lucifer sam

Then how come KL advertise a start-time of 7.30pm and not 7.45pm? Surely "start-time" is when the racing starts? If you go-along to a football match (not often that I do... dull sport) and the start-time is 3pm, then it starts at 3pm not 3.15pm. These little professional touches make a big difference. All the best Rob

It will be interesting to see how BWD goes on Sunday. He got put somewhat in the shade by the flying Fritz The Blitz around his home track at Peterborough. All the best Rob

I thought if I headed in that direction, that might be the best place to find you. All the best Rob

Brand new clubhouse and bar this year. All the best Rob

It would be interesting to see if crowds picked up in the latter part of the 1964 season, as Cheetahs homed in on the treble. But the combination of an all-powerful team and low (compared to other tracks) crowds probably explains why the promoters at Oxford that season were one-season wonders and were never seen again, and left between them a trail of debt. Danny Dunton (promoter at Oxford 1965-1975) once said it took him years after that to re-establish goodwill with local businesses, since Rycroft and Melville had left so many bills unpaid. In contrast, crowds at Oxford in 1984, 1985 and 1986 were good compared to other tracks, and that’s why that period of success was more sustainable and carried on throughout the late 1980s. Mind you, as good as Arne Pander and Ron How had been, we’d never quite had a rider before like Hans Nielsen, a genuine contender for World Champion each and every season, while Simon Wigg was pure box office. Nielsen, Wiggy, the rest of a highly-competitive side (my favourites were Cocker and Rambo), a newly reshaped track which allowed far better racing around Sandy Lane, plus good promotion and presentation added up to a winning combination in getting the fans through the turnstiles. Maybe several aspects of that were missing in 1964. I believe the crowds in the early-to-mid 70s at Cowley were very healthy, far better than 1964, despite the fact the team was nothing to write home about. I'm sure Steve Roberts can add to this, since the Rebels were very much 'his era' at Oxford. All the best Rob

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are due to be at full strength, when the club stages its opening home meeting of the season at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (5.30pm), with Peterborough Panthers in opposition in the new-look SGB Championship. To complete a busy weekend, Scorpions are also due in action north of the border at Glasgow on Saturday. Lewis Kerr crashed out of last Friday’s 42-51 narrow loss at Peterborough with a battered wrist, while Josh Bailey was missing, having only recently had the metalwork removed from a collarbone injury sustained in August 2016. Both are due to return this weekend. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “I have plenty of optimism for the new season ahead. “On Sunday, I’m expecting an exciting, close-fought encounter at the Eddie Wright Raceway. “The meeting at Peterborough last week showed what a trump card that Fritz Wallner is going to be at reserve, while Michael Palm Toft put in an inspired performance as our skipper. “All seven of our riders rode for us last season, so we’ll be dialled into the track straight away on Sunday. We’ll be determined to start our home meetings with a victory and there’s no reason why we can’t come out of it with three valuable league points.” Scorpions have home meetings on each Sunday in April, starting with this week’s meeting. Subsequent weeks see Glasgow, Redcar, Edinburgh and Berwick as visitors. Godfrey adds: “There’s much more continuity this season. We’re running the vast majority of Sundays until mid-September. “We’ve put together what I firmly believe is a team which will be competitive and entertaining and exciting team to watch, in what looks like a very strong and close-fought league. “Of course, our aim is the play-offs, as it is for every side in the SGB Championship. It’s going to be a thrilling ride, and I can’t think of any better place to be on Sundays than the Eddie Wright Raceway.” Admission prices for Sunday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Sunday: Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Ryan Douglas, 2. Carl Wilkinson, 3. Lewis Kerr, 4. Michael Palm Toft, 5. Josh Auty, 6. Fritz Wallner, 7. Josh Bailey. Peterborough Panthers: 1. Jack Holder, 2. Simon Lambert, 3. Paul Starke, 4. Ulrich Ostergaard, 5. Kenneth Hansen, 6. Bradley Wilson-Dean, 7. Tom Bacon.

My favourite tracks are Scunthorpe, Somerset and Peterborough. I’ve been to many of the Scunthorpe v Glasgow meetings since 2010, and I seem to recall many good meetings amongst them, but each to their own. James Grieves was always a bit at sea on a wide-open racer’s track and tended to get passed on all sides, but on the other hand, the likes of Joe Screen, Josh the Scrabbleman and even Mitchell Davey have flown around the EWR. The 2016 encounter wasn’t the greatest (probably the weakest meeting at the EWR in 2016), but a 4pm start in July with the sun blazing down meant quite a dusty track. I recall great races in Heats 13 & 15, though; didn’t Josh Auty go from last to first in the space of a single bend in one of those? I think Scorpions will put up a decent show on Saturday. Our visit in 2016 came early on, when the team was quite a bit different – MPT, Lewis Kerr or Fritz The Blitz weren't in the team at that point. Glasgow now has plenty of banking and I reckon, once he’s sized it up, that Fritz will love it. All the best Rob

