customhouseregular Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Most of have a favourite World Champion or believe we know which World Champion was the best rider (Knutsson and Briggs in my case), but what of the nearly men...those who came second but never reached the top of the podium. Who was the best rider to win a silver medal in the World Championship but never gold?. There are some great names there...Plechanov for example or a rider dear to "Hammers" hearts, Harrfeldt. At last count there were 10 British riders with silver but not gold, and many may think some of those were better than some of the Brits that actually won. Think Jessup and Simmons v. Havelock and Loram for example. I'd be interested to know your views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 For me Plechanov and Waterman are probably the stand outs with Crutcher as another.Can't really back it up as i never saw any of them.Of the modern riders i'd say Sayfutdinov even though his best was only 3rd so far...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 I think I'd go along with iris. Plecahnov and Waterman. But, of course, there was also our very own Sverre, CHR. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Wot about Jack Parker!!! BTW I agree with the other names mentioned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Dave Jessup was a nearly man, unless my memory is playing up again. Did he not have an engine failure at Wembly 1974 (I think) when leading - push rod failure? Then he went on to score 11 points. A win in that race would have made him world champ on 14 points Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Vic Huxley - that's going back a bit and even before my time! Others that come to mind are Gote Nordin (the most stylish rider I ever saw), Peter Moore (probably the fastest 'gater' the sport has known), Tom Farndon (tragically killed when he was reaching his peek) and Arne Pander who suffered an horrendous injury and was never the same rider again. Apart from injury, the pause during the Second World War saw several potential World Champions prevented from winning the title when they were at their best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I remember the Dave Jessup incident-agree he could have been World Champ that year-don't think it was 1974 though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Your right Bob, it was 1978, heat 3. Just been to Wikipedia, e/f, three straight wins, then 2nd to Gordon Kennett. Olsen 13, Kennett 12, Autrey 11, and as Jessup was well ahead in heat 3 then he would have been world champ. Jessup beat Olsen and Autrey in heat 10. That was Jessups chance gone, pity really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Talking of Dave Jessup just missing out, it is often forgotten that in the year Ove Fundin first won the World Championship, 1956, that, after four rides, Fundin and Ken McKinlay were joint leaders on 10 points. In his last race, Hurri-ken got a great start and was well in front when, with no real pressure on him, he fell, handing Ove his first of five victories, with Ken missing out on even a podium place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 As an aces fan, I grew up being told that jack parker was the greatest never to win the title. He, plechanov and split would seem the popular choices. two other riders worthy of consideration. jessup - 2nd in 80. Would possibly have won in 78 but for the ef, and in 81 would likely have finished 2nd but for two ef. He is also won of the very few (perhapd only?) rider never to be champ who almost certainly would have been under a gp system (80). The other is hampel, like dj also derided as a gating tart. But two 2nds and a 3rd make his record comparable with the best of the nearlymen, and when you tske into account form across all events he has been statistically . the best rider in the world in at least one season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Probably the nearest of the nearly men to miss out on the World Championship was Cordy Milne, who missed out by four days. He was hot favourite to win the 1939 title on 7 September, but when War was declared on 3 September, all speedway was suspended, so he never got his chance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Jack Biggs comes to mind looking a very likely winner till a unexplained last place in his final or penultimate ride. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Yes I agree with all the Dave Jessup comments-was there in 1978 and agree he would have beaten Kennett who in my view was lucky to be runner up. As for the Jack Biggs situation in 1951 there has been endless discussion over the years over who said what to who in the final ride before runoff-reckon he lost the run off fair and square though. Some of you probably recall Jack's renewed lease on life career wise when he joined Newport in 1965 and became top scorer in quite a strong team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I am very sceptical about all this "who said what to whom" stuff re-Jack Biggs, BOBBATH. It has been said that because Biggs didn't ask the other riders in his final race - Williams, Waterman and Lawson - to "cover" him, i.e. let him win, they ganged up on him. Considering that Biggs had had four lightning fast gates that evening and had carried all before him and Lawson and Williams were having poor evenings, Lawson's probably due to a hand injury sustained four days before, even if they had have ganged up on him there didn't seem anything they could have done, especially as he only needed third place. I take the view that he was beset by nerves for that final race. His draw meant that he had a long gap between his fourth and fifth rides, time to sit in the pits and worry about the race. He was, in any case, a very nervous man normally. A friend of mine who was with him in the pits at another big night when again he was in with a chance of winning, this time the London Riders' Championship, said he was a bag of nerves and his hands were shaking so much he was surprised he could even hold his bike upright, let alone ride it! In that fateful heat in the World Championship he was drawn in the outside trap and just completely missed the gate. Nothing to do with ganging up; Biggs lost it on his own. That's my view anyway. But it's always good to have controversies and talking points that never go away. And then of course there was the controversy surrounding the Lionel Van Praag/Eric Langton run-off for the first-ever World Final....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I remember watching jack Biggs and jimmy gooch ride for hackney in 1970. They were veteran riders that seemed to belong in a bygone era. I suppose you could say the same about jimmy Squibb, who rode until the mid 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I am very sceptical about all this "who said what to whom" stuff re-Jack Biggs, BOBBATH. It has been said that because Biggs didn't ask the other riders in his final race - Williams, Waterman and Lawson - to "cover" him, i.e. let him win, they ganged up on him. Considering that Biggs had had four lightning fast gates that evening and had carried all before him and Lawson and Williams were having poor evenings, Lawson's probably due to a hand injury sustained four days before, even if they had have ganged up on him there didn't seem anything they could have done, especially as he only needed third place. I take the view that he was beset by nerves for that final race. His draw meant that he had a long gap between his fourth and fifth rides, time to sit in the pits and worry about the race. He was, in any case, a very nervous man normally. A friend of mine who was with him in the pits at another big night when again he was in with a chance of winning, this time the London Riders' Championship, said he was a bag of nerves and his hands were shaking so much he was surprised he could even hold his bike upright, let alone ride it! In that fateful heat in the World Championship he was drawn in the outside trap and just completely missed the gate. Nothing to do with ganging up; Biggs lost it on his own. That's my view anyway. But it's always good to have controversies and talking points that never go away. And then of course there was the controversy surrounding the Lionel Van Praag/Eric Langton run-off for the first-ever World Final....... Aaaahhh but what would Speedway be without it's controversies? They seem to be the very fabric of our Sport. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanF Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Leigh Adams would surely be one of the best never to be World Champion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I have seen most the old timers in action although people like Jack Parker were well past their best As Barry Briggs said recently Peter Craven certainly when winning his first title was not the best rider in the world.. What Craven had was the ability to perform on the big day. Personally I think Brian Crutcher was a better rider but unlike Craven froze on the big occasion. I can even remember seeing Bill Kitchen in action, also can recall when tracks were black not red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatface Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Dave Jessup was a nearly man, unless my memory is playing up again. Did he not have an engine failure at Wembly 1974 (I think) when leading - push rod failure? Then he went on to score 11 points. A win in that race would have made him world champ on 14 points I am always pretty skeptical when it's suggested Jessup was robbed. It's one thing to score 11 points when racing pressure-free knowing your chance has gone. It's quite another when the pressure cranks up race after race with the World Championship gradually edging towards your grasp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Jessup certainly was leading and looked the rider of the night till his bike packed up , Malcolm Simmons subsequently claimed the failure was due to Jessups habit of drilling holes all over his bike to lessen the weight, a claim later denied by Jessup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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