lucifer sam

Kevin Jolly's 1980 BL average was from 9 meetings before he was injured. He's open to debate whether he could have kept that up for a whole season, but this name is listed in the averages in the 1981 Yearbook. All the best Rob

Maybe, but I'm on a bit of a downer regarding NL speedway right now. Give me the winter off and I'll be back to normal next March. All the best Rob

The 11.83 figure is from BL matches only i.e. the second half of the season in 1986 (he averaged 12.00 away from home!!! ), . For 1985-1987, the League Cup took up the first half of the season and the British League the second, but to be consistent, I've used British League matches only throughout the decade. Nielsen's 11.83 is the best league average recorded in British Speedway (qualification: six matches). For interest, Nielsen's average from all offical meetings for Oxford in 1986 was a still pretty staggering 11.57, with 31 maximums from 45 official meetings. All the best Rob

1: Carl Askew (O), Nicky Allot (S), Phil White (S), Mick Handley (O), 67.1 (3-3). 2: David Sheilds (O), John Hack (O), Danny Boyle (S), Jim Priest (S) (fell), 69.9 (8-4). All the best Rob

British World Champions (plus European Under-21 Champions) during the 1980s: 1980 World Champion - Michael Lee World Pairs Champions - Dave Jessup & Peter Collins World Team Cup Champions - Michael Lee, Chris Morton, Peter Collins & Dave Jessup (John Davis - non-riding reserve) 1981 World Longtrack Champion - Michael Lee 1983 World Pairs Champions - Kenny Carter and Peter Collins 1984 World Pairs Champions - Chris Morton and Peter Collins (European Under-21 Champion - Marvyn Cox) 1985 World Longtrack Champion - Simon Wigg 1987 (European Under-21 Champion - Gary Havelock) 1989 World Team Cup Champions - Jeremy Doncaster, Kelvin Tatum, Simon Wigg, Paul Thorp and Simon Cross World Longrack Champion - Simon Wigg TOTALS: Peter Collins 4 Michael Lee 3 Simon Wigg 3 Dave Jessup 2 Chris Morton 2 Kenny Carter 1 Kelvin Tatum 1 Jeremy Doncaster 1 Paul Thorp 1 Simon Cross 1 John Davis 1 (Plus Marvyn Cox & Gary Havelock as European U21 Champions) British Individual World Finalists in the 1980s: 1980: 1 MICHAEL LEE 14, 2 Dave Jessup 12, 6 John Davis 9, 8 Chris Morton 8, 9 Peter Collins 8. 1981: 5 Kenny Carter 11, 8 Dave Jessup 7, 10 Michael Lee 5, 11 Chris Morton 5. 1982: 2 Les Collins 13, 5 Kenny Carter 10, 6 Dave Jessup 8, 13 Peter Collins 5, Andy Grahame DNR (res). 1983: 3 Michael Lee 11, 5 Kenny Carter 10, 10 Chris Morton 7, 13 Phil Collins 4. 1984: 6 Simon Wigg 9, 11 Alan Grahame 5 (res). 1985: 8 Kelvin Tatum 8, Phil Collins DNR (res). 1986: 3 Kelvin Tatum 12, 8 Chris Morton 8, 9 Neil Evitts 8, 12 Marvyn Cox 3. 1987: 6 Jeremy Doncaster 20, 11 Simon Cross 10, 13 Chris Morton 9. 1988: 6 Simon WIgg 9, 8 Kelvin Tatum 8, 10 Chris Morton 6, 12 John Davis 3, Simon Cross DNR (rest). 1989: 2 Simon Wigg 12, 3 Jeremy Doncaster 12, 5 Kelvin Tatum 10, 7 Andy Smith 10. All the best Rob

