lucifer sam

I think most of the riders ended up going through the tapes at one point or another. Didn't one race have three or four re-starts? The riders knew how badly the ref handled the starts at Wembley the year before, and all were trying to gain an advantage. Michanek was the only rider excluded for breaking the tapes in Katowice despite multiple breaks of them. All the best Rob

Thinking about it again, Michael Lee (1979-1980) has a very strong claim. All the best Rob

Norbold, almost entirely agree except: Bluey Wilkinson had completely retired in 1939. Need a different rider for that year. Not entirely sure who. Unless we knock that season on the head, as almost every result was void thanks to A Hitler. Duggan lost a lot of sparkle in 1950, after the death of his brother in Australia. Graham Warren was dominant that season. Alternatively extend Jack Young to 50-53, as he was already on fire in 1950. Rickardsson's last dominant year was 2005, and he retired after less than half a season in 2006 (I think he ended up 13th in the GP standings). Plus it was Crump's best year. So I would go for: Crump 06-10 Hancock 11-12 Woffinden 13- But, as already mentioned, it's really tricky doing the last few seasons without the power of hindsight.... All the best Rob EDIT: Also pondering on Olsen 77-79 vs Mauger 77-79. Very tricky.

OXFORD SPEEDWAY NEEDS YOU!! SPEEDWAY supporters are being urged to attend a meeting with Oxford City Council leader Bob Price at the Chequers Pub in Headington Quarry on Thursday evening (January 7th, 7pm). Oxford Stadium shut its doors to speedway in October 2007 and greyhounds in December 2012, and has since been subject of a planning application by owners Greyhound Racing Association and Galliard Homes, who sought to develop the site for residential purposes. But a stalemate followed after Oxford City Council unanimously opposed the plans to build 220 homes on the venue in Blackbird Leys, Cowley in January 2014 on eight counts, with the council subsequently awarding conservation area status to the site. A High Court appeal from the developers challenging the conversation area status was dismissed in January 2015, and the stadium has continued to operate, but without speedway or greyhound racing, the two main draws of spectators to the venue. Go-karting still takes place in the centre of the speedway track, and the health and fitness centre remains open. The main complex at the stadium was emptied by the GRA in January 2013, shortly after the end of the greyhound racing. Save Our Stadium chairman Ian Sawyer said: “It is crucial that the public turn up in numbers for the meeting with Bob Price on Thursday. “He was keen to arrange an informal question & answer session, where he can update on any progress, and also it allows people to ask any questions or voice any concerns. “The council remain aware of the importance of the speedway and greyhounds - plus all the other activities being held at the stadium - to the local community, and we need to display to them that our desire is not wavering. “Personally I would love for the Oxford Cheetahs to return. My dad is desperate to see them racing again, and I’d enjoy nothing more than to be able to take my children along to see the Cheetahs in action, so that they can become hooked on the sport as well. “We need to ensure the council are aware that there are many people out there with such feelings, and that the passion for the Oxford Cheetahs has not dimmed. “We ask for as many people as possible to attend the meeting at the Chequers Pub in Beaumont Road, Oxford as possible.” The full address of the venue is: The Chequers 17A Beaumont Road Headington Quarry Oxford OX3 8JN

New signing here: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4658 All the best Rob

Keep a lookout on the Scunny website later this evening. All the best Rob

Hi everyone, a reminder that Oxford Speedway needs you in attendance at the Chequers, Headington Quarry on Thursday (7pm). We need to be there in numbers. All the best Rob

Yes, that's a great deal of help with whether Brian Crutcher (Southampton) or an unattached Norwegian was reserve at the 1957 World Final. Mind you, the matter is settled now, as both John Hyam and Danny Carter (aka Eric Linden) reported that he was there in contemporary reports. All the best Rob

Krasnikov wins with a round to spare and then goes easy in the final round. He's still the best rider by far, isn't he? All the best Rob

Arnie, I suggest Troy Butler was a rather better rider than you suggest. 1986 Australian Champion; 1988 NLRC Winner; World Finalist; World U-21 Finalist; twice British League champion (with Oxford in 1985 and 1989); a successful ride in the last-heat-decider of the 1985 KO Cup, defeating Jeremy Doncaster, to help the Cheetahs to the silverware; 23 points in the semi-final in the 1989 World Paris semi-final; reached the Inter-Continental Final in 1990, a year after being on parade at Munich; regular Australian international. All the best Rob

Speedway Star - October 5, 1957 Page Four: Danny Carter's Gossip'N'Gas Mentions the riders down the pits helping others: "1950 and 1953 World Champion, Freddie Williams, was looking after Ian Williams. Swindon team manger, Bob Jones, an ex-Robin, assisted Bob Roger and George White. Another Swindon rider, Neil Street, came along to help Jack Geran. Former Belle Vue and Stoke star, Harold Jackson, was with Peter Craven and Ron Johnston; Bert Crouch-er came up with Brian Crutcher, while Ray Cresp was ready to aid his Oxford team mate Jack Biggs, should he have been called upon to ride." All the best Rob PS The filter on this site is doing something very strange with Bert Crouch-er's name, hence the dash in the middle.

