Poole 1983.

[steve roberts]

28 minutes ago, falcace said:

And yet, despite that. I reckon Carl Blackbird could and should have gone on to a better career. He had talent and could ride all types of tracks. But even when he was signed by Belle Vue and broke into the England team, he still only had one bike strapped onto the back on his car. Never seemed to give it a proper crack. 

I recall an interview with Carl in "Backtrack" some years ago he said that he hadn't the resources and soon looked beyond the sport realising he was never going to make it pay?

[fatface]

4 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

In heat 8  ( Hackney test ) Carter was in front having passed Hans on the second lap and packing up on the last lap.Falcace you odviously followed the professors career like Steve Roberts and he was a true GREAT he certainly grew on me over the years.Was never a fan but see him quite a bit for Oxford and other meetings and you had to be impressed by his perseverance after a few setbacks that really impressed me.But the most impressive thing from Hans was his brilliant longevity at the top and going out at the right time.Being a Lee fan 1983 was a reminder of just how good he was and to be able to beat Hans/Erik who were the benchmark was no mean feat.Looking on now Hans would certainly be in my top 6 riders of all time and how many more titles could he have won over the GP format??? quite a few i think.

Not particularly a fan at all. I just like to see someone given their fair due. Hence, I can't really accept him being labelled as not world class or other riders 'destroying' or 'easily' beating him in a year when the facts indicate he was damn close to being, if not THE best rider in the world. Going forwards I can't think of any other rider who had as much control over a speedway bike as Hans Nielsen. But if I was to identify a chink in the armour, I think his nerve and judgement wavered a bit more than it did for other greats when it came to the very sharp end. He lost three run-offs for the World Title and let the 96 GP title slip when well within his grasp. And I think the clashes with Knudsen and Ermolenko (although he got away with the former) showed rare misjudgement.

[steve roberts]

32 minutes ago, falcace said:

Not particularly a fan at all. I just like to see someone given their fair due. Hence, I can't really accept him being labelled as not world class or other riders 'destroying' or 'easily' beating him in a year when the facts indicate he was damn close to being, if not THE best rider in the world. Going forwards I can't think of any other rider who had as much control over a speedway bike as Hans Nielsen. But if I was to identify a chink in the armour, I think his nerve and judgement wavered a bit more than it did for other greats when it came to the very sharp end. He lost three run-offs for the World Title and let the 96 GP title slip when well within his grasp. And I think the clashes with Knudsen and Ermolenko (although he got away with the former) showed rare misjudgement.

I was at Katowice when Hans won on 1986 and felt that the clash with Knudsen could have gone either way however having witnessed it at the time and numerous times over the years Knudsen was always inclined to ride "square bends" and ultimately that's what cost him trying to close a gap after it was too late. I saw him many times adopting this cornering technique and most of the time he got away with it.

As regards Nielsen and the 1996 GP it has been mentioned that certain riders (Ermolenko?) went out of their way to do favours for colleagues based upon earlier history remembering John Berry commenting and Sam mentioning it in his book.

[chunky]

20 hours ago, steve roberts said:

As regards Carl Blackbird as they say, I was there, and all his stars were perfectly alligned on that evening. He never again rose to that level.

It happens! In 1980, Roger Johns scored 16+1 at Hyde Rd in the KOC, and beat PC three times. He rode there in the BL a few weeks later, and scored 3...

[chunky]

5 hours ago, falcace said:

But if I was to identify a chink in the armour, I think his nerve and judgement wavered a bit more than it did for other greats when it came to the very sharp end.

It is also undoubtedly the reason he struggled for so long to make an impression in a World Final, when he had been one of the favourites.

[steve roberts]

29 minutes ago, chunky said:

It happens! In 1980, Roger Johns scored 16+1 at Hyde Rd in the KOC, and beat PC three times. He rode there in the BL a few weeks later, and scored 3...

That was/is the beauty of the sport that someone can raise their game for whatever reason and put in a stonking performance out of the blue before the status quo is re-established!

Neil Evitts won a British Semi-Final at Cowley and returned a week (?) later as a guest and failed  miserably although the Oxford faithfull had suspicions as rumours abounded?

Edited August 3, 2022 by steve roberts

[steve roberts]

20 minutes ago, chunky said:

It is also undoubtedly the reason he struggled for so long to make an impression in a World Final, when he had been one of the favourites.

The 1983 World Final was the eventual turning point for Hans when he admits himself he had got his self belief in check and could have made the rostrum after leading eventual champion Egon Muller before loosing his chain. He felt that riding a small track held him back but the move to Cowley (Swindon was a track he would have considered apparently) moved him up a significant notch and as they say the rest is history.

Edited August 3, 2022 by steve roberts

[Sidney the robin]

13 hours ago, steve roberts said:

The 1983 World Final was the eventual turning point for Hans when he admits himself he had got his self belief in check and could have made the rostrum after leading eventual champion Egon Muller before loosing his chain. He felt that riding a small track held him back but the move to Cowley (Swindon was a track he would have considered apparently) moved him up a significant notch and as they say the rest is history.

Winner four times  six times runner up and two third places from 1980/1999. That  record is insane Steve he also won in both disciplines of the world championship a record to be proud of.

[steve roberts]

3 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

Winner four times  six times runner up and two third places from 1980/1999. That  record is insane Steve he also won in both disciplines of the world championship a record to be proud of.

Absolutely Sid...a record that any rider would be proud of. I'm convinced if the GP's had been around during the eighties he would have added to that total of wins no question.

[Sidney the robin]

17 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Absolutely Sid...a record that any rider would be proud of. I'm convinced if the GP's had been around during the eighties he would have added to that total of wins no question.

I first see Hans ride in 1977 and he  looked very talented but my first memory of him being able to compete regularly on the world stage was in the 1978 World team cup final   Landshut he scored 11 points he was superb.

Edited August 4, 2022 by Sidney the robin

[steve roberts]

11 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

I first see Hans ride in 1977 and he  looked very talented but my first memory of him being able to compete regularly on the world stage was in the 1978 World team cup final   Landshut he scored 11 points he was superb.

I first saw Hans at White City in 1977 and one could see then that he was more that your average "unknown" foreigner.