TwoMinuteWarning

Well, our political leaders are frightened to hold a referendum on that subject, thats for sure! Actually, GB does have a couple of places reserved in the European U-19 Championship semi-final at Krsko, no idea which riders will fill those places though. But the main reason for the lack of GB riders in the European Championship is that the BSPA don't encourage them to compete, as they have more than enough problems with absent riders already! Well, that's how it seems to me, anyway.

I remember seeing Sonke Petersen riding in the UK back in 2001! He was with the German U-16 team and he was, I think, the youngest in the team at just 12 years old. What happened to the rest of that team ? Michael Hertrich - didn't he pack up speedway a year or two ago? Stefan Kurtz Tobias Genz Christoph Demmel - riding for Pfaffenhofen Max Hacker

Tomaz, I see that Matija Duh rode for Austria - was he a "guest"? Or is he no longer Slovenian?

West German (rather than East), rode for them in the 1990 World Team Cup, see http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedway2/wtc90.htm

I feel like that going to one or two of our run-down, mostly empty speedway stadiums ...

That's the one. It comprised 5 (or 7?) USA v The World matches, plus the Israeli Open Championship. Stay out of the cellar, Doug (never know what you might catch down there!). He contacted me too, and I've emailed him Briggo's Speedway Star articles about the trip, which make it clear that Frank Shuter was resident in Israel at that time.

One thing about Oyvind that is unique - he was the first and only champion of Israel. That was on April 3, 1976 in Tel Aviv. Not easy either - he had to beat Fundin and Penhall in the final!

That's what we would all like to know! Intention appears to be to "encourage" (i.e pressurise, blackmail) young riders to move up to the Elite League full time. And if they don't, they are unlikely to be selected for the GB World Cup team. (Of course, if they are full time EL riders, they will need to ride in Sweden and Poland in order to get the experience they need and to earn enough money. Previously they could do that by also riding in the Premier League) As if we didn't have enough problems with producing young riders in the UK ...

But at least you have the Allsvenskan, Div.1, and Div.2 in Sweden, where the juniors can get rides. I believe some of them compete in two of those three leagues, as well as the odd ride in the Elitserien. Unlike in the UK, where there is no "doubling up" any more.

I'd be very surprised if many riders know the rules, they don't really have to. Few of them even know what the score is during a match. That's what team managers are for!

The Times Digital Archive - all copies of The Times since 1785 - are now available free on line through many local library websites. But you have to be a member of that library to get access.

Thanks for your help, star ghost

Can anyone help? I have had an e-mail from a distant relative of the ex-Norwich rider Paddy Mills, asking if he is still alive. I know little about him myself, so would appreciate any help!

No idea, but I would assume that all the freebies have been added in. And with the F.I.M that means a few hundred at most GP's.

Lee Richardson has confirmed in local press today that he has signed to ride 6 matches for Balakovo in 2008 on Thursdays. Plus UK + Sweden + Poland, of course. Who needs the GP's?

and Alan Robertson's "British Speedway Leagues 1991-2006" (in same format as the excellent Peter Oakes tome) Also worth checking the Speedway Researcher website for pre-war details

The FIM have just released the official attendance figures for the 2007 GP series: Cardiff, UK 41,267 Copenhagen, Denmark 30,406 Wroclaw, Poland 25,000 Gelsenkirchen, Germany 25,000 Bydgoszcz, Poland 15,000 Malilla, Sweden 10,640 Prague, Czech Rep 9,800 Krsko, Slovenia 8,000 Daugavpils, Latvia 7,000 Eskilstuna, Sweden 6,500 Lonigo, Italy 4,300 Total GP attendances 182,913 The World Cup Final at Leszno, Poland drew a crowd of 21,000. Motto: Best crowds are either indoors or in Poland! For a comparison of these figures over the last 9 years, go to http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedway3/extra9.htm

If all you ever think about is money, I'm surprised you didn't just hitch a lift and climb over the stadium fence to get in!

This year - and probably next year - we did 3 meetings in 3 days on the Prague trip with TP Tours, with meetings at Mseno and Divisov. Many of the TP trips include other meetings apart from GP's. TP ain't cheap, but you just turn up and everything is done for you. When I was in my 20's I did trips on my own (and it wasn't anywhere near as easy in the 70's as it is today, believe me!) , these days I just let a reliable company organise it all. Each to their own!

4 days earlier, on 19 Oct 1955, the Aces won a 3-team tournament at Wroclaw: Belle Vue 38 Poland 21 Austria 12 Crowd for each meeting was about 40,000

Details from Christian Weber via Speedway Star magazine: 2007 SSRC SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Staged over 3 rounds (all at Walkerville) on 27.05, 26.08, & 28.10 FINAL STANDINGS 1. 2. 3. Total 1 Brendan Coughlan (16yo) 15 13 12 = 40 2 Deon Prinsloo 5 14 - = 19 3 Mike Russell 9 6 3 = 18 4 Ian Hutchinson - 11 - = 11 5 Martin Bekker 9 0 - = 9 Bobby Devine 6 2 1 = 9 Mac Magill 7 2 0 = 9 8 Deon Swart - - 8 = 8 9 Lee Struckmeyer - 3 - = 3

I see that the Vintage Speedway Magazine / Backtrack website has disappeared. Also I have not received the Autumn edition (Issue 59) of VSM. I e-mailed Tony McDonald about this 3 weeks ago, and haven't had a reply. Anyone else having problems?

Just heard that Maurie Mattingley passed away recently. Sorry, no details of where or when. He had apparently had a stroke a few weeks ago. Seem to remember that Maurie was based in the Southampton area during his career. Rode for south coast teams such as Plymouth in the Provincial League days of the early 60's. Then had several seasons riding for Glasgow at White City around 1964-67, flying up from Southampton for home meetings. Also famous, of course, for the Mattingley frames, about which others will know more, I am sure. R.I.P

Information came in good faith from the American Yahoo Groups list, message of October 10: "October 26 is Fast Fridays next night of speedway and it should be a good one. The provisional list of names for the world team is: Jason Crump, Matej Zagar, David Howe, Lubos Tomicek, Armando Castagna and Brian Karger. The US team will comprise Mike Faria, Bart Bast, Tommy Hedden, Charlie Venegas, Ryan Fisher and Bryan Yarrow, assuming his injuries are behind him."

Not sure! I believe Jason Crump was originally down to ride at one time, too Lubos is still there, and scored 10 in a team match at Victorville yesterday.