Pinny

He was very popular at Newport too, remember him riding as a heatleader when he really should of been second string and he quite often used to pull big races out the bag. get well soon mate

Correct, came in 1997 for his debut season at Newport before moving up full time with Poole in 2000 and dropping back to Newport in 2002.

Superb , he was outstanding in 1999 and had many guest bookings in the EL for Pboro and impressed. sadly got stitched up by Kokko and Norris on his EL debut in 2000 for Poole and smashed his wrist to bits , came back and whilst he didnt get worse he never looked being the future star he did pre 2000. dropped back to Newport in 2002 and was still a classy number one and made some good passes but mainly relied on his gating which he hadnt done before his big crash. lindqvist was another Wasp who had a shocking yet simple shoulder injury in 1999 that ruined his career. wato tho in 1999 was a class act, went to Swindon for our two wins there and he was always flying later on in the meeting when it mattered. loved Smart too, he was so exciting to watch and for a rider who quite litreally only probably gave 45-50 percent of his life to the sport , was unbelievable. They dont make them like that anymore.

In all honesty his days at Oxford were never going to last long

Agree. His stats for the Elite League over such a duration are mind blowing . Posted 10 point plus figures for ten years in a row. Superb. remember seeing him at the 2001 Cardiff GP and the next day at the Welsh Open at Newport and was gobsmacked by how good he was. Although the first time i seen him live was the 1999 ELRC at Coventry. And he won that as well. rickardsson though was absolutely superb at Grand Prix level, where it mattered most of course. But as for league speedway , id of taken Adams or Crump every time. Although i do wonder if Trick didnt put the full effort into league speedway . i will never forget a story from Craig Watson about Trick during their time at Poole together. Rickardsson blew His engine on the stand warming up before a meeting for his main bike and couldnt of cared less, just took his third bike out the van like it was usual . overall, from 1999 to present day, in all comps, id have to say Trick, pedersen, crump and adams would be the best 4 i have seen. Gollob for my liking was too hot and cold. I personally dont think woffy would of lived with them in their primes.

He didnt want to return to Edinburgh for another season...

I think post 2000 ish Jason alone was the perfect speedway rider.

Never seen him ride obviously but the oldies at Newport absolutely loved him so must of been pretty good!!!! a class speedway family , Neil Street was a great bloke too

When i first got into the sport he wasnt very popular , due to him being a spoilt brat type character but he certainly got my respect as years went by. Any rider who won a title during Rickardssons years deserves a lot of credit.

Often heard at Newport oldies say Phil Crump had more talent than Jason but didn’t have the cutting edge to be world champ. Jason crump I thought was superb , had it all he really did. Was unlucky to be around in Richardson’s era else he could of had 4/5/6 titles to his name.

Nick Simmons clipping Wato’s back wheel on the first bend at Exeter and clearing the stadium and landing in a back garden. How the hell he lived to tell the tale I will never know. Went on a random trip to oxford in 1999 to watch Oxford vs Poole , Jesper Olsen guesting (can’t remember for who) crashed on the third bend . Horrendous crash and his hard hat came off and was ruined. Newport v Edinburgh 2002/3, Frede schott driving the rest straight into the first bend fence and causing carnage. Pathetically was allowed in the re run and won forcing a re run of the two legs (must of been KO CUP). ben Howe clattering into a reserve at Arena and going straight through the fence and smashing his thigh to pieces.... nigh on ended his career. many many more to list but they are some of the worst I have seen.

Yeah i think he was with Poole when he was flying in GPS and had a nasty accident. Remember him hitting the fence on the home straight and loram having to lay the bike down

I thought the crash in a Gp where he was lying on the track and looked dead was the one that done him ? I can’t remember fully but recall he was joint top of the Gp standings after a few rounds?

Would of loved to of been about during the 80s in speedway , some of the videos look class on YouTube. as far as grand prixs go , there are a few riders who I feel have under achieved over the years. KK sticks out as the main one , so much talent , superb set up yet looked like he either lacked interest or confidence (or both) half the time. Lukas Dryml was without doubt heading for the very top until injuries stopped him , a great shame as he had it all. Could gate and pass and I have no doubt he would of been a world champ . ward, as much as he was a buffoon off track , was a class act on it and would surely of been a gold medal winner at least once. andreas Jonsson , one of the best styles out there and a pure racer , but heard rumours he loved a party off track and that’s what held him back from consistently getting podium places. In full flight , he was cracking to watch.

Anders was class but did mainly rely on his gating and home form although in his last season at Newport he was superb home and away. A super fan favourite and a class act but felt if he committed himself fully throughout his whole career , Smart could of gone onto bigger things. some called him dirty, I preferred to think of him as just a madman

Frank Smart. Genius on a bike

1999 for me. first season of speedway and only Newport’s third back. had the likes of Watson , Henriksson, Lindqvist , Smart etc plus young guns Neath and Appleton. Superb team entertainment wise. Remember trips to Reading , Exeter , Sheffield , Peterborough (fours), Swindon , Arena .... without doubt my favourite season of speedway. Remember in a challenge Swindon came down to Newport and beat us with Cunningham getting a 15 point max, then going to Swindon in the evening and getting beaten again before beating them home and away twice in the trophy and the league . frank Smarts 15 metre handicap win over Steve Masters was superb , remember before hand everyone saying we were mad putting Smart off 15 for a golden double but we got the 8-1. Watson had to near enough come to a stand still to let him past off the final bend. Went to the PLRC at Sheffield too, Wilson won it , Jesper Olsen second Watson third with Stonehewer fourth. great times , big crowds wherever we went and it’s such a shame to see the sport hanging on by a thread 20 years on.

Nobody is defending Ward or garrity. what Ward got up to was stupid , illegial and irresponsible. What Garrity has done is scum of the earth behavior . A level above what Ward done. that said , both are a pair of brain dead idiots

Hang on , are people honestly classing riding a motorbike stoned just as bad as robbing two vulnerable people with a blade ? Jesus Christ.

seen Allen at Somerset , was superb there to be fair.

Any chance of showing the 1999 Premier Trophy final with Newport???

It’s a well known fact that Polish speedway has a lot more than anywhere else. Polish riders get their engines re tuned way , way more often than Brits etc. and this comes from a couple of riders who have rode in Poland , Sweden and the UK. you only have to look at how much better they are kitted out than any other country.

It’s probably only “window lickers” that would find that funny in all honesty.

You talking to yourself again?!

In short, no matter how serious or unserious people think this virus is, it is going to affect british speedway in a very bad way.