It didn't take too long in the end (well, apart from 1983, when the Speedway Star didn't publish a final set of BL averages and I had to work out the final Halifax & Cradley averages myself!). The below averages are from British League matches ONLY. I've listed down to 9.00 for 1980-1987, and down to 8.00 for 1988 & 1989 (as the top averages came down, due to the introduction of both fixed gate positions and a nominated heat). British riders in BOLD. 1980: PETER COLLINS 10.70 Hans Nielsen 10.70 DAVE JESSUP 10.52 Bo Petersen 10.46 Bruce Penhall 10.35 MICHAEL LEE 10.17 CHRIS MORTON 10.11 Jan Andersson 10.08 Scott Autrey 9.97 Bobby Schwartz 9.95 Ole Olsen 9.70 JOHN DAVIS 9.54 GORDON KENNETT 9.50 Dennis Sigalos 9.41 Phil Crump 9.41 MALCOLM SIMMONS 9.40 KEVIN JOLLY 9.18 Larry Ross 9.12 Richard Hellsen 9.22 Ron Preston 9.09 1981: Bruce Penhall 11.08 KENNY CARTER 10.50 Phil Crump 10.39 MICHAEL LEE 10.34 Erik Gundersen 10.26 CHRIS MORTON 10.26 Jan Andersson 10.02 GORDON KENNETT 9.95 Kelly Moran 9.83 Hans Nielsen 9.83 Bo Petersen 9.81 DAVE JESSUP 9.59 JOHN DAVIS 9.34 Tommy Knudsen 9.27 ALAN GRAHAME 9.26 Ole Olsen 9.12 Bobby Schwartz 9.09 Larry Ross 9.06 1982: KENNY CARTER 11.05 Erik Gundersen 10.72 Hans Nielsen 10.49 Bruce Penhall 10.39 Dennis Sigalos 10.21 Bobby Schwartz 10.11 CHRIS MORTON 9.98 Kelly Moran 9.97 Billy Sanders 9.93 Shawn Moran 9.88 Ron Preston 9.87 Jan Andersson 9.78 GORDON KENNETT 9.62 Larry Ross 9.59 ALAN GRAHAME 9.49 Phil Crump 9.44 MICHAEL LEE 9.42 Tommy Knudsen 9.17 PETER COLLINS 9.10 LES COLLINS 9.07 1983: Dennis Sigalos 10.99 Hans Nielsen 10.77 Erik Gundersen 10.59 MICHAEL LEE 10.43 Mitch Shirra 10.38 KENNY CARTER 10.34 Billy Sanders 10.27 CHRIS MORTON 10.17 Phil Crump 9.85 Jan Andersson 9.61 Shawn Moran 9.38 Ole Olsen 9.25 Tommy Knudsen 9.20 PAUL WOODS 9.18 DAVE JESSUP 9.17 SIMON WIGG 9.15 Bobby Schwartz 9.14 Lance King 9.11 1984: Hans Nielsen 10.69 CHRIS MORTON 10.65 Jan Andersson 10.30 Phil Crump 9.94 SIMON WIGG 9.91 Bobby Schwartz 9.73 PETER COLLINS 9.73 Billy Sanders 9.73 Shawn Moran 9.66 John Cook 9.36 Lance King 9.19 Mitch Shirra 9.18 Erik Gundersen 9.16 1985: Hans Nielsen 11.42 Eirk Gundersen 11.11 Tommy Knudsen 10.37 Shawn Moran 10.26 Bobby Schwartz 10.00 SIMON WIGG 9.70 JEREMY DONCASTER 9.60 Jan Andersson 9.57 CHRIS MORTON 9.53 John Cook 9.40 Bo Petersen 9.33 PETER COLLINS 9.08 JOHN DAVIS 9.04 1986: Hans Nielsen 11.83 SIMON WIGG 11.01 Erik Gundersen 10.91 JEREMY DONCASTER 10.19 Shawn Moran 10.14 CHRIS MORTON 9.74 Sam Ermolenko 9.66 John Jorgensen 9.66 Tommy Knudsen 9.57 Jan Andersson 9.46 Bobby Schwartz 9.23 Phil Crump 9.17 1987: Hans Nielsen 11.73 Tommy Knudsen 10.90 KELVIN TATUM 10.42 Erik Gundersen 10.22 Jan O. Pedersen 9.84 JEREMY DONCASTER 9.83 SIMON CROSS 9.77 Jimmy Nilsen 9.73 Mitch Shirra 9.66 Shawn Moran 9.58 Sam Ermolenko 9.47 Per Jonsson 9.35 SIMON WIGG 9.17 Peter Ravn 9.01 1988: Hans Nielsen 11.00 KELVIN TATUM 10.41 Tommy Knudsen 10.23 Erik Gundersen 9.96 Jan O. Pedersen 9.75 Shawn Moran 9.52 Sam Ermolenko 9.32 JEREMY DONCASTER 9.32 Per Jonsson 9.11 CHRIS MORTON 8.98 Jan Andersson 8.96 Kelly Moran 8.74 SIMON WIGG 8.66 SIMON CROSS 8.44 GARY HAVELOCK 8.30 Mike Faria 8.21 Mitch Shirra 8.18 1989: Hans Nielsen 10.97 Jan O. Pedersen 10.39 Sam Ermolenko 10.00 Erik Gundersen 10.00 Shawn Moran 9.75 KELVIN TATUM 9.49 SIMON CROSS 9.32 JEREMY DONCASTER 8.51 Jimmy Nilsen 8.33 Ronnie Correy 8.12 Brian Karger 8.05 Kelly Moran 8.00 I'm off to reconsider my list. It looks like I need to get Gordon Kennett somewhere in the lower reaches, while Les Collins needs to come down a bit. I'll post my final top 20 later today. All the best Rob

Mimmo, I'm afraid to say that I refused to go on a point of principle, after the shocking way that this showpiece event had been previously handled, being put back at just three days notice for a supposedly "more important" Young Shield match. All the best Rob

Parsloes, surely it is more the fault of the league administrator, who should be ensuring that clubs have reserved dates put aside for the play-offs. If have to have play-offs, the aim should be for a mid-October completion, with proper reserved dates, this could happen quite easily. I just hope that the one leg can go-ahead today and some sort of result can be declared. It would still be a hugely unsatisfactory outcome, but some sort of result is better than no result at all. All the best Rob

