bikes prepared for racing again. “It’s been a great start for Ace. But we know it will be a rollercoaster. He has one more meeting at reserve and then he’s in the middle of the team. “It will be different for him. He will have harder opposition in his first race and he just needs to keep his head clear, focus on his riding and nothing else around him. “Stene is also in his first club with the Berwick Academy. They are both equally up for it. When it’s race-day they are loving it and want to do the best they can.” With the boys now stepping up into the racing big time, Theo is still convinced that there is life in the old Dutch dog yet. There is also a huge chance that he could complete an incredible title hattrick with Berwick in 2022, adding to the glory achieved at Edinburgh and Glasgow. He added: “I can still score the points and be competitive and as long as that’s the case, I will carry on. Age is a number. We’ll try to keep on top of everything to keep going and progressing. Each lap I race I learn something else. “There is life in me yet. Experience counts for a lot at Berwick. There are lines to race at Shielfield Park. It’s not only the throttle you need to use but also your brain a little bit, there’s not much in there, but sometimes you need to think a bit more to get past another rider. “I think we have a great chance to make the Play-Offs this season. Some of the riders in the team have been around the block for a few teams. So every track we go to we • Ace, Theo and Stene get some advice from the rider who once rode there. “The boys are all fired up, there’s a fantastic team spirit with everyone. All the families are involved as well. I think that’s a huge element for us doing well. When your mind is clear, you can achieve more.” It’s soon going to get really hectic for the family with Theo’s longtrack commitments about to kick in alongside Ace’s Bullets meetings and Stene for the Academy. The family are based in Edinburgh and while all the focus is naturally on the Pijper boys in their glory pursuits at Shielfield Park, Theo is quick to acknowledge the role of the girls in his life. Wife Carrie is clearly the glue that holds the entire racing schedule together while young daughter Bonnie, at six, is winning medals as a dancer and could yet be the next Pijper to hit the track. He said: “It will start getting very busy next month when longtrack starts, it will go all crazy. “I have achieved every title possible in longtrack except the main one and I’m trying to hunt that down this year and then hang up the jacket after that. “There’s a couple of vans on the road and plenty of flights booked. If I didn’t have Carrie I wouldn’t even know what country to go to. Carrie manages everything. Every one day of the week we sit round the coffee table and get our plans sorted. “I have to pay special tribute to Carrie. She’s the cog that keeps everything working. What she does is massive behind the scenes. It doesn’t get spoken about ever, but there would be no results on the track without her. “We have the three boys riding and then little Bonnie, who is just six, is well up in her dancing. So every day there’s some activity going on. “Bonnie is the main person of the team. She supports all of us three and we support her dancing. “She wants to have a bike herself now so not long from now you might see a pink machine going round a track somewhere. It’s either a bike or a horse but a horse is much more expensive. So she’ll get a bike! “It’s a team we have here. That includes all of us in the family. We all want each other to succeed, that’s how it rolls.” It’s clear with so much drive and ambition, there could be more titles rolling into the family trophy cabinet in 2022; from Bandits, Bullets, Academy and dancing. Perhaps it’s appropriate that living in the Scottish capital, these Pijpers know how to bag glory. May 7, 2022 speedway star 3

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I

T was a career that nearly only lasted two weeks but turned into two decades.

Theo Pijper has revealed a sliding doors moment in 2002 when, after just two meetings with Edinburgh, he wanted to return home to the Netherlands.

But the dogged Dutch daredevil stuck at his new club and it unleashed a hugelysuccessful run on the shale, grass and longtracks.

Pijper, now 42, is one of the unsung heroes of British speedway. An erstwhile performer who never fails to give it 100 per cent and always a vital engine-room points machine in winning sides.

That has delivered second tier league titles with Edinburgh and Glasgow, an Elite Shield with Swindon and a Fours Championship also with the Monarchs.

Add in a couple of European Grasstrack wins and it’s clear to understand Pijper’s incredible versatility alongside a long-time bid for longtrack glory over 20 years.

But it all might never have happened if not for his dad.

Theo Pijper is happy for his boys to follow him onto the track...and even daughter Bonnie. By PHIL LANNING PIED PIJ

Th do a lot for it, we have our own gym in the house. We are trying to do as much as we can to keep on top of everything.

“The biggest thing for me is the mental strength. I try to teach them to deal with the ups and downs. If you have a good race, you are all high and everybody loves you; if you have a bad race, it goes the other way.

“You have to learn to maintain a consistency and pick yourself up from the bad ones and come back to be just as strong.

“I still have that now at my age. If I have a race stuck at the back but then still fight to win the next one. It’s all in the mind sometimes.

“The boys are my flesh and blood and I’ll do everything I can to support

He revealed: “In 1998, I did a Worlds qualifier at Peterborough and some Edinburgh people supported me.

“A year and a bit later, I was here. The first season was always tough because I hadn’t done much speedway. I did grasstrack and road racing.

“They wanted me to race here, I couldn’t hardly speak any English. I was here on my own.

“A couple of meetings in, I ‘phoned my dad and told him I thought it was time to come home. But he said what you have started, you finish it. From then on, I stayed obviously.

“It was hard. Everyone always said that Theo was good on the big tracks, I fancied the small speedway tracks more.

“I’m quite chuffed my dad said that to me. It was a sliding doors moment. Who knows, if I had gone home, I may not have married Carrie and then had the kids and had a big career in the UK.

“My dad told me to stay. He wasn’t coming to get me anyway!”

Now Theo faces a new challenge in life on the track with both sons Ace and Stene starting out careers with Berwick. He really is the Pied Pijper of racing in the family.

But, knowing the pitfalls and dangers of the track, how does he cope?

It’s an entirely new challenge to watch your own kids race, especially for wife Carrie. He told me: “It’s pretty hard, they want to race, we don’t tell them to race. It’s their dream to do this.

“When they were little they were always with us, that’s the life they saw and I think that has a big role to play in where we are now.

“It’s a hard task to keep that balance of wanting the boys to do well but also be safe and healthy.

“The boys are young, fit and healthy. They

2 speedway star May 7, 2022

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