Bryn

QUOTE (Robbie B @ Jun 4 2009, 01:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The full list of Laurels winners are (riders in BOLD were Wimbledon riders at the time of winning the title) 1968 Barry Briggs 1969 Trevor Hedge 1970 Ray Wilson 1971 Ole Olsen 1972 Ole Olsen 1973 Ole Olsen 1974 Dave Jessup 1975 Tommy Jansson 1976 Martin Ashby 1977 Colin Richardson 1978 John Davis 1979 Bruce Penhall 1980 Larry Ross 1981 John Davis 1982 Malcolmm Simmons 1983 Hans Nielsen 1984 not held 1985 Neil Middleditch 1986 Nigel Sparshott 1987 Dave Mullett 1988 Steve Schofield 1989 Todd Wiltshire 1990 not held 1991 Hans Nielsen I witnessed some great Laurels meeting in the past. Think I saw just about every one of those Laurels meeting held from 1968 to 1991 and well remember that latter one in particular for, somewhat coincidentally, sorting out some of all the piles of stuff I've got here this morning, l have in front of me a copy of "The Dons Digest Vol 1 No.1" that was produced for that night which opened the 1991 season.

As you are no doubt aware from previous visits, supplies of medicinal Bundy are not easy to come by over here alas BFD so make sure you pack a dozen or so bottles in yer rucksack! I'll arrange for the coke and the bread pudding to be supplied on the IOW

Good to hear that Sonke is determined to 'come out fighting' as it were and face up to what will obviously be very challenging times ahead of him after sustaining such a life-changing injury. I'm certain that everybody within the speedway world hopes that everything goes well for him as far as proves possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now turning to the situation that the GB Under 21 camp found themselves in following the injury sustained by Rob Mear on Thursday night can I firstly add my thanks to PhilK who was another actually at the meeting for his posting / views to add to my thanks already expressed to BobC for his posting. I've had various conversations with other people both yesterday and today (Tuesday) regarding the fact that we were only able to track four riders and that includes a phonecall plus an Email I received from another who was at the meeting who feels that certain points should be made but who doesn't wish their identity to be revealed on a public forum and I fully respect that. Various people have already suggested on this thread that lack of time / financial issues / possible lack of national pride etc etc might have come into play and I personally wouldn't argue with any of those suggestions. We should I think bear in mind that even before Rob Mear's crash last Thursday night Ben Barker and Joe Haines (and forgive me there for I think there are others but it is getting late!) had been ruled out of the proposed squad through injury. Now realistically those responsible for putting together the squad would not have known that Rob Mear would be unable to ride until Friday morning, The person who contacted me earlier assures me that upon learning of the news, the phonecalls to possible eligible replacements began in earnest and continued for something like five hours plus! Apparently roughly 10 turned down the chance to step in at the last minute for various reasons. Two positive responses came to light but in relation to those various circumstances such as as transport and time to get the paperwork ready etc, precluded either Rider from attending. The ACU and the BSPA Offices all shut down at 4pm on Friday, so that the Under21 management were left with the only posibilities being holders of an ACU / FIM acceptable Medical Certificate, and there aren't too many of them at Under 21 level that weren't already in it or injured. With regard to those who had said no, I'm told it was offered to fly a couple of them out there and lend them an engine if they could send a rolling chassis out in advance with one of the other riders who were leaving on Friday night / Saturday morning but again nothing proved 'on' as it were with those to whom such help was offered saying they couldn't do so for whatever reason. I think that both BobC and PhilK have made mention of the sterling efforts the quartet who were able to get to the meeting and this person I spoke to said to me, " As far as Brendan and Simon Lambert are concerned, we should be very proud of them for their efforts and their enthusiasm. As far as Lewis and Tai go, they were brilliant in their efforts and their support of the other two riders." I believe from looking at the FIM website / rulebook that for the U21 WTC the fourth placed side gets 1,800 Swiss Francs. That is around Euros 1,159. which is equal to about £220 a Rider! BobC has already referred to the amount of money Brendan's dad has already spent on fuel getting to meetings alone! But let's take Tai's case and, if my maths are anything like correct, it works out at £14.70 a point as he got 15 from 6 rides and no doubt he could / would have earned more if he'd chosen to ride for Wolverhampton on Monday instead! I'm given to understand (BobC or PhilK will correct me if I'm wrong!) that he and his family travelled direct to Abensberg from Poland undertaking something like a 9 hour overnight trip, to arrive at his hotel at 8.00 am, just in time to get NO SLEEP, have a shower and some breakfast and then went straight to the Track. So perhaps it has been suggested to me that we people should ask ourselves why Tai is so passionate about it regardless of the financial reward as are Lewis, Simon and Brendan who ALL fall into that bracket of Riders who WANT to ride for their Country (as no doubt do the injured Ben Barker, Joe Haines and Rob Mear as well as Jamie Courtney and Matt Bates both of whom were ready to go to Germany but it wasn't possible because of paperwork etc) whilst others who were ultimately offered more help than Tai, Lewis, Brendan and Simon couldn't make themselves available, although accepting that there may well have been valid reasons, rather than criticising the teamGB management for not fielding a five man squad! It certainly seems that they tried their best to do so. PHEW!!! I would stress that what I've posted above is mostly what I was asked to and yes I know it's a bit "deep" so on a slightly lighter note perhaps either BobC or PhilK might like to give us their thoughts on what they feel Health & Safety authorities might make of the team's facilities at the track out there and confirm how good Rob Woffinden's tea brew (did he REALLY use a Bunsen Burner???) tasted?

