Brummie Boy

The way the 2006 championship is shaping up it looks very likely that there may only be one Brit in the 2007 GPs. The current top five look to be definitely through: Jason Crump Greg Hancock Leigh Adams Nicki Pedersen Andreas Jonsson Add the three qualifiers: Weislaw Jagus Rune Holta Hans Andersen With one wildcard per meeting that leaves 7 places to fill. With positions 6th to 11th in the current standings being very close between: Jaroslaw Hampel Matej Zagar Tomasz Gollob Bjarne Pedersen Scott Nicholls Antonio Lindback I would suggest that virtually all these are guaranteed a place next year, even if they fail to finish in the top eight. This leaves one pick for next year and I cannot see either Lee Richardson, Simon Stead, Mark Loram or Chris Harris getting the remaining spot over Niels Kristian-Iversen. This would mean that in next year's GP we would have : 4 Danes 3 Poles 2 Aussies 2 Swedes 1 Norwegian 1 American 1 Slovenian 1 Brit With Iversen probably getting that last pick it makes the Danes, with four riders, look a little over represented. However, given Iversen's connections with Reading I would be astounded if he got overlooked. When was the last time GB only had one rider in the World Championships?

My top seven of all time would be : 1. Hans Nielsen 2. Bruce Penhall 3. Ivan Mauger 4. Ove Fundin 5. Tony Rickardsson 6. Peter Craven 7. Graham Warren As for those I have actually seen at their best: 1. Hans Nielsen 2. Bruce Penhall 3. Ivan Mauger 4. Tony Richardsson 5. Barry Briggs 6. Greg Hancock 7. Tomasz Gollob

Try again.......... 1st Adams 2nd Richardson (not a spelling mistake) 3rd Gollob 4th Jensen

1st Adams 2nd Richardson (not a spelling mistake) 3rd

Przemyslaw, Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, my Hungarian is not so good these days but I presumed the details were for the Hungarian Championship. Its a shame that Josef only won it in 1992 and it seems 1993 was his last appearance. Do you know what happened to him after this? I would imagine he's no longer riding as he would probably be around 40 years old by. The night I saw him at the 84 U-21 final he appeared to be a rider with immense potential and I am sure if he had had the opportunity to ride in the British League he would have gone on to become a top rider. He certainly did not lack courage and was prepared to a risk. Koszonom, Stuart

Stansolo, Apologies for the last reply, I've got through at last so it must have been my stupid fault......!!!!!! Great website by the way. Bring back the Brummies.........

Sorry Stansolo I've tried this link two or three times over the last few days and I can't get it to work.

Frigbo, Thanks for the info and you certainly do know your stuff. You're also spot on about the tragic side of that meeting. The crash was horrific, probably the worst I've ever seen. There were three riders involved in a first bend smash and it just seemed to be a complete mangle of men and machinery that ended up in a pile in the middle of the track. After the accident the hush that went around the stadium was eerie, it was as if everyone knew this was more than just the usual first bend pile up. It took ages to get Leif into the ambulance and I seem to recall that at the end of the meeting they announced that he had died on the way to the hospital. I am afraid the racing in that Final was hair-raising and a serious accident was on the cards from the start. It was just a crying shame that it cost Wahlman his life as no prize is ever worth a rider's life.

Can anyone shed some light on whatever became of Josef Petrikovics? One of the most exciting speedway meetings I ever saw was the 1984 European Under 21 Championship Final at King's Lynn; apart from the Penhall World Final at Wembley that is. The '84 Under 21 Final was won by Marvyn Cox, but the rider that really impressed me that night was Petrikovics and I thought at the time he was a real star in the making. His riding style was very exciting, very fast and he wasn't afraid to take risks. He scored 10pts on the night and finished equal 5th. Unfortunately, I drifted away from Speedway after the Brummies got kicked out of Perry Barr as I never really took to them returning to the National League or the new track at Bordesley Green. As I missed anything that happened in the speedway world between 1986 and 2000, due to working abroad, Josef Petrikovics may have been and gone before I became interested again. Perhaps someone can tell me whether Petrikovics ever went on to make an impression outside his own country. I seem to recall that he was Polish, although I cannot be certain about this as I no longer have the meeting programme. Then again may be he failed to make any progress and the 1984 Final was simply a flash in the pan. I would appreciate any info with respects to this guy as I've often wondered how he got on.

Birmingham Fantasy Team 1. Hans Nielsen 2. Wilbur Lamoreaux 3. Alan Hunt 4. Dan Forsberg 5. Graham Warren 6. Kelly Moran 7. Billy Sanders As backup reserves 8. Ray Wilson 9. Phil Herne 10. Simon Wigg