lucifer sam

Yet both were probably similar standard riders to Jerzy Szczakiel who did win. On the right day on the right track, ANYBODY could win the World Final. For instance, Troy Butler was awesome around the old Coventry circuit (i.e before the track alterations in 1998). On ocassions when track conditions suited him, he outscored Hans Nielsen around there. Had the 1989 World Final been held at Coventry on a day when track conditions were right, Troy Butler could have been World Champion. And that was the beauty of the World Final - most the time one of favourites still won (for instance, Gundersen & Nielsen won all the finals between 1984 & 1989), but you never knew quite waht was going to happen and whether you could end up with another Szczakiel as champion. It had unpredictability. All the best Rob

Yes it was possible for all 16 to win (well with the exception of Henny Kroeze in 1987 ). Jerzy Szczakiel scored a great big fat blob in the 1971 final. He went into the 1973 World Final as the fifth favourite Pole (out of 5) and probably the 15/16th favourite of the whole field. And he won. Jerzy Rembas was the rank outsider in 1978 and got into a run-off for third place. A young Tony Rickardsson only qualified in 1991 due to the misfortune of other riders getting injured, yet finished second. Peter Craven had only just avoided finishing 16th in 1954, but won in 1955. Everyone thought Jack Young had done a grand job in qualifying in 1951 as a second division rider, but no-one outside of Edinburgh would have tipped him to win it. He did. Viktor Kutnetsov in looked bloody fast in 1986 and ended up with double figures. Les Collins only got through to one World Final. Every thought his Inter-Continental win in 1982 was a fluke, second place in the World Final showed it wasn't. The unfancied Jack Biggs came so close to winning in 1951. He never came remotely close again. How many more examples do you want? All the best Rob

Jeff, interesting you mention Jerzy Rembas, who was only 2 points away from being World Champion in 1978, therefore completely negating the point of your post. And for mentioning Egon Muller, I assume you have a complete mental block as regards to 1983, or 1979 for that matter, when Zenon Plech finished second. I'll say it again - ANYONE out of the 16 riders could win in a World Final. Rank outsiders DID win sometimes. Look at a very young Peter Craven in 1955, Freddie Williams in 1950 and Jerzy Szczakiel in 1973 as prime examples. All the best Rob

How the Golden Greats series came about. I remember going to the first of these at Coventry in 1988 and it was a hugely enjoyable day. Also the subsequent Hall Of Fame at Donnington. All the best Rob

Of course, if it was a one-off World Final, all 16 riders could win. Unfortunately, we've got an increasingly dull GP series, which will only be between two riders - the ones with 1 & 2 on their backs. All the best Rob

I think it's shocking that Jarek Hampel is not in the GP next year. One of the arguments from the pro-GP lobby is that it contains all the best riders in the world, whereas under the old system, a few big names would be eliminated before the big day itself. However, Hampel is in my mind amonsgt the best 8 riders in the world (along with the riders who finished 1st to 7th this year). So next season the GP series is missing a key rider. Who is the better rider - Jarek Hampel or Chris Harris? If a poll was conducted, I'd wouldn't be surprised if 95% plus said Hampel. All the best Rob

Dan, thanks I used to tape the Channel 4 programmes as opposed to the Sky coverage, as it was much better to watch back a 1-hour programme than a 3-hour programme. All the best Rob

Dan, do the DVDs contain highlights or all of the heats from the GPs. All the best Rob

BBB, any sign of the final standings - I'm going to Cov tonight so I'd like to brag about it to Jacques All the best Rob

Actually it's from a five-year period - 1982-1986. All the riders listed rode in one or more of these finals, apart from Jonsson who qualifed for his first world final in 1987, and Schwartz who unbelievably never reached a World Final (more evidence of just how tough it was back in those days). Now try seeing what kind of field you can put together from the last five years of the GP (e.g. 2004 onwards). You can bet it's not as strong. There was far more quality back in the 1980s. And then what about the 70s, when you had to be pretty much a 9.00 rider in the British League to get as far as the British Final yet alone the World Final. There are so few World Class riders about thes days, it's scary. All the best Rob

