norbold

I think they could be trying to talk Savalas Clouting out of retirement.

Yes, sounds right to me. Anyway, I think we can say that Lionel Wills was the first domiciled Brit to ride proper speedway as we know it.

Yes, because at the time the Golden Helmet was being touted as the World Championship, that's why the article mentioned the World Championship and not the Golden Helmet. You say the Daily Mail article said, "With it mentioning Eric Langton and Haig as outstanding northern riders , and Burton, Jack Parker and Dicky Case having a strong for the south. And as Tom Stenner writes the committee should start arranging eliminating races between these riders." If you think about it, that is exactly how the Match Race Championship was run, i.e., by finding challengers and was not how the Star Riders Championship was run.

Yes, I know, but you were speculating on what the World Championship was they were referring to. I was just trying to explain what it was.

I don't think the Star Riders Championship was ever thought of as the World Championship, but, in 1931, the Golden Helmet Match Race Championship was promoted as the World Championship. Vic Huxley was match race champion in 1931 and that's what the article is about, i.e. finding challengers for the Golden Helmet.

That must be the first time we have ever agreed on anything, mick!

I know Ove quite well. We've met and chatted on numerous occasions. He is a real gentleman. The complete opposite of his on track persona!

Interestingly, Peter Oakes book, "The Complete History of the British League", has this in reverse. He says, "The 1969 World [Pairs] Final is no longer recognised by the FIM even though gold medals were awarded at the time."

I don't know. His autobiography, Speedway Walkabout, was published in the 1970s. He, of course, repeats the claim in that. I don't know if he had any earlier books published, though he did have a regular column in the Speedway News before the War, so he probably first mentioned it there. I'll do some research.....

Yes, it was 1959. He sat nearly all of the season out but came back for just one or two matches with Wimbledon just before the World Final. He was seeded direct to the final as reigning champion.

Do we know when the Hoskins claim was first made? When it first appeared in print?

Interesting that that report is from 1938 and not a mention of Hoskins!

Good stuff, irene. What date was that item?

It was the 1965 final. I have a note in my programme that says, "Meeting started 8.35. Rain started 8.36" and then another note at the end that says "Meeting finished 11:10".

I see I've been airbrushed out of history!

Very interesting, iris, and also very interesting to see Ernie Odlum's name turn up again.

Talking of the early days of Dirt Track racing in Australia. This is from the Townsville Daily Bulletin, dated December 12, 1916. Just over seven years before Johnnie Hoskins "invented" the sport!!! It is obvious from the way the report is written that it wasn't new in Australia even then!

Only enough to win television quizzes.

When we discuss (as we do from time to time) best rider never to win the world championship, I do think that Cordy Milne should probably head this category as he was almost certainly the best rider in the world in 1939 and 1940.

Years Gone By; August 26, 2008; Un-official World Finals; Page 1. Sadly, I do not know the time.

I never went to Norwich. It closed before I managed to get there! I left school in 1965 and the year before I applied to go to Keswick Hall College of Education, near Norwich, for the simple reason that I would be able to go to Norwich speedway, but sadly Norwich closed at the end of 1964, so although I went to Keswick Hall and had three jolly good years in Norwich - A Fine City - I never did get to see speedway there!

I mentioned this in August 2008 on a thread about World Championship competitions and you replied to it!

And, of course, there was Ron Johnson unless he was 'the Flying Scotsman'.

Good question, Bavarian. Lionel Wills, a Cambridge undergraduate and keen motorcyclist, visited Australia in 1926 and witnessed speedway first hand at the Sydney Royal track. He was so enthused by what he saw that he asked Johnnie Hoskins, the promoter at Sydney Royal, if he could have a go himself. After his first outing he wrote home to the motor cycle press in this country describing his own experiences and recounting the hair-raising exploits of the likes of Charlie Datson, Paddy Dean, ‘Cyclone’ Billy Lamont and the American, Sprouts Elder, urging motor cycling clubs to take up the sport. What is not clear however is whether Wills took part in the programmed meeting or whether he just had a practice. Either way though, it seems likely he was the first domiciled Briton to ride speedway. Edit: Just found the article I was looking for. This is the part where Lionel Wills recounts his encounter with speedway racing.

As a good friend of mine, Norman Jacobs once told me that he has had 27 books published but made more money from one TV Quiz show than all his books put together!