steve roberts

I was talking to someone from Peterborough recently who mentioned that someone had bought a house near the East of England Showground and then complained about the noise generated by the bikes!

Recall seeing a photo of Ivan Mauger wearing a helmet with mirrors attached to the visor! I wonder why it never caught on?

Not sure if Carl 'The Spear' Askew was dirty or just over exuberant although Robert Hollingsworth was less than complimentary towards him!

Hi Rob, The Cradley team of 1983 weren't required to operate with a junior at number seven therefore Oxford's team compares very well under the regulations and/or restraints operating at that time. The inclusion of Per Sorensen is when Oxford's season really took off as it enabled Nigel De'Ath to ride as a reserve giving the team a better all round balance. Personally I felt that the 1972 Belle Vue team took some beating for overall strength however it's difficult to compare teams from different eras as rider control/points limits decided team make ups and promotions were only able to put out the best depending on what the rules specified in any one season. Regards

Frankly the British Final lost its 'aura' years ago in my opinion. I recall the great British Finals of the seventies (when the Aussies and Kiwis were included) and the eighties when Britain had an abundance of talent. The 1974 Final, in particular, was far stronger than many World Final line ups and it was always a tough meeting, especially during the seventies, to qualify from when it was part of the World Championship qualifying round system (unlike the present GP 'invitation' World Championship) During the seventies British Finals included the following - Mauger, Briggs, Moore, Boulger, Collins, Simmons, Jessup, Lee, Ashby, Wilson, Boocock brothers, Kennett, Davis, Betts, Louis, Kilby, Wyer, Pusey, Morton brothers, McMillan, Sanders etc etc.

Hi Rob, I personally felt that 'Cocker' didn't fulfil his true potential and 1986 really was his peak season. I realise that he achieved better averages during later years but his riding wasn't as spectacular or decisive as it could have been. I have on DVD many races featuring him later in his career and he wasn't quite the vintage rider of 86. Regards

Another 'Speed Star' taken from us! RIP

The Kassam Stadium and Greater Leys Estate were built on what was supposedly Green Belt land! I recall Steve Purchase (Oxford Promoter 1998-2002) discussing the possibility of re-locating but in reality it was never going to happen. Cowley Stadium is a superb facility and it's a criminal shame that it has been allowed to deteriorate due to the stubbornness of the previous/present owners!

Yes that's correct...and from that day some Oxford fans decided to christened John Boulger 'Snow Flake' in remembrance of that occasion!

I wish that I was able to have seen more of Ronnie Moore. To think that he gave Britain a miss for a number of seasons during the sixties but then returned (1969) and carried on his high scoring as if he'd never been away. Now that's class in anyone's language!

I remember the occasion when Tim Hunt came storming out of the pits and rode straight across the width of the track and hit the white line and jumping high into the air! Totally bizarre behaviour!

What a Public Relations disaster...but I shouldn't be surprised knowing that Clark Osbourne is involved knowing his involvement over the proposed sale of Cowley Stadium way back in 1975! Surely the correct way of going about things was making sure that planning issues had been obtained and cleared before making announcements regarding completion of work and a proposed opening date and running a 'Farewell Meeting' of all things?

Confirms my suspicions when I corresponded with the then manager of the stadium who denied that the stadium was being 'run down!'

Hi Rob I plucked Marvyn purely as an example as to how averages home, away and overall can differ which can lead to an unfairness when deciding on a guest replacement. I still feel that the initiative by the BSPA was the right one but which frankly caused problems when trying to administer same. Vaclav's example highlights the ambiguity whereby his away average was poor compared to his home but his overall average would have proved an advantage when utilising the guest rule. I can't remember the exact ruling but I'm guessing that a prospective guest's overall average was taken into consideration when replacing a rider? I'm assuming that Lukas Dryml's home average (haven't access to those statistics) was quite high at home which enabled Oxford the use of Martin Dugard as a Guest replacement?

