Grachan

Blimey. And to think Iris thought my analogies were bad

It wasn't cheating. No more than, say, a football team going a goal up and then sitting back and defending the lead. Or a cricket team just running a single in the final ball of an over when they could have got two so that the best batsman faces the bowler again. There is absolutely no way that was cheating. Why be ashamed of trying to get your side to win the meeting?

The tactical ride etc is rubbish. Pure nonsense. Trying to limit its effect is a perfectly valid tactic for as long as it is in place. Not bad sportsmanship at all.

Why? They are doing their best for the team. I don't understand the outrage at riders slowing to prevent a joker in the latter stages of the meeting. What they are doing is trying to win the meeting. They are not throwing anything. Why shouldn't there be tactical riding? What is WRONG with tactical riding? There is a rule in place. A team 6 points behind can put in a TS and Joker. Sucha scenario can swing 6 points in favour of a team that might otherwise have scored nothing in that race. Trying to prevent that is trying to do your best for the team. It is not cheating anything. It is not throwing anything. It's doing all you can to get your side to win the meeting.

I don't think it's a farce at all. I think it's interesting to see the tactics of both teams. If you're going to have double point races then these are the tactics that go with it.

What's the point of waiting until you're already out to use a tactical substitute?

Don't agree with that. There's no point giving points away. Australia gained 3 points with the joker. For every point you "protect" you can take a point off from that. I can see there might be a reason to do it towards the end as the final few heats unravel, but not early in the meeting. In fact, you could argue that the tactics with the Joker were pefect because they went 6 ahead with Holder in the next heat so nullified the TS.

I agree that Harris is our best rider, so I would imagine that the organisers are hoping he can get a big finish and make a final or two so they can re-select him. Harris may be struggling this year, but he is above Woffinden.

Nope. Would still be daft.

Something like this did happen before, but reserves were allowed then. 1989 World Team Cup Final - all 4 riders in the opening heat were wiped out of the rest of the meeting. You'd think they would learn from history in case it happened again. I like the "substitute" idea that was raised earlier. That works well. The Joker is ridiculous and in many cases (eg Poland winning a few years back and Russia on Saturday) grossly unfair on the team that wins on track. It's the daftest rule. I'm not so sure about that. It's a regular thing for it to be used in that way. Australia would have done exactly the same had the race line-up been different or they felt it was worth waiting. But, yes, allowing not only a Joker but a TS at the same time does make it ridiculous and you can get a 6 point swing in one race rather than 3 points with a straight Joker and wipe out your deficit in one go. It's crazy really.

I'm guessing this is the original Rye house. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/speedway-school/query/speedway

I love watching Chris Harris when he's in this sort of form. It's like the second coming of Peter Collins.

It looks like Swindon pre-homestraight Grandstand. So many things remind me of Swindon. The shop after the stand. The shed looks like the old pits. grass banks. I'm sure that's Swindon. Edit - Dunno. It looks like Swindon but the banking looks low and the grandstand is after the pits which would put it on the wrong side as it looks like the stand on the other side. Dunnooooooooo....

With tactical substitutes, the same race and gate position format and bonus points included my guess is about the same percentage.

So, if that is the most recent rule book then it means FIM races CAN be awarded. So why do they keep saying they can't?

If that's what happened tonight, then effectively the rule is the same as allowing races to be awarded if the riders are on the last lap. For example, if a rider was brought off on the first bend of lap 4 then the race could just continue to its conclusion and the race awarded.

Just watched replay. He hadn't crossed the line.

Right decision to exclude Nicki. Wrong decision to award the race - which is what the ref did.

I remember a match at Swindon when he was about 16 too, and came in as a replacement for someone for Coventry. When he was announced the Coventry fans behind me all cheered and started laughing. I think he fell off in every race, and each time they all cheered and laughed again.

I think Howard Cole rode as Kid Bodie so his mum wouldn't find out he was riding speedway! It was something like that anyway. The story was on one of the history of speedway videos that came out a few years back. Trevor Charley is another name that leaps out from the past when I see it. I have a feeling he may have ridden underage too and that is why I remember it. Didn't Mitch Shirra ride underage at either Coventry or Glasgow as well?

Not sure why Fundin would have won more and Briggs less. Nobody was close to Briggs in form in 1967 - and Fundin was a surprise winner. You'd have to have Briggs as the expected winner that year, although I don't know enough about the era to predict how other years would go.

Autorace is the direct descendent of speedway in Japan. Speedway was banned there is around the late 60s/early 70s I believe because it was considered too dangerous due to the sliding and loose track surface! I've actually been to a couple of Autorace meetings in Japan. I enjoyed the experience, but it is really a purely betting sport - more along the lines of horse or greyhound racing but using motorbikes. Oh lord! Just read the link. Sad news. When I was there riders fall off and the race just carries on, with people being dragged off the track and into an ambulance while the races continued.

I seem to remember Gordon Kennett coming pretty close to changing nationality to Danish to give himself a better chance of qualifying. It's not such a new concept.

I recall Michael Lee having the temerity to make a complete mug of Crumpy round the Abbey by not only beating him easily in the Golden Helmet but pulling wheelies down the straights at the same time. Could well have been 1983.

Didn't Karger and Dugard have two seperate comings together on different occasions? Not sure, but I think they did. Kojak, normally, was funny and good for a wind-up, but that night he was well out of order and in no way having a joke. He was well mardy at the Cheetahs having been given a stuffing and then ran and shut the gate just as Swindon were coming out onto the track for a victory parade. The mass brawl that ensued was great. I remember that far more than the actual match. Oxford v Swindon was always the big rivalry match for me. There was always something happening in the Cowley matches.