Are you going to the Pairs? If so, I'll see you there. All the best Rob

I think it will be much closer than that. All the best Rob

19-71 would be nice! All the best Rob

Gutted for Kyle Newman. Nice lad. All the best Rob

Home promoter can still exert a little influence, though. After all, he's the one left picking up the pieces afterwards. All the best Rob

I thought Onesport were the Polish company. Why would they be running a U21 meeting at King's Lynn? I would have thought it would have been either the FIM or BSI. All the best Rob

Can't believe you're all falling for Shovvy's latest wind-up. He's only pretending to make cretinous comments - he doesn't actually believe in them. All the best Rob

Persson's move on Briggs was disgraceful. The '72 and '73 finals had perhaps the worst-ever referee for World Finals (the starts were an utter joke). It beggers belief that Persson wasn't excluded from the re-run by George Transpurger. All the best Rob

On a slight parallel, West Ham had a crowd of 82,000 in 1933 for an England v Australia test match. I'm not sure if this was the highest-ever speedway attendance at Custom House or not. Over to you, Norbold! PS I'm also wondering what was the best crowd at the huge Odsal bowl in 1946. Could that have topped 80,000? All the best Rob

Yes, great to see a picture of BC. Not sure who that is below him, though. All the best Rob

The lock-out with 20,000 outside was the final match of the 1946 season, and it was actually Wembley v Wimbledon. There was also a 85,000 crowd reported for Wembley v West Ham earlier in the 1946 season. All the best Rob

As Norbold has already stated, that's true. It's also worth pointing out in addition that Farndon was holder of the British Individual Championship. It wasn't known as the British Match-Race Championship until post-war. So you could say that Farndon is the perpetual holder of the British Individual Championship. Of course, in 1931, it started off known as The World's Championship. But by the time Jack Parker defeated Vic Huxley at the end of the season, it had been renamed the British Open Championship. And from 1932 to 1935, it was then the British Individual Championship. Here's a little more information about the 1931 competition: Jack Parker claimed to have won the first-ever World Championship in 1931. The match-race competition was originally called ‘The World’s Championship’ and saw Vic Huxley nominated as holder on the basis of his 1930 form. Huxley saw off the initial challenge of Colin Watson. In the meantime, qualifiers took place around the country to decide the next challenger. Parker won both legs of the Southern Final against Tommy Croombs (West Ham 2-1, Southampton 2-0), and then faced Eric Langton in the National Challenge Final. Again, Parker won both legs (Belle Vue 2-0, Southampton 2-0), to earn the right to face Huxley. The first leg at Southampton on October 7 resulted in a 2-1 victory for Parker. Fog threatened to spoil the second leg at Wimbledon on October 12, but Huxley beat Parker 2.5-0.5, in an absorbing contest including a dead heat in the second race, with all three races breaking the old Plough Lane track record. The deciding leg was also contested at Wimbledon, a week later on October 19, and Parker won both races for a 2-0 victory in front of a crowd of 30,000. However, Parker’s claim to be World Champion was undermined by the fact that the name had been changed to the British Open Championship by this time. The title was subsequently re-named the British Individual Championship, before mutating post-war into the British Match-Race Championship and the Golden Helmet. All the best Rob

From the Harringay moments for Classic Speedway No 33: Vic Duggan won the 1947 London Riders’ Championship at New Cross on May 28 with a 15-point maximum. He also won the coveted British Match-Race Championship during the season, defeating holder Jack Parker. But Duggan and opponent Bill Kitchen were investigated for allegations of match-fixing during his successful first defence. Both riders were cleared, but the inquiry caused resentment, and Duggan resigned the title and made it known that he would not accept an invitation to take part in the competition again. All the best Rob

I would have thought there were a few in 1955... All the best Rob

It wasn't expected that you'd lose by as many as 21-56 though. What a night!!!!!!!!! Oxford went into the meeting needing just 21 points to clinch the bonus point to win the league. We never through for a minute that the Robins would finish the 13 races on 21 points. And that Per Sorensen would get a paid max on his return to the team who sacked him earlier that year. (Sorry Grachan, you seem to have set me off anyway ) Mine is Oxford 28 Coventry 64 from early 2007. Live on Sky. Utterly embarrassing. All the best Rob

That would make no sense. Stadia UK have a commitment to build a stadium in Swindon - how would leasing the dogs elsewhere release them from the commitment they have with the council in Swindon? Oxford and Swindon have both staged greyhounds independently - there's no more link between the greyhounds at the two tracks than the speedway. All the best Rob

You beat me to it :D All the best Rob

It's not Stadia UK who are looking to buy Oxford Stadium. If you read the article, it's a consortium of fans. All the best Rob