Fourentee

A character for all the right reasons. I well recall the day at Workington when Glasgow were the visitors. The centre green had a number of nations' flags planted in it and during the parade and rider introductions he walked up to each flag and inspected it carefully. Upon arriving at the Scottish saltire he removed it, carefully spread it out on the grass...and wiped his boots on it.

Which, presumably, is why only two of the side survive for the 2016 version...

A much maligned rider. I think I recall a less than whole-hearted effort at Monmore once when he was about to be axed by his side (Lakeside? My memory is very untrustworthy). But on the whole I always regarded KK as a confidence rider, one for whom the first ride set the tone.

He does in some quarters: This is January 2009 which turned out to be quite a year for Wolves. http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2009/01/13/freddie-has-ace-up-his-sleeve/

Good point well made. Hamill had a very good 2006 and actually by no means a bad 2007, despite injuries finally catching up with him. Always excellent in the pits too; the kind of rider who enthuses his teammates. Wolves 2006 were a fascinating team, a "very nearly" side. PK had an imperious season, Hamill was classy and Lindgren beginning to emerge. It really needed just one from the second strings/reserves to come through a little more and it could have been quite something. Mind you, without going all nostalgic, there were some tremendous riders around in other sides then as well. Ten years on the whole British speedway product is looking rather devalued, but that's another story for another thread.

Really? By whom? Edit: Cancel that, I've been rushing through the thread and not reading all the posts carefully.

I'd be astonished if Tai rode in Britain next season. Whatever the merits or otherwise of riding in this country, his performances in Sweden, Poland and the world championship indicate clearly that not doing so is working very well indeed for him. Shame, but there it is.

Gosh, yes, I can now remember him winning the (February?) meeting one year and beating Chris Harris in the final. Had forgotten that.

Incredibly, yes, Adams did not take a win from his five starts in the first leg. Extraordinary by his standards. And yes, the memories are distant and receding by the year!

Very best wishes to David. I had the pleasure of interviewing him on several occasions and can assure those posters who have not met him that his retirement announcement exactly reflects the man -- warm, sincere and engagingly candid. He was a joy to interview, never ducking a question and always answering with depth and insight. Impossible to write a dull quotes piece with David (however hard it may appear to readers that I tried...!). The night he qualified for the Cardiff GP was a very special one indeed. Good luck for the future.

Initially announced as a possible broken collarbone, but later as a muscle injury. It was also announced that Milik would take his last ride but he then withdrew. So evidently nothing too serious, thankfully, if he was originally contemplating that last outing. Congratulations to the Lynn riders tonight for a spirited and competitive display under the most trying of circumstances. Very impressive.

In addition (and I wasn't at the meeting) there is often a reluctance to field a rider whose programmed outings finish in heat 10 due to changing track conditions.

Not quite the same thing, is it? :-)

Impressed!

Great photograph, though!

Auspicious evening for Peter Karlsson, who breaks Sam Ermolenko's Wolves all-time appearance record of 542 outings in the black and gold tonight. I guess a home match would have been more appropriate -- it would have worked out as Belle Vue at Monmore but for rain-offs -- but Lakeside is a good spot in its way, given PK's recent time there. Anyway, congratulations and all hail to one of the club (and sport's) great figures. I have reason to believe (ahem!) that there is a two-page, 2,500-word interview with the man himself in tomorrow's Express & Star newspaper...

Not sure even the mighty PK's powers stretch quite that far...

Common-sense lot, the Cumbrians. Win from the tapes and minimise the effort.

Absolutely. I know of one who deliberately concealed from the track doctor the fact that he had been briefly unconscious in a crash so that he would be allowed in the rerun.

Yes, correct. I seem to remember him holding a record for consecutive appearances in the National League which was overtaken by a Crayford stalwart (Alan Sage?). A very small claim to fame; I came across a stranded motorist many years back and gave him a lift into Workington on the back of my little 125cc bike and it turned out, of course, to be Mr Watson himself.

Winter drawers on, Rob?

I see what you did there!

Steady guys, stay low, don't be tempted...

Good that they've kept that reminder of the old days...

Hyde Road, Hackney, Ellesmere Port, Reading (didn't attend many meetings there, but the ones I saw were good ones), Milton Keynes. And a special favourite, Park Road at Barrow. Sunsets over the sea before climbing back on the little motorbike and puttering back to Workington. Lovely.