Vince Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 22 hours ago, MARK246 said: So less than at a one off final. Plus the benefit of ten meetings to do it, .....yawn ... no wonder it was boring to watch this year I would say that genuine title contenders for 2019 are Woffinden, Zmarzlik, Lindgren, Janowski and Hancock possibly Dudek. Any one of the 15 regulars and as proved in the past some of the wildcards could win a GP. That means that at any round there are at least 15 riders who could have won an old style World Championship where one exceptional night was good enough. That's a very strong field better than any of the one off World Finals I attended. I don't know what you were watching as I thought the series was very good this year with only a couple of not so good meetings and the tension around the title there until the final meeting. The racing at most of the Gp's was miles better than any final I ever saw at Wembley too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK246 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 17 minutes ago, Vince said: I would say that genuine title contenders for 2019 are Woffinden, Zmarzlik, Lindgren, Janowski and Hancock possibly Dudek. Any one of the 15 regulars and as proved in the past some of the wildcards could win a GP. That means that at any round there are at least 15 riders who could have won an old style World Championship where one exceptional night was good enough. That's a very strong field better than any of the one off World Finals I attended. I don't know what you were watching as I thought the series was very good this year with only a couple of not so good meetings and the tension around the title there until the final meeting. The racing at most of the Gp's was miles better than any final I ever saw at Wembley too. It's not won in a night so it doesn't matter how many can win "on the night." Three of your 6 named ride for the same team so that cuts your list down to 4. Grachen try, speedway templates - Wikipedia, I will wait for your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 11 minutes ago, MARK246 said: Three of your 6 named ride for the same team so that cuts your list down to 4. It's amusing your constant suggestion that the GP series is fixed or that certain riders are working in collusion. Of course, loving the sport in a period where such collusion was rampant, riders were taking bungs to throw races and it all resulted in a nation media scandal which was the beginning of the slippery slope for the sport in the UK one can understand that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinkox Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 1 hour ago, moxey63 said: A lot of the lure for speedway is not the racing but the characters. I suppose speedway having lack of characters has followed the other sports which speedway fans used to find boring and sanitised. Partly true about the characters - In the old days 60s and 70s you could meet the riders in the grandstand bar or the pub after the meeting for a pint and a fag - well at Wimbledon anyway. I remember riders attempting a yard of ale - Im pretty sure that wouldnt happen today... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted October 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 7 minutes ago, spinkox said: Partly true about the characters - In the old days 60s and 70s you could meet the riders in the grandstand bar or the pub after the meeting for a pint and a fag - well at Wimbledon anyway. I remember riders attempting a yard of ale - Im pretty sure that wouldnt happen today... Not after a world final though... I want to know who all these characters were that were riding at world level? 25 minutes ago, MARK246 said: Gachen try, speedway templates - Wikipedia, I will wait for your answer. He doesn't have to, doing that would be futile because we all know that because of the nature of the sport with so many variables that it's possible to win a 20 heat format meeting without winning a race, tapes exclusion, falls, ef's all come into play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 32 minutes ago, MARK246 said: It's not won in a night so it doesn't matter how many can win "on the night." Three of your 6 named ride for the same team so that cuts your list down to 4. Grachen try, speedway templates - Wikipedia, I will wait for your answer. Congratulations to Tai Woffinden - 2013 World Champion under the one-off format without even winning a race. And no engine failures. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted October 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 1 minute ago, Grachan said: Congratulations to Tai Woffinden - 2013 World Champion under the one-off format without even winning a race. And no engine failures. Brilliant Ales Dryml 7 though?!? Edited October 19, 2018 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Just now, iainb said: Brilliant It wasn't even that difficult. Just had to switch Matej Zagar and Darcy Ward round in heat 12 to stop Zagar or Madsen also getting 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK246 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 4 minutes ago, Grachan said: Congratulations to Tai Woffinden - 2013 World Champion under the one-off format without even winning a race. And no engine failures. I apologise for that I was always lead to believe it wasn't possible. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Just now, MARK246 said: I apologise for that I was always lead to believe it wasn't possible. No need to apologise. It was an interesting point. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, iainb said: Can you tell me who the "characters" were back in the good old days? And what made them characters for you? I'll be random. Kenny Carter was often the only rider in the Halifax team who could win races on his travels. I would never miss a match at Belle Vue in which he was riding. Often it was a 30-odd point trouncing, but Carter always seemed to bring extra out of the occasion and there was a definite bite in the heats he was in. It wasn't about the racing. It was about the entertainment and the expectancy, anticipation. Riders didn't care how they looked or what leathers they wore. That is why Backtrack magazine is so popular, and the winter series in the Speedway Star. We all yearn for the Garry Middleton type character, Jack Millen, Steve Gresham, Kelvin Mullarkey, Alan Wilkinson. I mean, it wasn't that long ago we had Nicki Pedersen likely to put on a sideshow to entertain. But speedway has fallen in line with the design of the Grand Prix racejackets. They merely exist to serve a purpose. Riders don't get dirty anymore and look as if they've put in a hard shift, they are so robotic. There is no individuality. They are merely agency lads just riding for the best deal they can attain, and they will roll up at the tapes