fatface

Hi all, I wonder if anyone can help me out... I'm trying to book my folks a decent hotel in Lonigo for the night of the GP. Can anyone recommend somewhere suitable and near the track if possible? Thanks

103 - Paul Smith? 116 - Louis Carr 118 - Alan Mason 119 - Mickey Rooney 120 - Steve Bastable 128 - Tony Forward 131 - Sean Wilson 132 - Merv Janke, Bobby Schwartz, Bernie Leigh 133 - Phil Colins leads Gordon Kennett ® and Colin Richardson 134 - John Louis, Eric Monaghan Any good?

Einar Kyllingstad - Norway/King's Lynn

67 and 90 are very difficult! I hope you know WATigerman, cos it'll drive me nuts if I don't find out! I've still got some more names to throw at them yet though... 67 - Billy Burton? Steve McDermot? 90 - Nigel Leaver? Steve Regeling? Gerald Short? 101 - the legendary Tony Forward 102 - phil White 103 - Darren Boocock? 104 - Peter Ravn 105 - Gianni Famari 106 - Shooey 107 - Mavis Davis 108 - Billy Sanders 109 - Phil Collins 110 - Kelly n Shawn 111 - Sean Wilson (what a belter!)

not been on the site for ages...but WATigerman has lured me in again. I've got important things to be doing you know! However, nothing can be more important that unmasking these guys, so here i go again... 67 - v tough - I'm going Eric Monaghan 88 - for me, that's Louis Carr at the rear 90 - Sam Nikolajsen? 97 - Kelly Moran 98 - Schwartz 99 - Toni Kasper 100 - John Eskildsen

No 10 looks like Phil White to me...

Here, here Grachan. Mike Lee was a big boy and he's made his own decisions in life that have sometimes taken him down the wrong route. Loving the new avatar by the way! Here's another one ... Buddy Robinson who rode for Exeter in 84. Maybe if he'd come back to the UK after the one year, he might have done something, but never did...

I suppose you are right, Lance King didn't really fulfill his potential. Probably because he had such a huge amount of it! Thought it was circumstances that seem to effect him more than anything else. He was very much at his peak at Cradley in 84, but they were forced to choose between him and Erik Gundersen in team-building for the next year and unfortunately he got the chop. As I recall he went back to the states for one season before returing for spells with Bradford and King's Lynn and was never quite the same rider. His career just seemed to lose momentum when he left Cradley. As for truly unsuccessful Americans, I recall Larry Kosta and Eddie Ingles being pretty dodgy Belle Vue signings in the 80s...

Ah yes, that's a good one too. It was at the Coventry-hosted British Final in 78. PC boiled it down to one of the guys who pushes the bikes out. Now a conspiracy theorist would say that it was all part of a plot to eliminate one of Bees skipper Ole Olsen's big rivals on his way to the world title that year. You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment....

The BIG story of the affair was that Malcolm Simmons pulled out of the British Final citing injury thus letting Simon Wigg back into the World Championship having only made it as reserve. I think it was proved that there were a few backstreet shenanighans on this subject - Simmo was well past his best (and let's be honest, not shy of a dodgy deal or two) and Wiggy was a hungry young buck who went on to reach his first World Final that year. But the rest of the so-called sensational series was very tepid. Stancl letting Penhall win?! Do me a favour .... that's the equivalent of Tomasz Chrzanowski not standing in Tony's way last year...

That is amazing! I never knew such footage existed... what a treasure...

Thanks Norbold.... only in speedway could this happen... Love the Rick Miller one too... this seemed to be a bug bear for referees for a season or two in the 80s. Also remember Simon Wigg being excluded when popping a wheelie to celebrate winning his final ride at an England v Denmark (or was it USA?) test - thus depriving him of an 18 point max.

Can't remember the exact reasons or details, but wasn't there a meeting involving maybe Canterbury in the early 80s where Alan Mogridge was actually programmed in both teams?? I think it was something like he was withholding services for one team, so was listed as rider replacement and was guesting for the other team? Is that right.... somebody out there will know the exact story I'm sure....

Haven't Ryan Air just started to fly from Stansted to Bydgoszcz? I'm thinking of making that my "international" GP next season as well, so would also be interested in hearing any recomendations.... a Polish temp recently started at my work and he tells me Gdansk is a better place to stay and just over an hour away...Ryan Air are also flying there now too...

