lucifer sam

Tony, oh well, I'll have to find another 4 names. Interesting when watching the "World Finals of the 70s" DVD that the likes of Mauger and Briggs were considered to be British riders right up until around 1976 (Mauger rode in the British Final until 1974). Dave Lanning definitely gives the impression that Mauger was "our" man in the 1972/1973 World Finals. All the best Rob

1. Ivan Mauger 2. Peter Collins 3. John Louis 4. Michael Lee 5. Malcolm Simmons 6. Ray Wilson 7. Dave Jessup 8. Barry Briggs 9. Gordon Kennett 10. Jim Airey 11. Terry Betts 12. Martin Ashby 13. Eric Boocock 14. Chris Morton 15. John Davis 16. Doug Wyer 17. Nigel Boocock 18. Jim McMillan 19. Ronnie Moore 20. Joe Owen Mauger, Briggs, Airey and Moore were all part of teams that won the World Team Cup for Great Britain in the 1970s. All the best Rob

Best I've seen (covers 1980 onwards): 1. Hans Nielsen (heat leader) 2. Jason Crump 3. Bruce Penhall (heat leader) 4. Tony Rickardsson 5. Erik Gundersen (heat leader) 6. Michael Lee 7. Simon Wigg (Mauger, Olsen & Collins not included since I saw them, but not in their prime). Best of all-time: 1. Ove Fundin (heat leader) 2. Barry Briggs 3. Hans Nielsen (heat leader) 4. Erik Gundersen 5. Ivan Mauger (heat leader) 6. Bruce Penhall 7. Vic Duggan On standby: Tony Rickardsson, Jack Young, Bluey Wilkinson, Peter Craven, Ronnie Moore, Ole Olsen, Peter Collins, Jason Crump, and (for Norbold) Tom Farndon. All the best Rob

And do you honestly think the above comment is acceptable? All the best Rob

And then by the time Bunyan is fit, Tomicek has his new average and Bunyan could slot back in, and Stoke can track Bunyan, Vissing & Tomicek. I said Malcolm Vasey was a wily old fox. All the best Rob

So will they now have Tomicek AND Vissing? All the best Rob

Incidentally, which EL club did Vissing end up signing for? All the best Rob

Tsunami, unfortunately that does seem to be the case. Both you and I know that Lubos is a good signing for Stoke in the long run. Given the right atmosphere and encouragment, he will flourish. And Malcolm Vasey is a wily old fox, he'll be aware that Lubos's average is due to drop and will plan accordingly. By the end of the season, Stoke will finish a difficult season with a highly competitive team, which hopefully they can take into next season. All the best Rob

I did say "at this point". And you still haven't come up with a name. All the best Rob

BFD, when do your lads gets annoucned? Personally, for Lynn, I would go for Holder, Batchelor, Watt, Doolan and McGowan, with Doolan & McGowan making way for Crump & Ward for the race-off - after the Brit boys beat you into second place at Lynn. All the best Rob

Yes, but there's no way Lubos's average will stay that low. It's a good piece of management by Stoke - Lubos will soon be a much lower figure at which point they can beef up the team further, and they may end up with Lubos at reserve at some point, and he'll clean up from there. There's not an exhaustible supply of riders, you have to fit in who is available and is willing to ride. Please point out another rider who Stoke should have signed at this point. All the best Rob

Bagpuss, Stead's league form is much better, but it's a big meeting and we need riders with a "big meeting" mentality. Barker showed that at Wolves in the British Final and Stead didn't. It is strange that the British No. 3 is not being selected for a 5-man British team, especially around a track where he excels. But as you say, it's all down to opinion. All the best Rob

Well King's Lynn track specialist Ben Barker should really be in there, shouldn't he? Especially after his third place in the British Final. Cannot understand the selection of Stead, who's been in before and failed. All the best Rob

So a rider who has averaged over 5.00 in the Elite League in the recent past won't average 4.00 in the Premier League????? In the words of Captain Mainwaring, "Stupid boy". All the best Rob

Steve, maybe you should have watched today's race before commenting on it. If so, you'd have seen a thrilling opening lap (in which Button alone passed 5/6 drivers), plus Vettel passng 7/8 dirvers after the safety car went back in, as well as some fun'n'games involving Alonso and some other drivers. F1 does produce the odd very dull race, but today wasn't one of them. Yep, if you pressed me, I would say the Speedway GP was the better of the two, but as a speedway fan first and foremost I would say that. But F! is pretty thrilling in its own way. Now then, if you'd compared either with the dull Football World Cup Final... All the best Rob

Good Grand Prix last night. It used to be the case at Cardiff that the atmosphere was great, shame about the racing, but that no longer seems to be the case. Last night there was some terrific racing. And add in the tantrums thrown between the Aussies and the Danes, it all made it a great meeting. All the best Rob

Jarek Hampel as captain at Cardiff please. All the best Rob

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought Bryn was donning a black wig and doing his best Cher impression on the Millennium Stadium centre green on Saturday night. All the best Rob

Parsloes, if you're after a double-header, may I suggest Monday, August 30 (5pm): Scuuny vs Sheffield (PL) followed by Scunny vs Mildenhall Bog Moggies (NDL) I am planning to be in attendance, and I would imagine there's a good chance PhilK might be there as well. Hey, I might even buy you that long outstanding pint. All the best Rob

Jayne, that's somewhat worrying to read. I was encouraged by the introduction of the NL last year - because it seemed that it was more-or-less the CL, but with proper rules (the "rules" were always the bane of the CL). However, it seems that costs, which were already on the rise in the third-tier, have spiralled even more. It should be remembered that one of the primary reasons for the introduction of a third tier in 1994 was to provide a cheaper level of speedway, so that tracks could open that otherwise could not have. And it's also provided the entry point to the sport for Somerset, Scunthorpe, etc. If Buxton can no longer sustain NL speedway (after 15 years of running in the third tier), then something has gone badly wrong. All the best Rob

Hi Tony, thanks, see you there next week. I'd forgotten that there's also the books of Ivan Mauger & Leigh Adams coming out next weekend. It's going to be an expensive weekend. All the best Rob

Well I put him in for Torun, selected him as captain and moved from near the bottom to near the top. It took me ages to find my team (in the end I used Ctrl F), I wasn't expecting them to have moved up like that. All the best Rob

Actually, wasn't it Peter Craven who was the youngest ever World Champion? All the best Rob

Tony, Are you going to be at Somerset for the Pairs? If you are, I'll come and buy both the 1970 World Finals DVD and the Michael Lee book. Also plan to get Jeff Scott's new book that day. Going to be an expensive trip. All the best Rob