I'd put it the other way around. It was much harder to win a World Championship in the 1980s. And even harder in the 1970s. There's only about 6 or 7 top class riders these days - look at the huge gulf between 6th and 8th in the GP standings as evidence. In the 1980s, there were far more. Nielsen, Gundersen, Pedersen, Knudsen, Carter, Wigg, Lee, Tatum, Penhall, Sigalos, S Moran, Ermolenko, Schwartz, Cook, Jonsson, Andersson, Nilsen, Sanders, Muller, etc, etc. I'm well aware I've left a few very good riders out of that list as well. Speedway was at the end of a boom period in the 1980s, with far young men wanting to give racing a go, hence the quality. All the best Rob

I reckon you'll keep to that for about a week. All the best Rob

Ah, but I know I'm right. And the FACTS are - World titles: Nielsen 22, Gundersen 17, Nicki Pedersen 5. Nicki hasn't even caught up with serial bottler Tommy Knudsen yet. All the best Rob

I've defended Nicholls in the past, but my patience has run out this year. I think the GP series would be better served by bringing in some new blood - such as Emil Saifutdinov. All the best Rob

Schumi - but why are you trying to compare one-off World Finals with the GP series - they are different beasts entirely. It's like trying to compare a plsuh sportscar (the World Final) with a battered old mini where the heater doesn't work, the doors don't open and somebody has thrown up in the glove department (the GP series). Nielsen knows how many titles Hans would have won with a GP series in operation during his whole career. But I'm glad it wasn't - it would have been dreadfully boring. Anyway, whatever you say, Nicki P is not fit to lick Nielsen's boots. Come back when Nicki has recorded an astonishing 11.83 (yes, 11.83) league average. Becuase Nicki never will. All the best Rob

Who it should be: Jarek Hampel (there's NO WAY he should lef out of the series) Emil Satnavov Freddie Lindgren NKI Who I think it will be: Scott Nicholls Freddie Lindgren Emil Satnavov Chris Harris All the best Rob

That's nonsense. A champion wins by any means possible. Anyway, if the GP stays, it's only a matter of time before someone wins 10 individual titles. That's the rough number that Fundin, Mauger or Nielsen would have won under such a system. 16 riders could win a World Final, 2 or 3 can win under a GP system. All the best Rob

Schumi, actually Nielsen won 22 World titles. And Gundersen won 17. How many has Nicki won so far? Five, I think. He's nowhere near. All the best Rob

Gollob as my captain for the final round please. All the best Rob

Such as Jerzy Szczakiel (1973) and Egon Muller (1983)? BRING BACK THE WORLD FINAL. All the best Rob

I would imagine that practice next Friday will not be compulsory, so that the riders could follow the example of Todd Wiltshire in 2003, who rode for Oxford on the Friday and then rode in the re-staged event at Ullevi on the Saturday. All the best Rob

For Oxford fans: GERMAN GP POSTPONED - BARBEQUE GOES AHEAD Tonight's German Grand Prix has been postponed, due to adverse track conditions and will be restaged in Bydgoszcz, Poland next Saturday (October 18). The SOS will still be staging a barbeque at the Kidlingon Green Social Club tonight, as the food is already prepared, and they will be showing speedway videos. There will be a nominal charge to cover the cost of the food. It is expected that there will be a barbeque for the restaging next Saturday, but this will be confirmed.

Unfortunately it is - I've experienced it first hand this year. All the best Rob

Schumi, seems a bit silly to me - Nicki Pedersen, Leigh Adams and Ryan Sullivan all in the same squad? Looks like they just bought the league title. Anyway, I don't count these mickey mouse foreign leagues. How many proper league championships (i.e. in Britain) has Nicki won? All the best Rob

How did Nicki ride in Sweden and Russia on the same night? All the best Rob