Pinny Posted May 16, 2020 Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, steve roberts said: I think he started his career in the UK based at Newport before moving up with Poole? Correct, came in 1997 for his debut season at Newport before moving up full time with Poole in 2000 and dropping back to Newport in 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 8 hours ago, Pinny said: Correct, came in 1997 for his debut season at Newport before moving up full time with Poole in 2000 and dropping back to Newport in 2002. What about the Aussie Hedley Pinny, i really liked him thought he could go farther in the sport.Young Schramm was also  great value always give everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 16, 2020 Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: What about the Aussie Hedley Pinny, i really liked him thought he could go farther in the sport.Young Schramm was also  great value always give everything. Was that Chris Schramm Sid? Never realised he was an Aussie. Edited May 16, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 1 minute ago, steve roberts said: Was that Chris Schramm Sid? Never realised he was an Aussie. oops sorry  Steve he was as English as they come see him ride in a Conference final once at Rye House  (. Holloway rode) Richie Hawkins won the final. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted May 16, 2020 Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, steve roberts said: Was that Chris Schramm Sid? Never realised he was an Aussie. You know, Chris impressed me when I saw him, and I thought he had some real potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 16 minutes ago, chunky said: You know, Chris impressed me when I saw him, and I thought he had some real potential. He was decent Chunky really gutsy,  great value, so sorry about our latest spat my full opologies Ok.!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 16, 2020 Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 On 5/15/2020 at 9:50 AM, gustix said: Thank you for 'the invite' (!!!) Sidney the robin. I did indeed see Jack Young ride in his days with West Ham and Coventry. He was brilliant in those days. however I have never/not see and of the Australian riders you have named so no companions from me. But a great thread topic. Out of interest, when did you stop watching speedway? The 60s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 16, 2020 Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 On 5/12/2020 at 7:11 AM, iris123 said: Always felt one weakness with Crump was his failure to defend a championship. One year in winning he was truly superb and the next, even though he might have finished 2nd he seemed to go off the boil A trend in general in the GP era. Is it that a season of performing at the highest level is exhausting and unsustainable? Compared to world final era which required a one night peak, and maybe the experience having won gave an added mental toughness? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, waiheke1 said: Out of interest, when did you stop watching speedway? The 60s? I think this question is addressed to me. My answer is no. I stopped watching speedway as it should be raced in the 1950s!!! Edited May 17, 2020 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, gustix said: I think this question is addressed to me. My answer is no. I stopped watching speedway as it should be raced in the 1950s!!! Speedway was still racing "as it should be raced" in the 60's and 70's at least. Let's not forget that the GP in Wroclaw as last year was perhaps the greatest speedway meeting of all time. Edited May 17, 2020 by chunky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 7 hours ago, gustix said: I think this question is addressed to me. My answer is no. I stopped watching speedway as it should be raced in the 1950s!!! Ok. But you are quoted as saying you worked for speedway mail from 1972-1984. I'm just wondering how you never saw Phil Crump or Billy Sanders race? Or how you are unable to recognise Ivan Mauger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 5 hours ago, chunky said: Speedway was still racing "as it should be raced" in the 60's and 70's at least. Let's not forget that the GP in Wroclaw as last year was perhaps the greatest speedway meeting of all time. The racing in GPs and SWC in the 2010s is the best I've seen in my nearly 40 years watching. And similarly as good or better than anything captured by tv cameras from earlier years. Proper race tracks, world class fields, a format in which every point counts and suspect that air fences make riders more willing to make aggressive moves round the outside. Frankly to indicate that today's speedway is not "speedway as it should be raced" is snobbery and closed-mindedness of the highest order. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 6 minutes ago, waiheke1 said: Ok. But you are quoted as saying you worked for speedway mail from 1972-1984. I'm just wondering how you never saw Phil Crump or Billy Sanders race? Or how you are unable to recognise Ivan Mauger? I was only doing page make-up on a casual basis at Speedway Mail. At the same time I was working full-time for a twice weekly London newspaper. I had no need to attend any speedway meetings on behalf of Speedway Mail. Can you explain your Ivan Mauger comment please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 5 minutes ago, gustix said: I was only doing page make-up on a casual basis at Speedway Mail. At the same time I was working full-time for a twice weekly London newspaper. I had no need to attend any speedway meetings on behalf of Speedway Mail. Can you explain your Ivan Mauger comment please. On the Wimbledon thread, there is a photo of several riders who you claimed not to be able to identify. Amongst them Ivan Mauger, Ronnie Moore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 7 minutes ago, gustix said: I was only doing page make-up on a casual basis at Speedway Mail. At the same time I was working full-time for a twice weekly London newspaper. I had no need to attend any speedway meetings on behalf of Speedway Mail. Can you explain your Ivan Mauger comment please. But you described yourself as "freelance writer and sub editor". Out of interest, how do you freelance write on a sport without watching it? And how was the 1981 world final was your favourite "after 36 years of watching speedway" if actually you didn't watch speedway at that time?  