steve roberts Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said: And Ivan was one of the few that really feared the unheralded Jerzy, Plech at that time was the golden boy and was expected to be the biggest home threat. What I liked back then was that the Eastern Euoropean riders were viewed with a certain amount of mystery and any riding on British tracks was looked upon with interest.I recall Antoni Woryna riding for Poole in 1973 & 74 which created an element of anticipation and excitement. Now Poles are abundant in Britain and no longer viewed as a rarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 Oh yes. Nowadays it’s a bit of a novelty to see a British rider. A Scottish or Welsh one rarer than a penny black !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, steve roberts said: What I liked back then was that the Eastern Euoropean riders were viewed with a certain amount of mystery and any riding on British tracks was looked upon with interest.I recall Antoni Woryna riding for Poole in 1973 & 74 which created an element of anticipation and excitement. Now Poles are abundant in Britain and no longer viewed as a rarity. All of the Poles i have seen over the years Steve i have enjoyed watching everyone of them.Most of them have been disappointing Raba,Gluchlich,Slabon( why was he sent to Eastbourne bizarre????) to name a few but always in the back of my mind i knew some of there aquipment was not good anough.Steve you must of seen a fair bit of Cieslak and he acquitted himself very well and was probably capable of more. But two that I always believed in time with the right aquipment right preparation that could of done even better in the uk were Roman Janowski ( Hackney) Piotr Pyszny ( Poole/ Halifax). Edited January 5, 2020 by Sidney the robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 5 hours ago, Sidney the robin said: All of the Poles i have seen over the years Steve i have enjoyed watching everyone of them.Most of them have been disappointing Raba,Gluchlich,Slabon( why was he sent to Eastbourne bizarre????) to name a few but always in the back of my mind i knew some of there aquipment was not good anough.Steve you must of seen a fair bit of Cieslak and he acquitted himself very well and was probably capable of more. But two that I always believed in time with the right aquipment right preparation that could of done even better in the uk were Roman Janowski ( Hackney) Piotr Pyszny ( Poole/ Halifax). Marek was a revelation around Wood Lane in 1977. His first meeting he registered a maximum and his outside sweeps on a notoriously flat track without much banking was a joy! He kind of lost his way the following year but I personally think that was down to him having to travel backwards and forwards to Poland to ride for his club team whereas in 1977 he wasn't expected to. Eastbourme had a couple of Poles ride for them in 1980 but they lasted only a very short period (Jan Puk was one?) and compared to them Robert Slabon was a success but generally disappoining overal. I saw Roman Jankowkski score a maximum at Swindon and remember the Polish/Swede who rode for the Robins (recommended by Jan Andersen I recall) but, again, was disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: Marek was a revelation around Wood Lane in 1977. His first meeting he registered a maximum and his outside sweeps on a notoriously flat track without much banking was a joy! He kind of lost his way the following year but I personally think that was down to him having to travel backwards and forwards to Poland to ride for his club team whereas in 1977 he wasn't expected to. Eastbourme had a couple of Poles ride for them in 1980 but they lasted only a very short period (Jan Puk was one?) and compared to them Robert Slabon was a success but generally disappoining overal. I saw Roman Jankowkski score a maximum at Swindon and remember the Polish/Swede who rode for the Robins (recommended by Jan Andersen I recall) but, again, was disappointing. 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: Marek was a revelation around Wood Lane in 1977. His first meeting he registered a maximum and his outside sweeps on a notoriously flat track without much banking was a joy! He kind of lost his way the following year but I personally think that was down to him having to travel backwards and forwards to Poland to ride for his club team whereas in 1977 he wasn't expected to. Eastbourme had a couple of Poles ride for them in 1980 but they lasted only a very short period (Jan Puk was one?) and compared to them Robert Slabon was a success but generally disappoining overal. I saw Roman Jankowkski score a maximum at Swindon and remember the Polish/Swede who rode for the Robins (recommended by Jan Andersen I recall) but, again, was disappointing. Jerzy Trzeszkowski and Leonard Raba rode for the budgies in 1978, Trzeszkowski a former world finalist looked well past his best at that time.Raba had ability a great gater and he fell a few times in good racing position's he odviously was pretty useful as he later got in the 1984 Poland World team cup final team in Leszno. Edited January 5, 2020 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 4 hours ago, steve roberts said: Eastbourme had a couple of Poles ride for them in 1980 but they lasted only a very short period (Jan Puk was one?) and compared to them Robert Slabon was a success but generally disappoining overal. Jan Puk and Jozef Kafel, Steve. Then there was Marek Kepa. Also Piotr Pyszny, who was at Arlington in 1983, but never showed the form he did at Poole and Halifax. