fatface

Not particularly a fan at all. I just like to see someone given their fair due. Hence, I can't really accept him being labelled as not world class or other riders 'destroying' or 'easily' beating him in a year when the facts indicate he was damn close to being, if not THE best rider in the world. Going forwards I can't think of any other rider who had as much control over a speedway bike as Hans Nielsen. But if I was to identify a chink in the armour, I think his nerve and judgement wavered a bit more than it did for other greats when it came to the very sharp end. He lost three run-offs for the World Title and let the 96 GP title slip when well within his grasp. And I think the clashes with Knudsen and Ermolenko (although he got away with the former) showed rare misjudgement.

And yet, despite that. I reckon Carl Blackbird could and should have gone on to a better career. He had talent and could ride all types of tracks. But even when he was signed by Belle Vue and broke into the England team, he still only had one bike strapped onto the back on his car. Never seemed to give it a proper crack.

Definitely interesting and sometimes revealing, but not always presenting an accurate picture. For example, Gundersen has an 8-3 head to head comparison with Nielsen in World Finals and I think that does reveal something of a psychological edge he had over his rival. On the flipside, Carl Blackbird bagged a few wins against Nielsen, but I can't put that down to anything more than a quirk.

Louis and Larry Ross were engine room pair that probably won the Aces the title in 82, coming up with important points when the mattered. Both dipped a bit in 83 and with that, so too did the Aces.

Great. Always interesting to see head to heads. From the year we are debating would certainly be interesting. Just to flag though, their two meetings in the World Championship were both won by Nielsen. Yes, I can see that 8 points from 6 is a poor return from Nielsen in this one test you seem so interested in. Then again, it does better the 3, 4 and 4 posted by Lee in in the USA tests that season, albeit around a decent 12 pointer. Sorry to hear that Nielsen and Gundersen were so awful that night at Hackney with Lee and Carter having the beating of them. Below par they may have been, but the records show that Nielsen actually beat Carter in both their meetings and Gundersen also still got the better of Lee once....not bad for "awful". 3rd Test at Hackney 8th JulyHt 1: Carter, Olsen, L Collins, Knudsen 62.0 4-2 4-2Ht 2: Lee, Nielsen, P Collins, Thomsen 61.4 4-2 8-4Ht 3: Ravn, Morton, Jessup, Gundersen 61.8 3-3 11-7Ht 4: P Collins, Lee, Olsen, Knudsen 62.7 5-1 16-8Ht 5: Jessup, Morton, Thomsen, Nielsen 62.7 5-1 21-9Ht 6: Carter, L Collins, Gundersen, Ravn 62.5 5-1 26-10Ht 7: Morton, Olsen, Jessup, Knudsen 63.0 4-2 30-12Ht 8: Nielsen, L Collins, Thomsen, Carter (ret) 63.2 2-4 32-16Ht 9: Lee, Gundersen, Ravn, P Collins 62.4 3-3 35-19Ht 10: Carter, Olsen, Rasmussen, L Collins (f) no time 3-3 38-22Ht 11: Lee, P Collins, Eriksen, Nielsen (exc) 63.1 5-1 43-23Ht 12: Jessup, Gundersen, Morton, Ravn 63.4 4-2 47-25Ht 13: Lee, Olsen, Knudsen, P Collins 62.3 3-3 50-28Ht 14: Thomsen, Morton, Jessup, Nielsen 63.2 3-3 53-31Ht 15: Carter, Ravn, Gundersen, L Collins 63.3 3-3 56-34Ht 16: Morton, Olsen, Jessup, Knudsen (f exc) 64.2 4-2 60-36Ht 17: Nielsen, Carter, Thomsen, L Collins 63.6 2-4 62-40Ht 18: Gundersen, Lee, P Collins, Ravn 63.3 3-3 65-43

Agreed. Would have been a lot of GP winners. Mort started the season on fire, Lee and Carter picked it up late season. Gundersen, Sigalos and Sanders all had their moments. But out of all them, they were all prone to a bad night here and there. That hardly ever happened with Nielsen.

...and I bet Louis Carr "absolutely destroyed" Mike Lee in heat 10 And who would've thought Andy Campbell would be the Aces' star signing two years on? Thanks. Here's a beaut of a picture from heat 1..

Hmmm...ok. Either you form an opinion based on credible evidence and facts or you don't. Waiheke1 had already mentioned Andy Smith beating Lee in 83. And I'm sure there are other examples of lesser riders beating Nielsen that year. But the bigger picture and the facts show Hans Nielsen consistently scored more points than any other rider that year and finished it as the BL no1, Intercontinental Champion, Nordic Champion, WTC winner, World Pairs bronze. Mike Lee had a very good year. But he won nowt. Worth a look at a title deciding big race between the two in 83....if there is any "blowing away" to be done, Nielsen is not the one on the receiving end.... For what it's worth, I think the bigger loss to the sport post 83 was Dennis Sigalos....a real class act. With a 10.75 average, second only to Nielsen, he was nearing his peak. And unlike Lee, his loss to the sport wasn't self inflicted. I think he had the skill, talent, professionalism to be in there with Nielsen and Gundersen fighting for the big prizes throughout the 80s, had he not suffered a career ending injury.

