Terry

Well done Woffy, great track to start the gp season..Roll on Prague!

Remember the days when riders used to have witty phrases written on their 'derriere.'. Match the rider to the phrase. Some are easy, some not so much.. 1. summer job - Mark Loram 2. slave - Joe Screen 3. see ya - Kelly Moran 4. Jay De - John Davis 5. ugly kid Joe - Joe Screen 6. Face - Craig Boyce 7. No Guts, No Glory - Tony Rickardsson 8. son of the animal - Jason Crump 10. Goal - Tomasz Gollob 10. Hi-Oh Silver - Andrew Silver 11. flick the bitch - Paul Whittaker I remember Alan Grahame having 'Big Al' on his after he beat cancer...Which he certainly was.

It's up to his partner to slow the race and help him get past his opponent(s). You shouldn't get any reward for finishing last in pairs racing. It's not 'blocking out', it's called team riding which I believe was quite big in speedway once upon a time!

But it's a pairs event and not individual. Different rules apply and you're only as strong as your weakest link...I find it just as ridiculous to finish last and win.

I for one am looking forward to the new tournament, if only to see the back of the bloody joker. I prefer the 4-3-2-0 scoring myself as it encourages team riding, which is what a pairs event should be all about. Not somebody buggering off into the distance. I remember the 84 and 85 National League best pairs events had brilliant grand finals with Nigel Crabtree (succeeding) and Stan Bear (failing) busting a gut to split their teamriding opponents.

Strangely enough, before Tony came to Britain his name was always spelt Richardsson in the foreign results section of the Speedway Star; So Sidney may have something there! For me, Rickardsson will always be the guv'nor. 6 wins from 9 gp's including 4 in a row, in 2005 was phenomenal.

Ford on the banjo and Middlo playing the spoons. Agree, the Poole thread is entertainment personified. It always attracts the weird, the whacky and the wallybrains.

Good The Kestrels doing the double in 88 (made all the sweeter by beating the Dons in the cup.) Finishing second in 1980-even though we started the year with no recognised superstar as opposed to Reading having three. The joy of being able to watch Barry Thomas every Friday night! Mark Loram winning the World Championship. All the laughs we had helping out on Saturday training days. Bad Watching Vic Harding and Paul Muchene lose their lives (thankfully I wasn't there when Denny Pyeatt was killed.) Hackney closing mid-way through the 91 season. Andy Galvin breaking his thigh at Rye House and never being the same rider after. England being pipped by the Swedes in the 2004 World Cup (damn you Mr Andersen!) On a purely selfish note, being deprived of years of entertainment by Darcy Ward's crash.

All I kept thinking was how small he looked sitting between Lampard and the hot bird. He looked like a little pixie! He was the most interesting out of the three though-although it could have something to do with the fact that I hate football and also the scouse accent.

I check the racing cards most days so I knew it was running, but well done for posting it up and hopefully plenty on here got on. I'm enjoying a nice curry with my £28 winnings! Keeping with the speedway theme, Mullarkey (dear old Kelvin, what a character) runs in the 5:45 at Kempton tomorrow.

Darcy Ward wins at 14/1 woo-hoo.

Tipped up by Sporting Life. 8/1 gotta be worth a couple of quid. Wasn't there a Bjarne Pedersen running recently?

Only because he wasn't in it!

That's on youtube. Bruce trundling along on the little tricycle (he was still going faster than in that Overseas Final race though!) I wonder who won his racesuit? It was a massive blow to the sport when he retired, and it somehow took something away from Carter...Their rivalry was legendary.

When Zenon rejoined the Hawks midway through the 79 season to replace the sadly departed Vic Harding he was amazing to watch. He broke the track record almost every week, and I remember he beat Olsen from the back twice one night..which took some doing. As you say there was always a lot of uncertainty at the start of each season, with Len Silver having a constant battle with Zenon's Polish club to release him. Obviously Gollob is Poland's greatest ever rider, but Plechy will always be my favourite!

I can't argue about Lee being the best that year. I remember him winning the Commonwealth and Inter-Continental finals at White City. Even as an 11 year old I remember screaming at the tv for Plechy to get past Moran, but Kelly stood his ground. I reckon Zenon would have beaten Ivan in the run-off - but I am a bit biased!

Strange thing to say considering he scored two points less than Zenon Plech!

All the best Starman.

Best Finn? Finn Thomsen Kai Niemi for me. In with a shout of the 85 world title up until his fifth ride.

I remember when bookies first offered odds on league speedway. Every home team was 4/6 off scratch whoever they were against. You were getting strong sides like Wolves beating the weaklings like Arena by 40 points. It really was easy money. It didn't take long though until the compilers caught up and started doing handicaps and the like. I just bet on gp's now.

I know Cook isn't as good as PC, but that's a little disrespectful isn't it?

'Tis the season to be jolly..

Brilliant entertainer was Kelly, my favourite yank. His career could've been over almost as soon as it had begun after he was badly injured in a horrible crash at Hackney in 78. Not very nice spending your 18th birthday in hospital, although knowing Kelly he would've enjoyed all the attention from the nurses. I remember an interview he gave on screensport during his Sheffield days when he referred to brother Shawn as "our kid." I guess the local dialect must have rubbed off a bit! The only occasion I went off him was when he beat my hero Zenon Plech in the 79 world final, depriving him a run-off with Mauger, but it soon passed.

Nice to hear that he's out of hospital, and hopefully be guest of honour at Warsaw next year.

1. Doyle 2. Hancock 3. Lindgren 4. Woffinden 5. Sayfutdinov 6. Dudek 7. Holder 8. Zmarzlik 9. Zagar 10. Janowski 11. Vaculik 12. Laguta 13. Cook 14. Pawlicki 15. Pedersen