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My daughter came home on Wednesday showing symptoms. Because we are all key workers we booked a test straight away. We took the test on Thursday with minimal delays. The results came through in approximately 3 days. Thankfully the three of us were negative. A big thank you to the staff manning these sites and how efficiently they go about their business.

So after that nice little bit of Speedway chat we seem to have cooled off slightly again therefore to bring the SMILE back to everyone's faces again (or in ruffdiamond's case another groan) in our Covid impacted lives how about these offerings. (and only because Donald has got the USA in the news) A man is walking through his local shopping mall in the USA and notices a Mexican book store. He decides to go in because he has never seen a Mexican book store before. He browses through the store and finally asks the clerk, "Do you have the book on Donald Trump's foreign policies with Mexico?" The clerk replies, "F#ck you, get out and stay out!" The man replies, "Yeah, that's the one!" So the Pope is SUPER early for his flight from the USA back to the Vatican. He asks his driver on his way to the airport if he could drive around for a while because they have time to kill and he hasn't driven a car since becoming the pope. Naturally, he's a bit rusty, so he's driving poorly, when suddenly he sees police lights behind him. He pulls over and when the officer comes up to the window his eyes go wide. He says to the pope "Hold on for a minute," and goes back to his car to radio the chief. Cop: "Chief we have a situation. I've pulled over an important figure." Chief: "How important? A governor or something?" Cop: "No sir. He's bigger." Chief: "So, what? A celebrity or a footballer or something?" Cop: "More important, sir." Chief: "A major politician?" Cop: "No sir, he's much more important." Chief: "WELL WHO IS IT!?" Cop: "Well actually I'm not sure. But the pope's his driver." Now get back to the Speedway related banter or I will drop another one in... Stay well; stay safe and look after yourself... Regards THJ

PC, Lee, Mauger, Briggs, Olsen, Penhall, pick anyone you like. If they were in the modern era, they would not be riding in Britain, they would be straight where the richest pickings were. To suggest they raced in the UK out of loyalty and/or pride above finance is hopelessly naive.

Penhall didn’t ride many UK seasons, did he? As regards the others, let’s face it, the British League was the biggest and best in the world in the 70s so why wouldn’t they ride here!

Does Garritty divide fans? Or do they all think he's a tosser?

Mine arrived this morning and interesting, if a little devoid in content, but full marks to all those involved.

EMTV is another doing a good job during this lockdown.

All the busiest riders are those active in the UK. We have the largest leagues and doubling up (unless you are Ellis Perks - then its tripling). By my reckoning thd busiest rider last year without a GB team berth was Bartosz Zmarzlik. There were 19 riders who took more rides than him. All had a PL and/or CL team. Three of the top five were Swindon riders. Rasmus Jensen came out top (followed by Doyle, Fricke, Klindt and Perks). All but two of the top 16 busiest riders were British, Danish or Australian - Covatti (at 12) and Bellego (at 16).

Many Doctors are starting to expose the scam brum. At least no one is dying from stroke, heart attack and cancer anymore. It's a joke...

So did Finn Thomsen, Malcolm Simmons Grachan, like Kennett there glory days had long gone 1979-81 Kennett could of been a massive asset to the Robins.

I'll bet he did. PC, Olsen and Mauger were must-have riders for any big open meeting in the UK or on the continent...and fair play to them too!

What are your thoughts on Peter Collins who made himself unavailable for test matches for England in 85, and turned his back on British speedway for a year in 1981. Do you think he would have returned to British speedway in 82 if the premiere domestic speedway league was overseas? More or less selfish?

My Speedway Promoter game is loaded on an old lap top that I kept with Windows XP on it. Got old Football Manager games loaded on it as well. It has been invaluable during this lock down.

I think that New Zealand is now about finished producing speedway riders. There doesn't seem to be reports of meetings, perhaps the earthquakes they have had in recent times has put paid to stadiums for speedway. Be interesting to hear Jade Mudgway's views on the current situation.

I remember David bargh was half decent, the others mentioned so far haven't really made any of their opposition quake in their boots , it's strange that a country that has produced some legends seems to have run dry of talent. Maybe there are a few hidden gems waiting to Grace these shores one day .

I guess it all depends on the definition of 'under-rated.' Under-rated but still international standard riders, or under-rated clubmen? If I was to stick to under-rated international standard riders who I have seen ride, I would choose Simon Cross (very good career, but could have gone further with fewer injuries); Alan Grahame; Peter Karlsson (top league rider, World Cup Winner and GP competitor, but over shadowed by Tony Rickardsson); Kai Niemi (regularly mixed it with the best at club and world championship level) and Tommy Knudsen (over-shadowed by Olsen, Gundersen and Nielsen, plus injuries). At club level, there have been a whole host of riders over the years, so sticking to five is hard. Nonetheless, in no particular order, I would go for James Grieves; Garry Stead; Kauko Niemenen; Jonathan Forsgren and Leigh Lanham. Hopefully no-one has hijacked the thread earlier (I haven't checked) trumpeting the virtues of Buzz Burrows...

Good to see something positive from the lockdown. Time for self reflection is important.....

And aren’t man enough to have a grown up discussion about getting the tests done and done properly. Hitting 100,000 tests in an incomplete, half-assed, dodgy way, just so they could say “told you so” is pathetic.

