chunky

People didn't complain when Bomber did that! Wait, yes they did...

That's why I love Speedway Researcher! Still, as we've seen previously, BL65 and Dave Allan seem to have this stuff in their heads!

Here's the next in my series of odd queries; what is the greatest number of different race winners during a match? Have we ever had a situation where no rider won more than one heat?

Exactly... It's not quite the financial suicide that the doom merchants seem to believe.

Well, I used to pay money to travel all over the country to watch matches as a neutral, and there were plenty of us that used to do the same. So, why wouldn't people pay money to watch online? Obviously, there are those who wouldn't, but people like you and I would.

Sadly, the BSF members you are talking about don't care. "This is the way we've always done it, and I'll be buggered if I'm going to change..." Honestly, I don't know what these people want. They reckon they are "speedway fans", yet they complain about everything. They wonder why crowds are so poor, yet they are quite happy to state that they wouldn't go, even if it was free. They say that modern speedway is crap. How would they know when they refuse to even watch it on TV? Every major professional sport welcomes TV, but no, speedway doesn't need it... There are a lot of older fans who still follow the sport, but they are criticised by the younger brigade who tell us we are "keeping new fans away". Live streaming is a valuable tool, but no, that's another thing that we don't need, as it will kill tracks. It's like they really want to keep speedway to themselves, even though they aren't interested enough to go themselves. Weird...

That was the point I made earlier when I suggested deals for away fixtures; 90% of fans wouldn't even consider making a 400 mile round trip to follow their team, but a good few of them would be happy to pay for a live stream.

Sadly, that's always been the case (particularly with speedway fans), but the pandemic has really brought it out into the open. I see no reason why they couldn't do some kind of deal; maybe even for a club's away fixtures? That way, the club could at least be making money from away fixtures where they wouldn't normally...

That's the way people SHOULD be using it...

But I wasn't even thinking of you, as nobody had mentioned Mr Farndon!

I know Rickardsson had twice Crump's final total, but I wouldn't separate them by too much. However, it's hard to argue with that order. Of course, there are those on here who will...

That's the thing; we all hated Mauger (and Olsen, for that matter), but we did have a grudging admiration for them. You really can't dispute the effect they had on their teams and team-mates.

You don't have to be "a fan" of someone to fully appreciate their ability. Most of us were never Mauger fans!!!

Back in the day, they were called "1,000 metre" tracks, but I don't know if that was a minimum size or not...

i think that's a little harsh on PC. I know he only ended with the one World Title, but he could/should have had one of Mauger's titles in 77, and one of Olsen's in 75.

I thought it was Sweden???

Yes he did...

Agree with all that. Thing is, even though there seems to be 5 or 6 main contenders, it doesn't mean that some of the others aren't worthy of a place; they are generally still the "best of the rest". Again, people want new blood, but by riders like Iversen and Zagar qualifying, it proves that the "new blood" isn't good enough - yet. I think Dudek, Michelsen, and Fricke all deserve another crack.

Television coverage was never meant to "replace" live sport; it provided the opportunity for people to watch who couldn't be there in person - like my situation now. Unfortunately, there were some who did look upon it as a replacement, including those who stayed home rather than "supporting" their team. I can see it in certain situations, such as a long journey in inclement weather, but there is no way I would ever give up a home meeting to watch it on the box, or special events like the biggies at White City or the NL Fours/Grand Slam weekend at Peterborough.

Good win for the Robins! Just a few hundred yards from where we lived, there...

Didn't they actually try a concrete start block at Canterbury in 1969/70?

Tsk, tsk, no loyalty at all, eh?

In nearly 60 years of watching speedway, I have NEVER seen a move like that one. Every time I watch it (which is pretty regularly!) my heart skips a beat - literally...

Riding at No 1 in the KOC match at Brandon, he scored 9 + 1 from four rides. He set a new track record of 65.6 in heat 5 (when he beat Gote Nordin), which was equalled by Nigel Boocock two heats later, and then beat Booey after that. He also scored 14 at Cradley in the Midland Cup, and 10 at Swindon in the BL. It's crazy when someone can do that on odd occasions, and not ever look like scoring on most nights...

He is old enough and intelligent enough to know what he means... You are old enough to know that...