chunky

I would certainly class him as better than that clown Tomaszewski...

Didn't Nielsen refuse to ride for Denmark?

A candidate, certainly. However, it is difficult to prove when a rider doesn't have the titles, and greatest potential/natural ability doesn't mean the best. I am sure some will feel that Kenny Carter was the best. Supremely talented, but never made a World Final Rostrum. Same with Joe Screen. Steve

Three World Championships, plus a second and a third. More than any other British rider. In a six year period. A superb performance in the Speedway of Nations final. Far more impressive than PC's three WTC maximums against largely inferior opponents. I'm so sorry Tai didn't win the Internationale, Brandonapolis, Superama, Yorkshire TV Trophy, Golden Hammer etc... Steve

It wasn't as tough in 1978 - ie full of top riders - as it was in the 80's. At that point, Autrey was in a class of his own, and Steve Gresham was the next best. Penhall, Schwartz, Sigalos, the Morans, Preston, Cook etc, were still a a year or two away from British speedway - and world class. Steve

In 1978, Ole Olsen became World Champion after just 15 rides, and the Scandinavian Final lineup wasn't exactly chock full of World Class riders. Gordon Kennett took second after competing in six meetings, but the three British Qualifying Rounds, while not easy, didn't feature all the world's top names. Scott Autrey was third, after how many meetings? Probably just the American Final (which wasn't that tough back then), the I-C Final, and then the World Final itself Of these three, neither Olsen nor Autrey had to face Peter Collins, and the pair only had to face Lee, Jessup, and Simmons in just two races during the entire championship. Compare that to Woffinden facing Janowski, Zmarzlik, Doyle, Hancock etc every two weeks, sometimes two or three times in one night. Steve

Winning a single GP is very different from winning a GP series over a whole season. Yes, there are anomalies within a GP system - as there are within most, if not all systems - but in order to become World Champion, a rider has to perform at a consistently high level. With the old World Finals, a rider could have one lucky night, and become World Champion. A rider could become World Champion after a small handful of meetings, only one or two of which would come close to including the majority of the "top 16" riders in the world. Steve

Absolutely! Scary when you see things like that... Steve

Glucklich was a decent rider on the international scene, but never showed any of that in the BL, and Johansson had a couple of brief stints a few years apart, without showing any form. Hammarberg and Ring (not Kling - there was also a Borje KLINGBERG at Eastbourne at another time) were never that great, and with a home track like Eastbourne, it would have been a big difference to Hyde Rd. Steve

Or Mark Loram counts as Maltese! Steve

Yeah, he came to Wimbledon in 1989, but only rode four matches for us. Good grasstracker, though... Steve

If a nation was actually a nation at the time (W. Germany, Czech Republic etc) then that counts. I know it's a strange situation with the UK, but to my knowledge, while the UK is the sovereign state, the UK has never been represented in international speedway competition! Do we ignore the individual nations of the UK. Do Scotland's appearances in official FIM events (WTC and pairs) not count? Are Simmo's hat-trick of golds and PC's World Cup Final maximums invalid? Are there any we have missed? Ukraine? I would think so there... Georgia? Steve

Both legitimate international organisations... Yeah, I know, both are suspect also!

Well now, did the UK lose to Croatia in the World Cup semis?

So too is Scotland; does that not count? Or England, for that matter. The sovereign state is "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", and comprises four examples of a "country within a country", of which Northern Ireland is one. Steve

That's what I was looking for! I can't remember who was from where, but that's why I didn't mention the Channel Islands. Would that be Hughie Saunders and Marcus Bisson? I wasn't sure about Northern Ireland.... Have we had any Manx? Steve

...nations have been represented in British (league) racing over the years? I know we have had some newer ones represented in recent years, particularly with the breakup of some of the Eastern European nations (and both the old and the new count if riders actually represented that particular nation at that time). A straightforward name-change doesn't count as two (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe). NO!!! MARK LORAM DOES NOT COUNT AS MALTESE! Neither does Graham Warren count... I am talking about bona fide nationalities... Apologies if this has been covered before, but it's quite possible that we would have increased the number now. Here is a start : England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland. France, Netherlands, Germany, West Germany. Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada. Argentina, Zimbabwe, South Africa. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland. Over to you... Steve

I know the museum wasn't there then, but when I lived in Apeldoorn, I would have only been about 30 minutes from it! Steve

I take it that was you, then? I'd never been to Peterborough at that point, and what really impressed me was that all three were taking totally different lines for the whole race, and nobody was able to get any advantage. Steve

BWitcher mentioned Peterborough, and thinking about it, it is surprising that nobody has mentioned that fantastic race from the 1983 National League Fours! Martin Scarisbrick, Dave Perks, and Richard Knight battled it out all over the track for four laps, with Scarisbrick finally getting the win. Steve

Not cheating; team-riding... Not the first time it happened, and won't be the last, but nobody complains when the Brits do it. Steve

That was the greatest single move I have ever seen in speedway. Nilsen was going flat out, and Gollob went inside him like he was standing still. Then, to totally miss the turn, and cut back inside the way he did... Steve

Yeah, I remember Glenn from there too! James' username is "spiegal", I believe... Steve

I finally found the match I was looking for - September 1978... A couple of weeks earlier, Roger Johns had inflicted the only defeat on PC at the Tommy Jansson Memorial. This time it was a league clash against the Aces at Plough Lane. After a couple of impressive wins against Mort and Les Collins, Johnsy then racked up two brilliant wins over PC to complete an incredible maximum. One of them saw passing and repassing, and no matter what PC tried, he just couldn't stop him. We lost 40-38, but seeing a couple of races like that, with Roger coming up trumps both times, it really didn't matter to us! Steve

I wasn't there, but I was the following week, and I still have the prog! Maido gave him such a write-up... Steve