fatface

Think you ought to re-read the topic title trackman. I can't really better Bobby Schwartz - two World Pairs Championships, one World Team Cup, but not a single World Final appearance - weird?!

Taffy is a good shout. If its not him, I'll go Ken Moss.

Smashing stuff from Peterborough that Grach. Something I noticed there - which you rarely find in racing these days- is that they all left each other at least a handlebars worth of room throughout.

I'll go John Davis?

I'll go for Chris Morton?

Frigbo don,t insult Eric by suggesting he rode for the wolves,how they would have wished. He only ever rode for one British team "CRADLEY".apart from the guest appearances Not me suggesting such a thing However he did ride in a Challenge Match for them in '78 before joining Cradley I was sure I had heard that before. Hope this doesn't cause too much upset for greyhoundp.

Ach, ya beat me to it! I think I'd be right in thinking that this four plus Jiri Stancl also represented Czechoslovakia at the 79 WTCF. Four falcons in one team in a World Cup Final - will we ever see the like again??????????????? No chance!

Ole Olsen, Hans Nielsen, Finn Thomson, erm, now I'm struggling. Hans Daniellsson? And, would I be right in thinking Erik Gundersen turned out for Wolves ever so briefly before Cradley?

As an Aces fan in the 80s, matches against the "cabbage patch kids" were among the highlights of the season, particularly in the cup. Fair play to Cradley though, they had some belting riders and quite often turned us over. My 1-7 would be: 1 Bruce Penhall - supreme talent 2 Billy Hamill - classy team man 3 Erik Gundersen - one of the fastest riders ever 4 Alan Grahame - much better team man than individual 5 Phil Collins - ditto, 100% team man 6 Jan O Pedersen - always battling 7 Simon Cross - willing to get stuck in, even when it hurt

Wouldn't exactly stick my life on him being the best ever Norbold. But the Peter Collins of the mid-70s was definitely up there - he was magic. For what is worth I think that a general rule of "the older the better" works with the Collins boys. Take a look at their main achievements: Peter - World Champ, 4xWorld Pairs Les - World no2, Intercontinental Champ Phil - Overseas Champ, World Finallist Neil - World Team Finallist Steve - British Junior Grasstrack Champ

Sorry guys I just can't let you get away with it. Phil Collins was smashing rider, but he was still some way short of being as gifted as Peter. Indeed many could quite legitimately argue PC was the most talented rider in the world ever, never mind just within a family. Surely I am not alone in thinking this?

I know exactly where you are coming from Grachan. I remember crossing the Pennines a couple of times in th 80s to see Nielsen race at Sheffield. Head to heads like Moran-Nielsen are the sort of thing any speedway fan would want to see.

Falcons and Aces excepted. I'll go for Tomasz Gollob, Alan Mogridge, Shawn Moran, Kenny Carter, Bruce Penhall, Martin Goodwin, Thierry Hillaire, Dennis Sigalos, Per Jonsson, Roman Matousek, Les Collins, Mike Lee - all for different reasons, but more often than not, things "happened" when these guys raced.

The 1977 BLRC sounds a good one, not exactly 1981 or 1982 when King KC romped to victory but nevertheless i wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy. Let me know if this is possible and hopefully we can sort something out. Cheers. 1981 BLRC - now that was a corker. Morton taking Penhall on the last turn, Moran and Morton going shoulder to shoulder for four laps, King Kenny at his imperious best, fantasy stuff....

You sound just like Chris Morton falcace! Bah, foiled again! Is it that obvious I'm his no1 fan.

Lol Love the race of the moment by the way Grachan. But still reckon that meeting shouldn't have gone ahead though.

Pre-Betamax? Was speedway even invented then?

The first picture - is that Mike Lanham in yellow? And I'll go for Bent Rasmussen in blue.

Hi Jamie, Welcome to the forum. You are a man of almost impeccable taste. I too would love to get my hands on the sort of footage you are after, but I'd be cheering for the boys in red white and black i'm afraid. The only think I know that is out there is the 1983 Northern Riders from Hyde Road, where you will see Mighty Mort kick Kenny's ***. Good luck in finding something

Hate to say I told you so!

There seeems to be this assumption that Tony came to England with a silver spoon in his mouth. I remember him first arriving here to ride for Ipswich as a young 18/19 year old, he wasn't the best in the world straight away, he battled away and eventually established himself. Just because it took Mauger a lot longer to make it shouldn't reflect badly on Rickardson. If anything it points to the opposite - Tony made it quicker because he was more talented.

Based on pure ability on a speedway machine, I'd go for Tony any day of the week. The guy can gate, overtake (inside/outside), he's fast, he's hard - he's just got it all. Mauger's outstanding talent was his ability to gate under pressure. That is what won him World Titles in years in which he really wasn't the best on the planet (72, 77, 79).

I have no outstanding single memory of him. I just remember that whenever he came to Belle Vue (my hometrack at the time), it just seemed special. He genuinely was a superstar who everyone wanted to see.

They're all big boys and shouldn't be riding in the league if they're that much out of their depth. The reserves already have easier races, what with Heat 2, and then meeting another reserve in at least 2 or their remaining 3 programmed rides. The suggestion to mess around with Heat 8 is just yet more pointless tinkering, that will do nothing to solve the underlying problems in the sport. Totally agree Kevin. When our promoters get together for their once-a-year meeting, is this the sort of pointless drivel they'll be discussing for hours on end? Is this the sort of thing that will draw thousands of people through the gates. "Oooo, the no7 gets an easier ride?" - I'm there! Surely the big issues are: Good Tracks - well prepared and deep Good Competitions - a bigger EL and no mickey mouse BLC Real teams - less rider replacements, guests, doubling-up and other silly "only-in-speedway" rules

Hi WATigerman, i'll go: 119 - Erik Gundersen with Les Collins 120 - Alun Rossiter