Split

Maybe I'm wrong but I think Jack Kitchen moved from NATIONAL League Belle Vue to PROVINCIAL League Sheffield

Ivan Mauger didn't do too badly after his time at Provincial League Newcastle

I've been travelling the world so I've missed out on this lively discussion. Coming back to the original question and turning it around slightly, there can be little doubt that neither Jerzy Szczakiel nor Egon Müller would have been world champion if there had been a GP Series around. Going back further there may be others who only produced a special performance on the night or had a liking for a particular track.

As a New Cross supporter I hope nobody comes. Just joking! I hope that the event is a great success

It looks like we could get a team from both England and Sweden from that list. I know it's never going to happen but I would love to see an over 80's test match featuring those riders.

Ron How was the licensee of a 300 year old pub called The Crown in Little Missenden. Gote Nordin had a newsagents in Sweden. Ronnie Moore's father ran a Wall of Death travelling show and I believe he rode there in the British off-season.

Back in the late 50's/Early 60's Austria's Motor Race Club (Motor-Rennclub Österreich) staged some meetings where the local riders were joined by guests from other countries such as Ove Fundin and Josef Hofmeister and pitched against some of the best in the world. Some interesting results can be found here: http://www.internationalspeedway.co.uk/extra6.htm Hofmeister's scores are particularly impressive considering the opposition. He is often overlooked when the greatest riders of that period are discussed but there is no doubt that he was truly world class.

I recall seeing Nero and the Gladiators make a guest appearance at New Cross back in the early 60's. I don't think they performed but I remember them making a circuit of the track on the tractor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_and_the_Gladiators

Going from memory here (dangerous), but I think that Briggo’s second place in the Sports Personality of the Year competition was a result of a campaign in the Speedway Star. I believe it was an effort to promote the sport on national television. I recall reading an article in the Daily Mirror written by a sportswriter named Sam Leitch attempting to expose the vote as a farce maintaining that most of the general public had never heard of this bloke named Barry Bloggs (sic). @Mad Moose. as a South East London boy I also supported the 'amlet as well as New Cross in my younger days.

I must admit that I hadn't heard of Imo Tai and my first reaction was to welcome an Asian to the elite riders of world speedway. A little internet research however revealed that this is a New Zealand name so the young man is simply following in the footsteps of Moore, Briggs and Mauger. Seriously though it would be good to see another British rider in the list although Parker, Lee, and others might have a claim.

No place for Peter Moore? Swedes Rune Sormander and Olle Nygren might also have been considered.

Germany's best ever? Yes, he probably was but no World Championship title to show for it

I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of another old-timer. The number of veterans who were riding when I started watching speedway in 1960 is dwindling.

In 1961 in a league match between New Cross and Norwich, I was privileged to see the aging Split Waterman beat the current World Champion, Ove Fundin twice. Not only did Waterman beat him twice in the match on his way to a paid maximum, but he also beat him in the second half. I’ll never forget that night.

This made interesting reading for the forum's self-appointed South African correspondent - me! Buddy Fuller died a few years ago and I seem to remember reading about this tour in his obituary which appeared in one of the South African Sunday papers. There must have been a good reason why Henry Long was not included in that team. Along with Doug Davies he is one of the few truly world class riders that this country has produced

Chum Taylor began his career at Claremont Speedway in 1948.

For what it's worth: It originates from an old legend. A couple of centuries ago, on a moonlit night, two men from the village of Bishops Canning in Wiltshire were busy carrying home smuggled brandy or moonshine in the back of a hay cart. As they passed the village pond, they heard the sound of an approaching excise man. Thinking quickly, they dumped the barrels into the pond, and began raking the surface of the water with their hay-rakes. “What in the world are you two up to?” asked the excise man. “We are raking for cheese”, replied one of the men. “Can’t you see one?” added the other, pointing to the reflection of the moon. The excise man burst out laughing, and hurried off back to tell his colleagues that he had seen two drunken country bumpkins who thought that the reflection of the moon was a cheese. After he had gone, the two men used their rakes to retrieve the brandy and continued on their way. Since then, Wiltshire people have been known as ‘Moonrakers’.

It's generally accepted that the greatest team rider of all time (and I admit this as a New Cross supporter) was Ronnie Moore. So despite their multiple world title wins, I think that either Briggs or Mauger would have to make way.

I also saw Johnny Fitzpatrick ride in the 1961 New Cross team and I'm sorry to see another of the old guard leave us.

I think it's safe to say that Egon Müller and Jerzy Szczakiel would never have been world champions.

I was at the Custom House stadium when that fatal accident happened. I also witnessed the crash where Australian, Dave Wills lost his life on the same track. Watching Speedway racing has given me much pleasure over the years but those are two of the saddest moments,

@ Sidney. You shouldn't forget twice World Champion, Ronnie Moore who was the other member of the "Big Five" in those days. It might have been a Big Six if Plechanov had ridden for a British team.It was well known that nerves got the better of Knutson on the big occasion. I've always suspected that Björn was starting to get disenchanted with the sport when he won his world title. Maybe that's why he wasn't so nervous. He certainly could and almost certainly would have gone on to win more titles if he hadn't retired prematurely.

It's a case of dotting the o's and crossing the t's Try alt148 - I don't speak Swedish but I do speak German and need to know how to type the umlauts.

If we really want to be pedantic it was actually Björn and not Bjorn.