Main Man, thanks for replying. Something certainly needs to be done for 2011 (if the play-offs continue. I really don't see the need for them in the National League). My suggestion would be each club setting aside reserved dates throughout September and the first half of October. E.g. this year, the deadline for the play-offs was Sept 12, so each club should have reserved dates during Sept 16-22 for the first leg of the semis, and Sept 23-29 for the second leg. For the final, each club, should have reserved dates of Sept 30-Oct 6 & Oct 7-13 for the two legs, depending on which they end up staging. Clubs can only put other meetings on in these weeks, once they are out of the play-offs, or was its known that their home leg is not being staged that week. The aim has to be finish the play-offs by mid-October. The second half of October should be for emergencies only. All the best Rob

Main Man, but come you took so long to get on with your play-off matches? And why didn't you restage the meeting in the afternoon today?? All the best Rob

I looked through the Complete History of the British League, but the averages are team-by-team, rather than a summary of the top averages. I'm still going to go through the Stars, all I need is one from the end of each October. And sorry, but IMHO the No. 1 Brit has to be an individual World Champion - a rider who never finished above eighth doesn't cut it for me. The No. 1 has to be a winner, not an World Final also-ran. All the best Rob

Any chance of a restaging tomorrow afternoon? How long does it take to drive from Newport to Rue House - could the riders do both? I can't believe that this situation has been allowed to develop. There's no way the play-off final should be taking place in the final three days of the season. The deadline for the NL play-offs was 47 days ago. All the best Rob

I'm after a quick summary of the 1980s 9.00+ BL averages as well, but they don't seem to be readily avaiable in one location. I guess I'll have to plough through the Speedway Stars and post them here. And personally, I can't see how Chris Morton can No. 1. He never finished above eighth in a World Final. He was a very good rider, but not quite there at the very, very top level (i.e. Individual World Finals). I've got 20 names (which I will change around after studying the averages), but I've got a firm idea who my Nos 1 & 2 will be - and they will be winners, not eighth placed riders. The No. 1 has to be a World Champion, not nearly men such as Carter and Morton. All the best Rob

Great to see the Hitmen having such a great season. They've already taken the National Trophy and KOC, could the league title be about to follow? Buxton Speedway is a credit to the Moss family and all involved. A terrific little club, who have brought on so many youngsters over the last 16 years. They are the perfect example of how speedway should be run at this level. All the best Rob

Given that the NL cut-out date for the play-offs was September 12, how on earth did we get into this situation in the first place? All the best Rob

Well, I would say that he is fault, because you can only get grit thrown up by a competitor's rear wheel is if you're getting beaten. Kolodziej did blow it under pressure in the GP challenge, but he showed enough at Bydgoszcz to show that he should be in the GP. All the best Rob

Cheers, Conkers. All the best Rob

Now he isn't in the 2011 GP series, I assume Tai will be entering in the 2011 Under-21 mini-GP series. Good luck to Tai in his quest to become World Under-21 Champion. All the best Rob

Just call me Mystic Rob. All the best Rob

There's six key meetings to fit in the next two weeks: NL Play-off Final: Newport v Buxton - date TBA Buxton v Newport - Sunday, October 31 (date from Buxton official website) NL KOC Final: Buxton v KL - Sunday, October 24 KL v Buxton - Wednesday, October 27 (both dates from BSPA website) NLRC - date & venue TBA NL Fours Final - date & venue TBA Any ideas when the three other fixtures will be arranged? Is there anywhere which could stage the NLRC on maybe Saturday, October 30? It's a bit unsatisfactory that so many important meetings have been left so late in the season. All the best Rob

Steve Lawson would definitely feature in the Top 20 National League riders of the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, I would place him third behind Joe & Tom Owen. All the best Rob

Phil, that's a shame, any chance of the meeting taking place early in 2011? All the best Rob

I would like to see the Czech GP shift to Pardubice, which is one of the best racetracks in the world. It's true that Pardubice probably needs a little improvement in a couple of other areas to be able to stage a GP, but if the carrot was dangled in front of them, I'm sure that they could make the necessary amendments. Prague has been a rubbish meeting for too many years now. All the best Rob

I was surprised at JD in someone's top three!! I'm working on my own top 20 (got a list of sorts, but want to check it with the lists of BL averages first, because at the moment, my list is decided largely on honours). JD is likely to feature, but at the bottom of the list rather than the top! As for Carter's honours, OK maybe Halifax can't be pinned on his door (although sometimes an inspirational No. 1 can propel a team to success), but how about the fact he never won a single international round of the World Championship? All the best Rob

I can't agree with Carter as No. 1. Away from domestic British Speedway (couple of British Finals and couple of BLRCs), he won the 1983 World Pairs with Peter Collins. And that's it. Never finished on a single World Individual Final rostrum either. Carter flattered to decieve at the highest levels of the sport. He never inspired Halifax to win anything either. Carter's talent alone places him in the top 5 British riders of the 1980s. But he lacks the roll of honour to push himself into the top couple of positions, which should be reserved for winners. All the best Rob