You say that....but... Nielsen topped the averages with 10.82. Lee was 6th with 10.16 and third Englishman. Nielsen won the Intercontinental Final. Nielsen would have been in a run-off for 2nd in the World Final with Sanders had he not packed up in the final race whilst well ahead making Lee 4th. Nielsen won the World Team Cup with Denmark, dropping only 1point through qualifiers and final. I think that clearly trumps anything achieved by Lee, who finished the season very well, but was actually pretty poor in test series against USA (for example). Nielsen actually won things that year and finished as the top rider in the British League. It's easy to fall into the trap of overestimating a performance of a rider on some cherry picked meetings, but ultimately they are deemed pretty irrelevant in a wider scene. I think I have said on here before I saw Chris Morton single handedly blitz a field of Nielsen, Wigg, Moran, Gundersen, Pedersen, Knudsen, Tatum at the British Open Pairs at Sheffield a week before the 86 World Final. I was convinced he had a huge chance of being World Champion a week later. But the natural order resumed when it really mattered and Mort finished down the field.

Lee was good in 1983. Very good. And at times, downright brilliant. I don't think he was the best rider in the world that year. That was probably Hans Nielsen. But he was back in the mix for sure and it would have been much more interesting having a motivated Lee, an active Penhall, a fit and stable Carter and a fit Sigalos around for a few more years to challenge and possibly beat Gundersen and Nielsen.

Don't know how others see it, but looking back that final was the end of an era. Not just Penhall's career, but the end of the sport being in the national consciousness. The Penhall-Carter rivalry was national news and thereafter, the interest just seemed to fall away quite rapidly. Four years on and the World Final was not even televised.

Agree. Barely legible. As a commentator, absolutely iconic.

One of those areas in which the yanks do it so much better than us.... I give you.... "Cowboy" Cook "Sudden" Sam "Showtime" Bobby Ott As opposed to...erm... Havvy Woffy Wiggy

Yes, definitely been completely redeveloped, but still on the same footprint.

You (and others) might be interested to see some pics I got from Slaski at the weekend. It's obviously a very different modern stadium to the one that hosted many World Finals. But it still teems with history....the cable cars running by the stadium were something that rung a bell with me. There are also several homages to speedway's history in the stadium, though interestingly, very little about PC's, Ivan Mauger's or Hans Nielsen's wins...most of it was around Jerzy Szczakiel's win.

Surely no-one can beat Zielona Gora's use of a prominent Disney star...they are literally taking the Mickey

Good ones. There's also something quality about the 81 World Final programme. I also really, really liked the cover for the 1984 Exeter Speedway programme....I'm not entirely convinced they got the full approval of Bruce Penhall Still very nicely done though.

Gotta be Bruce Penhall. With respect to the previous book on him, there's a more expansive story or two there to be told.

Thanks Tony. Appreciate the reply. Hope the whole project comes out well for you and PC.

Thanks Tony. Yes, on the face of it, every word above is true. I am a sucker for sport nostalgia and former sportsmen and women who can be a bit, let's say franker, with their opinions when their career is long gone. But I think there's an elephant in the room in this instance. And it comes down to this... Are the thoughts and opinions of PC consistent with those held prior to his brain haemorrhage or not? And if there is any doubt and his clarity of thought is not what it should be, then I (as a fan) would be uncomfortable in things going into print as a permanent reminder of a guy who is the nearest the sport has to a national treasure. Oddly enough, this time next week, I'll actually be at Slaski Stadium, scene of PC's greatest triumph. I will take a moment or two to figure out where he passed Simmo and where he was chaired by fellow riders after a comprehensive and conclusive win. I - like most 70s/80s fans - hold hugely fond memories of him as one of the most spectacular and brilliant riders in the sport we all love. I hope that continues to be the over-riding feeling most of us retain long into the future.

Hmmm. I don't know. This is a book that should have been written before now. I don't think the unedited thoughts of the PC of today should be committed to print. I fear it will not be a fair reflection on one of the sport's greats nor on others too. And I'll leave it at that.

Same here. Many happy hours leafing through Backtrack over the years. I have to be honest and say the quality has tailed off recently, with "The Life and Times..." little more than a rehash. But overall, it has been a very enjoyable read. Coupled with some excellent books under the same operation, especially the Kenny Carter and John Berry books, its a great body of work to be proud of. Well done Tony and Susie.

Some stuff I've hung on to. But more I've got rid of and regretted. I've still got a Chris Morton oil painting by Dave Ellis. Still got a Mort programme board by Speedart. Ones I have pangs of regret to have shifted on via ebay or otherwise are: Mike Patrick "World of Speedway" book which was packed with signed pages; PC, Carter, Mauger, Morans, Crump, Schwartz, Nielsen, Knudsen, Wigg, Mort, Gundersen etc. Soren Sjosten testimonial programme in mint condition signed by Sjosten Chris Morton Testimonial body colour signed Chris Morton England body colour signed

Some great tributes and kind words on this thread. There are real parallels in Nigel's passing and that of a successful cycling journalist I knew who also recently passed away far too early. 52 is certainly no age. But in that short time, he is someone who got his head above the parapet, crammed a lot into a short life, achieved a great deal and leaves behind a body of work to be proud of. That's something we can all draw inspiration from.

Very sad news for the sport. A real enthusiast and ambassador. I thought he was an excellent commentator. In what is an incredibly difficult job, he was knowledgeable, engaging and with a tempo that often perfectly complimented the action. He also had an obvious chemistry with Kelvin Tatum that worked brilliantly. He should rightly be remembered as the voice of speedway, particularly in the GP era. Condolences to those closest to him.