Grachan

Don't see the problem with 'flipping' and 'crikey' myself.

Oh stop all all of you! Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it. It's all so silly. Sto-o-o-o-o-p it. Stop stop stop. Stop it. That's my contribution.

Since Tony Rickardsson looks likely to become the greatest speedway rider of all time, I'd hardly call Jason's record that of someone who can't hack it in a World Championship event - I'd say he can hack it more than an awful lot of the other riders in the field.

Difficult to say really. He so often under achieved on the night. I remember in 1982 he was unbelievable, scoring maximums everywhere and looking like the best rider in the World, yet only scored 2 in the World Final (and one of those was when Kenny Carter was excluded), so to be honest I'm not sure the GP would have made much difference. Now, if they'd had it over 16 laps..... Maybe Phil was too calm, whereas Jason is too hot headed, and both may well end up never winning. I think if Jason was going to be World Champ he would have had to do it last year or this year. Maybe he knows that, and that's why he was so gutted.

I'm a big fan of Phil Crump, but it's worth remembering that Jason has actually proved himself to be better than his father at World Championship level.

What is ridiculous is people criticising Jason Crump for how he reacted. I didn't watch the GP, but if he is upset at being eliminated - and pretty much being out of the title hunt already - then good for him for caring. If, as Star Lady says, he had taken himself away then he's not at fault at all so lay off him why don't ya! If Sky choose to seek him out and film him, then whatever reaction they get is their problem. I'm sick of this 'British' thing about not showing your own emotions for the sake of others. Oh yes, and I'm sure his father is extremely proud of him too.

Yeah, I found this in the past. There's some good stuff - my favourite being the marvellous charisma of 'Tony Croomes - Speedway rider'. Have you managed to download the White City one? I've tried a few times but just seem to get a blank .HTML page.

What about Jason Crump & Mark loram?

Presumably Tony won then. Any other results?

Picture 89: Far Left is Ian 'Tiddler' Turner. i think second from the right is Bob Humphreys. Could the rider on the far right be Kelvin Mullarkey? Really not sure - not even sure if he rode for K.Lynn. Terry Betts at the front of the bike.

Some excellent photos there, and very interesting. I can't help much with the Canterbury riders, but in picture 71 the unidentified rider is Bernt Persson - presumably from the 1972 World Final.

Good old Per. I can just imagine him doing that. I used to go to Reading every week just to watch him do stuff like that – and he did it regularly. You’d even get Racers fans hoping he’d be last out of the start just to watch his cat & mouse tactics on the hapless race leader, before swooping on the final bend. I agree that if he had not been injured then many more World titles would have come his way. Fantastic rider. I only visited Halifax once, but I enjoyed it there – definitely the kind of track I enjoy. Swindon lost, but what I remember best is Phil Crump beating Kenny Carter twice in the match and then again in the second half final. (Pictures here)

I know they did this in the 16 lappers. Qualifying heats followed by an 8 man, 16 lap final, with the top 4 qualifiers off the back row. Can't think of any other instances though.

Sorry about that, Sir L. He's here.

Not sure of Ole in particular, but there have been handlebars of all shapes and sizes over the years. There are some excellent examples of different styles here

Interesting site - but that picture of 'Racing at Belle Vue' ain't from Belle Vue.

Dave Mullett?

The biggest memory I have of Ray Wilson is taking Martin Ashby on the last bend in the British Final and condemning my hero to reserve in the 1975 World Final. I still haven't forgiven him!

I thought it was 14 but you may be right. Whichever it was, hardly any other member of the Swindon team beat a Cradley rider all night. Now if there was a topic on the best one man team ever......

Looking back there are certain riders that seem to be at the start of a new trend due to their success with a certain machine - eg. Egon Muller with the GM and Neil Street/Phil Crump with 4 valves. Who was ther rider who started the trend for Weslakes in the first place? Was it Peter Collins?

Without doubt the best team I've ever seen too, and probably ever will. Phil Crump scored a maximum against them though!

And there was me thinking this thread had died ages ago and Cyclone had revived it!

To me it seems to be an obvious opportunity to give some GP experience to possible future contenders. It has to be David Howe and Simon Stead in my opinion as our top 'juniors'. These riders need experience at this level to bring them on and it would be interesting to see how they cope. To be honest I think they would still be a way behind, but it would be invaluable for them and auger well for the future.

I remember when Swindon signed Alf Busk in some cock up that led to Steve Bastable leaving. Basically, he was hopeless, but the Swindon fans were patient as it wasn't his fault and he was trying with little success. Then, suddenly, he top scored with 10 points at Belle Vue and from that point on proved to be a very capable and popular performer. Another one I remember was in 1975 when Bobby McNeil had done very little all year then, in the last match of the season, scored 14 points from 5 rides against Hull.

It’s certainly sometimes hard for fans to see their old favourites struggling and sporting that shiny little leather paunch underneath the race jacket. I suppose some riders are just happy to be there whereas others are forced to face up to the sad realisation that they are no longer World beaters. Most of the riders mentioned here soon retired after realising the young ‘uns had the beating of them. Others (eg Malcolm Simmons, Les Collins come to mind) seem quite happy to keep going for as long as they possibly can and just enjoy their racing.