Grachan

Most of my riders tended to get 5 or 6 points!

When I was young I used to make up pretend matches by rolling red, blue, white and yellow marbles down a shute. Who knows? If there is no trsce of this match maybe somebody was also playing marble speedway in 1948.

Funny thing is, I thought that. I didn't realise it was an actual match though.

Hooray! I threw myself off from the start by not getting the score chart matching the heats I think. Did Tim Hunt march across the centre green and phone the ref when he got excluded?

Last attempt. Sadist. 1 John Davis 3 3 3 3 = 12 2 Tim Hunt F 1 1 2 = 4 3 Jan Andersson 2 3 3 3 = 11 4 Mitch Shirra 1 2 1 2 = 6 5 Per Jonsson 3 3 3 1 = 10 6 Mark Chessell 2 1 0 = 3 7 Malc Holloway EF 0 0 = 0 heat 1 1 2 V 1 2 Davis, 1, 2, Hunt 3-3 heat 2 6 7 V 6 7 - 6, Chessell, 7, Holloway 2-4 5-7 heat 3 5 4 V 5 4 - Jonsson, 5, Shirra, 4 4-2 9-9 heat 4 3 6 V 3 7 - 3, Andersson, Chessell 6, 3-3 12-12 heat 5 5 4 V 1 2 - Jonsson, Shirra, 1, 2 5-1 17-13 heat 6 1 2 V 3 6 Davis, 3, Hunt, 6 4-2 21-15 heat 7 3 6 V 5 4 Andersson, 5, 4, Chessell 3-3 24-18 heat 8 2 7 V 2 7 2, 7, Hunt, Holloway 1-5 25-23 heat 9 5 4 V 3 6 Jonsson, 3, Shirra, 6 4-2 29-25 heat 10 1 2 V 5 4 Davis, Hunt, 5, 4 5-1 34-26 heat 11 3 7 V 1 2 Andersson, 1, 2 Holloway 3-3 37-29 heat 12 1 4 V 3 5 Davis, Shirra, 3, 5 5-1 42-30 heat 13 3 5 V 1 4 Andersson, 1, Jonsson, 4 4-2 46-32

Oh God! I see Jonsson should be a 1 in his last race. Chessell is wrong too. This is harder than I thought haha

Take 2: 1 John Davis 3 3 3 3 = 12 2 Tim Hunt F 1 1 2 = 4 3 Jan Andersson 2 2 3 3 = 10 4 Mitch Shirra 1 2 1 2 = 6 5 Per Jonsson 3 3 3 2 = 11 6 Mark Chessell 2 1 0 = 3 7 Malc Holloway EF 0 0 = 0 heat 1 1 2 V 1 2 Davis, 1, 2, Hunt 3-3 heat 2 6 7 V 6 7 - 6, Chessell, 7, Holloway 2-4 5-7 heat 3 5 4 V 5 4 - Jonsson, 5, Shirra, 4 4-2 9-9 heat 4 3 6 V 3 7 - 3, Andersson, Chessell 6, 3-3 12-12 heat 5 5 4 V 1 2 - Jonsson, Shirra, 1, 2 5-1 17-13 heat 6 1 2 V 3 6 Davis, 3, Hunt, 6 4-2 21-15 heat 7 3 6 V 5 4 5, Andersson, Chessell, 4 3-3 24-18 heat 8 2 7 V 2 7 2, 7, Hunt, Holloway 1-5 25-23 heat 9 5 4 V 3 6 Jonsson, 3, Shirra, 6 4-2 29-25 heat 10 1 2 V 5 4 Davis, Hunt, 5, 4 5-1 34-26 heat 11 3 7 V 1 2 Andersson, 1, 2 Holloway 3-3 37-29 heat 12 1 4 V 3 5 Davis, Shirra, 3, 5 5-1 42-30 heat 13 3 5 V 1 4 Andersson, 1, Jonsson, 4 4-2 46-32

That gives me the same score chart though. Because I had given Chessell a point by mistake there.

I was just about to put that. Chessell 3rd. 3-3

Does heat 7 have to be 3-3?

Ok. a 4-2 in heat 13. Are you sure it wasn't 45-33? Davis has to have a maximum so that Mitch can get 6 and Chessell 3.

Bugger. It would be Mark Chessell wouldn't it!

Whaaaaaaat!! Give me a minute.

