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Chris Quigley. That's beginning with Q. As for a "q" just in the name somewhere, lots of those around (especially among the Swedes), including a former World finalist: Hasse Holmqvist. All the best Rob

From what I recall, it was the last in a trail of refereeing cock-ups throughout that GP, and Tony Steele was given the remaining rounds of the season, because Wolfgang Glas wasn't up to the job. All the best Rob

Thanks for the clarification. Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely Wolfgang Glas was the worst-ever referee for a Grand Prix? I'm sure he was the referee to the Swedish round in 2000, when he totally missed Loram clatter into Rickardsson, excluded Rickardsson, tried to reverse his decision... but a FIM Jury declared he couldn't do that. All the best Rob

It was the decision of the FIM Jury, not solely the referee. The FIM Jury at each Grand Prix consists of: * Armando Castagna * A local official * The FIM referee All the best Rob

The Speedway Grand Prix is a sporting contest, where each competitor should have an equal opportunity. I believe a representative of the main series sponsor being down the pits, but only helping certain sponsored riders, can lead to a conflict of interest. Not only that, but it could lead to a situation where that representative asks certain team members to drop points to aid other team members. Some may even suggest that this already happened in the recent Australian Grand Prix. I would be interested in reading other people's thoughts. All the best Rob

Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock were sponsored by Exide, and rode under the Team Exide Banner. Hans Nielsen built up a big lead in the Grand Prix, but had a bad round in the fourth round in Sweden, and there was a big chance for Hamill to make up some points. At that time, points for the final were 25-20-18-16, so there was a big swing between winning a GP or finishing third or fourth. Hamill was only third in the final at Linkoping (behind Henka Gustafsson and Tomasz Gollob), but then fourth-placed Hancock came down. Hancock didn't get up and the race had to be stopped. Hamill won the re-run, thus gaining seven extra GP points. Henka Gustafsson was denied the only Grand Prix round win of his career, while Hamill finished just two points clear of Nielsen at the end of the year. Gary Havelock alleged on the Sky Sports television coverage that Hancock had acted deliberately to gain his Team Exide team-mate a re-run. In the fifth and sixth rounds: * Round 5: Hamill passed Hancock for third place towards the end of the final at London (Hackney), after Hancock went wide. * Round 6: Hamill and non-Team-Exide member Sam Ermolenko allowed Mark Loram to finish in front of them in Heat 20 at Vojens, so that Nielsen did not reach the A Final. Ermolenko - the early race-leader - made the admission in his autobiography, where he explained it was revenge for the Danes throwing a race in the World Pairs Semi-Final (1991) to eliminate the USA from the final. Ermolenko also said that he regretted it, since he didn't realise that the extra points scored by Loram would relegate him to 9th in the standings (with top 8 qualifying automatically) and would lead to his elimination from the 1997 series, after he failed to secure his place via the GP Challenge. Sam never got back into the series. While Nielsen should have never lost such a big lead (he'd still been the most consistent rider in the world until 1995, and '96 was when that crown started to slip, as ultimately it was the stinker in Sweden that cost Hans), there were those who felt he had lost to a team rather than an individual. Gary Havelock, in particular, wasn't backward in coming forward with his comments over the Team Exide collaboration. All the best Rob PS I admit to being a huge Nielsen fan, but I've tried to tell the above as objectively as possible. EDITED: Double-checked: it was 1991 where the Danes allegedly threw their final race in the semi-final to eliminate the USA from the World Pairs Final.

Surely Marvyn Cox was a far better rider than Paul Hurry? Dean Barker for that matter as well. And 1978 World No 2 Gordon Kennett is a huge omission. All the best Rob

Another Aussie on a 5.00 maybe? Certainly worked with Jake Allen and BWD. All the best Rob

Yes, there's two very clear variations there. As for Mauger and Nielsen, IMO clearly ego was involved. As has been pointed out in Ivan's case, was No 15 really better than No 13? I think it's more part of a mind game. 'Favours' for other riders is a different kettle of fish. At least Penhall in 1982 and Screeny in 2000 were honest about it - nothing hidden away. Same as in Heat 20 of the 1982 ICF - where Ole clearly instructs Erik (with a hand signal) to slow down on the final bends so that Bo Petersen can pass them both and get into the run-off for 11th place (which he lost): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq_y9WIY4P0 Again, nothing hidden away. I think that's where Greg fell down last weekend - he tried to hide it. All that subsequent nonsense claiming he had a problem with the clutch. It also causes fresh doubt as to what happened in 1996. Were Gary Havelock's allegations at the time correct? Did Greg deliberately fall in Sweden to gain Billy Hamill a re-run and therefore interfere with the result of the '96 World Championship? All the best Rob

