nw42

You quote your own posts, how pretentious. Well done you.

Not at all, points make prizes, Woffinden should have been in that last heat. *edit* I stand corrected, just assumed Tatum was right, silly me for expecting an 'expert\ to know the rules. Agree with your earlier comment about it being a decent meeting, no complaints here, wish we could have pushed closer but the Danes are just too strong on the night, or any other night as it happens.

Thanks as ever MP, feel like a kid a Christmas for this one, got me 'programme' ready, was filled with cautious optimism at this time on Monday, that team effort and performance is making it hard to manage my expectations for tonight, although I should have learned my lesson by now. Come on Team GB, ride like we dream.

Correct, you did not specify a time but you did suggest that the error was in winning to many races, which ones did you have in mind? After heat 6 we didn't win another until heat 10 (Harris) by which time the Aussies had played their joker. That ht 10 win put us one point in front of Australia. King won ht12, which maintained our 1point lead. The next GB race winner was in ht17 (Harris) which was for double points. Following that heat we needed to win all the remaining ones to have any chance of taking first place. So you seriously suggest that GB would have been better off giving up places early in the meeting, that's just plain ridiculous, it must have been hard enough to win those 5 races on the trot without having to try and engineer a 2nd place, or maybe you would have preferred just 1 point from certain heats.

What possible justification could you have for moving it? You mentioned the crowd, well it was a decent crowd, would Wimbourne Rd or the EoES have pulled bigger numbers tonight - can't see it. The weather has been a threat and will certainly have adversely affected the turnout, same would have been true of any track. Do you just make it up as you go along with your wild claims, you've seen better racing than that this season, yeh right, course you have.

That's exactly right, the sense of expectation when he's in the right mood & form is so reminiscent of Peter in his heyday, very fast and very fair. Really enjoyed that meeting and feel proud of the way the British lads took the fight to the Aussies, especially after being written off by many (including a few on here) as no-hopers before a wheel was turned. Well done Great Britain, keep it going.

Couldn't agree more, definitely enhances the evening being able to fill in a 'programme', especially one that is designed with such forethought, cheers as ever Paul. Here's to a good meeting for the British lads.

Not in Norfolk mate, in fact I'm only about 20miles from you. I use this for local weather and they are never far out at all, http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2641181 Suggests some rain mid/late afternoon but a dry evening, I suppose it just depends how heavy the fall is but like you say every effort will be made to get it on. In your shoes if I had to make a decision today I would go for it based on what you have. Incidentally, the forecast for the Norfolk area for today is fairly dry after 5/6pm, so the track should be ok. Hope this helps a little but I'm sure someone in the area will reply too.

Thanks again for the Racecard Paul, appreciated as always. Hoping for a decent meeting after the last one, in fact the season so far has been more entertaining than the last one. cheers

Thanks once again for the scorecard Manchester Paul, much appreciated. It just seems as though us blues are just taking and taking from you reds theses days, makes a nice change, long may it continue.

Thanks for that, much appreciated as I missed the coverage.

sent

pm sent, heat 2 just finished, not literally of course.

oh right, my brother just phoned to say it was programmed for this afternoon, he has sky so was planning to watch it, I'd best ring him back. I thought they usually show a repeat on sky, although it's 7yrs since I had it. thanks anyway Edit, just check sky schedules and it's on SS2 @ 14.00, I have found a stream of the channel, showing Sheff Weds v Preston atm, hopefully it will keep streaming. thanks anyway.

If anyone has a link for the repeat showing, this afternoon I believe, I'd appreciate a pm, thanks in advance.

Well it's all about opinions and mine is that he wasn't a rider who left the white very often, fair enough though as it's always been the shortest way to the flag, as shown in the clip you offered he could make passes. When I said he did his best work at the gate it was more a reference to his annoying behaviour at the startline. I've seen a better clip than that from a Wembley final, where he cut his way through the field and won. I wouldn't dream of suggesting he isn't one of the greats but to me and my old man he was just a "dirty bugger", maybe that's down to the poor gating you mentioned, in that clip he just barged under Mauger, wouldn't call it a brilliant move, just a typical Olsen pass, just my opinion, he was coming through whether Mauger had pulled towards the line or not, he was lucky not to bring Mauger down. I'm not intentionally blinkered, I just try to call it as I remember it, same as you chaps I suppose, none of us have photographic memories. As for the 71 BLRC, well I saw them all from 68 through to the 80's, funnily enough the one that sticks in my mind the most was the one John Louis won, 79(?), seemed like it rained all night and he revelled in it and showed Penhall the way home. Back on topic, rivalries, Sean Wilson, he was a fiery character, always seemed to be in the thick of things, did he have a main rival?

