Neil Grantham Posted May 21, 2004 Report Share Posted May 21, 2004 (edited) Can anyone help me please with the format of the World Speedway final. I have a book detailing all the heat details going back to the first final in 1936 I'm trying to computerise this in MS Excel, and have noticed that those early finals seem to have a different format - in terms of when riders appear - to the standard 20 heat format I've been used to. I'm sure it's not a misprint, and indeed the same riders compete against each other as they would nowadays, and it only seems to be a few heats around the middle of the meeting. For example: Nowadays heat 11 is riders 8, 9, 3 and 14 Heat 12 is 13, 4, 10 and 7 Heat 13 is 7, 12, 14 and 1 However in 1936, 37 etc the heats 11 and 13 are transposed, (same rider numbers but different order.) This meant rider 8 took 2 consecutive rides in 13 and 14 and after heat 12 some riders had completed 3 rides whilst others only 1 Is this correct? If so, when did it change to the current format, and were there any further changes along the way Thanks Neil Edited May 21, 2004 by Neil Grantham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Grantham Posted May 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 (edited) Just started checking heat line-ups again, and it seems in 1937, and 38, Rider 2 took the heats that Rider 1 would now take! ..or have I just gone mad! So, does anyone have a collection of World Final programs and could tell me the heat order over the years. Bit of a long shot I guess, but here's hoping Neil Edited May 23, 2004 by Neil Grantham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 In 1938 the riders rode in the following heats: 1: 1-6-10-14-18 2: 1-5-9-11-17 3: 1-7-13-15-19 4: 1-8-12-16-20 5: 2-5-10-15-20 6: 2-6-9-16-19 7: 2-7-11-12-18 8: 1-8-13-14-17 9: 3-5-13-16-18 10: 3-6-12-15-17 11: 3-7-9-14-20 12: 3-8-10-11-19 13: 4-5-12-14-19 14: 4-6-11-13-20 15: 4-7-10-16-17 16: 4-8-9-15-18 This remained the format until 1951. The 1952 format was changed to the one which remained in operation until the end of the one-off Finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Grantham Posted May 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 In 1938 the riders rode in the following heats: 1: 1-6-10-14-18 2: 1-5-9-11-17 This remained the format until 1951. The 1952 format was changed to the one which remained in operation until the end of the one-off Finals. Cheers, most helpful and much as I suspected, but nice to knw it's not imagination! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Interestingly, I have just looked up my prized possession - the programme for the 1935 Star Riders' Final - and the format for that was the same as the later format (ie. post 1952). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom House Kid Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Interestingly, I have just looked up my prized possession - the programme for the 1935 Star Riders' Final - and the format for that was the same as the later format (ie. post 1952). Did you Queue for that Norbold! Or did you wait a few years after the meeting and buy it on E Bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I can't remember where I got it. I've had it for years. Long before eBay! It was in the days when speedway memorabilia was cheap - comparatively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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