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A few people have suggested that it might be a good idea to set up my own dedicated speedway Facebook page to feature the 1000's of old photos from the 60's & 70's and share some of my video clips from 2006 onwards. I've found some programmes that we produced for Motors TV back in the day too so what do you think? Are there enough speedway groups already on there or do you think more speedway fans would enjoy a dedicated page just for these videos and photos? Thinking along the lines of 'Bennett's Speedway Stuff' but open to suggestions! :-) Let me know and if enough people are interested I'll set it up this week.

I don’t think he ever rode the OTA again after he left us. He was absolutely no nonsense going into the first bend and didn’t suffer fools gladly. Often his team mates would cop it too, but I remember Olly saying the first bend was “ all or nothing “ Olly was a great skipper at Somerset and often gave his time up for a mid meeting interview, answering fans questions and giving his opinion on speedway stuff Definitely missed at the OTA.

Whilst there is no 'live' action taking place at the moment, it surely can't be outside the marketing capabilities of either the BSPL or the several video companies to put together a decent 'highlights' package of several meetings - with a decent commentary - to be available to the wider audiences - including some of the Sky and BT league coverage as they don't hold any rights now!!. We all know that however good a particular meeting can be there will always be some duff heats, which even the most supportive afficionados wouldn't want to see again, let alone any potential newcomers. Include a few 'handbags' or controversial moments as well as some brilliant actual 'racing from the top drawer', together with a list of tracks where and when speedway can be viewed (post Covid-19 obviously), and make it available on every social media platform, forum and You-Tube etc and to every club to use as a promo in their own locality.

This is the PROBLEM, pure negativity in every topic on THE BRITISH SPEEDWAY FORUM !!!!!!!!! Everyone just pulls it down and slates it !!!!!!!! WELL BELIEVE IT OR NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE BELIEVE IN IT. My parents always told me, if you have something to say, say it, but be objective and offer a potential solution. Until all the negativity from so called fans is eradicated, or as your post states put to sleep. How can it move forward.

I think as Steve said previously, I guess we would all do these lists different and probably every week slight differences The interesting thing though, is all 3 of your picks have dropped back from where they were in 2018. But I don't think anyone would argue that Lambert had a hard season ?

That's really interesting, so basically he regarded Rickardsson as the best 'all rounder' in that respect. Personally I'd have given Mauger a 10 for mental strength as well, which would have put him (slightly) clear at the top. Collins and Gundersen would have got a 9.5 for skill for me as well, but otherwise I think that's a very good impartial assessment - and he should know!

No am working on a central heating pump would you believe... It's a 1977 Ford Capri with 69,000 miles on... 1600cc in a nice metallic green with a go faster black vinyl roof... I was the third owner in 1980... cost me 2800 after a got 400 quid for the mini I traded in... was offered 10k for it last year an if he had of went to 12k I may have relented but I think he will be back.... apparently he lost his virginity in a very simlar model... May not be a classic in the true sense of the word but it is something I have cherished over the years... Every day is a Christmas Day at the minute... just think about what the poor sods had to put up with during the war!!! 4 years they had it with no TV or gadgets to entertain them.... we will survive just got to keep smiling on through and remember there is always someone worse off... you could be dead... I have now lost several friends to this awful virus and we aren't out of the woods yet.... however and to be totally honest I am looking forward to getting back to some normality... but still need to keep a sense of reality and a smile on the dial... Regards THJ

I knew I had this info somewhere - just come across this. [NOTE - it is 15 years old but given the high proportion of long term fans it seems unlikely to have changed much] 70% of people who attend speedway meetings are male and 30% female. 20% bring their children 81% attend 10 or more meetings per season confirming that the sport is down to its hard core fans. Speedway fans are not particularly high earners with 31% earning below £20k and 39% earning between £21k – 40k. Their relatively low socio-demographics are also confirmed by the fact that 63% read The Star, The Sun or The Mirror. Also 31% have no qualifications and another 45% are educated to GCSE/O Level. Only 9% hold a university degree. 17% are 19-24 years old, 21% 25-34 years old and 23% 35-49 years old. All in all, this does represent a segment of society which is not particularly interesting to sponsors. Around 20% of people attend meetings with their kids, 63% with family adults and 72% attend with 1-3 other people. What is interesting is the response the respondents gave when asked why attended speedway meetings: Support the home team 30% The atmosphere 23% A good night out 20% Quality of the teams 10% Family night out 6% Other 11% Total 100% source : 2007 Marketing Report commissioned by BSPA

He had tremendous throttle control, never revved the guts out of the bike but had loads of drive. Always looked after his team mates as well. Best skipper I've known at The OTA

My recollection is this was a one-off second half event, though I edhave no record of it. Probably dreamed it. I don’t think I ever really got over Lokeren. 1964-1971... lots of good memories and some really bad ones, but I will always look back on my Custom House years fondly.

