chunky

Are you being facetious?

Well, everyone is wearing them here... https://www.retro-speedway.com/extras/autogallery/autogallery.php?show=1.British Club Teams and Riders%2FLeicester%2F1969_Leicester_Lions_(2).jpg

1969... https://www.retro-speedway.com/extras/autogallery/autogallery.php?show=1.British Club Teams and Riders%2FLeicester%2F1969_Leicester_Lions_(2).jpg

Johnsy beat PC twice one night - both from the back - at Plough Lane! That wasn't totally surprising, but in the KOC at Hyde Rd, he beat PC three times on his way to 16+1! Never came close to that again up there...

No biggie, but that was just a six-week period, and we all know that riders can go through a purple patch. What was particularly noticeable after that run of maximums was that he was sticking a last place on a regular basis.

While he was good, I think you are over-estimating him a tad. In his first year, he averaged less than 8 (which as still pretty damn good), and he followed that up with just under 10. which placed him at 7th in the Division II averages. He may have been better at home, but he had only 6 full maximums that year, with the last coming as early as 6th July. I really wouldn't call that "dominance"... When he moved up with Reading, he spent three years between 6.05 and 6.38 - pretty consistent, eh? At Poole the following year, he kept it going with 6.31. His last three years were all around the 5-point mark.

That was "young" back then! He was four years younger than John Louis...

Thing is, looking back over the years, there have been many, many brilliant youngsters who were going to be the next "superstar", yet so few of them ever actually established themselves at the top level. A quick look at the Division II/NL Riders Championship and the British Junior Championship will show you that. I just don't get why...

Nobody. I'd much rather see a procession with no passing... That's why everybody hated riders like Collins and Morton.

Yeah. I was a die-hard Dons fan, but I would drive all over the country to watch speedway at different tracks. Results didn't matter to me; I just went to watch the racing...

What gets me is that people hate him for being good, and say he makes speedway boring by winning all the time. So, today's fans are only interested in the results, and the actual racing and on-track action aren't important?

Zmarzlik has been beaten on a regular basis, this season, but due to a combination of skill, determination, and luck (often thanks to Doyle), has ended up increasing his lead. He IS beatable, but the same as riders like Funding, Mauger, and Rickardsson, he ends up winning.

I don't think "clouded" is the correct term; they are "deluded"... People say they want the "best riders in the world" in the GP's. Even allowing for Sayfutdinov and Laguta, Tai is STILL one of the top 11 riders in the world, not just the top 15...

I know...

So, semis are Poland vs Australia, and GB vs Scandinavia...

I was wondering that when he said Tai was vulnerable?

And there I was, thinking you knew everything!

You forget one thing. You can get good overnight, but you can't get experience ovenight...

Doyle hasn't had a fall or a warning yet...

I was waiting for you to say something, Norman...

Mauger won his first World Title at 28. Muller won his first World Title at 34. Gollob won his first World Title at 39. Bewley is 24...

Oh, you poor thing... You don't know what you'll be missing!

Yeah, I remember when Andy got injured; it was a bad one. I think there were a few who started wearing them in 1970, but I'd probably have to go through the old magazines to find them!

Newport, actually...

I was thinking that you would have been there in 1971, and of course, our memories play tricks on us sometimes! Yeah, he went home, and came back six years later.