Midland Red Posted October 12, 2018 Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, waiheke1 said: Tbf it's only Zmarzlik whose speed seems on another planet. Woffy is as quick as any of the other poles. Have to say in the final gp I was wondering how it was possible Zmarzlik could be so quick... "Speed" and "quick" suggest superior equipment rather than rider ability Edited October 12, 2018 by Midland Red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 12, 2018 Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 Tai on BBC Breakfast this morning. Probably more publicity in 5 minutes than a whole season of riding in the British League would get you. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted October 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 22 minutes ago, Grachan said: Tai on BBC Breakfast this morning. Probably more publicity in 5 minutes than a whole season of riding in the British League would get you. Or riding in the Olimpique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted October 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: Tai coming to my home town to a meeting and not riding in it is a perfect example of why I don’t like him, racing is what he does it’s what we as fans pay to see Perhaps he wasn't asked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted October 12, 2018 Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 (edited) 18 minutes ago, iainb said: Perhaps he wasn't asked? you really think any promoter in their right mind would not ask him to ride in their meeting but then ask him to be there ? Fans including me want to see him race it’s why we go to speedway Edited October 12, 2018 by THE DEAN MACHINE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 12, 2018 Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 7 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: you really think any promoter in their right mind would not ask him to ride in their meeting but then ask him to be there ? Surely nobody in their right mind would be a Speedway promoter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted October 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 30 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: you really think any promoter in their right mind would not ask him to ride in their meeting but then ask him to be there ? Fans including me want to see him race it’s why we go to speedway I honestly don't know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 13, 2018 Report Share Posted October 13, 2018 On 10/12/2018 at 11:23 PM, Midland Red said: "Speed" and "quick" suggest superior equipment rather than rider ability I'm not sure what your point is? Yes speed is a combination of ability and equipment. Noone has denied Woffy has good equipment. Has there ever been a world champion with poor equipment? Certainly not in my lifetime, and before thst Mauger is praised for his professionalism. The likes of Carter and Collins had supremely quick equipment. In one of Pcs books in reference to the 77 world final he makes a comment about his bikes being as quick or quicker than any of his rivals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burton1 Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 British riders in the 70s and 80s had the British semi final,British final,commonwealth final,overseas final and intercontinental final to try and qualify from if they managed that they had mauger and Olsen to contend with then in the 80s Nielsen and gundersen.if tai had ridden in that time I doubt he would of qualified for a world final let alone won one 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orion Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 Just now, burton1 said: British riders in the 70s and 80s had the British semi final,British final,commonwealth final,overseas final and intercontinental final to try and qualify from if they managed that they had mauger and Olsen to contend with then in the 80s Nielsen and gundersen.if tai had ridden in that time I doubt he would of qualified for a world final let alone won one Why ? Les Collins and Kai Niemi used to make finals in tho's days ...it's impossible to compare Era's but is laughable to think that Woffy would not have made World Finals 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burton1 Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 2 minutes ago, orion said: Why ? Les Collins and Kai Niemi used to make finals in tho's days ...it's impossible to compare Era's but is laughable to think that Woffy would not have made World les made one world final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 (edited) 26 minutes ago, burton1 said: British riders in the 70s and 80s had the British semi final,British final,commonwealth final,overseas final and intercontinental final to try and qualify from if they managed that they had mauger and Olsen to contend with then in the 80s Nielsen and gundersen.if tai had ridden in that time I doubt he would of qualified for a world final let alone won one Not always the case.In 72 and 75 didn’t they just have the British final?And in 81 the Overseas final was at White City for instance and mainly you only had to finish in the top 10 or 11!!!Do you honestly think Tai isn’t good enough to do that? He rides more top meetings abroad than those old riders ever had to do.More in one GP season than a lot did in their wc career,so many were held in the UK Edited October 14, 2018 by iris123 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orion Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 22 minutes ago, burton1 said: les made one world final. Yea ..and ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post fatface Posted October 14, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, burton1 said: British riders in the 70s and 80s had the British semi final,British final,commonwealth final,overseas final and intercontinental final to try and qualify from if they managed that they had mauger and Olsen to contend with then in the 80s Nielsen and gundersen.if tai had ridden in that time I doubt he would of qualified for a world final let alone won one As per a previous example, Mike Lee had all those rounds, bar the Overseas Final (replaced Commonwealth in 1981) when winning the title in 1980. They all took place in the UK. You mention Olsen and Mauger, but let's look at the full picture. He also had to face the likes of Bobby Garrad (British Semi) Mike Lanham (British Final), Mel Taylor (Commonwealth) and Bent Rasmussen (Intercontinental). He also didn't beat his major rival for the title that year - Dave Jessup - once in the entirety of winning that World Championship. In contrast Woffinden has had to face all of his main rivals in 10 meetings across the season in 7 countries and has beaten them on multiple occasions to win the title. Still think it was tougher back in the day? Think again. Edited October 14, 2018 by falcace 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 1 hour ago, burton1 said: British riders in the 70s and 80s had the British semi final,British final,commonwealth final,overseas final and intercontinental final to try and qualify from if they managed that they had mauger and Olsen to contend with then in the 80s Nielsen and gundersen.if tai had ridden in that time I doubt he would of qualified for a world final let alone won one Right. Because the best rider in the world regularly failed to qualify for world finals. Tai is obviously nowhere near the quality of the likes of Troy Butler, Olli Tyvarrinen, Mervyn Cox, Trevor Hedge, Larry Ross etc. Chris Morton was a regular and much as he is one of my all time favourites, to say he was better than Woffy is laughable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dodds Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 10 hours ago, orion said: Why ? Les Collins and Kai Niemi used to make finals in tho's days ...it's impossible to compare Era's but is laughable to think that Woffy would not have made World Finals On riding ability yes but - as with Collins at the British Final in 1978 - engine failures, a fall, lousy track conditions or annoying a belligerent referee could see you fail to qualify from any given round. No wildcards to cover your box office appeal or guarantee of qualification for the next season by finishing in the top eight of any given season. I'm sure Tai's quality would have shone through but bad luck could have robbed him of the chance of even reaching a World Final 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 13 hours ago, burton1 said: les made one world final. and nearly won it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmauger Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, OveFundinFan said: and nearly won it. Indeed he did, I recently watched the 1982 Final from LA (the Carter v Penhall one) and Les was really on it, actually taking Penhall from the back, must have been gutting to lose out in that one comparitively easier race. I read somewhere it took him ages to sort his 4V JAWA as apparently they coud be well tricky to set up and he got it running 'just so' in the qualifier, which I believe he won, before the final. Comparing competitors, in any sport, from different eras is interesting but really just for fun as ultimately it isn't resolved: different times, conditions, mindsets, equipment, venues and in speedway different competition rules: World Finals v GPs. But the cream always rises to the top so winners in one era would almost certainly be a winner in a different time.... Edited October 15, 2018 by martinmauger belated spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted October 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 3 minutes ago, martinmauger said: I read somehwere it took him ages to sort his 4V JAWA as apparently they coud be well tricky to set up and he got it running 'just so' in the qualifier, which I believe he won, before the final. I thought he was one of the early riders to ride the new (at the time) GM engine. Les was one of the most underrated naturally talented riders I've ever seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK246 Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 21 minutes ago, iainb said: I thought he was one of the early riders to ride the new (at the time) GM engine. Les was one of the most underrated naturally talented riders I've ever seen I thought Egon Muller was one of the first riders to use GM in 83, it was the only one in the world final that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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