I do feel sorry for Hans. There is little doubt he is among the top 16 riders in the world and is a rider I would certainly pay to see. He's hard, controversial, but undoubtedly talented. Despite some of the tosh written above about BSI not getting their marketing right, I think they have done a cracking job for the sport in recent years. I would estimate over 150,000 people paid to see World Championship Speedway last year - and i didn't think I'd be saying that in the early 90s! But I think they have missed a trick here... Hans Andersen is one of the most marketable riders out there and I for one, will miss his presence in next year's series...

Yes, in retrospect it was. He definitely looked the best rider on the night. I read in some book or other (can't remember where) that gave an interesting insight into what was going on inside his head. Having won the title the previous year, Danish TV decided to cover the final for the first time ever. Ole was so keyed up and wanted to make such an impression that he just let his enthusiasm get the better of him. Hard to think of him as an exitable young buck though isn't it?!

Hi all, I've been crawling all over the forum trying to get stuff for this book - with some success - thanks all. As a big Aces fan in the 80s, I was surprised to see that my collection of PC pics is somewaht limited. Is anyone able to e-mail any good pics of PC in action in the 70s (pref 73-76) for mine and Norbold's book. Much obliged Falcace chrisb@scottishathletics.org.uk

Hmmmm.... What's Larry Ross up to? Dennis Sigalos too...very classy rider...

Good point - I'll give you that one SCB. But back to Ivan's era and I still think six world titles was about right for him, even if it had been a GP series. Szczakiel apart, I think the other 70s World Champs - Michanek, Collins, Olsen would still have won titles under a GP system.

I think this debate has been done once or twice before and yes it is difficult to compare riders from different eras - but that doesn't stop it being damn good fun. Personally I'd go for Tony. I just think he's the complete package, he can gate, ride great first turns, can pass inside or outside, can race all types of tracks, is fast, can do it under pressure and is super-professional. I also don't really buy this notion that Ivan would've won more titles under a GP system - was he really the best rider in the world in 77, 79 and even 72 for that matter? Probably not.

Yes, but my point still stands that the GPs need a real international flavour to be successful. And as much as I enjoyed the rough and tumble of the old British Finals...you can't expect the whole system to be changed to satisfy the whims of nostalgia..

Some bizarre suggestions above! Golden Helmet match-races as qualification?!Bring back the one-offs?! Come on guys, it's 2005. You'll be wanting them back on Japs next... I think the GP Challenge does have a lot of merit...and in an ideal world, then yes that should be the format. But I still think that there needs to be a fair amount of flexibility in riders being nominated for the following year. You simply have to have an international mix to broaden the appeal of the sport. It's quite conceiveable that no Poles or Brits would be in the GPs without the nomination process. Quite simply that would be a disaster for attendances and viewing figures. The World Championship is our biggest opportunity to sell the sport to the world - it would be a lot harder to do that with riders from only three/four nations taking part. We're not alone in this. The two biggest sporting events in the world - the Olympics and the World Cup also place great emphasis on internationalism and it certainly works for them. There will be top European teams who will miss out on the next World Cup at the expense of some Asian/African teams who they would normally be expected to beat. Likewise, there will be top American and African athletes who miss out on Olympic places taken by smaller countries. Ultimately, it doesn't affect the winner, the best guys still win, what it does do is simply broaden the appeal and make them into truly global events. That's the challenge for the SGP.

Hi Tomaz, Yes, I'll be there. I'll also be aiming to get to the stadium at 5ish. Just let me know when and where..

Got the disc today youngy - thanks mate I was toying with the 54-54 Eng v USA test, but will probably spike it now to ensure we have a greater variety of riders involved in the book. PC, Penhall, Tiger Louis already get a decent amount of exposure. AndyM - I remember that one too - although I think you've got your facts mixed up. It was actually Larry Ross and PC that got that last heat 5-1 against Erik Gundersen and Lance King in 83. For some reason Chris Morton was put at no4 that day and scored 15. Erm, I'll get my anorak......

Thanks guys. I still can't find that 73 Final though - I see the 73 WTC final, but not the Daily Mirror Final...