clambo71 Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I was never keen on Rickardsson and can only illiterate what others have said quick whilst in front but never did much from behind Sounds like Nicolai Klindt modelled himself on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 (edited) I was never keen on Rickardsson and can only illiterate what others have said quick whilst in front but never did much from behindHave you watched the 1991 world final? He did more overtaking than the rest of the field put together! Quite simply the best speedway rider ever. Edited February 2, 2014 by Telboy68 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Have you watched the 1991 world final? He did more overtaking than the rest of the field put together! I was just about to post a similar thing. I didnt watch a lot of t Rick, but from memory in both the 91 and 94 finals he needed to do a lot from the back. Was he, like olsen, a rider who's gating improved a lot over his career, to the extent that he becsme a lot less exciting to wstch as an increasing numbet of his victories came from the tspes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalSin Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I've seen many posts on this thread mentioning riders from the golden age of the 70's and 80's. Yet surprisingly I haven't seen one mention of the "cowboy" John Cook! Easily one of the most entertaining riders of the 80's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I was just about to post a similar thing. I didnt watch a lot of t Rick, but from memory in both the 91 and 94 finals he needed to do a lot from the back. Was he, like olsen, a rider who's gating improved a lot over his career, to the extent that he becsme a lot less exciting to wstch as an increasing numbet of his victories came from the tspes?I think he said himself he wasn't much of a gater early on and he taught himself how to gate. (Maybe there's hope for Chris Harris!) The first time I saw him was at Wimbledon in 89 or 90 in an open meeting. I remember him hugging the line and doing quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Have you watched the 1991 world final? He did more overtaking than the rest of the field put together! Quite simply the best speedway rider ever. T-Rick could certainly come from the back when required and was one of the great riders.. best ever, not close. Not utterly dominant in league racing like the true greats were, plus rode in a somewhat easier era and most of all for a portion of his career was given a massive massive advantage due to the GP format in place at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I've seen many posts on this thread mentioning riders from the golden age of the 70's and 80's. Yet surprisingly I haven't seen one mention of the "cowboy" John Cook! Easily one of the most entertaining riders of the 80's. Remember him having great battles with Alan Grahame and Shawn Moran at Wimbledon at the world games tournament in 85. T-Rick could certainly come from the back when required and was one of the great riders.. best ever, not close. Not utterly dominant in league racing like the true greats were, plus rode in a somewhat easier era and most of all for a portion of his career was given a massive massive advantage due to the GP format in place at the time. Don't know how you can say a six times world champion isn't close to being the best rider ever! Every rider had the same opportunities in the gp, Rickardsson won more races because he was the best rider. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Remember him having great battles with Alan Grahame and Shawn Moran at Wimbledon at the world games tournament in 85. Don't know how you can say a six times world champion isn't close to being the best rider ever! Every rider had the same opportunities in the gp, Rickardsson won more races because he was the best rider. No, you are wrong, every rider didn't have the same opportunities in a GP. For starters, other all time greats never rode in a GP. Had GP's been around, some of them would have won more World Titles. Secondly, Rickardsson didn't even have to win more races in some seasons, it was almost handed to him on a plate in the farcical system used. Each rider wasn't given the same opportunity, THAT was the problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABS Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 For me and in no particular order: Peter Collins Peter Craven Jason Crump Kelly Moran Thankfully all have graced the red, white and black race jacket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavan Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Cant believe what i am reading here! Tony Rickardsson was just a gater what a load of tosh!!!! He was supreme out of the starts that is true but if like me you had the pleasure to watch him week in week out he was scintillating when missing the gate. 1994 World Final when he passed Nielsen in the run off. Cardiff gp riding the wall of death on the first bend Seriously people get a grip 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 No, you are wrong, every rider didn't have the same opportunities in a GP. For starters, other all time greats never rode in a GP. Had GP's been around, some of them would have won more World Titles. Secondly, Rickardsson didn't even have to win more races in some seasons, it was almost handed to him on a plate in the farcical system used. Each rider wasn't given the same opportunity, THAT was the problem. You can't base your argument on "had gp's been around", the fact is they wasn't so no one knows what would have happened. Saying world titles were almost handed to him on a plate is ridiculous, were the other riders told "you're not allowed to beat Tony!