chunky

Definitely Roger Johns! He always had "potential", but was unable to fulfill it. His Second Division averages were okay - nothing great - and generally, his BL averages were poor when he moved up. For some reason, he started to develop in 1978, and ended up becoming a Dons legend! The moves he would make, like sweeping around the boards, or making one of his famous cutbacks, became the norm. At Plough Lane, he would regularly beat the opposition No.1, often in great style. In 1980, he inflicted the only defeat on Bruce Penhall in Heat 13 of the BL clash. There was the famous last heat 5-1 with Edward Jancarz (from the back) over Ole Olsen and Mitch Shirra to get us a draw against Coventry! His best night was probably when he beat Peter Collins twice - from the back - on his way to a full maximum against Belle Vue. Then, there was the KOC clash at Hyde Rd in 1980, when he scored 16 paid 17, and beat Collins three times. Never a superstar, but Johnsy provided some of the greatest trackcraft I've ever seen.

I don't think the problem was so much "shock" wins, more that a World Final could be - and often was - decided by a fall, an e/f, or a questionable referee's decision.

That would be a great name for a speedway rider!

I'll keep my bloody mouth shut, then...

That's why I posted it in the 'Years Gone By' section! Too many names these days look like a bunch of Scrabble letters pulled out of a bag! So, moving on from your last sentence, you forgot Maxine, Sarah (as opposed to Sara), and Lisa...

Another one off BL65's list: Dominic Perry - Dominic Manzares (USA)

Good call - as would be Lloyd Goffe...

Please note, the first names I have listed are the names they rode under. So, Split doesn't count as it was a nickname, and Squire doesn't count as he never used it! Middle names ARE acceptable, as they are part of the legal name, as are variations (Joshua/Josh, Valentine/Val etc).

Josh Larsen...

I thought of Sumner after I'd posted the list! Strange how many Americans are on the list, eh?

Well, I was totally avoid actual nicknames, as that would add dozens! Thanks, I wondered about Leo. Now, your list: Claude Rye - Claude Bergeron (Canada) Krister Marsh - Krister Jacobsen (Denmark) Dingle Brown - real name is John Hank Bird - Hank Bassett (USA) Murray Burt - Murray Briggs (NZ) Troy Pratt - Troy Bachelor (Australia)

In recent years, we have had a glut of silly names like Jye, Keynan, and Rohan, but what of years go by? There were some unusual names, but were they actually unique in speedway? Some I can think of are: Gus (Gustave) Kuhn Wilbur Lamoreaux Triss (Tristram) Sharp Cordy (Corydon) Milne Val (Valentine) Morton Bryce Subritzky Derick Close Byrd McKinney Hillary Buchanan Miny (Minard) Waln Leo McAulliffe DeWayne Keeter Does anyone know; are these unique in speedway? Have there been any other riders with these first names? Can you think of any other names that may be unique? And yes, I'm concentrating on those from English-speaking nations.

Exactly. That's why I don't get people's thinking today. "It should be like the good old days", when things were unpredictable, and luck played a much greater role. Yet they would whine when a "lucky" or "unworthy" rider would win! Thinking about it, Muller perhaps would be a contender... He did put in some good World Final performances, but it would all depend on how much he wanted to win.

That's interesting! I figured it had something to do with being a training track, but I had no idea the original track was that big! So, some extra information; the Rye House Open Trophy (basically a series of smaller individual events) on 23rd June, 1946, has most races run over three laps. It was only some of the event finals that were held over four laps. Most of the other meetings that season were run over three laps, but it looks like the Rye House-Norwich Juniors match on 21st July was a four-lap event. Strangely enough, the 'Consolation Scurry' held after that meeting featured TWO lap races... Pre-war, it appears that four laps was the standard.

Of course, it's terrible when someone uses their knowledge to make a post, as opposed to just blurting out nonsense...

Never heard that before after a GP...

I will say this again; at least this system guarantees that the GP winner gets the most points! I HATE when people do this, but here's how it WOULD have looked under the old system (with comparison in brackets)... 18 - Holder (-2) 14 - Zmarzlik (=) 12 - Lambert (=) 12 - Doyle (-6) 11 - Huckenbeck (=) 11 - Lindgren (-5) 9 - Madsen (-1) 8 - Kubera (-1) 7 - Michelsen (-1) 6 - Vaculik (-1) 6 - Wozniak (=) 6 - Kvech (+1) 5 - Lebedevs (+1) 5 - Bewley (+2) 4 - Zagar (+2) 3 - Woffinden (+2)

He was also out wide looking for grip when there wasn't any...

That's fine. Get rid of Zmarzlik, Holder, Bewley etc...

Gate 4's coming good, eh?

Doesn't help when you get class riders off gate 4, and they move out to the dirt - and go backwards...

He changed his mind...

Three races into the season...

Who won the bloody war anyway?

Yes you did! You invaded Poland!