Taylor Poole has quit: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4644 All the best Rob

For those of you interested in The saga of Oxford stadium , Councillor Bob Price will be coming to The Chequers Quarry at 7pm next Thursday 7-1-16 to tell every...body what the council feel the future of the stadium will be ! If you'd like to ask any questions or hear it first hand feel free to come along .....

Speedway Star. It's a compilation of all their World Final reports from the 70s, but on proper paper and all in one place. Lots of new photos, additional material from Tony Mac from his subsequent interviews with riders, plus a new interview with Jerzy Szczakiel. Highly recommended - I've read it virtually cover-to-cover since getting it for Xmas. All the best Rob

How Szczakiel performed at Wembley is immaterial. The World Final was about who was the best rider on the day - and he was the best rider on the day in Katowice. He gained every one of his 13 points fair and square, and wasn't involved in any controversial incidents (Mauger's fall in the run-off was completely of his own making). Szczakiel deserved to win the meeting. If Plech had been in the run-off and won, the highly controversial events of the fixed Heat 16 would have been the big story. And it would have given the Sunday People even more ammunition come 1984. It's just as well things shaped out as they did. All the best Rob

It is a public meeting at Chequers Quarry. Q&A session with leader of City Council Bob Price. 7th January at 7pm. All the best Rob

Ref could not give it to Plech... big hole in the rules at the time, which meant once a race had finished, positions had to be awarded in the order that (non-excluded) riders had finished. FIM rules changed after this - the race still had to finish before it could be awarded, but ref could award positions at time of incident. Technically, the referee was correct, although he had put on the red lights, Plech would have got a re-run. Lanning probably unhappy about Heat 16, when Jancarz moved aside to let Plech gain an extra point. Just as well that Szczakiel won the meeting - a rider who didn't receive any favours from anyone else. He beat Mauger twice and was a deserving winner. All the best Rob

Dekks, you been on the Christmas wine early or summat? You're making no sense. All the best Rob

Dekks, have you confused Nicki Pedersen for Ryan Fisher? Here's a clue for you. One of those two is a multi-World Champ; the other is a never-will-be. All the best Rob

Norbold, no Arne Pander? All the best Rob

Because otherwise when we die out, speedway dies out. Very interesting to read the thoughts of Grachan's 12-year-old. I think the fascination of working how to fill the programme was something that really helped drag me in around the age of 7 or 8. In football, unless the player is a striker, it's quite hard to monitor how an individual player compares to the rest of his team. In speedway, every rider gets a result in every race. More should be done to appeal to the inner nerd that lies inside most young lads. All the best Rob Yes, trying to second guess the team managers. And sometimes you were convinced actually, e.g. John Tremblin, got that wrong - I could have done the tacticals better than that!! All the best Rob

And don't forget Hannah Cockroft, despite the BBC's attempts to ignore Paralympic Sport. All the best Rob

"Would of"? No, he never "would of" Sid. Would have, maybe. Olsen was a fantastic rider at his peak, no doubt, but Mauger - apart from at Wembley - tended to have his measure. Olsen's record away from Wembley: one win, one third (both in Gothenburg). Never finished on the rostrum in Poland. Mauger was a real force in every country - two titles in GB, two titles in Sweden, two titles in Poland. Mauger would have won over 12 rounds most years. All the best Rob

Ivan's great season was '75 rather than '76. There was no one rider massively ahead in 1976, although PC won both the Inter-Continental Final and the World Final. It was in 1977 when PC was injured, just before the World Final. Ran over a drain cover at Belle Vue, He finished second in Gothenburg, in agony with his leg. Before that, he was on awesome form. All the best Rob

Mauger won have been hard to stop from 1968 to 1975, although Olsen might have just about achieved it in 1972, and Michanek had an exceptional season in 1973. Around 1976, it would have become a bit more open, PC was flying by then and Olsen also had some very good years. And then Lee came along and would have been a very serious contender in 1979. IMO I think Ivan would have won around 7 to 9 titles. All the best Rob