Split

Indoor speedway meetings are rare but I attended one here in South Africa back in 1983

Wasn't Hans Wassermann nicknamed 'Split' by English fans when he rode for Reading, his surname being a translation of Waterman?

Like David Livingstone.

Göte's name always seems to come up when "the best riders never to win the world title" is discussed.

His equipment always was immaculate and nothing has changed.

KNEES?

Same for me but Rune Sörmander retired after Brian Crutcher which explains it.

I think that Björn Knutson also tried his hand at car racing when he retired from Speedway.

There was probably some action in Australasia or Southern Africa.

I recall that Ronnie Moore simply rode in a red helmet at Wimbledon and riding at number one seldom needed to use a helmet cover at home meetings.

In German the word Flasche meaning bottle is also slang for an idiot.

Here are details of Ron Johnston's World Final appearances. Impressive! 1955 - London, Wembley Stadium - 12th - 6pts 1957 - London, Wembley Stadium - 6th - 9pts 1958 - London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 8pts 1960 - London, Wembley Stadium - 5th - 10pts

Okay, very very unlikely but statistically possible. If the first 19 races resulted in all four riders crossing the line together, they would all have scored the same number of points (1.5?). So whoever wins the last race outright wins the meeting.

Indeed!

He was a member of the Belle Vue team that won the League Championship six times in seven years in the 1930s. After retiring from the sport he returned to Belle Vue in May 1946 scoring a full maximum in his first match back and averaging 10.93 in his comeback season. Remarkable!

WOW - Fundin and Nygren against Plechanov and Kurilenko. Four world class riders who seldom rode against each other. It must have been a privilege to watch the action.

I was at that meeting as well. I happened to be in the car park when Knutson was off loading his bike and Colin Pratt walked by. Björn greeted him with, "hello Mr. Maximum" so I think he knew what to expect.

With two riders averaging close to 20 points between them and generally finishing up well ahead of their teammates on the score sheet, it might seem strange to mention the Southampton team of 1962 on this thread. The fact is that the team became league champions without a recognised third heat leader. It was therefore necessary for other team members to put in a “compact team performance” and equal or better the points scored by Briggs and Knutson in order to win the match. Fortunately they had the type of solid performers who could do exactly that to break the domination of Wimbledon and win the National League title that year.

So my mother - who was there that night - must have been 19 years old at the time. I can imagine how seeing the crash and hearing the tragic news later must have affected her. She never attended another speedway meeting.

Along with Reg Luckhurst and Leo McAuliffe, Jimmy (James Everard) Gooch was one of the three second strings at New Cross when I started watching speedway back in 1960. They all went on to become world finalists and represent their country.

It should be added that certain riders benefited massively from a one-off World Championship Final meeting. I think we would all agree that it's highly unlikely that either Jerzy Szczakiel or Egon Müller (and maybe others?) would ever have become world champions under a GP system.

I recall seeing Pete ride for Wimbledon for whom he appeared a couple of times at the start of the 1964 season That season started in controversy which led to the Provincial League running 'black'. Provincial League riders were warned by the Speedway Control Board that they were in breach of ACU regulations and could be suspended from all competitive racing. I think Pete (and maybe others?) decided that they would try their luck with a National League team rather than face a ban. It seems things didn't work out and he moved on to Wolverhampton. Ironically it was Wolves' refusal to move up to the National League after winning the Provincial League title in 1963 that caused the problem.

It should be mentioned that Ove was probably not one of the favourites in 1967 when he won his fifth world title but he was of course the best man on the night. Igor Plechanov is often mentioned as a contender for "best rider who never won the world title". A third place in his last ride that night cost Plechanov the chance of a run-off against Fundin who he had beaten earlier.

With his last appearance at a World Final in 1959, Cyril probably had his best years behind him when he rode for Southampton in the early 60’s. He was however, very much part of the team that won the National League in 1962. It was a strange line-up in that it didn’t really have a third heat leader. With Briggs and Knutson averaging 20 points between them though it was only necessary for the rest of the team to equal that in order to win the match and they usually had somebody who stepped up on the night.

I think I attended all of the New Cross home matches that year so I saw quite a lot of Geoff Penniket. I seem to remember him being one of the few riders who rode in a helmet with no peak. Cyril Roger was another. It's funny the things that I can remember from those bygone days when I can't remember what I had for breakfast - LOL.