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The Greatest Seven riders ever


wimbledonwomble

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BEST I HAVE SEEN 1968 PRESENT

 

1/ IVAN MAUGER

2/ HANS NIELSEN

3/ OLE OLSEN

4/ BRUCE PENHALL

5/ DENNIS SIGALOS

6/ MICHAEL LEE

7/ DAVE JESSUP

 

I'm talking here of performances at Kings Lynn mainly, Barry Briggs, Tony Rickardson,Ray Wilson, John Louis and Peter Collins would have been next on the list. I particularly mention Dennis Sigalos as prior to his ankle injury he went 21 races undefeated around Saddlebow Road in the early eighties.

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BEST I HAVE SEEN 1968 PRESENT

 

1/ IVAN MAUGER

2/ HANS NIELSEN

3/ OLE OLSEN

4/ BRUCE PENHALL

5/ DENNIS SIGALOS

6/ MICHAEL LEE

7/ DAVE JESSUP

 

I'm talking here of performances at Kings Lynn mainly, Barry Briggs, Tony Rickardson,Ray Wilson, John Louis and Peter Collins would have been next on the list. I particularly mention Dennis Sigalos as prior to his ankle injury he went 21 races undefeated around Saddlebow Road in the early eighties.

 

Not even a mention of Terry Betts in your back up list :o

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BEST I HAVE SEEN 1968 PRESENT

 

1/ IVAN MAUGER

2/ HANS NIELSEN

3/ OLE OLSEN

4/ BRUCE PENHALL

5/ DENNIS SIGALOS

6/ MICHAEL LEE

7/ DAVE JESSUP

 

I'm talking here of performances at Kings Lynn mainly, Barry Briggs, Tony Rickardson,Ray Wilson, John Louis and Peter Collins would have been next on the list. I particularly mention Dennis Sigalos as prior to his ankle injury he went 21 races undefeated around Saddlebow Road in the early eighties.

 

Not even a mention of Terry Betts in your back up list

 

Terry unquestionably is the most popular rider ever to have ridden for Kings Lynn, however in terms of success against the very best, he doesn't quite match up to the names on the list. Ivan Mauger rode virtually unbeaten for 3 years, Hans Neilsen at his peak was exceptional, as were the others. Terry certainly beat all of them at one time or another, but they beat him more times than he beat them.

 

:o

Edited by Canadian Star
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  • 2 months later...

Sorry I'm late joining this particular party, but here's the list of the best 7 riders I've ever watched in action since 1975 or so (no particular order, so I've not numbered them!):

 

Ivan Mauger

Hans Nielsen

Dave Jessup

Michael Lee

Bruce Penhall

Billy Sanders

Ryan Sullivan

 

... and an Honorable Mention for Andy Grahame, who qualified for both the NL Riders Final and the BL Riders Final in the same year, riding for MK Knights (big cheer!!!!!!!!) and Birmingham

 

I could then go on and list my top 7 NL riders, but ..............

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Best Ive seen in the flesh (so to speak)

 

as a 1 / 7 team!

 

1. Ivan Mauger

2. Bruce Penhall

3. T Rickardson

4. OLE OLSEN

5. Barry Briggs

6. Leigh Adams

7. Sverre Harrfeldt

 

As no 8 J Crump (not seen him live at his best!)

 

 

Also seen O fundin and R Moore but not at there best I'm affraid :sad:

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To narrow it down to seven riders is almost impossible, IMO. By far the best I've seen has to be Ove Fundin, head and shoulders above anyone else. The rest, well FWIW.

 

1. Ove Fundin

2. Ronnie Moore

3. Ivan Mauger

4. Barry Briggs

5. Peter Craven

6. Sverre Harrfeldt

7. Split Waterman

 

The last one ought to create some discussion!

 

As for the almost made it list.

 

Gote Nordin

Peter Collins

John Louis

Ole Olsen

Ole Nygren

Gote Nordin

Ken McKinlay

Nigel Boocock

Bob Andrews

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Guest KIWIHEATHEN
Tonight we were discussing where Rossi sits in the scheme of things, when compared to Hailwood and Agostini.

In Speedway, who are the top seven greatest ever.

Here is my greatest ever top seven. If you like my dream team of all time.

 

1. Gundersen

2. Fundin

3. Craven

4. Moore

5. Briggs

6. Mauger

7. Rickardsson

 

What is your top seven.?

 

1.Bruce Penhall

2.Eric Gunderson

3.Hans Nielsen

4.Dennis Sigalos

5.Billy Sanders

6.Chris Morton

7.Simon Wigg

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  • 4 weeks later...

My top seven of all time would be :

 

1. Hans Nielsen

2. Bruce Penhall

3. Ivan Mauger

4. Ove Fundin

5. Tony Rickardsson

6. Peter Craven

7. Graham Warren

 

 

As for those I have actually seen at their best:

 

1. Hans Nielsen

2. Bruce Penhall

3. Ivan Mauger

4. Tony Richardsson

5. Barry Briggs

6. Greg Hancock

7. Tomasz Gollob

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  • 5 years later...

It's just so hard to compare riders of different eras. To a large extent you have to go by results. There is an argument to say that perhaps the Big 5 weren't really that good because none of them dominated the sport in the way that Mauger or Rickardsson have done in their time. On the other hand you could say that it just shows that Mauger and Rickardsson had no opposition like the Big 5 did and weren't really that good

 

wow :shock:

 

When Ivan Mauger won his titles, the competition was at its' most fiercest... EVER!!! :blink:

 

The difference between Mauger and Rickardsson is that when Rickardsson matched Maugers' 6 titles, there was no where near the same level of competition... infact, Speedway was at that time, a fraction of the GIGANTIC sport it was in its' heyday when Mauger dominated the sport.

 

Also Rickardsson won it within the scenario of a Grand Prix Series, where it is possible for a rider to have one or two bad days and still end up world champion. Ivan Mauger had to get it right on the night ALL 6 TIMES... and he would likely have won 10 world titles had he been competing under the current GP format... FACT!

 

Ivan Mauger is still the greatest World Champion to this day... He is to Speedway what Pele is to football !!!

 

There are pleanty of 'great' riders at present, but no competition to Ivan for the title of 'Greatest'... as yet of course :wink:

 

;):D

Edited by BongoBrian
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wow :shock:

 

When Ivan Mauger won his titles, the competition was at its' most fiercest... EVER!!! :blink:

 

The difference between Mauger and Rickardsson is that when Rickardsson matched Maugers' 6 titles, there was no where near the same level of competition... infact, Speedway was at that time, a fraction of the GIGANTIC sport it was in its' heyday when Mauger dominated the sport.

 

Also Rickardsson won it within the scenario of a Grand Prix Series, where it is possible for a rider to have one or two bad days and still end up world champion. Ivan Mauger had to get it right on the night ALL 6 TIMES... and he would likely have won 10 world titles had he been competing under the current GP format... FACT!

 

Ivan Mauger is still the greatest World Champion to this day... He is to Speedway what Pele is to football !!!

 

There are pleanty of 'great' riders at present, but no competition to Ivan for the title of 'Greatest'... as yet of course :wink:

 

;):D

 

Agreed - anyone who was in The Olympic Stadium, Wroclaw, in 1970 to witness Ivan's victory saw probably the greatest performance ever by a speedway rider in conditions that were so set up to be adverse

 

The best seven I saw :

 

Mauger

Fundin

Craven

Briggs

Neilsen

Nordin

Rickardsson

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