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 (edited) You can't base your argument on "had gp's been around", the fact is they wasn't so no one knows what would have happened. Saying world titles were almost handed to him on a plate is ridiculous, were the other riders told "you're not allowed to beat Tony!" Wrong, we know pretty much exactly what would have happened. Riders like Egon Muller and Jerzy Szakiel (excuse spelling) would not have won World Titles and those titles would have gone to the top riders around at the time. The other riders weren't told not to beat T-Rick, but there was an era when they were told, sorry but T-Rick gets first gate pick every race.... a quite significant advantage. I don't think the competition he faced during that period was all that hot either, compared to other eras. I'm not and I doubt anyone will say T-Rick wasn't a great rider, but he in my opinion wasn't at the level of dominance of a Nielsen/Mauger etc. Edited February 3, 2014 by BWitcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillipsr Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Old days Shawn and Kelly Moran though Martin Goodwin was my first favourite rider. Now Emil,Tai,Holder and Ward. Ive never taken to Hancock great rider but boring hell. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Matousek. Always worth a visit when Roman was in town! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Cant believe what i am reading here! Tony Rickardsson was just a gater what a load of tosh!!!! He was supreme out of the starts that is true but if like me you had the pleasure to watch him week in week out he was scintillating when missing the gate. 1994 World Final when he passed Nielsen in the run off. Cardiff gp riding the wall of death on the first bend Seriously people get a grip I never said he couldn't pass,i just said myself personally he never really appealed to me as a rider.As Witcher said i couldn't rate him higher than Mauger,and Nielsen also he certainly would be behind Briggs,Fundin,Olsen in my opinion as you said though Gavan he was a great rider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 What ever happened to Ben Howe I remember him quite well Ben had a big smash at Arena Essex riding for Newport in 2000 and broke his arm in something like 16 places. To me thats not a break but shattered. Amazingly he made a comeback in 2002 for Newport and score 14 from 5 on his return and made the gate 5 times (was passed by Phil Morris on the last bend of his first ride back), amazing as I don't think he made 5 gates in the rest of his career combined! The week after he smashed into the fence against Swindon and did his leg. He did make another come back the following year at Mildenhall in the NL before drifting away. No doubt in my mind he was the fastest rider I have ever seen over 3.5 laps at PL level but sadly he was outgated by NL riders and would stuggle to pass 3 other riders most of the time. He could catch anyone though. no way could anyone diss rickardsson, but personally don't think he was extra special from the back..when he hit the front it was goodbye, mega fast Totally disagree. Rickardsson gated 95% of the time so didnt get to show he could pass but he could. One of the earlier one off GPs, TRick gated in 1st, lifted on the dodgy track on bend 2 and ended up last. He managed to battle his way back into 1st on a track that had no passing over than that heat. Sadly I cant find it on youtube. You can't base your argument on "had gp's been around", the fact is they wasn't so no one knows what would have happened. Saying world titles were almost handed to him on a plate is ridiculous, were the other riders told "you're not allowed to beat Tony!" He was helped a lot. While TRick was at his peak the GP format meant the top 8 in the last GP only needed 4 ride to win a GP but the rest needed 6. Also, the top 4 form the last GP got the inside gates so were likely to have better start positions and the winners of heats got the inside gates meaning it was harder to break into the top of the GP standings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinMills Posted February 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 only from what I saw of him, didn't find ricko the best of passers, not saying he never passed, but in comparison to pc and loram, prob not..this doesn't alter my opinion as one of the best ever riders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon Hammer Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Personally I didn't see the guy race, but here's one for you TWK (Taken from Weymouth programme 11/08/77, concerning the fixture Edinburgh v Weymouth 05/08/77) - "The hard riding Jack Millen had just been excluded for unfair riding in his qualifying heat, a decision which he didn't agree with at all. After some remonstrating on track, the Monarchs rider decided it was time his exclusion light was extinguished and with the aid of a track rake, the light was extinguished - in fact the whole light fitting was smashed to pieces." - sounds like a great nights entertainment to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Personally I didn't see the guy race, but here's one for you TWK (Taken from Weymouth programme 11/08/77, concerning the fixture Edinburgh v Weymouth 05/08/77) - "The hard riding Jack Millen had just been excluded for unfair riding in his qualifying heat, a decision which he didn't agree with at all. After some remonstrating on track, the Monarchs rider decided it was time his exclusion light was extinguished and with the aid of a track rake, the light was extinguished - in fact the whole light fitting was smashed to pieces." - sounds like a great nights entertainment to me... That sounds about right to me Falcon Hammer. It sounds bad - but - it did no harm at all to attract the Crowds to Speedway. People were always wondering what 'Crazy' Jack would get up to next. Oh - and he once needed a Police Escort out of Peterborough. Ron Wilson the Promoter at Teeside used to always invite Jack to ride in Open Meetings - he reckoned that it was worth 500 on the Gate. Happy days. :approve: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LagutaRacingFan Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Jepsen Jensen has to be one, His boyish good looks and charisma drew over 20,000 Czechstowa fans to a semi-final against Torun 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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