Something like that. I used to love watching Olly Allen at our track. Unpopular opinion perhaps but I actually think he is the best ever around the OTA - that includes Doyle, Zetterstrom and co too! He went through a period where he was unbeatable and wasn’t afraid to get the elbows out, ride the fence and come from the back too. Was gutted when he was moved on the following year.

You have been brainwashed by your Gorzow mates and sportowefakty !!!! the last year of BSI`s GP contract is 2021 !!!!

Sometimes you get deeply in trenches and can’t see the wood for the trees, Sid . Just let it go sometimes

Some of the 'old stuff' on YouTube wouldn't get seen in a good light by a wider non Speedway audience if shown on the mainstream channels, simply because so much of it was filmed with production qualities which were 'wedding video' standard, and many commentaries were pretty average, done by well meaning amateurs... No fault of whoever produced them, that was just the technology of the time outside of the main TV channels.. Even the newly formed Satellite company's old work looks well dated (as done in SD), and often one camera action... Watching the many meetings available does though show that, for me, so much of what we have today is at least as good, and often better, racing wise, than the 'old stuff', and some of the production standards are excellent.. I would suggest a decent marketing team could make something out of the raw material of the racing and would be able to make personalities out of the riders if given a chance... Employing one of them to do a joined up national advertising campaign using the best clips from today during this 'down time', would be far better for the sport than just putting out random Speedway on TV (to a mainly non plussed audience), I would say..

Teo with Ian Williams, taken around the time he arrived here .

Is this Arne G? Have to say the rankings look intuitively in line with what you would expect, and seems methodology very similar to what I've used in the past. Good find!

He was the master of no nonsense. It took my three kids 3/4 of a season to get a high five off him on the victory lap after a race on the back straight but they eventually cracked him ! He was an excellent servant for the Rebels.

I'd certainly give Mauger a 10 for mental strength. John Berry in his book did suggest that he would probably change a few of his assessments on second reading. Personally I always find lists (especially the "best of") difficult as I would probably be changing my mind on a regular basis...I've tried playing the game with films and come up with a different list everytime with the occasional regular call!

He was another waste of talent, and he pulled that "God" stunt to give himself the publicity!

Yes you're right...I seem to remember he doubled up for a short while at Ipswich?

Tom Farndon! I'd go for 10-5-10!

Thought I was going to survive all this (lockdown, no live speedway)but with that thought not so sure now.. Drives me mad anyway when its talked about before Dec 1st!!

Considerably less than it will take to make good the current facility.

Don't you need to polish one of your cars ?

seen Allen at Somerset , was superb there to be fair.

Thanks Steve. That's an interesting way to measure them. Of course it's still all subjective whether it be John Berry or any of us plebs I too think PC would be higher on skill...or perhaps he is under scoring him based on starting. He could gate, but wasn't consistently lightening...lucky for us! When I look at that list, I regard Rickardsson and Penhall of the ones I have seen that are the complete riders. Highly professional, able to win from front and back, fast and great under pressure. To unwittingly poke the hornets nest, I'd put Woffinden along them too in that regard. I'm sure Norbold may have another name or two to any list of "complete" racers.

My memories of Kelly (after he finished riding) relate to a 'meet Kelly' evening in a Buxton hotel. We had to wait a while but Kelly then appeared. Part way through his interview he decided to call his brother Shawn in California. He 'borrowed' a mobile phone from someone in the room (I think it was someone connected to the Sheffield promotion) and suddenly it was a three way show. It was a great evening but I often wonder what the size of the phone bill was.

I've never come across that - that's not to say it didn't happen, but I have no knowledge of it.

I’ve never heard of sidecar racing ever being staged at Custom House, and certainly no fatalities. To the best of my knowledge there were four fatalities, all solo riders, two in the mid sixties and two in the early fifties. Three, I think fell and were hit by following riders, and of course Teo who hit the safety fence. Of course there were those who died in the Lokoren tragedy. That hit me very hard. I really thought Peter Bradshaw and especially Martin Piddock had big futures in the sport. Peter had a beautiful classy style that I loved watching. Martin was already a quality grasstracker when he came to Custom House and I really felt he was going to be a second Malcolm Simmons.

If you asked me to compile a list of the most skillful speedway riders ever, he'd be top or bloody close to the top. If you asked me to compile a list of the best riders in high pressure situations, he'd slip a bit. In the end, I'd finish sitting on the fence a bit and saying that the world championship split between Gundersen and Nielsen would be about the same GP or one off format.