First and foremost can I add my own best wishes to Sonke Petersen plus his family and friends and this very sad and trying time for them. I certainly remember seeing Sonke in action on his two trips over here. Such a tragic and sad end to his racing career. And can I also in addition to TMW thank BobC for his excellent posting and would confirm that he's spot on regarding the lack of time to get paperwork processed in time to get another rider out there.

EDIT: Thankyou CM -- typed and posted the following before reading your post. Bryn Anyway.... Use your brain please Derek, the meeting this thread refers to is nigh on seven weeks away consequently there is absolutely NO chance of the line up being finalised at this stage irrespective of where it was being held and irrespective of whether or not I was involved. And why you have chosen to post a personal attack on me upon me on the basis of me pointing out that fact, but at the same time pointing out that much work is going on behind the scenes in terms of organising the event is quite beyond me! Surely people in glass houses when it comes to criticising certain people shouldn't throw stones? Do you (and both Blazeaway and WestHam 66 for that matter) expect to be told at this stage the line up for the following meetings that I believe are scheduled for the same night? 1. Sidecars at Somerset? 2. Edinburgh v Somerset (PL)? 3. Scunthorpe v Newport (PL)? 4. GB Under 21 v Australasia Under 21 at Plymouth? Please GET REAL!

Rest assured Blazeaway the line up WILL be publicised as soon as proves possible but that's hardly going to be at this stage nigh on seven weeks before the event is it?

Not yet! It's a tad premature for that but work is going on behind the scenes and, hopefully, it'll be a night to remember.

Oh dear! Must say there was nothing duff about the speedway, the riders, or the place earlier in the year when I was out there - what have you lot been up to WWTBP????

Sure do Rico - see the other thread appertaining to today's meeting headed "Joe Haines" under the Premier League section. Thankfully that particular thread appears to have got back to wishing young Joe well and let's hope for some encouraging news to be forthcoming in that direction in due course.

