norbold

It was on a Monday night. Whether it was televised or not I don't know.

Absolutely waihe (if I may call you that). I personally saw Dave Wills, Teo Teodorowicz and Vic Harding killed on the track. And, only a couple of weeks after I started going to speedway, Tink Maynard was killed. There were many more fatalities in the 60s and 70s than now. It was Ove Fundin at the 1965 Internationale who did for Ivor Brown. He suffered serious spine injuries. Though he did come back eventually, he was never the same rider again.

Who's to say? I think it depends very much on him and whether he's learnt any lessons from his ban. If he has, there is no doubt he is capable of winning the World Championship. But even then, there is still an element of luck involved and who he comes up against. Tai could hold him off and if Emil comes back. Someone relatively unknown at the moment might come through by five years time. Who knows?

I think the general concensus is that the incident was really Fundin's own fault. He led from the gate but Briggs forced his way past on the second lap. Fundin tried to repass on the outside but lost control and hit the fence. Briggo was involved in another similar incident in a run-off for second and third places in the 1955 final when he collided with Eric Williams and both riders went sprawling. Briggs was able to get back on his bike and ride home for overall third place, Ronnie Moore having won the run-off. Williams had to push home, but he did so as he, like the crowd, who cheered him home, were convinced that Briggo would be excluded for causing the accident. However, the referee saw it differently and the result was allowed to stand, giving Briggo third place overall to much booing. I think you'll find there were far more fatalties and career ending injuries back in the 50s-70s than there are these days.

In my book mentioned above, I also asked Ove for his view on Briiggo. This is what he said, "I had a bigger rivalry with Barry than Ronnie. I was more worried about being in front of Barry than Ronnie, because you could never be sure what Barry would do. Ronnie was more of a gentleman on the track.....Although we were rivals on the track I was very friendly off the track with both of them, and although Barry was probably my biggest rival, his wife would stay with my wife during the winter season."

Park Drive cigarettes are still available. Actually I always thought they were cheap cigarettes.

Fundin was certainly the best of the two. As for Briggo not being crude....When I wrote my book, "Two Wimbledon Legends", I asked two of Briggo's team mates what they thought about him. Here's what they said: Alf Hagon: "Barry had to go flat out, it was the only way he could ride. He wasn't exactly out of control, but he wasn't always in control either. If he came up on the inside of you and got some grip he was liable to bash into you." Bob Andrews: "I had a season riding with Barry - oh my God! I would gate, then leave a foot of room in case he wanted to come through. Usually, by the next bend, he would not just come through, but he would 'hang' me on the fence. Briggo was a selfish rider." And that was his team mates! Incidentally I think history has been made tonight. Tsunami "liked" one of my posts.........

Nicki is a pussy cat compared to riders like Fundin and Briggs. That's how they won nine World Championships between them by taking no prisoners. And when they met.....!!!

I think Senior Service is still generally available at most supermarkets and elsewhere. Woodbines were discontinued in 1988.

Nope.

Thanks, Dave. Incidentally, Astorias got it right then?

Thank you for clarifying, GC, but why was Ken McKinlay awarded the trophy for coming second? Presumably because Brian Crutcher got the Thomsen/Thomson/Thompson Trophy? Still seems a bit odd though. P.S. Who was Thom(p)se/n anyway?

The Astorias 1958 Annual has that meeting recorded as the J. Thomson Trophy.

And his name could be Mark Loram.

I know it's completely meaningless as the chances of it happening are about equal to me winning the lottery several times running but..... We have spoken about Mark Loram winning the World Championship without winning a Grand Prix, but it also occurred to me last night watching the Grand Prix, that a rider could win the World title without ever even winning a race. Second place in every race throughout the season would certainly be enough to win. 14 points every Grand Prix.... Oh well, I told you it was meaningless.

I think Geoff Mardon retired from British speedway at the end of the 1959 season, though he carried on in New Zealand for several more years.

Very sad news. But I believe Geoff Mardon was riding for Wimbledon when he came 3rd in the Final in 1953. He had qualified as second reserve two years earlier when riding for 3rd Division Aldershot. Still a record as the only rider from the 3rd tier to make it to a final but he did not come 3rd as a 3rd division rider.

I've got the final and New Cross round as I was at both of those! I'll scan them in for you.