Interesting that in world final head to heads, including run offs, Gundersen won 8 of the 11 races with Nielsen. It's very interesting to discuss which world champions would still have been had the GP system been in place them and vice versa. But very difficult to accurately say, because both required entirely different approaches. One rewards the ability to peak on a given high pressure occasion, the other high quality consistency over a sustained period. I've worked closely in athletics and seen the former approach up close. Athletes will "compete" through the season, but it is all towards being in maximum peak performance condition for the Olympics. Quite often there are athletes who will get beaten on the circuit, but they have been balancing heavy training with competition where they are testing tactics/techniques and by the time they get to the big one, they are ready to win. In speedway terms, in short, I think Gundersen would have adapted. I don't think Nielsen would have dominated quite as much as some think. Gundersen had an unnerving ability to deliver when it mattered and I reckon he would have done the same under a GP system. Similarly, I have also seen Mark Loram's win sometimes questioned and yet I think the GP format was - on paper - a trickier format for him than a one-off. On a given day he was well capable of beating the world's best and that year, he was consistently brilliant. So in my mind, it was thoroughly deserved.

Belle Vue (source Match programme)

My understanding of what happened to Knutson was partly as you say, also that his form suffered in 1966 because he was getting too involved in his business interests and unable to concentrate as he would have liked on speedway so he decided he couldn't continue with both and it was speedway that had to give.

don't be too hard on yourself, it starts with W so close enough

Belle Vue

I have to be honest, IMHO I do feel the venue has a greater opportunity of success as a track without the overbearing costs of maintaining an old facility. Starting again from a track in a field will give it the freedom to go/grow it's own way. The cost of running the sport is more then enough but to have to meet modern legislative demands in an old facility could always threaten it's viability in the future. It may need to take more steps back before it can go forward nevertheless I do sincerely wish everyine connected with the campaign well and good fortune for a positive outcome.

Gundersen would have been more likely to winGPs when they had the knock out and elimination heats. I think I've said this before, but under that system I can imagine Nielsen winning every heat while Gundersen ended up in eliminators and scraped through to the final only to then win it.

I understand what you're saying.. however, it doesn't always work that way. A GP is still a case of 'rising to the occasion' and we've seen since the advent of the GP series certain riders tend to do that. Rickardsson was never the most dominant in league speedway.. he was of course very good, but not to the levels of a Nielsen in his pomp. But when a GP rolled round, he stepped up a gear. Yet someone like Leigh Adams who you would have thought a GP system would suit due to his ultra consistency.. never won a GP series. I strongly suspect someone like Gundersen would still have won titles under the GP system. Strong argument that Ermolenko would have been favorite in 91/92/93 or certainly very close to.

As norbold said you do make some good contributions. Not trying to lecture you, just friendly advice. I know from experience that I made what I thought was a relatively innocuous post about Dave Morton and it escalated into a few pages of back and forth and I still don’t know how, apart from you don’t like other opinions or facts It would be better if all of us just let things go sometimes. And I include myself

I think so too. But this is the thing. Does that mean it is harder or easier to win a one-off World Final? A one-off World Final was harder to win for Nielsen but, at the same time, probably easier to win for Gundersen, who was more of a 'rise to the occasion' rider. You can't say one was easier or harder than the other. At the end of the day/series there is still only one winner,

Cliffeboy was referencing when Kennett guested as a replacement for Oliver Allen a few seasons later on.

I'm sure that I speak for everyone in hoping you are right.

Tonight's meeting stream is dedicated to Bill Slaughter, a great friend to Isle of Wight Speedway who sadly passed away on 16/04/2020.

2018 Premiership Riders final from Poole on Monday 20th April. Followed by Poole v Wolves 2004 Elite League Final 2nd leg on Wednesday 22nd April.

Very poor from BSI, there are bound to be people who either cant or dont want to go to the re-arranged date. BSI need to understand that people bought their tickets in good faith about seeing a meeting. Had the meeting been called off due to the weather I suppose they have an argument but not under these circumstances, as I say very poor IMO. Maybe if their contact wasn't coming to an end they would care a bit more.

You will most likely get a free season pass voucher to the stock cars or Kings Lynn speedway with a free burger and car parking space close to the entrance window thrown in, unless of course you have a BB lol

Thanks for the nice comments guys, That film was made by the NC+ platform here in Poland in 2014 and we had some great feedback from it. Here is another video we did with Gerry Sims (former racer). It was supposed to be used by IMG but never got released. Feel free to give my Facebook and instagram pages a follow and a like , We try to post content regularly. All the best Ash https://www.facebook.com/1469737636632481/videos/510522086252291/

Self Indulgence at its finest . Why anyone would moan about additional income into their club is beyond me .

Good to see Teo has a close named after him on the new Blunsdon Meads development near the Abbey.