I always found Olsen boring to watch, white line merchant mostly, I know there are a couple of youtube clips of him making passes, before someone posts one to prove me wrong, but it wasn't what he was known for. Nielsen did seem to have a bit more about him in terms of versatility but I can't say he was ever high on my list of riders I would travel to see. Nielsen looked awkward on a bike to me, Olsen did his best work at the gate. Lets face it neither of them were blessed with much natural talent, not like Kenny Carter or Joe Screen Gundersen was exciting to watch, looked a natural and seemed tailor made for a speedway bike, more Americanised somehow. As for the rivalries, Olsen let himself down in the way he treated Nielsen, whatever went on should have been put aside for the good of Danish speedway but he had to assert his control, was always the same, ran the GP's with what seemed like the same attitude. Nielsen & Gundersen seemed to behave themselves and let their riding do the talking, it must have been really hard for Hans being out in the cold, it wasn't as though he could transfer his allegiance to another country, surely they would never allow that, never.

Thought about this one myself the other day but, to this outsider, it just seemed to be something fuelled by Carters burning desire to rule the roost and his childish rants when things didn't go to plan, Peter Collins had so much more ability, it was only a contest because Peter was past his best and injuries had taken their toll by the time Carter began to emerge. Can't remember specifics but was there not a problem between Neil Collins & Carter, maybe some racing incident started it. I would imagine the only reason Peter was involved would have been due to family ties, I can't ever remember any bad press about PC in terms of disputes with other riders, he wasn't that sort of rider, he just let his riding do the talking. Another aspect may have been the 'Roses' rivalry, those meetings @ The Shay & Hyde Rd served up some decent tense battles. Carter was often described as reckless/dangerous in his pursuit of victory, a bit similar to the accusations levelled at Nicki Pedersen at times during his career. Maybe it's just my rose tinted view, would be happy to learn what any else thinks/knows.

I'd agree with you about Carter, great equipment and a burning desire to win made him a regular contender, I'm sure he would have got a World crown if he'd continued but he wasn't what I'd call a natural speedway rider. As for Mark Loram, I could have watched him all day long, a true racer in the mould of Peter Collins, just get on the bike and race, no airs & graces. In my time watching I would place Carter behind both Collins & Loram, also Michael Lee pips Carter for me.

That first one, enthralling race, one of those that makes you lean over in the chair as they round the final bends, or is it just me? Thanks for the link, I'm going to have a look at some more on your channel, thanks for taking the time to load them up, 73 World Team Cup will do if there are any more, great Swedish team I recall, including one of my own favourites Soren Sjosten, were there any Swedes back then who couldn't be described a stylish, now there's a question. Olle Nygren perhaps..

Remember it well, very wet track, you're right about Cook making the meeting, he wore an old baggy pair of overalls over his leathers, assuming he hadn't just forgotten his leathers and booorowed the overalls from track staff. He was just about the only one that seemed to fancy racing other than the Grahame brothers. I had that meeting on video tape for years, was it not on Channel 4? World Games, have often wondered who it was that got speedway in the frame, anyone know how it came about?

snitches get stitches

Had a go at the heat betting once but it interfered with my enjoyment by having to keep up with it all in so much detail. Since using Pauls scorecard I can see the patterns easier, may have anothe go next season. As for tonight, I only have 2 bets, Harris @ 33/1 e/w & Ward @ 12/1 e/w, here's hoping. edit, looks like the rain will put paid to that!

thanks as ever Paul, really appreciate the effort, there's no real substitute for not being there with speedway but quite high on the list of things I miss when watching online is having a programme to fill in, so having your racecard goes a long way towards recreating the 'live experience' for me, thank you. Ps, I do miss the programme notes, stats, captains comments, fixture list and cheesy ads for local companies, always good for a Sunday morning read, any chance?

The Collins/Michanek classic is the one for me too, absolutely fantastic race, can remember the noise from the crowd increasing with each lap, complete pandemonium by the time they came to the line, as you say Chad it was very close but PC had the momentum having lined him up when exiting the pits bend. It's clear from your posts that you were watching speedway a good few years before me, did any other riders use those sort of lines before PC, the opther PC perhaps? I had seen Mauger, Sjosten, Pusey et al for a few years by the time Peter Collins started out but I had never seen riders use the lines that he developed, the way he used to often go right to the apex of the pits bend to create such a long straight run to the line. Would be interested to know if it was PC that pioneered that or not, I've read and heard enough about Peter Craven to know that he was really really special, the title 'Wizard of Balance' says it all. I have read how he was considered ahead of his time in terms of riding style, the pictures I have seen of him riding have always reminded me of Soren Sjosten in style, both diminutive, arms always at full stretch, I imagine a steel shoe would have lasted a long time for either of them.