Robbie, I can send you a scan of the 1961 final report and all of the qualifying round reports from that year, including the one from Oxford on 22 June which you've missed out from your list

Your hero? He could probably still do better than most!

Qualifying Round at Reading (June 16): Dennis Sigalos 13 (10), Dave Jessup 12 (9), John Davis 12 (8), Bobby Schwartz 12 (7), Gordon Kennett 11 (6), Chris Morton 11 (5), Larry Ross 7 (4), Scott Autrey 7 (3), Zenon Plech 6 (1.5), Martin Ashby 6 (1.5), Tony Briggs 6, Malcolm Simmons 5, Bernie Leigh 4, John Louis 4, Roman Jankowski 3, Ashley Pullen 1. The number in brackets is the bonus points scored to carry forward to the final. Eastbourne (June 27): Dave Jessup 15 (10), Bruce Penhall 13 (9), Phil Crump 11 (8), John Davis 11 (7), Kelly Moran 10 (6), Peter Collins 9 (5), Kai Niemi 7 (4), Scott Autrey 7 (3), Malcolm Simmons 7 (2), Kenny Carter 6 (1), Chris Morton 6, John Titman 5, Bobby Schwartz 4, Steve Bastable 3, Gordon Kennett 3, Edward Jancarz 2. (Res: Reidar Eide 1, Sigvart Pedersen 0). Birmingham (July 7): Bruce Penhall 15 (10), Steve Bastable 11 (9), Kelly Moran 11 (8), Dennis Sigalos 11 (7), Scott Autrey 11 (6), Alan Grahame 9 (5), Gordon Kennett 9 (4), Kenny Carter 9 (3), Andy Grahame 9 (2), Mike Lee 6 (1), Bo Petersen 6, Doug Wyer 4, Finn Jensen 3, Ari Koponen 3, Kai Niemi 2, Larry Ross 0.(res: Mark Warren 1). Sheffield (July 24): Chris Morton 15 (10), Kenny Carter 13 (9), Bruce Penhall 12 (8), Dennis Sigalos 12 (7), Mike Lee 10 (6), Dave Jessup 10 (5), John Davis 9 (4), Phil White 7 (3), Reg Wilson 6 (2), Steve Bastable 6 (1), Eric Broadbelt 5, Bobby Schwartz 4, John Titman 4, Kelly Moran 4, Bo Petersen 2, Phil Crump 1 (Res: Paul Stead 0, Nicky Allott 0). Final at Wimbledon (August 14): Mike Lee 14 (50), Dennis Sigalos 13 (45), Dave Jessup 12 (40), Bobby Schwartz 11 (35), Alan Grahame 9 (30), John Davis 9 (25), Kenny Carter 8 (20), Scott Autrey 8 (15), Chris Morton 6 (10), Malcolm Simmons 5 (2.5), Phil White 5 (2.5), Kai Niemi 5, Steve Bastable 1, Phil Crump 1, Andy Graham 1, Larry Ross 0. (Res: Zenon Plech 6, Colin Richardson 4). Final Overall scores: Dennis Sigalos 69, Dave Jessup 64, Mike Lee 57, John Davis 44, Bobby Schwartz 42, Alan Grahame 35, Kenny Carter 33, Scott Autrey 27, Bruce Penhall 27, Chris Morton 25, Kelly Moran 14, Steve Bastable 10, Gordon Kennett 10, Phil Crump 8, Phil White 5.5, Peter Collins 5, Malcolm Simmons 4.5, Kai Niemi 4, Larry Ross 4, Andy Graham 2, Reg Wilson 2, Zenon Plech 1.5, Martin Ashby 1.5.

Do you mean complete heat by heat results or final scores for each rider in each meeting? I have the latter if that's any good.

I take your point, though I'm not sure it "guarantees" the "best" 15 riders in the world. One of the problems is the riders who come, say 9-13 in the Grand Prix a couple of years running. You have riders like Freddie Lindgren and possibly next year Andreas Jonsson for example who don't get picked because they've "had their chance" and yes, it's almost certainly true they are never going to win, nor maybe even get into the top 8, but, actually they are probably in the top 15 in the world.

In the 50s/60s, the reigning World Champion was seeded direct to the final. In 1959, Barry Briggs, as champion, was seeded to the final without having ridden all season as he had been in dispute with Wimbledon and had remained in New Zealand. He still managed to come third.

I bnelie I believe the FIM are waiting for the green light to give their verdict.