WembleyLion

Line up for the Swedish pairs final at Otterbäcken on 2 March - I am looking forward to watching Ove Ledström again! http://www.svemo.se/sv/Grenar/Isracing/Nyheter/ParSMFinaliIsracing/

Thanks Jonas - I think I may pay a visit then!

Thanks for the weather updates GW. What do you think about Otterbacken's chances for 2 March? Does the fact it is used for Bandy help?

With return flights to Gothenburg at less than £30 I am tempted!

The latest Malmo one to sell on eBay fetched £172 last week!

Sadly the Gavle meeting has already been called off!

Tickets for Berlin https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/10099/horstdohmeisstadion-berlin I believe there may also be a meeting on the Thursday beforehand.

Thanks GW - I am hoping that the Ostersund and Stromsund meetings on 15 and 16 January will not be effected as I am planning to travel to these!

I note the Santa Cup at Gavle due for 27 December was called off last week. Also I wonder if the league fixture at Stromsund on 2 January is off as it has disappeared from Svemo's fixture list!

Ah you will need to read the question about the A No idea what it is though!

I attended the meeting and my programme has F REM 0 (as in zero) which would mean he finished the race so I think the 0 could be zero. No idea what the A is though.

I saw Woryna ride earlier this year when he won the Silver Helmet in Pila and he looked quite impressive. There again many Poles do look good in their own country! Time will tell!

Must just check where Covatti rode most of last season!

Having walked around the stadium and watched from different vantage points I would have thought it was about 2,000, possibly a little more.

A lot of the riders struggled between bends one and two with a number of uncharacteristic falls. Well done to Poland who were exceptionally good and Maksym Drabik at 17 years of age was great to watch!

I didn't chance them yesterday Tony but it reminds of a visit to Smallmead many years ago when I took a mate to his first ever Speedway meeting and he remarked how it would have been handy to have had luminous 'equipment' when using the facilities there!

27 June 1970 was my first introduction to Speedway when I visited Wembley Stadium to see a Four Team Tournament won by the Hackney Hawks. I became instantly hooked on Speedway and have many fond memories of the Lions during the rest of that season. Reidar Eide was my favourite and I was lucky enough to see Ove Fundin ride before he quit mid-season. I lived and went to school in Wembley and at least half of my class mates were regulars following the Lions. In the playground at school Speedway was talked about much more than football. We started up cycle Speedway teams and challenged other local schools to matches. When I now look back I find it difficult to imagine just how popular it was amongst my peer group. It was a great shame that the Lions finished in 1971 although quite a few of my school mates carried on following the sport, however by 1980 there were only three of us left and now there is just me!

I have never been that keen on attending double headers and all to often problems seem to be encountered with the running of them.

Firstly I would like to say well done to Andrew and Mia as what they created this year with the Raiders was like a breath of fresh air at Hoddesdon.They will be sorely missed. However, something hasn't been right for months and is very apparent at both Rockets and Raiders meetings. What next?

I get that feeling as well WHB. Decisions seem to be taken just because he has the power to do it a particular way as if to prove a point. Being bloody minded I guess! Maybe we'll be the same when we are 83!

John 'Tiger' Louis is my favourite rider of all time. I first saw him ride at Ipswich in 1970 and watched him regurlarly throughout the 70's as he lead the Witches to back to back championships in 1975 and 1976. There are three individual meetings that stand out for me though and I was fortunate enough to witness all of them. Firstly, the 1975 British Final at Coventry and a 15 point maximum in front of huge crowd and then of course the World Final at Wembley later that year and third on the rostrum having beaten Ivan Mauger in a run off. JL was the first British rider to make the rostrum in 13 years since the late Peter Craven won in 1962. The final individual performance of my three was the memorable BLRC victory at Belle Vue in 1979 and the title winning ride against Bruce Penhall was one John's finest victories without doubt. A truly great rider and fantastic servant to Speedway!

My first meeting at Ipswich in August 1970 had a sedate heat one race time of 75.4 courtesy of Ron Bagley. I know the track has changed a bit in 45 years but not hugely and they could now do five laps in the time it took Ron to do four! I do wonder how much quicker it will be possible to go at some tracks!

Danny King did the track walk but so did Robbo! Danny Ayres for Jason. If that doesn't tempt you well how about Jim Lawrence as referee then?

You might like to try http://www.svemo.se/sv/Grenar/Speedway/Tavling/Tavlingskalender/ Hope you find something you can attend.

This weekend gone at Rye house I thought I heard Craig Saul say Monday 7 September was the cut off which is the date Rye House stage their final home league match against Peterborough. This would be a little surprising given that some fixtures have already been arranged for after that date. As others have suggested though it's a case of guesswork and it would not be a great surprise if nobody really knew at this point in time!