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) 26 minutes ago, waiheke1 said: But you described yourself as "freelance writer and sub editor". Out of interest, how do you freelance write on a sport without watching it? And how was the 1981 world final was your favourite "after 36 years of watching speedway" if actually you didn't watch speedway at that time?  My freelance writing was about the era when I attended speedway in the 1940s and 1950s, plus historical happenings searched from various sources. As a freelance writer my efforts were midget car racing, stock car (aka oval motorsport). Again most of from research through various sources, books, magazines. The 1981 world final came about because they had a spare ticket at Speedway Mail. My claim to how long I had watched speedway was on the fact I first saw the sport live at NewCross in April 1946. Most of my actual speedway watching was between 1954 and 1961 when I worked at Speedway Star. And if you are interested I like stock car racing because f the various racing formulas it has. And my interest there goes back to attending the first UK stock car meeting at New Cross on Good Friday. An interesting coincidence as I have mentioned it was also at New Cross (some eight years previously) that I first saw a speedway race. And a further coincidence I last speedway Wimbledon in 2005 and last saw car action at the same stadium in 2017.. Edited May 17, 2020 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 17 hours ago, chunky said: Speedway was still racing "as it should be raced" in the 60's and 70's at least. Let's not forget that the GP in Wroclaw as last year was perhaps the greatest speedway meeting of all time. Not even sure what that is supposed to mean. There was always differences, pretty much from the start. I mean when speedway started off in the UK, it wasn't the same as how the Aussies had been racing in their homeland. The tracks were generally smaller and I think the surface was different. When the Aussie riders went to California for instance in the 1930s the tracks were also different to Australia or the UK. They noted it took some getting used to the clay surface.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 4 hours ago, iris123 said: Not even sure what that is supposed to mean. There was always differences, pretty much from the start. I mean when speedway started off in the UK, it wasn't the same as how the Aussies had been racing in their homeland. The tracks were generally smaller and I think the surface was different. When the Aussie riders went to California for instance in the 1930s the tracks were also different to Australia or the UK. They noted it took some getting used to the clay surface.... The main reason for me saying what I did was that speedway is "dirt-track" racing, and the sport suffered when we started to lose the dirt. You do make a great point, though. I have often said on here that one thing I miss (in Britain, at least), is the variety of tracks. We used to have tracks of vastly different size, shape, and surface. Now tracks seem to be built to a "standard". What I am trying to work out is that John rattles on about his lifelong "involvement" in speedway, yet basically, it seems that he enjoyed it for about 10 years, and (when it "changed" in the 50's), HASN'T been interested for some 60 years! I don't like to harp on about it (actually, I do), but I am still trying to work out how someone "in" the sport doesn't recognise Plechanov, Moore, or Mauger... You don't have to physically attend speedway and watch racing to be able to identify legends like that. I've never been to an F1 race, but I recognise Jackie Stewart... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, chunky said: The main reason for me saying what I did was that speedway is "dirt-track" racing, and the sport suffered when we started to lose the dirt. You do make a great point, though. I have often said on here that one thing I miss (in Britain, at least), is the variety of tracks. We used to have tracks of vastly different size, shape, and surface. Now tracks seem to be built to a "standard". What I am trying to work out is that John rattles on about his lifelong "involvement" in speedway, yet basically, it seems that he enjoyed it for about 10 years, and (when it "changed" in the 50's), HASN'T been interested for some 60 years! I don't like to harp on about it (actually, I do), but I am still trying to work out how someone "in" the sport doesn't recognise Plechanov, Moore, or Mauger... You don't have to physically attend speedway and watch racing to be able to identify legends like that. I've never been to an F1 race, but I recognise Jackie Stewart... Couldn't agree more! To me that was the enjoyable experience visiting tracks in all their differing shapes, sizes and quirks! Edited May 18, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifer sam Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 (edited) On 5/16/2020 at 7:06 AM, steve roberts said: Was never a fan of Rickardsson personally. He certainly let Oxford down when signed on a short-term contract I recall. Always suspected his loyalties to any one club and his team-riding abilities were questionable but that's the same for many riders to be honest. He was signed to ride on a six-week contract, but Aaron Lanney cut it to four weeks and brought in Todd Wiltshire a couple of weeks earlier, because our team spirit was non-existent while Rickardsson was in the team. We only won one meeting under Rickardsson - when he deemed to finally show everyone his capabilities in a home match against Reading. Todd was a 7.50 rider in 2006, but brought together the side as a team and still had his uncanny habit of going out and getting the points when we really needed him to. We were woefully weak in 2006 - it was Todd who saved us from the wooden spoon. I'd quite liked Rickardsson up until the point he signed for us, but lost a lot of respect for him. Mind you, I don't think he cared what any of the fans thought, he was just in it for himself. On the other hand, Todd further cemented his place as a club legend. Edited May 18, 2020 by lucifer sam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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