TwoMinuteWarning

Result from yesterday's Norwegian Final at Lunner, Oslo: Rune Sola 15 Henrik B. Hansen 13+3 Inge Bjerk 13+2 Remi Ueland 12 Lars Daniel Gunnestad 12 Roy Martinsen 10 Mikke Bjerk 9 Patrick Herold 8 Peer Bakke 7 Jarle Evensen 5 Stein Roar Pedersen 5 Hasse Prytz 3 Aarstein Jensen 3 Lars Fuglerud 2 Carl Johan Raugstad 0

I thought Jurica Pavlic was one of the favourites for this, after he won the semi on his Dad's track? Is he injured? A strange competition this, there dosen't appear to be any entry criteria ... can any European have a go?

Mariusz, I think you mean 15 Aug (not Sept) According to http://www.motorsportforbundet.no/motorsykkel/t2.asp?p=50268 , I think the meeting was postponed until 29 Aug

My favourite was Dave "Onanoff" Johnson Says it all, really ... Does this thread get a medal? It's been going for over 5 years!

Yes, quite right, norbold. I even had those details in front of me as I wrote that email. I must take more water with it

Harry Rogers did ride for Dagenham in their opening league match of the season against the Romford "Rommers" on May 1st (scoring 1 pt). He died, age 24, on Thur May 19 at a special charity meeting staged to encourage recruits to the Territorial Army (well, this was 1938, remember). His bike locked with that of 40yr old Dagger Jack Cooley, and both fell. Rogers was then run over by junior Alex Gray. 22yr old David Jackson died at a practice session on Thur Aug 11th, when he was thrown over his handlebars and landed on his head. No other rider was involved. No further meetings were held at Dagenham in 1938 after this death - I'm not sure whether those two facts are linked, though the inquest verdict on both fatalities was "accidental death". Interesting to note that the Eastbourne team, which won the league, contained four members of the Birmingham National Lge Div.2 team - Tiger Hart, Bob Lovell, Danny Lee, and Stan Lemon (who rode as Stan Johns in the Sunday League) The league was referred to in Speedway News as the Inter-Club League, but in Eastbourne newspapers as the Sunday Dirt-Track League.

Rob, see the Lamothe-Landerron thread in this section (if you haven't already)

Ludicrous decision, but not surprising given the total lack of consistency in refereeing decisions at international level this season. Given his past record, it's amazing that Darago is still refeeeing anything! I suspect, though, that he didn't have the benefit of a replay to watch in this case?

High Beech, Feb 19, 1928

Details from http://www.speedwaya-z.cz/ : 1. Česká republika 56 Matěj Kůs 3 3 3 3 2 14 Jan Holub 2 2 2 2 0 8 Michael Hádek 3 3 1 3 3 13 Filip Šitera 2 3 2 2 2 11 Martin Gavenda 2 3 2 3 E 10 2. Dánsko 55 Leon Madsen 2 3 3 3 2 13 Kenni A. Larsen 0 1 ex 2 3 6 Nicolai Klindt 2 2 3 2 3 12 Patrick Hougaard 3 2 3 3 3 14 Rene Bach 3 1 3 2 1 10 3. Team Adria 19 + 3 Renato Cvetko, CRO 1 0 0 0 - 0 1 Matič Voldrih, SLO 3 2 2 2 1 2 12+3 Dalibor Bot, CRO 0 0 E 0 - 0 Nikola Pigač, CRO 1 0 1 0 2 E 4 Ladislav Vida, SLO 0 1 -1 0 2 4. Finsko 19 + 2 Aki – Pekka Mustonen Bielefeld - Timo Lahti 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 Joni Kitala 1 0 E - - - 1 Kalle Katajisto 0 1 1 1 3 1 7 Jari Mäkinen 1 2 0 1 0 1 5+2

Result of 2nd semi-final from http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel (no scorers yet): 1. Czech Republic - 56 2. Denmark - 55 3. Adria (Slovenia/Croatia) - 19+3 4. Finland - 19+2 So, as expected, Germany don't make it to the Final, since this semi-final was much weaker of the two Final will be Poland v Sweden v Czech Republic v Denmark (at Gorzow, Sept 5)

Hey BFD, see you in Leszno!

Thank you

Any updates from the Pardubice semi-final available on the web today?

British ref I believe? These days in the UK, if there is a problem at the start, refs do not normally put the red light on until until the riders are on the back straight. It's considered far less dangerous for riders to slow down on the straight, rather than on the 1st/2nd turns. Sounds sensible to me, and I believe most riders agree with that method. Thanks for letting us see the video. As Tiger Tom says, the fence appeared to have nothing to do with the crash. Would certainly prefer to see more air fences of course, though they do encourage more risk-taking by many riders.

Brilliant post, BobC, good to get the true facts of the situation. Thank you

This is terrible news about Sonke Petersen. He has actually ridden in the UK, and some of you may have seen him. He was here with the German Under-15 team that rode against GB in 2001 at Kings Lynn, St Austell, and Newport. At just 12 years old, he was the youngest member of that team. He rode here again when the German team returned in 2003, riding at King's Lynn, Buxton, and Stoke. So sad that one brief moment in time can alter a young man's whole life.

Looks like Bridger was excluded in his third ride, and missed his fourth ride. Hope he is not injured. (If he is, I'm sure Bob Dugard will soon be in rant-mode)

Mear pulled out on Friday, following his crash at Swindon on Thursday night. I think 3 days is a reasonable time to find a replacement, and get him and his bikes and mechanic to Germany - it's not exactly the back of beyond! Surely a rider or two is put on stand-by for these F.I.M meetings? Where there's a will, there's a way. Of course, if the will is not there ... Looking forward to reading in Speedway Star this week of the BSPA's 101 reasons why a replacement was impossible.

Yes, thanks f-s-p for the update. Will Mr Pavlic lap any of those riders??!!!

1st semi-final is at Abensberg on Monday 1st June. Teams: Germany, Australia, Great Britain, Sweden Riders: Who knows? I certainly don't! Can't find any press releases from the FIM or BSPA about this. Can anybody help??? 2nd semi-final is at Pardubice, Czech Rep on Sat 6th June : Czechs v Denmark? v Slovenia? v Russia? (this is a guess)

Bob had 4 exccellent seasons for Norwich from 1949 to 1952, finshing both the last 2 seasons with a CMA of over 10. Overall he rode 142 league matches for Norwich, and maximums in 44 of them Disappeared half way through 1952, returning to Australia for personal reasons, and was not seen in the UK again. Just how good could he have been had he returned?

Could anyone tell me who is the other rider with Gus Kuhn in the pic at the top of this page - http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/space5/news.htm Thanks for your help!

Those interested in pre-war speedway may be aware of the excellent site on Gus Kuhn at http://www.guskuhn.net/ The site is compiled by a granddaughter of the great man, and has now been expanded to include some of his contemporaries, with pages about Frank Arthur, Sprouts Elder, Eric Langton, Roger Frogley, etc. See http://www.guskuhn.net/GKuhn/Contemp/ContempIndex.htm Statistically speaking, nothing beats the Speedway Researcher site at http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/ which is trying to compile full records on every speedway meeting ever held in the UK (including second-halves) Dare I mention my own site, International Speedway, at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/intspeedway/ which has links to many other sites on historical speedway on the Links page.

For any philatelists out there, "Rider of the Millenium" Ivan Mauger has been honoured in a new set of stamps from New Zealand. He is part of a 5-stamp set called NZ Champions of World Motorsport, details are here Hope they will give Ronnie and Barry the same treatment soon! And the chances of getting a GB stamp for our World Champs are ... zilch!