Hi Sidney! Yes I'm a fan of bonus points. We know the reasons why it was introduced (I recall that payment of kind was removed at one time which caused some animosity amongst riders) Obviously the introduction of bonus points was to encourage a team ethic and not riders from the same team riding against each other. I was fortunate to watch Hans Nielsen who was, in my opinion, the best modern day rider when it came to team riding. Riders who unselfishly helped their partner to achieve the best possible result for the team putting personal gain to one side. Ronnie Moore, from a previous era, was a great exponent as was Ivan Mauger and a host of others I could name. One reason I was never a great fan of Tony Rickardsson was that I never saw him team ride, or even look for his partner, during a race. I recently watched a video of him when racing for Poole and was dismayed at his lack of awareness regarding his partner...especially around turns one and two. I recall Peter Collins commenting that the advent of lay-down motors made it more difficult for riders to team ride due to the unpredictability of the bikes but riders, if they so desired, could manipulate the first bend to good effect if not necessarily attempting to team ride for the duration of a race. As discussed on another thread I do feel that the advent of 'fixed gates' also makes team riding more difficult (it's difficult to dictate a race from the outside) but overall, certainly in my last years watching speedway, the art has been generally lost. Can't comment on racing today. Whether bonus points should be included in the average of a rider is a debatable question. Again I agree with their inclusion (for the same reason as above) but it was interesting that another great exponent of the art, Ole Olsen, was always keen to go over the finishing line first after team riding with his partner! Should bonus points attained during a meeting be added to the final score? Another argument entirely?

I actually admired the decision made by the BSPA, some years ago now, whereby riders acquired both home and away 'official' averages as well as an overall average. This system was put in place to make it fairer when teams chose a guest rider when replacing a missing one. The overall average of any particular rider often gives a false figure (based on the fact that most riders have a superior home average...unless you were Hans Nielsen!) and a guest can often strengthen the team he has been chosen to represent in an away fixture in particular. Unfortunately the concept proved difficult to grasp and was dropped after one (?) season. Just one example (picked entirely at random) Marvyn Cox, of Oxford, in 1985 achieved a home BL average of 7.24 and an away average of 5.69. However a guest could have been used based on his overall average of 6.44. I also remember a grading system that was once in operation but recall that it was fraught with problems. PS Not wishing to head hunt but one glaring example was Vaclav Verner's (Exeter) average in 1977 (although Exeter's track would always produce examples of extremes due to its size and shape). Home average 10.90. Away average 6.62. Overall average 8.87.

I know when I first starting going to speedway in the early seventies averages listed in some programmes generally used to be listed as per ride.

Just reading a White City programme dated 28th April 1976 (vs. Reading) stating that 'Hawkwind' would be appearing that very night!

Remember reading in John Berry's 'Confessions' book that Sandor and Olle Nygren often 'put themselves about' to protect the younger and more inexperienced members of the recently 'promoted' Ipswich team of 1972. I recall that during a meeting at Sheffield (1972) certain Sheffield riders were giving some of the 'Witches' a rough time and that Olle stepped in and rode in a rather 'boisterous fashion' thus allowing a rare Ipswich win at Sheffield.

Apparently John bought a supply of what he thought to be pure methanol but during the British Final it was found to contain an additive - propylene oxide. He was cleared but whilst warming up prior to the European Final the FIM over-turned the verdict and he was withdrawn from the meeting at the 11th hour! After the 1971 World Final the Russian rider, Vladimir Gordeev, had his points deducted (he managed to score 11) because, by then, nitro had been banned at FIM meetings and his fuel was found to contain the additive. Riders still continued to use nitro (highly volatile mixture) at domestic level and I recall that Garry Middleton once accused Ivan Mauger of using nitro at the 1972 (?) Will Internationale after it had been eventually banned. Referring back to Vladimir it became somewhat of a speedway mystery that when he was banned (12 months) his brother, Valeri, suddenly appeared on the international scene. Western observers became somewhat suspicious assuming that it was the same person as they never appeared in a meeting together at the same time...hence the suspicion. I think that it wasn't until 1974 when they eventually appeared together that observers realised that they were indeed not the same person!

Remember the days when riders added nitro to the fuel to enhance engine performance before it was banned.

I'm intrigued?

I recall reading an article that the late Rob Woffinden placed some Castrol R into his petrol driven lawn mower so as to enjoy the evocative fumes whilst cutting the grass!

Yes he certainly didn't come across as the most articulate of characters!

Would have enjoyed watching Sandor in his prime...only saw him towards the back end of his career but apparently was a real character!