1 John Davis 3 3 3 3 = 12 2 Tim Hunt F 1 1 2 = 4 3 Jan Andersson 2 3 3 3 = 11 4 Mitch Shirra 1 2 1 2 = 6 5 Per Jonsson 3 3 3 2 = 11 6 Mark Chessell 2 1 0 = 3 7 Malc Holloway EF 0 0 = 0 heat 1 1 2 V 1 2 Davis, 1, 2, Hunt 3-3 heat 2 6 7 V 6 7 - 6, Chessell, 7, Holloway 2-4 5-7 heat 3 5 4 V 5 4 - Jonsson, 5, Shirra, 4 4-2 9-9 heat 4 3 6 V 3 7 - 3, Andersson, 6, Chessell 2-4 11-13 heat 5 5 4 V 1 2 - Jonsson, Shirra, 1, 2 5-1 16-14 heat 6 1 2 V 3 6 Davis, 3, Hunt, 6 4-2 20-16 heat 7 3 6 V 5 4 Andersson, 5, 4, Chessell 3-3 23-19 heat 8 2 7 V 2 7 2, 7, Hunt, Holloway 1-5 24-24 heat 9 5 4 V 3 6 Jonsson, 3, Shirra, 6 4-2 28-26 heat 10 1 2 V 5 4 Davis, Hunt, 5, 4 5-1 33-27 heat 11 3 7 V 1 2 Andersson, 1, 2 Holloway 3-3 36-30 heat 12 1 4 V 3 5 Davis, Shirra, 3, 5 5-1 41-31 heat 13 3 5 V 1 4 Andersson, Jonsson, 1, 4 5-1 46-32

Think I've done it. And with no corrections! Which means I probably got it wrong. Should I post it here and be proven wrong?

Kennet did ride for us one year, Sidney. It was in the latter part of his career. I'm not sure if he was a full time member or rode as a number 8 while in the Second Division.

Both presumably. I see on the SGP article that all riders have to sign a contract to say that they are not contracted to any club in any other country.

Me too. I think they would attract good crowds as the only choice for this year.

Maybe they could get 16 riders together and have a British "Grand Prix" series or something like that.

If we get anything, I can't see it being more than a few open/challenge matches around August/September time. Teams could easily be made up with guests as they will be purely for entertainment purposes. I can't see there being any league. Matches like that would normally be very sparsely attended, but if they were the only speedway this year they'd probably attract pretty decent crowds. Poland is way ahead of the UK with Corona Virus and even they aren't starting until June - and even then without crowds, which the UK have said they won't do. So Poland will also be having crowds before they are viable in the UK. We'll be lucky to get anything at all. Jason has gone to Poland with Swindon's blessing, according to the website, as they couldn't guarantee him a start this year. Any rider who can get a place in Poland and is happy to stay there for 6 months will be a fool not to take it if they want a ride this year.

Why would the winner not be a true champion?

Sounds good to me. Although I suspect that if you have £10 entry most teams will go bust by the end of the year. But who cares? I got my scoreboard.

As you say, stronger numbers ones then, and a bit more solid at reserve. The middle orders are pretty much the same.

It's quite interesting when you really look and analyse the two teams that there isn't so much difference in strength considering all the weakening of the league that has gone on since. (Although, of course, we have to remember that the 2007 side were not Champions). The main difference, when you look at the teams in the league from now and then, is that most teams had a World Class number one then. Apart from that, there isn't too much difference. Swindon, of course, had a World class no 1 in 2019, which made a lot of difference for them. Comparing the two sides: Adams v Doyle - I'd say Adams was the better rider, but Doyle has the winning mentality. I'd go for Leigh though at league level. Chrzanowski v Ellis - Ellis, and he's still improving Gjedde v Musielak - pretty even. On top form I'd go for Musielak Ulamek v Jensen - Jensen due to his passing ability Richardson v Batchelor - Richardson Korneliusen v Vissing - Kornieliesen. And this is a big, key difference I think. Moore v Perks - Moore. So, I make it 4-3 to 2007, which is pretty close. Adams v Doyle you could go even, as both could beat everyone else in the league. So not such a difference. I'd still go for 2007, though, based on reserve strength. Having Korneliusen/Chrzanowski at reserve would make a major difference in the weaker races.

The one thing 2020 has, possibly, is more of a winning mentality. Just on rider standard alone, 2007 is stronger for me. The 2020 side performed better but the league was stronger in 2007.