Grachan

Don't forget Scott Nicholls at Swindon too. Or does that not count?

Pretty much what I was going to say after reading through all this, but you beat me to it. Disappointing, yes, but in the end it looked to me like this was down to the ref. He stood there and told the riders to get on with it, adding that if it rained any more then it would be called off. All the riders returned to the pits straight away to carry on, without any complaints from any of them, including Crumpy. It rained again. The ref promotly called it off without any further consulations. Still, why let the facts get in the way of a good moan! I do agree that the track at Oxford on Friday was worse, but then as it was the worst track I've ever seen a meeting go ahead on I suppose it would have been.

I know. I was there, stood on the bend just in front of the road. People actually got out of the cars and there were fans stood on the hard shoulder watching the racing! I think it's an IKEA now.

At a guess, I would say that 51 28' 20" N, 2 33' 55" W is the site of Bristol Eastville Stadium.

Ah, the dreaded rider control. It seemed pretty random who they moved and where to as far as I could see. Some examples I can think of - Martin Ashby being moved to Exeter after Swindon won the league. Soren Karlsson being allocated to Swindon in 1975. Ivan Mauger said in Backtrack that Belle Vue tended to be given consideration because of their history, although he was eventually moved on too as the team was too strong. Ole Olsen was allocated to Oxford in 1975 but refused to go there, which possibly was the beginning of the end of the system. Oxford ended up with Dag Lovaas instead. Not sure the exact details of Ole Olsen, but I know he was at Wolves at the time and said he wanted to ride for Coventry instead of Oxford and stood his ground. Did he go to Coventry that year or was it later? Perhaps someone else will know more about that.

Now there's a thought. Better still, get Gene Simmons to put together a rock band of kids from the local school to perform in front of 40,000 screaming, wild, mental speedway fans at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. They could make a TV series about it.

How about Leo Sayer? He could sing: 'I won't let the show go on', and everone will go home because they'll think the rest of the show's not going to go on. Then they could do the 'Speedway' rap record, and when it says: 'I'm a player. I'm not Leo Sayer' he could grab the mic and say: 'Ah, but I am' and we could all cheer like crazy kids.

Alright. The bloke who did Errol Brown then. Did you know he actually ended up as lead singer for Hot Chocolate? What about Natilie Casey? She could do 'Chick chick chick chick chicken. Lay a little egg for me.'

I'd prefer to pay £30 and her not be there. Can't they get the bloke who did Chis De Burgh on Stars in their eyes. He'd be good.

Why, the Budge of course.

It's a rocking good way to start the GP. Maybe she'll get Shakey up on stage with her. If they are looking for a Welsh act they should have gone for Budgie. It would have probably emptied the stadium, but I'd have enjoyed it!

More than Briggo did by the end of the night.

You know how it is. You have to keep an open mind on these things.

The reasons he wasn't excluded was because it was on the first bend and the ref was an idiot. One of the most blatent pieces of dirty riding ever and it ended Briggo's career as a World Class rider.

This one from 1950 on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SWINDON-v-TAMWORTH-6...1QQcmdZViewItem

I couldn't bear to see an 'edit' note on a one line post. It had to go!

Dunno. (Just so you don't think people are ignoring you!)

I saw Swindon beat Halifax 61-16 in 1976. David Ashbby had a last place and Geoff Bouchard had a third if I remember rightly. Other than that it was all maximums, and after 8 heats Halifax had just 7 points!

Article and pictures here: http://www.diamondsmcc.org.uk/profilesoffroad.html Also, get a load of this from http://www.motorcycle-uk.com/vsm/jessie.html Fay Taylour, of course, persisted and became very good, racing successfully on two wheels and four. But how did she get her rides if, as Jessie insists, she was disliked so much by 'The Boy's'? According to Jessie she was not above using her womanly whiles - her sexuality? - to get bookings. 'She always used to be at all the parties - she was a favourite at all the tracks,' says Jessie. What sort of parties, exactly, were those, then? 'Well,' says Jessie, 'after a dirt-track meeting there was all sorts!. It was the Roaring Twenties, you know!' But both Jessie, and Bill Douglas, of the famous motorcycle manufacturing family, deny that Fay used out-and-out sexual favours to get rides. 'She didn't mix with the riders,' says Jessie, 'they didn't like her. It was the bigwigs, the owners of the stadiums, and people like that, she used to mix with. They were the people with the money.' Ooo-err!

Canada - Shawn Venables

I've read quite a lot about her over the years. As soon as I saw the title I though it had to be a Faye Taylor thread! It seems she was the one female that has actually been on a par with her male compatriats in Speedway.

Worth getting. People say the 1981 World Final was special, but watch out for the 1972 Final! Very dramatic! I went to the 1975 Final too. Was devestated that Martin Ashby didn't get a ride when Ray Wilson (I think) touched the tapes. I also remember there was a bomb scare which everyone ignored and I recall being right at the back of the stand on the 3/4th bends and being unable to see anything. I sneaked round and into the seating area on the back straight and perched on the end of a bench for a whie before sneaking right down to the front in the aisle. Nobody stopped me. Another amazing thing if you watch those old finals is how often the referee keeps the race going despite a rider (normally Ivan Mauger!!) lying prostrate on the track.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WORLD-INDIVIDUAL-SPE...1QQcmdZViewItem

For me it's GB all the way. For example, in the World Cup I never for a second wanted Leigh Adams to beat any British riders. In the World Championship, though, I feel differently. It's an individual thing, and in a GP I'd pick Adams over Nicholls any time. It's just how I feel. Follow your heart. That's all you can do.

Not sure what sort of crowd they'll get, though, on a Tuesday night sandwiched between Reading home and way.