next March with no team affinity but expect a stadium full of fans (yeah, right) who have gone along in the direction of not really caring who's in the team as long as it's got a chance to keep the Play-Off hopes alive. We have just seen what's wrong with speedway in four short months. Poole bottom, fans not attending, Harris signed, Poole come good, crowds happy, Poole win the title, Harris casts off his Rye House suit and has a specially designed Poole one made within a week. Where is the loyalty? It is no longer a team sport it professes to be. As well as riders having character in the past, the sport had it too. Edited October 19, 2018 by moxey63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 1 minute ago, moxey63 said: I'll be random. Kenny Carter was often the only rider in the Halifax team who could win races on his travels. I would never miss a match at Belle Vue in which he was riding. Often it was a 30-odd point trouncing, but Carter always seemed to bring extra out of the occasion and there was a definite bite in the heats he was in. It wasn't about the racing. It was about the entertainment and the expectancy, anticipation. Riders didn't care how they looked or what leathers they wore. That is why Backtrack magazine is so popular, and the winter series in the Speedway Star. We all yearn for the Garry Middleton type character, Jack Millen, Steve Gresham, Kelvin Mullarkey, Alan Wilkinson. I mean, it wasn't that long ago we had Nicki Pedersen likely to put on a sideshow to entertain. But speedway has fallen in line with the design of the Grand Prix racejackets. Riders don't get dirty anymore and look as if they've put in a hard shift, they are so robotic. There is no individuality. They are merely agency lads just riding for the best deal they can attain, and they will roll up at the tapes next March with no team affinity but expect a stadium full of fans (yeah, right) who have gone along in the direction of not really caring who's in the team as long as it's got a chance to keep the Play-Off hopes alive. We have just seen what's wrong with speedway in four short months. Poole bottom, fans not attending, Harris signed, Poole come good, crowds happy, Poole win the title, Harris casts off his Rye House suit and has a specially designed Poole one made within a week. Where is the loyalty? It is no longer a team sport it professes to be. Poole didn't have a race suit this year. They wore race jackets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Just now, Grachan said: Poole didn't have a race suit this year. They wore race jackets. Harris had a Poole suit made. I know that, and I don't even follow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 4 minutes ago, moxey63 said: Harris had a Poole suit made. I know that, and I don't even follow it. Well, he does seem to be wearing one in the photos, which is odd as the rest of the team are wearing race jackets. But, surely, even if he got a race suit made that is showing real loyalty to his team - not a lack of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Grachan said: No need to apologise. It was an interesting point. You know, it is possible for Woffy to win on 9 without winning a heat... Swap Woffy and Vaculik in ht3. Madsen and ward in ht6. Pedersen and puk in ht8 Edited October 19, 2018 by waiheke1 Clarification 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Grachan said: Well, he does seem to be wearing one in the photos, which is odd as the rest of the team are wearing race jackets. But, surely, even if he got a race suit made that is showing real loyalty to his team - not a lack of it. Here we go again. It was within days of Rye House closing, his team, and what respect did this show to their fans? He had the suit made, I assume, because he may have just been relieved in getting another gig and didn't have to quit, as he was fearing because his other team - is it Glasgow - wasn't enough to pay the bills. And that is what I mean about the sport being built on sand. Yet we ask why supporters don't roll up in droves to what we once termed a team sport. As well as his beaming smile celebrating on the cover of this week's SS with his title-winning team mates of Poole, Chris Harris could make it a double-bubble next week after having helped Somerset win the Cup last night. Explain that one to a friend you're trying to try speedway. At least with the GPs they aren't pretending they're not doing it for self-intent. Edited October 19, 2018 by moxey63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singy13 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 1 hour ago, iainb said: Can you tell me who the "characters" were back in the good old days? And what made them characters for you? Is 1970 far enough back for 'the good old days'??? This was when the now famous COMETS arrived on the scene......and the fans first ever hero must have been Bob 'bluey' Valentine...just a small guy in black leathers who wowed the 3,000 regulars each Friday...not great gater, which made watching his daring his passes all the better......sadly he only appeared that one season - and I'm convinced many folk drifted away from Workington speedway in 1971 onwards because of that............ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 25 minutes ago, iainb said: Brilliant Ales Dryml 7 though?!? Although he didn't win a race, so he did come 14th. (The only rider apart from the meeting winner who didn't win a heat). Edited October 19, 2018 by Grachan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 46 minutes ago, BWitcher said: It's amusing your constant suggestion that the GP series is fixed or that certain riders are working in collusion. Of course, loving the sport in a period where such collusion was rampant, riders were taking bungs to throw races and it all resulted in a nation media scandal which was the beginning of the slippery slope for the sport in the UK one can understand that. And of course a final where over half the field had nothing to race for at the half way mark. Or qualifiers where when you reached the last 4 heats riders had nothing to race for... Off the top of my head I can think of 81 overseas final, 82 overseas final, 82 ic final, 84 ic final, 91(?) overseas final (Sam letting Hancock pass). Plus the Collins brothers team riding in the 82 overseas final. And tgese are not the incidents with money changing hands, just "favoyrs" for compatriots Whereas in the gp series I can only think of the hancock/holder case, where Hancock got rightly excludes, neutralizing the impact of his action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 5 minutes ago, Grachan said: Although he didn't win a race, so he did come 14th. (The only rider apart from the meeting winner who didn't win a heat). Swap Dryml and Hancock in ht6 And all 15 except the winner have a heat win. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.