I guess so, although he might have been philosophical that the 'plan' hadn't worked in '88 as in '87, and that No 9 wasn't a terrible draw in any case. 1987 ICF: Nielsen allows Jimmy Nilsen through in their final race, finishes 3rd rather than 2nd in the meeting, and gets two inside gates against Gundersen over the two-day world final; the second in Heat 23 is particularly pivotal. All the best Rob

Cheers GC. It's very close - but as you say, the ref got it right. Nielsen JUST finishes first. (And both of them looking down at their bikes is very funny. For 2016, read 1988 ). Draw numbers for final: Nielsen 9, Gundersen 1, Jonsson 12. It's arguable whether 1 or 9 is a better draw, but I guess it was all about getting the better gate in the race between the two (Heat 5) in the final. What's interesting is the number than Ivan avoided in 1979. No 13. Generally thought of as the best draw number, but Ivan wanted No 15. "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." Indeed All the best Rob

TWK, isn't the point of him pulling out of Birmingham to give himself the chance to retire? Tony Mole has been brilliant to speedway. How do we go about getting him an MBE? All the best Rob

GC, have you got a link? Thanks. All the best Rob

I'm 43, and just been to my 44th consecutive season of speedway. All the best Rob

As I was saying... an easy choice All the best Rob

Who's that then? Both teams had two guests apiece last time I looked at the line-ups... All the best Rob

Dunno - it was the controversial Polish ref who staged the 1981 ICF in torrential rain against the wishes of 14 of the riders, so who knows what was in his mind? I've never seen a video of it. But the report (from Phil Rising, I believe) was pretty unambiguous and stated Gundersen crossed the line first, but Nielsen was given first place. Of course, had it been a two-man run-off rather than three (Jonsson was third), then Nielsen could have done the same as Mauger in 1979 and simply pulled off the track. All the best Rob

1988 ICF at Vetlanda. Nielsen out to finish second in three-man run-off for second place (i.e. finish third in the meeting). Shut off coming off the final bend; the following Gundersen also shut off. Gundersen crossed the line first, but ref gave the win to Nielsen. The last time the draw was made before the final was 1990. I believe it changed with the introduction of the World Semi-Finals in 1991. At that point, the draw was only made after the semis, not before them. All the best Rob

No, you need to learn English and also learn that posting repetitively on the same subject doesn't make you right. The key word is remainder. The definition of remainder is: "A part that is still to come." So Greg is ineligible only for the part of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship this season still to come - not for the whole of it. For example, had this not been the final Grand Prix and there had been a further two rounds, he would have been stuck on his 139 points. At no point, does it mention key words such as "exclusion" or "disqualification" from the series. And neither does it mention taking off points retroactively. This is my second and final post on the matter. If you choose to post 100 times on it, that's your choice, but it still makes you wrong, simply because you are not reading the full sentence, just the part of it you wish to be true. All the best Rob

I think a few people on here have demonstrated the inability to read a rulebook properly. This is what it says: “Ineligible for the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship for the remainder of the season". This is what it does NOT say: “Excluded from the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship". So Greg is “ineligible” for “the remainder of the season”. But guess what? They aren’t any more rounds. I can see no mention within that rule where it states he will be excluded from the series or that points already scored will be deducted. There’s obviously a world apart from the word "ineligible" (which is there) and "excluded" (which isn't and indeed any variant such is “disqualified” isn’t there either). I’m not defending Greg for a moment, because I don’t believe he was right to withdraw from Saturday’s meeting, but there’s no way he can be excluded from this year’s World Championship according to that rule. Whether the FIM decide to extend any future “ineligibility” into next season is a different matter… All the best Rob

It's Glasgow's to lose now, especially as Sissis is a real plus at reserve. I can't see anything but a home victory. All the best Rob

Prepare for disappointment. All the best Rob

Yes, you're legally using Mitchell Davey as a guest, instead of doing it on the sly for a rider who shouldn't be missing in the first place, and then managing to keep his points through a technicality. I wonder which team would stoop to doing the latter? All the best Rob PS Good luck to the Tigers, the second best team in the PL in 2016 and therefore deserve to finish the season with some silverware.

Is that confirmed? All the best Rob

That "Speedway Updates" post is just someone's opinion. I suspect it will be Janowski rather than Hampel. All the best Rib