Exactly - if he'd said something like "well we've given it a right old go, came up a bit short, but no worries we'll have it cracked in a couple of days" it wouldn't have caused any problem I'm sure ......but sadly they're just programmed to talk official-ese.

ive tried to stay quiet for too long now.

“transparent public explanation”.

ivan allways said like the fans who were watching him he was allowed a day off which he chose to be a sunday, what he did on his day off was up to him so he went to germany tp ride for mega bucks or marks as they were then ,simple .

Think if I remember rightly Fundin had quite a hectic schedule, what with being based in out of the way Norwich in the days of old cars and not so great roads and then fitting in Sweden and world championship rounds abroad. The British riders had it better i'd guess. Especially those based in London

Please note that only fully completed top 10s will be counted. Many thanks for everyone that has voted so far. Just Halifax, Leicester and Reading to do tomorrow then i have completed all British League race bibs from 1965-68 now off to a much deserved rest.

It certainly would be interesting to compare the schedules of the top riders of yesteryear with today's top riders. It's a bit apples and pears of course because the stars of the 70s and 80s would spend the majority of their week in the UK, with perhaps one lucrative Sunday in Germany, as opposed to today's riders racing in 3-4 countries every week taking multiple leagues and GPs into account. I suspect the schedules would be comparable. I would imagine Nicki Pedersen has been the busiest rider of the modern era, balancing commitments in Sweden, Poland, UK, Russia, Denmark and GPs.

Probably down to insurance. Maybe they need the government to cancel it & not cancel it themselves.

...and, of course, it was always said that to become World Champion one had to compete in Britain (despite a couple of exceptions!) regularly riding against the best and even Egon Muller took up the chance (1976) so as to tune himself up for the forthcoming World Final before disappearing...but as I say it's all pretty academic and the 'goal posts' were moved many years ago now with different criteria at play.

Also one needs to remember that some riders were riding 3 -4 times a week in Britain in what was a pretty comprehensive fixture list unlike today.

Missing 1981 was that more because of the Injury he sustained at Cradley Heath??? he never totally recovered from that.And you would have to say he always proudly put on that England race jacket on over the years and riding internationally then usually cost you money to do so.

We've been through this several times... PC isn't the only rider to have done this over the years, and when falcace made a well-thought-out recent post on here about top riders "looking out for themselves", that caused a real stir...

The problem is that while many consider it just "sport", it really is a lot more than than that these days. Sport (all kinds) is one of the biggest industries worldwide, providing a livelihood for millions of people (competitors, team and organization administration, staff in concessions and marketing, journalists, and many others). For those, it is every bit as essential a business as for individuals in manufacturing, retail, and health. It really isn't as simple as it may first appear. This is why many are are predicting that the aftermath of all this will be just as bad - if not worse - than the actual virus.

"If there is an option and the restrictions are lifted" he will ride Is that the COVID restrictions or the Polish restrictions.... One or other (or both) may give him no option IMO

Yes I agree, I have nothing but admiration for what he has achieved and the sacrifices and work he has put in to achieve it. I'm certainly not a hater. It must be frustrating too when you're putting in the hard yards and your team mates aren't, I get that. He's right about fitness, no doubt. Look at Dave Norris. He spent most of his career playing at it then after cutting out the booze and getting himself fit he almost became a world beater till injury ended his career. I wonder what could have been if he'd done it earlier? There's been plenty of Aussies too though that have come here and lived the party life style without attracting Tai's criticism. It's his almost resentment of his heritage that doesn't sit comfortably with me. I understand though that after living surfboard lifestyle in the sun then moving to a caravan in Scunthorpe you might have a tainted view of the UK!

Enjoyed that meeting last night, especially heat 13&15

Yes thanks...I ordered it a few days ago and awaiting delivery.

Have you seen this? https://www.curtis-sport.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2543

You were warned on several occasions !!

Opinions of course. But the thing I don’t get with the under- rated term is they are all riders that weren’t great riders, so aren’t rated as highly. That doesn’t make them under rated, just rated where they belong, imo

Didn’t you see all the cotton buds sticking out of him when he turned to leave the lectern!

No, Dave. The government has cheated. Everyone knows it. They haven’t “done” 100,000 tests and they haven’t tested 100,000 people. Hancock has come under intense pressure over the 100,000-a-day target since making it. At the time, the government was clear that the figure represented the number of people having a test. Click on the section in red to see that the government intended it to be 100,000 people.

Everything "a con" when the result is not what you wanted.

With Ivan's love of Newcastle, every time he came back to this country, he used to plan his time here and then ring Joan English to advise her of his visit. I believe he used to meet a family he knew in the afternoon, and then travel on to us. His visit was never announced and he was often in the office at the beginning of the meeting but the fans didn't know. At some stage he would come out and stand in the office doorway and then the news went around that Ivan was with us. Another reason he used to visit us was to check on the progress of David Bargh and Mark Thorpe. He never forgot the New Zealanders. As soon as he arrived and met people, he was away and gone. Very low key.

I remember talking to him a Wolves in 76 and he said I drive the trucks because this could all be over tomorrow for me and you need food on the table

Not true at all. Just look at Garrity, and he isn't a no.1 anywhere apart from in his own head

Careful, Steve, you’ll be harangued for questioning the government!

The Bill Gates stooge has spoken, let's see how that one ages ...

Might be a more recent fixture against Lakeside, 2nd September 2013, Poole 62 Lakeside 28 although I'm not expecting to see the Rye House match from 2017 anytime soon. You know the one: Poole 30 Rye House 60!