A few thoughts from myself on two days of action at Rye and the first thing to do is to hope that the injuries sustained by Joe Haines turn out not to be too serious and whatever the scope of them, he's not kept out of action for too long - best wishes Joe. I'll come back to his crash in a while. Pity young Belgian Wim Dennis was forced to withdraw, "suffering from a virus" - his time will come in future no doubt. The main thing is to immediately heartily congratulate Len Silver and the Rye House track crew on getting the track into the sort of shape it was after it being described to me as "an absolute ploughed field" upon their arrival at the stadium at some ungodly early hour this morning - only time I'VE seen 7am on a Sunday morning is when I've been feeling in my pockets for my front door key after a heavy night out! It was lashing down with rain (lashing down not drizzling!) as we emerged from the Dartford Tunnel in Essex and we all agreed it would probably be a wasted trip. Amazingly the rain stopped as we took the A10 exit from the motorway, the track was looking in pretty good shape when we got there although obviously not perfect, we were treated to some excellent racing at times. Trust me the DVD will be worth getting just to watch an amazing heat 8 involving Tai Woffnden, Kozza Smith and Lewis Bridger time and time again (and before you ask Ken has NOT offered to buy me a pint to say that!) with every rider giving their all as they strived for points including the incredulous sight of Tai Woffinden completing the last lap and a half on a flat back tyre in the hope of gaining the point that would have put him in a run off for top spot! Back to Joe Haines's crash, nasty as it was, it was just a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time unfortunately. The young 16 year old German, who most certainly is NOT 'a wobbler' as I've seen him described, was perhaps trying just that little too hard having made an excellent gate, pulled an almighty locker on the apex of the 3rd / 4th bend, did a 360 and Joe, who was commited to the outside line was collected by Kai Huckenbeck's bike - if he'd have been trying to cut back inside he wouldn't have been involved. Very bad luck indeed. The criticism of Kozza Smith is TOTALLY unfair (especially from people NOT at the meeting) - his fall in heat 15 came about as a result of him giving his all trying to pass Artur Mroczka for second place and the two points that went with it. Bearing in mind his win in heat 18, and with the benefit of hindsight (wouldn't it be wonderful if we had it eh?), third place in that heat 15 WOULD have been enough to see him qualify! In the run off, he made a bad gate and simply had to go for it! Just my views - ooh one last thing (And this is NO reflection whatsoever I must stress on today's doctor who obviously was top class especially when seeing to Joe and all the other fallers) but WHY do the FIM insist on a doctor being present at these meetings rather than a fully qualified paramedic? Said doctor COULD be a Gynaecologist for example couldn't he / she?

Well those who didn't go obviously guessed it'd be that rubbishy stand-in announcer prattling on as Craig couldn't make it! Thankfully he's back today!

Always difficult to draw any firm conclusions from mere practice sessions but young Huckenbeck looked to be on the pace whereas Mr. Kennis will have to be a lot more on the pace tomorrow otherwise I fear he might get lapped.

Well from what I've seen of Darcy Ward so far for starters, he look quite useful! Lewis Bridger, Tai Woffinden, Rob Mear, and Joe Haines aren't bad either!

Now I don't KNOW why AndyM so this is pure speculation on my part, nothing more, nothing less - perhaps, just perhaps the seeming problem on the second bend was something to do with the lengthy afternoon practice? Certainly there hasn't been a problem there in any previous meeting so far this year. As for shale, certainly there was plenty on the track at 11.15am tod... yesterday as it is now when we arrived at the stadium. One presumes that Gerald Richter, the trackman, felt he could not just dump a load of fresh shale on the circuit after the afternoon practice finally came to it's conclusion as he wouldn't have time between then and the start of the meeting to ensure that it was evenly distributed around the circuit, packed in and watered properly? As I said I don't know and am merely hypothesising there as I was manning the phones etc but there have been plenty of other threads on this forum of late where it seems that there has been vociferous pleas for extra shale to be laid on circuits and riders have then had trouble negotiating same? That's enough from me now - sleep beckons!

With respect AndyM, what exactly do you mean by under-prepared because I wouldn't have a clue! I'm told that it became quite dusty during the course of what was a very lengthy, late-starting practice. I can only go on what I'm told concerning that as I did not see any of the practice session personally as I was manning the phone in the speedway office answering a multitude of phonecalls and attending to other matters that need doing prior to any meeting and the phonecalls I refer to included at least four 'is it on' calls; five calls asking for directions to the circuit from various locations including one from someone in Edgware to which I admit even I didn't have a clue if the truth be known but when I finally got the caller to admit they knew where the M25 was able to direct from them. Then, and only then after a rather lengthy and somewhat painful conversation, said person asked for the track's postcode so they could put it in their SatNav thingie! As I said my posting above was just a statement of facts - nothing more, nothing less. Although I can't see much out of the Speedway Office window, once the sound of bikes finally ceased (leading me to believe that practice was finally over) I di notice the waterbowser making several trips backwards and forwards outside.

