E I Addio

You have touched on a good point there - the “killer “ instinct. The classic example was Jack Biggs in (I think ) 1951, four straight wins, then nerves got to him and he didn’t score another point. At the other extreme we have Mauger , the consummate prifessional, even the Inter- Continental Final was merely a qualifying round to get through safely and stay in good shape for the big one. Leigh Adams was the full package at league level, often called the best rider never to win a World Title, and to be honest he never really cut it at the highest level . It’s all a matter of opinion of course, but if you put the likes of Morton alongside the Fundins, the Olsens , etc I dont think many would put their money on Mort, but of course you can never account for injuries , engine failures , and gate positions, so it’s perhaps possible but unlikely I would say.

Barry Briggs once said that to be World Champion you had to string 5 decent starts together. Mort and Booey were lucky if they could string two or three good starts together. It didn’t show at league level because most riders were average gaters and they could both come through from the back, but is a different kettle of fish at World Final level, missing the gate when race after race after face you have Mauger , Briggs , Fundin , etc or riders of that standard who dont exactly wave you through. I don’t think home track advantage makes much difference at that level. There were one or two exceptions perhaps but they were very rare.

Thanks for that information . It’s very sad, after the way they struggled with Kirky Lane. In a way it seems to encapsulate everything that is chronically wrong with the sport.

Mort and Gordon’s efforts over a period of years were enormous. The way they were treated was disgraceful.

I understand he lost his house over it. No doubt someone will correct me if this is wrong but it was a bit more than pub gossip. It camefrom a member of a clubs management team.

Yes I read some thing similar but I think it might have been in Classic Speedway . I remember him saying how meticulous Prattie was when he was with Hackney and lived near Betsy . He totally stripped and rebuIlt his clutch before every home meeting and always got to Hackney early so he could make sure Len Silver prepared it the way he wanted it with a good line round the inside. Colin Pratt is another one that like Bob Kirby I don’t know why he didn’t to better at the highest level. He was certainly one of the great talents of .the era.

I took the information from Malcolm Simmons himself when interviewed on his DVD . I can only presume he was talking about the period when Terry became the regular No1.

As far as speedway is concerned, I think the days have gone when sales of merchandise are high enough to make to make much difference to profit ! I have a Hans Andersen cap that he took off his mechanics head and gave me, one of Andreas Jonssons shirts with his GP number on, which I also think he gave me and one of Dave Watts T-Shirts, but I’ve never seen anyone else wearing any of them so I don’t think they are exactly in high demand.

Well, for the sake of discussion, lets put it another way round . If the team manager could set the team in any order he liked what would do on the present programmed rides ? For my part I don’t see any point in him putting his best rider at 2 or 4 for an easy win if it leaves a second string in a heat leader role. 1and 5 are likely to be out together 2 or three times anyway so it doesn’t make much difference where they ride. I can just see about see the argument that if 1and 5 both like the same part of the track they could be separated. However , from a fans perspective I , personally like to see the No1 race jacket as a coveted position that riders have to work to aspire to, and get paid accordingly.

Yes, certainly in the 2008 season I recall the top two having to ride at 1 and 3 but I think not necessarily best at No 1 as there was one match where Jon Cook switched Andreas Jonsson and Adam Shields as an experiment to see how it worked but need week they were back to their old positions. I think 2009 was the first season the highest average rule only applied to No1. Thanks for all your comments. I think between us we have more or less covered it.

I don’t know when they introduced the rule that the highest average was number 1. I am pretty sure it was long after Peter Cravens time. According to Malcolm Simmons DVD, if I remember rightly it was written into Terry Betts contract that he would ride No1. If that’s correct it would mean that No1 being dictated by averages came later than Terry Betts heyday. It would be interesting to know if anyone can pinpoint the date, that the rule was introduced.

Yes .It’s not lay downs per se but each time you increase the power you normally narrow the power band more and more. I once saw Chris Louis being interviewed and he said he had ridden Tony Rickardsons bike which actually wasn’t all that fast but it was tuned to a level that he could hang on to and get the best out of the power he did have. Many other riders have their bikes tuned to a level that it becomes unpredictable. That was why Rickardson was such a great rider - he understood his bikes. How often did you see him crash with nobody else involved. Hardly ever I would say.

Team riding is less now because modern bikes have such a narrow power band that even if you let the revs drop a little bit waiting for a team mate you lose power . If you lose power the rear wheel starts gripping ( as opposed to sliding)and you are in all kinds of trouble.

I don’t remember that. Even today teams start each race either 1&3 or 2&4. Why should they suddenly start wiping each other out because tha they happen to choose which?

I was in favour of that instead of the ridiculous tactical ride / substitute. There is no perfect system though. The problem with that arrangement is that it messes the fixed gate potions up. Points are money to riders, so they want at least one ride off the better gates, which they could miss out on if the opposing team is more than 6 or 8 points behind and start choosing the more advantageous gates . I still think it’s better than the T/R, T/S system though.

