Great 'tape Touchers'

[Ommer Mon]

Watching the GP where a couple of seemingly great starts got called back by the Referee reminded me of the days when you had to break the tapes to get excluded.

 

So who were the great exponents of the art of the roller or sending their opponents through the tapes?

 

Ivan Mauger and Erik Gundersen may feature but the name I'd like to put forward was former Belle Vue skipper Tommy Roper who seemed to have a 'Roll-Stop-Roll' technique at Hyde Road and when he stopped the others usually went through the tapes.

 

Any others?

 

.................................and as a second question would anyone want to see those days return?

[waiheke1]

No way should we go back to those days.

Gundersen stands out for me,given he dropped almost two points off his average the year the bl brought the tape touching rule in.

[Sidney the robin]

No way should we go back to those days.

Gundersen stands out for me,given he dropped almost two points off his average the year the bl brought the tape touching rule in.

But he regrouped and conquered it something Mike Lee never did he could of but didn't.

[waiheke1]

Not sure that was lee's issue sid. He started 84 looking very sharp still. After his ban he never performed but I think that was mainly due to other factors.

[Ommer Mon]

I agree waihekeaces1, Erik really struggled to sort himself out when the rules changed and he suffered a string of exclusions. Many said at the time that it was a cunning plan from Pratty to lower the averages but it certainly wasn't.

 

Erik turned it round eventually though on his way to his three world titles.

[waiheke1]

Of course Eric won his first world title the same year the bl brought the rule in! Though of course the world champs allowed tape touching certainly for at least the first two if erics titles . And of course Eric was excluded for tape touching in the run off for the 84 blrc

The reduced average did allow cross to be slotted into the season though if I recall correctly?

[orion]

James Sarjeant got to be one of the best

Edited May 16, 2016 by orion

[Sidney the robin]

Not sure that was lee's issue sid. He started 84 looking very sharp still. After his ban he never performed but I think that was mainly due to other factors.

At Ipswich in the Ebdon fiasco did it , and even to this day that rule is a joke if you guess the start and don't break the tapes what's the problem.?The rule can't have it both ways called back if the ref thinks you tried to jump the start and also exclude you if you hit the tapes a joke of a rule.

[Woz01]

James Sarjeant got to be one the best

James mainly jumps when in gate 2 or 3. Soon as he sees a rider move he goes for it, he should have learnt by now!

[Odds On]

^{Ole Olsen was the master, at Coventry they even had to bring in a massive rope to try to stop him rolling!}

[Sir Jasper]

I remember Gundersen selling Tatum a dummy in 85, just moved his elbows slightly and KT was off. Sarge has been done a few times already this season. I dont get why Refs call starts back nowadays, if a rider gets away well, then so be it. If they dont, they stop, miss the gate completely or hit the tapes.

[brianbuck]

I wouldn't like to go back to those days when the starts were a total fiasco. The only change I would like to see would be to have no reserve replacement for a rider excluded at the start, and no 15m handicap either! More and more riders are trying it on at the tapes these days, and they are being encouraged to do so by team managers' who know that there is a 50/50 chance of either getting away with it, having another chance or sending out a stronger reserve as a replacement.

 

The same should apply to riders who fail to meet the two minute warning. The hard and fast rule should be that riders excluded should be excluded - without being replaced.

 

This happens in Cycle Speedway and although I agree that Cycle Speedway has many, many problems with the way the rules are interpreted (and enforced) bad starting isn't one of them!

[customhouseregular]

There is cheating and gamesmanship, then there's anticipation and lightning reflexes. If a rider is sharp enough to anticipate and get a flyer...all credit to him. It was the constant messing about at the tapes to unsettle others that got me.

[TonyMac]

Am I wrong in remembering that Garry Middleton used to do a fair bit of tape-nudging in his time at Hackney?

[Notenoughnerve]

I thought it added to the tension. Would the tapes break? Would he get away with it?

I also don't get why races get called back when somebody takes a chance and gets a flyer

[FAST GATER]

I thought it added to the tension. Would the tapes break? Would he get away with it?

I also don't get why races get called back when somebody takes a chance and gets a flyer

Too right I loved it ( bit like marmite ) sheer theatre between riders out foxing each other often the starts were better than the race itself .

[TonyMac]

Rolling definitely added to the tension and sense of anticipation, especially in a last-heat decider, so I wouldn't be against it returning to the sport.

 

Let's face it, the time taken up by a few 'rollers' is nothing compared to that wasted when today's riders inevitably return to the pit gate following a false start, followed by endless practice starts, gear changes, refuelling, etc.

 

Obviously, ridiculously persistent rolling offenders could be warned by the referee before a possible handicap and ultimate exclusion from that race.

[heathen chemistry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjbA23ACtsw the best start ever

[TonyMac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjbA23ACtsw the best start ever

 

Classic 'count-to-three-green-light-and-go' there from Kilb!

 

Doing your homework on referees' different starting techniques was an art in itself.

[RobMcCaffery]

 

Classic 'count-to-three-green-light-and-go' there from Kilb!

 

Doing your homework on referees' different starting techniques was an art in itself.

When I stood in as announcer at Eastbourne in the mid 80s I soon learned that the starting gate was controlled by the ref by thumping a mechanical lever, not electrically operating it by a button.

 

Accordingly the home stars had learned to watch for the ref's shoulder to move - so one was determined to learn how to operate it without moving his shoulder........