Sidney the robin

Looked through the records of Penhall , Nielsen, Lee, from (1979 /1983.) Nielsen 1979- 10.16. 1980- 10.70. 1981- 9.80. 1982- 9.89. 1983- 10.82 Penhall. 1979- 10.02 1980- 10.46. 1981- 11.01. 1982- 10.74. Lee. 1979- 10.29. 1980- 10.17. 1981- 10.30. 1982- 9.65. 1983- 10.16 all very impressive figures . Lee actually averaged over 10 points a meeting six seasons out of seven from 1977- 83.

Spot on cannot understand Norbold why the figures generally are taken from 1965 onwards.Great that we have these sites that have some recollection of the past that we can go back on and learn from.Going back to Gote he is often forgotten a classy rider who some say was is in the mould of Warren (etc) good anough to have been a World Champion.

Also Split did the classy Nordin come straight into the top ten as a virtual newcomer.?

I am blinkered sometimes !!!!! but the Briggs record is mighty impressive longevity the most impressive aspect. Looking through some stats from 1946/56 very interesting indeed how totally reliable they are i don't know.? TOP scorers from each year 1946.- Eric Langton-11.13. 1947. Vice Duggan - 11.54. 1948. Vice Duggan- 11.47. 1949.Vic Duggan- 10.64. 1950. Graham Warren.- 10.55. 1951. Aub Lawson- 10.31 1952. Ronnie Moore- 11.36. 1953. Jack Young - 10.61. 1954. Ronnie Moore- 10.59. 1955. Ronnie Moore- 10.87. 1956. Barry Briggs- 10.53. Mirac again with Duggan were both very dominant Mirac being in the top two riders from 1951 until 1956 an often forgotten LEGEND.

Great post BL impressive stats for all concerned, a year that always interested me was in 1969.Ivan Mauger dropped only a misely 9 points in 35 matches averaging 11.74 beating the immortal Vic Duggan who dropped only 11 points in 1947. This was the first time any rider had achieved an average dropping only single figures.

John Boulger, Bernie Persson ( forgave him in 1972 ) Simensen, Perks, Erik were my favourite heathens over the years Salty.

The days of usually seeing the opposing teams no 1 sometimes only once a year ( barring individual meetings) made it special for me.The teams were varied tracks so different my favourite tracks had to be Hyde Rd, The Shay, Blackbird Rd , Waterden Rd, County Ground as we all know there was some dross along the way but the good well outweighed the bad.

1969/1972/1983 are the years that i enjoy looking back on the most great memories.1969 was a blur and still enjoy researching that year to this day.Pander, Harrfeldt, , Harrysson are riders i can't really remember seeing yet saw them ride Knutsson, Craven are the two riders I would of loved to see ride.

1966 has to be one of the most interesting years in the history of British speedway .Eric Boocock garecrashed the top ten as the highest ranked rider from the old Provincial league to prove the gap could be bridged if good anough.The top 10 averages in 1966 were 1.Briggs - 11.12. 2. N.Booccock- 10.54 3.E.Boocock -10.46. 4. Nordin - 10.44. 5. Nygren - 10.40. 6.Pratt - 10.00. 7.Harrfeldt - 9.89. 8. Mauger - 9.82. 9. Mckinlay- 9.67. 10. Broadbank 9.57.

We were talking about this the other week Witcher was the meeting that good at Wembley 1981.??? Two great races in with a few interesting ones but in reality it was pretty average apart from that.The atmosphere and day out well that was a different kettle of fish terrific great memories .Myself i am not a fan of Cardiff but it is a great weekend out, which endless supporters enjoy which is great and the crowd is holding up nicely. Just a shame that Belle Vue does not hold 10,000 plus because the track is superb and it deserves big meeting's to be staged there but in reality we know it won't happen.

Yes Norbold you are totally right overlapped is the word, funny thing is growing up i never really thought of Nigel being that much older than the others.The DVD where Eric brilliantly talks about both of there careers, i didn't realise that Eric travelled that much with Nigel to meeting's before he got seriously got involved with his own career.

