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Well done Tai. A remarkable season and a wonderful achievement.

I have heard this view before. Olsen did become a very good gater, he had to from 76 when he moved to Brandon! However from 70-75, especially in the first three years, he was a hopeless starter. His ability to pass however was outstanding. Dig out reports from the 71 world final or the 72 BLRC.

Thanks folks for some wonderful memory nudges. Lots i'd forgotten. On the culinary side, a word of praise for the hot dogs at leicester. proper sausage in half a baguette with onions. had to buy one early, it took half the meeting to eat!

But does it have film from the 1971 final? My guess is no.

I'm assuming there is no footage from 1971: I've never found any. If there is, put me down for a copy!

This reminded me of the Golden Helmet decider held at King's Lynn in 74(?). Phil Crump v Olsen: 4 valve v 2 valve. Olsen won, but the writing was on the wall and engine innovation led speedway into a new era. Whether it was a better one is another discussion altogether.

....and if I remember correctly, Olsen scored a full maximum. Great nights at Wembley in the 70s.

He is the most deserving British rider for the wildcard. Consider the opprobrium heaped upon him over the last few years. He has performed minor miracles this year. Celebrate the bloke's guts and determination.

Of course david has home advantage. My comment about blinkers referred to the first few pages of this thread. I thought I made that pretty clear.

I have ploughed through the thread with patience. Kennett or Stead? No mention of David Howe who has an average higher than both. He is the top Brit behind Nicholls and Harris. Fact. I know that the top scorer on monday will be given the wild card. I also expect that if it is David Howe many will explain it by saying 'home track advantage.' The fact remains though, he is currently having a better season than either Kennett or Stead. Both are good riders who I would be happy to support in the British GP. But let's be a little less blinkered please.

Ben Wilson taken to hospital after practice accident. He will not ride in the meeting. no more details yet. From Wolfcry.

Kasprzak is champion on the toss of a coin. You couldn't make it up........

Still think Hampel attempted to lean on Tr as he tried to get the drop going into the first turn. Experienced as he is, TR reacted immediately and elbowed Hampel. All four back the correct decision.

I thought the ref got the rerun of heat 24 spot on. Hampel attempted to get across TR and put his arm over Rickardsson's. He wasn't having it and reacted immediately. Unfortunate for those in gates 3 and 4 but a rerun with all four was the only fair decision.

I don't throw anything away either but I'm just stupid. Every cupboard and drawer in the house is full, the attic is at bursting point, the wardrobes are full and there is more stuff in the house now than there ever was when the children lived here. Incidentally, I was just wondering when one uses "a" and when "an" in front of words beginning with H? I noticed you used "I'm a historian." which is obviously correct, but when using the word honour it is "an honour." Hotel is "a hotel." Still with me? So is there an easy way of knowing which to use apart from one or the other just "sounding right"? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In a word: no! English is a language full of nconsistencies and exceptions to the rule. You would find examples of 'an historian' as well as 'a historian'. The letter aitch (that is how it is spelt) causes lots of confusion. Lots of people pronounce the letter with an aspirant (the h sound) at the beginning when technically they shouldn't! Nice letter, Norbold. Thank you for sharing it.

The 1972 meeting still rates as one of my two or three favourites. In those days ai was an all ticket affair. The meeting was highly prestigious and the field was stronger than that of the World Final. We arrived midday and raced on the go-karts. The big dipper was obligatory only so you could catch a glimpse of the track. We went in the stadium very early and stood on the first turn, right up against the fence. We took a white sheet on which we had painted OLE. This had two purposes: to show our support and to protect ourselves as the riders went past. There were no deflectors in those days! As a young teenager I was still mightily upset that Olsen had lost his World Title at Wembley the month before. He was head and shoulders above everyone else but an inexplicable fall on the first turn left him on 12 points and Ivan won (after a run off) on 13. I knew that the BLRC was an opportunity for Ole to make a point. In those days Olsen was an awful gater. His five rides that night were awesome. He won each one, coming from behind in each. I remember his clash with Mauger as Ivan pulled up on the back straight moments after Olsen went round him. It is a little sad that nowadays this meeting is more of an inconvenience than a prestige event. In 1972 there were number 1s that did not even get into the meeting! We had a much bigger league in those days and only the top 16 qualified. My other recollection of that day is of Poole fans who were there in numbers and were vociferous in their support for Malcolm Simmons. I remember feeling a bit sorry for them because he had no chance of winning. Thanks for the opportunity to reminisce.

I only went to the Wheels once, Middlesbrough were the opposition, featuring a very young Gary Havelock I think. He broke the track record I believe. Much happier memories of Perry Barr. The first time Sunderland were the visitors. A packed stadium, A huge home victory and a Silver Helmet match race as well. Favourite memory: Birmingham against Wolves. Hans Nielsen's first season. Wolves 8 points up and Ray Wilson is put into heat 8 as a tactical. Hans gates and defies all Wilson's efforts to pass him. Confirmation that the boy was a bit special. 16 years old! He looked even younger in the bar later, nervously drinking a coke. I would still cherish meeting again the Coventry fan I argued with at Brandon a few weeks later about who was the better prospect: Hans Nielsen or Alf Busk! Good luck to the return of speedway in Birmingham.

Giving some teams a lap start wouldn't make a huge difference at the County Ground!

I think there is some merit in this idea. Give incentives to the away team to compete all the way to heat 15. An extra point or two may (big may!) reduce some of the one sided results that our sport endures. I do think the suggestion of 'track reports' is frought with danger. Our sport is controlled by the same people who are responsible for tracks and, as in most things in life, some are better and more conscientious than others. A 46-44 win has to be more entertaining than a 66-24 win, except for the most partizan fan. The bonus point does go some way to address this but why not take it further in an attempt to make league racing even keener? Of course, you could approach this from the opposite end and reward home sides for exceeding certain points totals. Even penalising away sides a league point for not scoring, say, 35?

Congratulations to Jason Crump. He has been the best this year.

He was fantastic around Monmore Green. Remember him riding for Reading, who usually gave is a sound beating. Remember wishing he rode for us! Please give Dag a big thank you, it was a long time ago but I am glad I saw him race, a real class act.

Strange memories. For most years in the 70s he was just another number 1. In 73/4 he was a level above. An insignificant memory, or more revealing perhaps, was a scratch final in the second half at Wolves. Michanek had beaten Olsen in heat 1 (in those days, almost unheard of) and Ole was up for revenge. Olsen gated (for once!) and Michanek pulled up. Guess he didn't want to be beaten, even in a second half race.

The night wolves lost the title by one point after so many injuries. But the funniest was a largely irrelevant match between Wolves and Leicester. The Lions hadn't won away for a very long time. 37-34 to Leicester after 12. Garry middleton gated and led for three laps. george hunter drove under him on the first turn of final lap. Jim Mcmillan 20 yards back. George took Garry wider and wider. The pace slowed and slowed. both throttled off. They almost stopped. Jimmy Mac chugs around the white line. george opens up, leaves Middleton almost stationary. 5-1 to Wolves. Leicester couldn't believe it. we laughed for weeks. Happy days.

Might 19 be Paul Evitts?