Historically the best ( and highest paid) rider has ridden No1 . It’s only right from a riders perspective and from the point of view of the fans that the best rider earns his money by facing the opposition’s No1 two or three times rather than once as used to be the case years ago. It’s hardly fair that the best rider should be getting easy rides against second strings and second strings get less points, and therefore less money by facing Heatleaders every time out . Personally I think it’s fair that second strings and reserves get a chance with races against riders of similar. standard. I don’t know if it’s still the case but until fairly recently at least it was the case that the home team had to declare their team first so apart from. No1 the away manager had a certain amount of latitude in his team order .

He looked always looked older than the actually was, having gone grey quite young and his hair receding by his mid thirties., but he must have been pushing 50 by the time he eventually retired. I sometimes used to chat to a guy at Lakeside who used to help him unload his bikes at West Ham . At West Ham the riders entrance was at the end of Nottingham Road and at the other end of the road was a pub called the Nottingham Arms where, incidentally my grandad used to drink. Anyway this chap that helped Ken with his bikes told me Ken used to stop for a pint in the pub on his way IN to the stadium as well as on the way home ! A different world in those days but not bad for a world class rider !

I liked Crashby. The first time I saw him I though I’d never seen anyone going so fast, but it was really that he had such a neat comfortable style. I am surprised nobody has mentioned Ken McKinlay or Leigh Adams. Leigh looked like an identical version of Hurricane- Ken generation later.. Both were immaculately turned out on immaculate machinery, almost never had engine failure. Both just seemed to be in total control , letting the bike do the work, both seemed to be able to find grip anywhere, could ride any line, both brilliant team riders , with great motorcycle skills. Another one I like was Peter Karlson. Such a lovely style I could watch him going round on his own and feel excited.

Yes, you are right. Not only is the discussion somewhat subjective but our memories play tricks on us .We see a certain rider pull off a particular move once or twice and when we look back years later we have somehow convinced ourselves that he was doing it every week. Another point is that Speedway is primarily a team sport but we always judge these things ontbe basis of individual performances. For example Fundins record of consistency in the World Final undoubtedly puts him among the greatest of all time, yet there seems to be any number of riders who will say he needn’t care who he knocked off , even his own team mates, as long as he won the race. I suppose the majority of No 1’s were like that to some degree. Then coming back to your point about Greg , his style made it look like he was never really trying, even if he was winning a Grand Prix. On the other hand Crumpie always had that look of aggression and malevolence about his riding that made one sit up and take notice. Perhaps I can take the discussion a step further and ask who were the best all round team men at league level.It would have to be a powerful heat leader , but one who could team ride and inspire his team by his mere presence in the pits.That makes him more difficult to pick. Over to you guys.......

I agree, but what is more I would say he was the ultimate tactician, with an amazing ability to out think an opponent. My outstanding memories of him, on the rare occasions the missed the gate , was that he would sit just outside someone’s tail until the last two bends then as the opponent drifted wide to cover his run in, Hurri- Ken would suddenly switch lines and come through on the inside. I thought he was brilliant, but I was young and impressionable and didn’t see much of the other top stars on a regular basis. From What little I’ve seen of Ronnie Moore, and considering he was past his best by the time I saw him I think would have to have him in my top five or six. Its also been mentioned that the so called top 5 had to contend with each other but while we are speculating I think If Tony Rickardson had never been born we would be talking of Jason Crump in the top five. He really was ,to my mind , one of the true greats, more so than Greg Hancock.

The thing that amazes me in most of these discussions is why Bob Kirby never really cut it at the highest level. An outstanding and consistent rider for years at league level and more than a match for the England stars, yet he never really seemed to perform at his best in England colours.

I don’t really think you can compare any two riders on the basis of averages alone. There are many other relevant factors that determine a riders quality and as a separate issue value to a team. However the period you are referring to we have to take into account the fact that in those days the Number 1 only faced the opposing number 1 once while the other heatleaders faced them twice, and this could well affect averages. Terry had i5 written into his contract at KL that he would always ride Number 1. What I think is interesting, and I had never noticed before , is that Betsy had the best average when Simmo was second heatleader at KL. but as soon as Simmo went to Poole as first heatleader he had the higher average. Having said all that I wouldn’t split them and would have them along with Ray Wilson as first three on the teamsheet for my “GB team of the Early 70’s”

Monty Panesar was on TV talking about it recently, making sensible distinctions between banter and aggression. He he said when he was in Australia he was walking down to fine leg and someone shouted “ Where’s your elephant ? “ and he replied “It’s got stuck in Customs” . Everyone laughed, no offence intended and none taken. But all that is a long way from more aggressive use of language. When I first heard the word P.aki it was in the context of Paki-Bashing which is highly offensive.

I don think there were many countries Hurri-Ken didnt represent at some time or another , even an Aussie side under the name "Kangaroos ". I think new Zealand somehow got into the mix as well at some stage .

Provincial League Riders Champion. Not a bad standard for the era. Hackney and Rye House probably wouldn’t have survived as long as they did without him as promoter and he put far more into the sport in terms of both money and effort than he ever took out.