lucifer sam

Olsen bothered turning up at Oxford for once? An unusual occurrence then I think Cowley was his 'Exeter' All the best Rob

Three times from the back as well! I can think of riders who beat Hans twice in the same night at Cowley (rare as that was), but I think Carl Blackbird was the only one who completed a hat-trick. The 1986 season was weird. Oxford spent the first month of the season unable to win at home, and then clicked into gear and become almost completely unbeatable everywhere!! I think we're still the only team to have two riders on a BL average of more than 11.00 in a season (Hans 11.83, Wiggy 11.01). All the best Rob

Steve, I'm not sure if I agree with that sentiment. I quite liked the fact there was so many instalments to the story each season. For example, there was September 1984. Erik became World Champion, and was nominated to face Hans (the holder) in the Golden Helmet. Erik came, saw and conquered, with a 2-0 win at Cowley, breaking the track record in the process. It was in the days of the proper Golden Helmet, when it preceded the main meeting, and that was all we saw of Erik that night. The following week he was back again... this time for Cradley. Everyone was wondering if Erik could whip Hans around Oxford for the second week running. Instead Erik's scorechart read something like TX, EF, F, 0, 2. And then there was October '85. At the start of month, Hans scored a 15-point max at Cowley, beating Erik three times, including once from behind. That was a delight to watch, especially as these two knew each other so well, they rarely passed each other. The Midland Cup final promised a rematch. Instead both riders had a nightmare. Hans had his only genuinely bad meeting of the year for the Cheetahs and it ended with his bike seizing solid and Hans stepping off the bike onto the centre green before the bike careered straight into the fence and was written off. Erik had a better evening, until he met a determined Jens Rasmussen. The two tangled and Jens accidentally rode over Erik's head. Lord knows how Erik escaped with just bruising. There were so many instalments to this story, and I think it benefitted from regular rematches. And of course occasionally another rider stole the thunder from Hans or Erik. Cue Cocker passing Erik from behind in the Golden Helmet at Oxford in 1986!! All the best Rob

I'm intrigued in Max Grosskreutz, who apparently had a very unconventional style. He might he been the first-ever World Champion as well, but for an injury in 1936. All the best Rob

Really it was Fundin, Craven, Briggs and Moore. Knutsson was younger than others. He first reached the World Final in 1961, by which time the other four had seven World Championships between them. Knutsson was very similar in age to Mauger, but retired early. But yes I'd have loved to see these riders competing against each other. All the best Rob

Massive load of sour grapes. Szczakiel was the best rider on the day. He beat Mauger not once, but twice. Mauger was behind Szczakiel when he fell off. Szczakiel had to really race for the points in his last couple of rides. In his fourth ride, the Russian barged him all over the place, and he was last at one point, but then battled back up to second place. Plech was 'gifted' an extra point by Jancarz. Szczakiel received no such gifts, he earned 13 points the hard way. The one-off World Final was won by the best rider on that particular day. In 1973, at Katowice, that was Jerzy Szczakiel. Therefore, he was a deserving World Champion. Ivan Mauger certainly never tried to detract from Szczakiel's achievement - quite the opposite. As Mauger pointed out in his autobiography, from 1971 to 1973, they met 13 times and it stood: Mauger 7, Sczcakiel 6. More-or-less 50/50. Szczakiel clearly had a lot of talent to achieve that. All the best Rob

Try Swindon 21 Oxford 56, and you'd be correct. Per Sorensen unbeaten by an opponent, as was Nielsen, Wigg and Cox. We even gifted you a 5-1 in Heat 2 (De'ath machinery problems while leading) to give you a chance. Around 2,000 Oxford fans made the trip, and by the end, all the Budgies fans had disappeared into the woodwork, to leave us celebrating our second successive BL title. Happy days :D All the best Rob

Taylor Poole needs to finish in top 4 of his Aussie state championship, not the national title. All the best Rob

Wrong again. Sky showed all 30 heats from both meetings from that night. When it became obvious that Peterborough were crushing BV, they made sure Heat 15 of that match came first, therefore leaving everyone hanging on the final race at King's Lynn. Leigh Adams won the race for King's Lynn, ensuring Poole lost, at which point they cut back across to Peterborough to show the celebrations. Both the 1999 and 2000 showdowns were shown in full. It needed dual coverage of two meetings in 1999; in 2000, it only needed one, since the last meeting involved both championship protagonists. It's in 2001, that Sky miscalculated. They didn't show Oxford's penultimate match at Ipswich, assuming Oxford were going to lose, and instead the Cheetahs forced a draw to win the title, and the only coverage that Sky had was brief bulletins on Sky News. In 2002, the play-offs started. All the best Rob

Er... wrong. It went down to the wire in both 1999 and 2000. In 2000, it was decided by the final Eastbourne vs King's Lynn fixture. Oxford won with one match to spare in 2001, after a draw at Ipswich in the penultimate fixture. After that, play-offs were brought in. All the best Rob

Norbold, have you noticed the almost exact match in most years between the No 1s from the Stenners and Speedway Star lists, and the discussion a few years ago between four or five of us about the respective Grand Prix champions from those years? All the best Rob