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 13 hours ago, Sidney the robin said: All of the Poles i have seen over the years Steve i have enjoyed watching everyone of them.Most of them have been disappointing Raba,Gluchlich,Slabon( why was he sent to Eastbourne bizarre????) to name a few but always in the back of my mind i knew some of there aquipment was not good anough.Steve you must of seen a fair bit of Cieslak and he acquitted himself very well and was probably capable of more. But two that I always believed in time with the right aquipment right preparation that could of done even better in the uk were Roman Janowski ( Hackney) Piotr Pyszny ( Poole/ Halifax). I saw Robert Slabon ride at either Welland or Paris quite a few years ago-think he emigrated here (to Canada) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 3 hours ago, chunky said: Jan Puk and Jozef Kafel, Steve. Then there was Marek Kepa. Also Piotr Pyszny, who was at Arlington in 1983, but never showed the form he did at Poole and Halifax. I thought Pyszny rode only two challenge meeting's Steve for Poole ??? against Swindon scoring paid 7 from three rides and 0 from two rides at the Abbey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 20 minutes ago, BOBBATH said: I saw Robert Slabon ride at either Welland or Paris quite a few years ago-think he emigrated here (to Canada) Yes he did and he had a son Chris who rode for Ipswich I recall and had dual citizenship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 12 hours ago, Sidney the robin said: I thought Pyszny rode only two challenge meeting's Steve for Poole ??? against Swindon scoring paid 7 from three rides and 0 from two rides at the Abbey. It actually appears he rode in three meetings. Okay, no points from two rides isn't good, but not totally unexpected at a new track. Paid 7 from 3 is pretty good. He also rode in a BL match against Reading. He finished second first time out, but fell in his second and never reappeared; I assume he was injured. Overall, that is not bad from a new rider. He wasn't great at Halifax, but could certainly be classed as "useful". Averaging less than 4 for Eastbourne is poor... Then again, that was an era when Eastbourne had little difficulty in securing riders who could average less than four points a meeting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 14 minutes ago, chunky said: It actually appears he rode in three meetings. Okay, no points from two rides isn't good, but not totally unexpected at a new track. Paid 7 from 3 is pretty good. He also rode in a BL match against Reading. He finished second first time out, but fell in his second and never reappeared; I assume he was injured. Overall, that is not bad from a new rider. He wasn't great at Halifax, but could certainly be classed as "useful". Averaging less than 4 for Eastbourne is poor... Then again, that was an era when Eastbourne had little difficulty in securing riders who could average less than four points a meeting! Totally agree Chunky my overall thought was that he was very useful at Halifax and a real trier he averaged over five twice and the home fans really took to him.At Eastbourne on the face of It averaging 3.5/8 ish looks disappointing but he only rode thirteen matches.Also Eastbourne is not the average place that a Pole would be used to and looking back Eastbourne must have the worst record for alot of there foreign imports a few spring to mind.( i.e.) Ring, Hammarburg, Righetto, Puk, Kafel, Slabon, Columbo, Klingberg, Johansson, Slabon, (etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 4 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: Eastbourne must have the worst record for alot of there foreign imports a few spring to mind.( i.e.) Ring, Hammarburg, Righetto, Puk, Kafel, Slabon, Columbo, Klingberg, Johansson, Slabon, (etc). Exactly what I said, and don't forget, we can add Davidsson, Schroeck, and Christiansen to that list! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 Just sort of getting back a bit to the original theme. How many Russians have ridden British League ? I know Emil of course, but although there weren’t many there must have been a couple more . Darkin? Gafurov ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryW Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 13 minutes ago, iris123 said: Just sort of getting back a bit to the original theme. How many Russians have ridden British League ? I know Emil of course, but although there weren’t many there must have been a couple more . Darkin? Gafurov ? As you say, Emil, Sergei Darkin and Renat Gafurov all raced in the UK as did Ilya Bondarenko and Denis Gizatullin. I'm struggling after that but probably forgetting someone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 8 hours ago, HenryW said: As you say, Emil, Sergei Darkin and Renat Gafurov all raced in the UK as did Ilya Bondarenko and Denis Gizatullin. I'm struggling after that but probably forgetting someone. Roman Povazhny and Rene Aas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 Rene Aas was Estonian by the time he rode for Sheffield in 1993. Estonia getting independence in 1990 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 27 minutes ago, iris123 said: Rene Aas was Estonian by the time he rode for Sheffield in 1993. Estonia getting independence in 1990 Agreed although he rode under the USSR flag in the 1989 & 1990 World Junior Championship but as you say was classified as an Estonian when he competed in Britain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 52 minutes ago, steve roberts said: Agreed although he rode under the USSR flag in the 1989 & 1990 World Junior Championship but as you say was classified as an Estonian when he competed in Britain. But he was never Russian, just as Jimmy McMillan was never English 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 2 hours ago, arnieg said: But he was never Russian, just as Jimmy McMillan was never English Or Tai Woffinden was never Australian. I'll get me coat... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 11 hours ago, arnieg said: But he was never Russian, just as Jimmy McMillan was never English With speedway anything is possible. Didn’t Ken McKinlay represent England more than once ? But I agree with your point Aas was never Russian. Darkin I think it has been pointed out before is from Uzbekistan, but at least represented Russia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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