I'm not going to say anything about the track as I've not the foggiest idea as to what is necessary to be done when it comes to preparing a track for any speedway meeting - that sort of thing isn't, and never has been my forte unlike others. What I would inform people here on this thread is some facts and firstly there was a British Speedway press conference scheduled to start at 1pm in the Raceway Tavern at the stadium at which TeamGB team manager Rob Lyon revealed his 12 strong squad to the press and Sky as he looks forward to this year's assault on the World Team Cup. Unfortunately though, due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, and certainly nothing whatsoever to do with the Lakeside Hammers management, that press conference was very late starting. Consequently that had a 'knock on' effect in that it meant that the official, and quite lengthy scheduled afternoon practice session that was part of the itinery for the day and to which all riders competing in the evening's British Under 21 Championship Final were fully entitled to participate in, was considerably later starting than had originally been scheduled and, as a result I'm told the track dried up much more than it would have done if everything had been able to run to schedule and, of course, there was much less time available to re-prepare the circuit in between the end of that practice session and the start of the meeting. They are facts - nothing more, nothing less.

Sadly I can't be there tonight either - oh for the ability to be in three places at once! Hope all goes well for my mate "Victor" as I'm sure everyone does. Had some great times with him out in Oz on the "Young Lions" tour and will cherish memories from there - like him in the Blue Room with the 'Prince of Port Adelaide' AND witnessing him cuddling a Koala - he WAS sober at the time, honestly he was!

Dear me Marcus - you do come up with some feeble excuses for not attending meetings at times! Thankfully my Bundy stocks are quite high at the moment!

Can well recommend a visit to the above site as we could see Jules flashing away on the centre green all night as was our resident snapper at the Wave 105Fm stadium, David Valentine. His snaps being available in the photo shop next week. A highly enjoyable evening as I've said before!

Just back from IOW: Re Gary Cottham: Out of the meeting on those medical grounds after high speed first heat tangle with Jerran Hart entering 3rd bend, first lap - 'damage to wrist & forearm' was the info passed to myself to announce. Chatting to the Baseby crew on the midnight ferry back it would appear that hopefully nothing broken but certainly bad burn up said arm. I don't s'pose his bike was feeling too good either! Jerran Hart also sustained burns to his arm in the same crash. Like Gary was able to 'walk away' after treatment Bike trouble in re-run and in his second ride - he failed to finish each time - and five points from his last three rides was never going to be enough to see him through to semi. Well done to Mark Baseby, Kyle Newman, and the two Wightlink Islanders Brendan Johnson and Ben Hopwood to clinching the last four qualifying spots for the final on April 24. See you there Bob C. Thanks to all youngsters taking part for some high speed action including plenty of passing!

There's a simple solution surely and that is better family planning by fathers who have any hopes for a son of theirs to become British Under 15 speedway champions of the future! Whatever 'cut off' date you have, someone will be unhappy!

Who needs Chas 'n Dave when we've got Jaybea & Peasepud?

Absolutely gutted for you and my thoughts are with you. After all that hard work you've put into the scheme (not to mention money!) to have your hopes and dreams so cruelly shattered in this way is beyond comprehension. Bryn

Just to clarify things a little on this thread, the meeting at King's Lynn is the second in what is planned to be a five match series between Great Britain and Australasia at Under 21 level meaning that riders from New Zealand will also be eligible to ride. Complete list of proposed dates: 1st Test 10th July @ Weymouth 2nd Test 11th July @ King's Lynn 3rd Test 14th July @ The Isle of Wight 4th Test 17th July @ Plymouth 5th Test 19th July @ Buxton

Many a fine photo from yesteryear to be seen at: http://justsolos.homestead.com/index.html Bryn