stratton

Averages TOP.RIDERS AVERAGE of that year. . 1969.MAUGER.11.74. 1970.mauger.11.31. 1971.MAUGER. 11.33. 1972.mauger.11.42. 1973.MICHANEK. 11.55. 1974.olsen. 11.32. 1975.MAUGER. 11.45. 1976.LOUIS. 11.10. 1977.LEE. 10.64. 1978.simmons.10.78. 1979.AUTREY. 10.91. 1980. COLLINS. 10.70. 1981. PENHALL 11.08. AVERAGES WHEN WINNING TITLE. MAUGER.1969.1970.1972, HAD TOP. AVERAGE. 1977.was 2nd.10.62. 1979.was2nd.10.53. OLSEN.1971.was3rd 10.96. 1975.was 5th 10.78. 1978 was 2nd.10.71. MICHANEK 1974.gothenburg ban? NO BL. COLLINS 1976.was 4th.10.98. LEE.1980. was 6th 10.17. PENHALL.1981. was 1st.11.08. so out of those years only 4 riders were top of the averages and won the title in the same year.

Since the series began, Nicky is the only rider i feel shouldnt of won 3 titles. In my opinion Adams was a better rider and never won it yet Nicky won three titles.Thats what i mean about killer instinct,Nicky had that took no prisoners and i admire him for that when he has retired he can be very proud.Dropping out the series is very hard to do but as we know Nicky is a person people like to watch so i suppose he warrants a place if so so does Holta.

Bjarne?no comparison Pedersen years ago now would of barely been a third heat leader.Opinions and thats what its about ,the main issue for me is.It was harder to even qualify and to win a one off Final than it is to stay in the g.p.series.Is Nicky Pedersen a prime example of that nearly impossible to be eliminated.

I see Crump every week for over seven years, to reach the one off final was alot harder no doubt about it.Crump only reached 3 finals Airey only one?numerous others Ashby E.Boocock a few examples who didnt reach as many finals as they should of .Phil Crump would of stayed in the g.ps today no bother as ive said its a easy system to stay in the G.P.S now the strength in debth isnt there now in my opinion.

Did you see alot of Crump senior impartial one? i doubt it those stats are so misleading dosent tell the whole story.To say he wasnt in the same league is a mad comment.Also can you dispute that it was HARDER to qualify for a oneoff final than it is to STAY in the g.pseries now.If you say Crump wasnt in the same league what are you saying about the competition about those days the GREAT Mauger,Olsen,Collins,Lee,Michanek,.I see alot of Leigh Adams too, what a rider was never in my opinion destined to win a word title .But to say Crump senior wasnt in the same league that to me is you questioning the standard of the era.

Olsen,mauger,jessup,Collins,T Jansson,Michanek,simmons wilson E,boocock N.Boocock betts sjosten airey sanders crump boulger persson briggs moore lee lofqtvist morton lovaas autrey,plech, muller,b,jansson penhall,s.moran k.moran sigalos carter king gundersen nielsen knudsen jonsson richardsson j louis [missed a few]im sure 1974 till 85. The level immense.i totally agree what you said about the Streety 4 valve he did have a advantage but you look at that standard over a 11 year period.Then you look from 2003 till 2011 the gp series nowhere near as strong and Phil Crump would not of fell outside the 16 if the gps had been run then.

I think Phil was unlucky on the individual front ,but so were loads of others,for me Phil rode in a better era the strength in debth i think was amazing also reaching the one off finals were far harder than now.A point Parsloes has made it is hard not to fall out of the series the way it is odviously Leigh was that good he wouldnt of anyway.So your stats,are a bit false i feel for me Phil i would say was in the top 20 riders in the world from 74 til 85.The telling point for me the standard of competition then was far higher you could name at least 30 or 40riders.who were top class if not more.

Phil Crump was a class rider, won numerous titles in my opinion was a better rider than Leigh Adams.I see both regular as i watched swindon every week.Different era,s i no both class but Phil to me was a legend. Worth paying just to go and watch Phil he often carried the robins home and away.1974,75,76 Crump was a world force and was one of the few who could live with Peter Collins and then Collins was hard to beat.As for Leigh i never ever thought he lost his nerve but dont get me wrong i admire both men.

Phil Crump after breaking his thigh at Sheffield in 77,was destined not to win it and he for years and years was as consistent as Leigh if not more so.What i am saying you would of thought Leigh would of got closer to at least the rostrum places.Also league racing is like chalk and cheese compared to individual racing.