I never considered including PC x 2, Michael,Tai, Freddie, Mark,Gary, Tommy , in this thread because that would be another debate for another year.I just picked the seven mainly because they were fine riders in there own right and it just highlighted how strong the era was.Also Chunky and others have mentioned other names, ( i.e.) Morton, Hunter, and if we wanted we could of mentioned Carter,Wigg, Tatum,Louis ( jnr)Going back to the seven riders mentioned Nigel was nearly a decade ahead of the other six so his case to be top dog is a very strong one.

I think Nigel and Eric both had different qualities Bobbath, Nigel had guts tenacity a true racer Eric was more of a thinking rider..Entertainment wise i would have to say to this day Nigel is one of the most exciting riders i have ever seen and his Blue leathers gave him a real identity.Eric league wise was ridiculously consistent year after year posting great figures a thing that struck me was when Eric said that he had ridden better in other British Finals than he had in 1974.My uncle told me Nigel along with Arthur Forrest( who I never did see race) were both box office riders never a boring moment when they raced.Nigel would be up there with Collins, Gollob, Ward, Crump ( jnr) Morton as real in/ out racers.

Nail on the head chunky.

I think the run off with Ray in 1975 probably tells you everything about Martin really Chunky.The 1972 BLRC with ( Barry's help ) showed you what he was capable of and it was only a peaking Olsen that beat him.He did ok internationally won the Superama and Victor Ludorum in Norden 1975 so he could mix it with the best but when you analyse his career it does not do him justice really.

Yes Norman is a great shout Addio was averaging well over 10 in 1969 and after that injury was never the same.Ashby has to go down as a real frustration for me i see him everyweek and knew just how good he could be.His record does not stand up as it should have he had so much skill as a rider and i would say 1975 was his best year along with his Exeter spell.

From 1961 /72 Briggs won 6 British titles with 5 places , Ivan won four titles with two places both dominated really apart from Craven's two title wins before his untimely death.

World final appearances N.Boocock 8, Ray Wilson 4, E.Boocock 3, Malcolm Simmons 3 T.Betts 1 M.Ashby 1 J.Louis 4.When rating riders this probably should be the biggest factor maybe the appearances show just how strong the era was.Only five world final appearances between Simmons, Betts, Ashby which is quite amazing really.

Looking through the seven riders only four of those became British Champion Ashby,Betts,N.Boocock missing out.Being fair to Nigel he was in a real tough era where Briggo, Ivan, P.C dominated the title from 1961/72.

?? just shows Chunky how none of us are right or wrong, !!!!

Great you are back WK hope you are well my friend.!!!!

Totally right Steve Dag was very good at Wolves.Maybe you can tell me Steve first visited Monmore in the late 70s ( Hans time 78??? the track was so different long straights.Holloway Swindon who i followed did well at the old Monmore nowadays now the track is a real test technically as a rider.

Feel guilty Norbold like you named Bettsy 7th in the list.Betts was one of my heroes see him maybe once a year what a rider he was everytime the Lynn visited the Abbey to see Terry ride was a treat also he was a massive plus to Michael Lee no jealousy and Michael knows just how good Terry was as a rider and human being.

Thats ok Wessex great to hear other people's opinion's so surprised people pick Ray but gee he was good.My uncle who first took me to speedway told me he was one of the few from 67 onwards who could beat Briggs on merit at the Abbey.Also Sommelier another forum member who i respect immensely has always told me Wilson /Michanek are of a few who could beat a peak Olsen at Wolves.

I was doing some memorabilia recently in these boring times and came up with these seven British riders.In what order would all you other forum buffs have these riders in.?? N. Boocock - E.Boocock- Louis- Betts- Ashby- Wilson(Ray) Simmons. Here goes should be interesting. 1.Ray Wilson, 2. Simmons. 3.Louis. 4.E.Boocock 5. N.Boocock 6. Ashby 7. Betts very very difficult you could change your opinion everyday.