lucifer sam

Yes, but then again, Wimbledon said in 2005 that they would stage a certain testimonial (of M. Burrows esq) and.... (Sorry Parsloes but you walked into that one ) All the best Rob

Andy, there's no doubt Mich's league form was exceptional, BUT: 1. He scored only 6 points in the World Final in Katowice. 2. When the chips were down, Peter Collins bested him twice in vital run-offs (Daily Mirror Tournament and KOC Final). Mauger was the dominant force from 1968 to 1975 - the only rider who could have touched him over a 11-round GP series during this time would have been Ole Olsen. All the best Rob

Blimey, Parsloes & Speedyguy on the same side - how scary!!! Haven't Lakeside said they will stage the LRC in 2010, though? They've simply run out of time this season, who knows what constraints they have to staging speedway there - after all the landlords always have the final say. All the best Rob

Tony, did you notice the lively debate taking place in the Years Gone By section? For the 1970s I went for: 1970: Ivan Mauger 1971: Ivan Mauger 1972: Ole Olsen 1973: Ivan Mauger 1974: Ivan Mauger 1975: Ivan Mauger 1976: Peter Collins 1977: Ole Olsen 1978: Ole Olsen 1979: Michael Lee I'll be interested to see who you guys came up with. All the best Rob

Parsloes, and now you're going to issue another apology, because I don't think Jim Dale was in Carry On Up the Khyber. All the best Rob

Prodons - you're a year out, the Dons won 46-44 in 2003 after Millsy fell on the last lap, then Oxford won 48-47 in 2004 after a comeback in the second half of the meeting. Both great meetings, despite the limitations of the track. Yes, I realise the track wasn't really down to Wimbledon Speedway - you just had to fit in a track the best you could given the restricted area available. It was a crying shame, though - with a decent track to go with the stadium, Wimbledon would have been an ideal venue for meetings such as the ELRC, and maybe even a GP round. All the best Rob

Parsloes, calm down and read my post again. All the best Rob

Parsloes - that's always been the case to some extent, though. There was the same number of seeded riders in the 1973 World Final (five) as the 2010 Grand Prix (four seeds, plus a wildcard in each round). It could be also argued that the Inter-Continental/Continental split guaranteed that the World Final never took place with the 16 best riders in the world on show e.g. would Erik Gundersen (16th in the 1982 ICF) failed to qualify had their been two equal semi-finals? All the best Rob

I enjoyed my trips to the plush Plough Lane, even if the track was an abomination. All the best Rob

But wasn't he in the 2008 final at Birmingham as well? All the best Rob

Are you for real? Do you realise what is happening in young Woffinden's life at the moment? You are just scum. Congratulations to Darcy Ward. And hard luck to Tai Woffinden. All the best Rob

Because the ELRC is not an invitational meeting - you qualify for it and it's been fairly obvious for the last few months who the 16 qualifiers are likely to be. Bjerre should have the rulebook thrown at him. If a rider wants to ride in the EL, then they also ride in the ELRC. If they don't ride, then they should stopped from riding in British Speedway during 2010. All the best Rob

So he thinks there are 16 teams in the Elite League? It's not a valid excuse. It's about time these mickey takers were clamped down upon. If he chooses to ride in an unofficial meeting elsewhere in Europe ahead of an official meeting in this country, then he should be banned from British Speedway for the duration of the 2010 season. All the best Rob

Personally while I think Greg might have been gutted to lose out on the final bend in 2007, I think he'd still be pretty chuffed in this parallel universe where the World Final replaced the Grand Prix in 1995 - because looking at the venues and years I posted, he'd be a multiple World Champion. All the best Rob

Gutted for Kyle Hughes. Never mind Kyle, you've proved you're the best rider in the NL and hopefully the PL teams will be queueing up to sign you in 2010. All the best Rob

I hadn't thought of that. Yes, Chris Harris as 2007 World Champion. I introduced Cardiff in 2001, and then repeated it on a three-year rota, then added the other venues around that depending on which venues were in vogue at that particular time. I hadn't really looked into who won each meeting. All the best Rob

Computer says no. I believe the deadline is 12 noon. All the best Rob

Well fourtunately some FIM documentation from an alternative universe has just appeared through a wormhole in my bedroom and reveals the venues as follows: 1995 - Hackney, GB 1996 - Lonigo, Italy 1997 - Wroclaw, Poland 1998 - Prague, Czech Republic 1999 - Vojens, Denmark 2000 - Bydgoszcz, Poland 2001 - Cardiff, GB 2002 - Sydney, Australia 2003 - Stockholm, Sweden 2004 - Cardiff, GB 2005 - Bydgoszcz, Poland 2006 - Copenhagen, Denmark 2007 - Cardiff, GB 2008 - Bydgoszcz, Poland (after cancellation of Gelsenkirchen, Germany) All the best Rob

Rubbish, it's Big Josh, which is just across the Josh river from its sister town, Little Josh. All the best Rob

Norbold, I think we can count out any European-based GPs during that period (large sporting events were banned in Britain, as they would have made perfect targets for German bombs) - the whole series would have taken in Australia. In which case, Vic Duggan would have been the dominant force. OK, moving onto an idea suggested by Grachan. Having staged a GP series from 1928 to 1994, the FIM decide to shake up the championship by introducing a one-off final in 1995. Who would have won each year? All the best Rob

Bo Petersen's best year was probably 1980, when he almost led Hackney to the most unexpected British League win of all-time. Bo was very inconsistent - he scored a maximum for Denmark in the 1984 World Team Cup, but failed to score in his other 2 World Team Cup Final appearances. Any more for any more on the years 1928-1994. All the best Rob

I would like to change my captain to Gollob for this round. Thanks. All the best Rob

What impressed me on Saturday was not only the way these young lads handled their bikes around a tight track, but also the sportsmanship on display. Every time there was an incident, the lads got up and shook hands. In one race, two of the lads piled up on the first bend, and the lad who got up first anxiously moved his bike to help the other get to his feet. The riders all behaved impeccably, and showed certain supposedly more "mature" riders how to behave. All the best Rob

No, not at all. Yorkie does a very good job - as I said before, he's one of the best in the business. Unfortunately, you've then got the god-awful music. All the best Rob

Entertaining meeting, with Zetterstorm a thoroughly deserving winner. Good to see Holder & Hampel qualify for the 2010 GP series. Track was quite heavy, but I guess it was like this to try to aid Harris through. Meeting really should have been starated sooner. An 8pm start for league meetings may be OK, but a 20-heat individual really needs Heat 1 at the tapes at 7.30pm and not 8.15pm. An 11.00pm finish is not ideal for families, even on a Friday night. And the music was absolutely dreadful - there's nothing other word for it. It really detracted from what is supposed to be a prestigious meeting - so why the comedy music? Last year, the music at Coventry was much better but now it's plumbing the depths again. It's a shame, because Peter York is one of the best mic-men in the business, but the music lets down the presentation package. All the best Rob