BWitcher Posted September 6, 2015 Report Share Posted September 6, 2015 There's two different types of 'team riding'. Some say combinations such as Morton/Collins.. Hancock/Hamill.. Ermolenko/Correy etc.. Grahame/Collins... It is in a way, but that is mainly two very good riders riding fast together. A great team rider is someone who can control a race to get his much slower partner home for the win. As SCB says, the best in recent times is/was Darcy Ward. The best I have ever seen, by far is Sam Ermolenko. He would tell his partner where to go on the 1st corner, then move the opposition to create the gap.. then tuck in behind and thwart all attempts to pass, especially at Monmore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinMills Posted September 6, 2015 Report Share Posted September 6, 2015 saw gollob/ricko team ride round many tracks, pushing it to the limit, but in a way was pointless as opposition were 50yards behind!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 There's two different types of 'team riding'. Some say combinations such as Morton/Collins.. Hancock/Hamill.. Ermolenko/Correy etc.. Grahame/Collins... It is in a way, but that is mainly two very good riders riding fast together. A great team rider is someone who can control a race to get his much slower partner home for the win. As SCB says, the best in recent times is/was Darcy Ward. The best I have ever seen, by far is Sam Ermolenko. He would tell his partner where to go on the 1st corner, then move the opposition to create the gap.. then tuck in behind and thwart all attempts to pass, especially at Monmore. Agree with the point you are making, but Mort/PC were also superb at team riders in their own right, regularly guiding home with more junior Aces riders as well. The Moran brothers were also superb to watch as a pairing , and you could add Siggy/Schwartz as another excellent pairing - but I think it's also fair to say the Americans were generally pretty good team riders full stop (Ermolenko possibly the best of them). Darcy I agree by some margin the best team rider in recent times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Another form of team riding that I always enjoyed was a rider in front forcing the opposition to slow down so he could get his partner to overtake them. Andrew Silver and John Cook come to mind as riders who would do this. I also remember Rory Schlein doing it for Coventry against Swindon. Didn't go down too well, that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aces51 Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Collins and Morton, Grahame and Phil Collins, Darcy with anyone. The best I have ever seen to control a race to allow his partner through or, to keep them back whilst his less able partner was out in front, Gordon McGregor. In his later years he rode for the Aces and could even do it in the wide open spaces of Hyde Road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halifaxtiger Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 I saw Simmons, Morton, Collins and many other very fine team riders but.....the best team ride I have ever seen was between an 17 year old (Richie Dennis) and a 16 year old (Grant Hayes) for Scunthorpe against Wimbledon in 2005. Dennis slowed the race to a ridiculous pace as he sat outside his partner and he did for the best part of 4 laps, only to see Hayes fall on the bend before last. I forget who the Wimbledon rider behind was but he wasn't impressed, starting on Dennis after the race. Anyone who thinks team riding is dead didn't see Branford & Hughes on Saturday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruiser McHuge Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Tai Woffinden was very impressive team riding on a Sky match riding for Rye House in his very early days...it was that that convinced me how good he could become.. As I said Sam Ermolenko was the best I've seen,,,I've seen him collect a paid max of second places behind a much slower second string while fending off international riders in 3rd place....fantastic really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Agree with the point you are making, but Mort/PC were also superb at team riders in their own right, regularly guiding home with more junior Aces riders as well. The Moran brothers were also superb to watch as a pairing , and you could add Siggy/Schwartz as another excellent pairing - but I think it's also fair to say the Americans were generally pretty good team riders full stop (Ermolenko possibly the best of them). Darcy I agree by some margin the best team rider in recent times For sure, not knocking Mort or PC at all, I didn't see them anywhere near as regularly as you would have done but I have no doubt they would have been good team riders in both senses. Thinking about it, I've only ever seen PC on video, unless I saw him when I was very little I never saw him live. Mort I saw quite a bit off, but mainly in the latter stages of his career on a track he wasn't as adept at following the move to Kirky Lane (was a regular at Kirky Lane in the first 3 or 4 seasons there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Ken McKinlay and Malcolm Simmons were the masters of Team Riding in the 60's...nobody better in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnglishRoundabout Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Leigh ADAMS was the best I've seen. He team rode with almost every riding partner given the opportunity. From memory, there were classic examples of the art by Lee with the late Lee Richardson, Mateij Zagar and Simon Stead. I even watched in amazement as he rode almost elbow to elbow with the likes of David Ruud, Travis McGowan and James Wright. More recently Darcy Ward and Maciej Janowski have great natural ability in this skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancient mariner Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Most riders idea of team riding is to look over their shoulder as they cross the finishing line In recent times Ben Barker. At the SBA in recent seasons he would routinely conjure up a 5-1 from a 4-2 or a 3-3 from a 2-4 by clamping an opposition rider to the kerb and then slowing him down to enable his team mate (in successive seasons, usually either the Fish or Ricky Wells) to go round the outside. He did it so often that it almost became a 'feature' of heat 15 (though not exclusively) and we lost count of the number of times the Devils pinched a tie or a win by a couple of points as a result. Just fabulous to watch and a great pity we don't see it more often - proper team riding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van wolfswinkel Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Seen some good team riding at The Abbey this year, especially Darce and also Troyboy. Leigh Adams with Zagar one of the best pairs in 2009, Leigh on the inside, and Matty blasting round the boards. Briggo wasn't a great team-rider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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