I No where you are coming from White Knight,and after he went Lee Olsen Mauger Sigalos Sanders [ect] i had a bit of a downer on speedway.Penhall leaving did leave a massive void because i would say speedway was in pretty good shape at the time.I suppose i was silly anough to think speedway would just go on as normal.But since then things have slipped, but i can see why you feel like you do as you feel Penhall betrayed speedway which i cant totally disagree with.

You could say that about alot of riders, i just dont think Leigh had that killer instinct like say Crumpy.To me Leigh was still a great rider twice the rider in my opinion to Nicky Pedersen.It just wasnt meant to be for Leigh i dont think it was nerves or anything,

Good point,s having a good team around you is like a couple of extra points.Look at Lee his dad was a master also we know Michael was also mega talented on the mechanical side.Where as D.j never really had that ,he was good no doubt about it was unlucky but was that because he never had the overall team around him who knows.

Good post Humphrey the best riders did win it,and going back the strength in debth was unbelievable.i think there were about thirty to fourty riders on a given night were good anough to win a title.People like Eric Boocock Martin Ashby Ray Wilson, who are examples all really underchieved at world level on a given day and luck were good anough.But thats maybe what makes a champion that little bit extra.

Think you are right BOBBATH looked everywhere ,Lawson was 46 and Jack Parker was 44 also Mckinlay 41.

1979/80 Michael lee broke his back in the indoor at Birmingham so it took him a while to get back so that year he was behind jessup in the averages.But Lee was for me at a different level to Jessup who although his record speaks for itself was never good anough to be world champion.His record on the big tracks consistently over a long period wasnt great i see him at Hyde rd he was dreadful gate often get picked off one B.L.R.C he was poor cant remember the year?Also Sheffield, Halifax, he wasnt overly impressive.Maybe i am doing Dave an injustice,also Lee said in his DVD how many times D.j borrowed his bike and often was happy to do so in the end it got to be a bit of a joke.

Yes Dave sorry, i see Phil ride everyweek in his Swindon days what a rider,on his streety motor 74,75 76 was flying a pleasure to watch Phil ride.

You are right over time,mostly the right riders won the big prize maybe sometimes in the wrong order.The only riders i can really think of who were really unlucky i suppose.Were Jessup[who i never thought was good anough to be world champion Knudsen maybe Carter and there are a few others.Amazing when you put all them greats together in a group see all them except the great Craven and knutsson.

Probably more older going back before 1960? Mucha was 37, Ken Mckinlay 41 ,

maybe Jan mucha

Penhall has been retired years and now there is a big debate amazing really.I see quite alot of Penhall, he was a big talent no doubt about it i wasnt a fan because i was a big Scott Autrey supporter so it took me a while to like him.I have always maintained if he had hung around,Nielsen and Gundersen would not have won as many titles.As for being flogged today,that is laughable god he would have a field day in the elite league now.But forget the speedway Bruce is taking a bit of stick for taking a different route in life his decision i think he secretly wishes he hadnt.All in all Bruce was good for speedway,and speedway was good to Bruce.On another point i enjoyed Rod Haynes articles as well and i hope there are more in the future.

I wasnt a fan but Penhall but would have been good in any era,get flogged i think he would of been more successful now .The quality in depth is nowhere near as high now.

The pressure i think on a one night conclusion is a different pressure to say winning over twelve rounds.Also you could now win a world title without winning one gp reaching semi,s and finals all year.Not to say it isnt hard now of course it is,like i said a different test now.

A different test i think, winning on a one off evening is harder than winning a series in my humble opinion.Also Olsen Mauger Briggs would of certainly won more titles if the format now was in place in there day.

I agree those meetings now would run at a loss, without proper sponsorship.Also shows how things have changed,when i first started going you might say have thirty home meetings a year with maybe only two individual meetings amongst them.It was like a treat and a nice change to see them because then the league structure was so strong and you only really see individual meetings if you travelled.I did see meetings like The Manpower, Golden Hammer,Pride of the East,Spring Classic at other tracks which then was a nice change from league racing.

Did you see any of these supposingly hopeless Eastern Europeans? i see a few and enjoyed watching them ride.Ok the one off world final,qualification system seemed unfair but i think alot of them would of still qualified.