Sidney the robin Posted May 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 (edited) One of England's greats when there were so many quality English riders during the seventies and early eighties.As much as i loved Mike Lee i still think he was a better rider than PC but he did not prove it saying that both were great British riders to be proud of.🤓on the riding side anyway.☹️️ Sid, I think I would disagree. PC had one hell of a 1980 season. Top of the BL averages; carried (along with Chris Morton) a two-man BV team to third in the BL table; also to KOC final, where they surely would have won but for his shoulder injury; World Pairs Champion (barely dropping a point); World Team Cup Champion; one of the favourites at Gothenburg, and fell away only after the interval. It seems to me that he was still a major force to be reckoned with, prior to the aforementioned shoulder injury at Cradley, which led to his absence from British Speedway for the majority of 1981. That's where he started to slip. Meanwhile, I'm not convinced Autrey would have been World Champion at Katowice in 1979. No-one was going to stop Mauger winning the title that day. All the best Rob 79 Sam Ivan was very lucky Scott never opposed him,i think 72/79 were two titles Mauger was lucky to have won saying that 73 he was very unlucky. Sid, I think I would disagree. PC had one hell of a 1980 season. Top of the BL averages; carried (along with Chris Morton) a two-man BV team to third in the BL table; also to KOC final, where they surely would have won but for his shoulder injury; World Pairs Champion (barely dropping a point); World Team Cup Champion; one of the favourites at Gothenburg, and fell away only after the interval. It seems to me that he was still a major force to be reckoned with, prior to the aforementioned shoulder injury at Cradley, which led to his absence from British Speedway for the majority of 1981. That's where he started to slip. Meanwhile, I'm not convinced Autrey would have been World Champion at Katowice in 1979. No-one was going to stop Mauger winning the title that day. All the best Rob In 1980 i never felt PC would ever win it was Penhall/Jessup favourites? i can remember Lee getting up the inside and beating PC for second in a race when DJ had gone Collins after 77 was never for me going to win another WC. Edited May 13, 2017 by Sidney the robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 Regarding 1979 and PC, does anyone recall why he had for him, a relatively poor season? A 9.76 BL average for Belle Vue was a big drop on the previous 4 seasons, and he had a bit of a shocker at Katowice, and at Wimbledon in the Internationale (available on YouTube!). Conversely, I think this was the season he became British Champion and had a right old battle with Michael Lee in the other WC rounds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatface Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 It's probably the only year where you could make a case for Scott Autrey. But I'd still say it was unlikely. Having a great year in the league doesn't necessarily translate to success in the World Championships. See Leigh Adams. Autrey probably had his very best year in the UK in 1979 precisely because he didn't take part in and prioritise the World Championships, unlike every other top rider. Would he have been better than the uber-experienced Mauger, Plech on home dirt, a near-peak Lee and even Olsen on a sweeping Polish track? I always thought Autrey better on the narrower and tighter tracks. I couldn't visualise him winning in Poland. Good rider - great that year, but there are certainly many better riders who are much more deserving of the title as "the best rider never to have won the World Championship." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 (edited) It's probably the only year where you could make a case for Scott Autrey. But I'd still say it was unlikely. Having a great year in the league doesn't necessarily translate to success in the World Championships. See Leigh Adams. Autrey probably had his very best year in the UK in 1979 precisely because he didn't take part in and prioritise the World Championships, unlike every other top rider. Would he have been better than the uber-experienced Mauger, Plech on home dirt, a near-peak Lee and even Olsen on a sweeping Polish track? I always thought Autrey better on the narrower and tighter tracks. I couldn't visualise him winning in Poland. Good rider - great that year, but there are certainly many better riders who are much more deserving of the title as "the best rider never to have won the World Championship." Autrey certainly had his best year BL wise in 79 and apart from say four riders was miles ahead of the rest .Also Autrey before he came over in 73 he had quite a good record on some of the big tracks where's some Americans had not so i would have to disagree that he was only good on the narrower tracks. Edited May 17, 2017 by Sidney the robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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