I think, by the end of the season, Craig Cook's performances were almost demanding selection. Of course, it depends to how Nicholls and Cook adapt to their new circuit, but at the moment, I would say the World Cup team should be Woffinden, Bomber and Cook, plus one other (Nicholls or Lambert). If Nicholls wants to do it in the first place, of course. All the best Rob

Interestingly, although the Aussies gained their own ACU circa 1975, New Zealand didn't until 1984. It could be argued that Great Britain, represented by five Kiwis, won the 1979 World Team Cup. All the best Rob

Hear, hear. Mind you, some people are not interested in the actual facts. Tai Woffinden is British. End of. All the best Rob

Blimey, only took you a year to reply to my post. I guess Coventry could be a big test for the Parliamentary Group... can they keep Brandon open? All the best Rob

Yup, I believe so. I think Rickardsson's best season was 2002, and he got up to something like 10.90. All the best Rob EDIT: Confirmed from the excellent WWOS speedway stats site that TR never quite got there: 1991..Ipswich..22..109..209..13..8.15..1F 1992..Ipswich..27..133..259..18..8.33..2F..1P 1993..Ipswich..35..190..417..11..9.01..1F..2P 1994..Ipswich..2..10..23..2..10.00..1P 1997..Ipswich..13..67..163..6..10.09..1P 1998..Ipswich..46..255..618.5..41..10.35..3F..9P 1999..King's Lynn..34..181..416..20..9.64..4F..4P 2001..Poole..35..171..393..20..9.66..3F..3P 2002..Poole..35..186..500..6..10.88..11F..1P 2003..Poole..32..159..364..19..9.64..1F..3P 2004..Poole..11..54..136..11..10.89..1F..2P 2005..Arena Essex..7..35..86..2..10.06..1P 2006..Oxford..7..34..83..0..9.76..1F Read more: http://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/2468#ixzz3qXB3SJ3y

Nielsen in 1988 was 11.00. He had two major wobbles that year - both at Oxford. Against Coventry, he scored just 7 from 6 (when the ref was a numpty), and just 6 from 4 vs Swindon at Cowley when he suffered two e/fs. His away average that season was still around 11.20-11.30 from what I recall. In 1989, I think he was 10.97. He was 11.30+ until Erik Gundersen's accident in mid-September, then his form dipped a bit. Crumpie managed it in 2006. All the best Rob

Says Grachan, loyal Swindon fan, through gritted teeth. All the best Rob

Dunno? Ole Olsen was about 15th, if I recall correctly. Michael Lee was only sixth. Although again it's subjective at which point in the list you believe the world class riders are starting to dry up for any given year. And while positions in league averages are part of the equation, form in international and major events are far more of that equation. All the best Rob

With you, maybe. Not with me. Position in averages is far more interesting than actual average. Look at actual average, and then suddenly lots of ex-NL riders became twice as good in 1965, than they had been in 1964. I don't think they had somehow; more to do with 18 teams in the league rather than 7. All the best Rob

I would be interested to know where Waikeace has Batch ranked for 2014. There were times during that season when he actually performed. Batch of 2015 was almost universally cr*p. When they are demolishing the Abbey and wondering who that bloke still going round the track is, it's Batch completing his final ride of the Swindon v BV play-off match. Although one point is that Batch followed up with 20 points in Denmark with 3 (?) at Cardiff. Whereas JD was a consistent performer in every round of the World Championship of 1980. Hence his presence in the final. All the best Rob

Off the top of my head. And it was one of the biggest 12 individual meetings in the world that year e.g. the equivalent of a Grand Prix. He had an outstanding year. It would be interesting to see the list of riders he beat on the World Championship trail - Olsen, Autrey and Mauger at the ICF for starters. Again off the top of my head. Ironically you've picked the one year that JD really was World Class. All the best Rob

OK, we'll run with it, if you like. John Davis won the 1980 Daily Express Spring Classic. The meeting had terrestrial television coverage, and contained a World Class line-up. After World Championship rounds, the Internationale and the British League Riders' Championship, it was the biggest date on the calendar. It had been running since 1973, and with regular TV coverage, had quickly become a prestigious meeting. He also scored 9 points in the World Final. He actually had the beating of Michael Lee in his final outing, but decided he didn't want to get in the way of the new champion, and dutifully finished second behind him. All the best Rob

It can, although there's a strong chance that Penhall would have won a Grand Prix series has it be held in 1980, 1981 and 1982. My own personal hunch is that Dave Jessup (if he could have kept the number of e/fs down!!) or Michael Lee would have just edged out Penhall across 1980, but Penhall would have triumphed in both 1981 and 1982. Domestically, Kenny Carter had the edge in 1982, but I'm not sure about internationally. Penhall was, in particular, the dominating force in 1981. I'm not sure if Greg has ever completely dominated a year, although he's certainly been the most consistent in a few. I'm going to plump for Bruce, but I appreciate it's comparing apples with oranges: the rider who achieved the most within a very short career, against a rider with incredible longevity. All the best Rob Stop making the same mistake as BWitcher. Yes, I agree with what you say, but it has nothing to do with this discussion. Who's mentioned the number of 10-point-men in 1980? Only you. All the best Rob

Don't be ridiculous. Mauger was clearly still within the best 20 riders in the world in 1980. As much as I applaud Bomber for his heroics in getting back into the GP, I doubt if Harris would be considered in the top 40 or 50. All the best Rob