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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/09/2018 in all areas

  1. 7 points
    That must be the worse SGP I've seen for sometime. When our sport is struggling to promote its existence, why ever was it conceived to have a top meeting here. The track was an absolute disgrace that did nothing to enhance the sport at all. A one line, gate and go exercise, kills off more supporters than other reason. It was a complete and utter joke. The organisers only saviour has to be the most inept and bias Referee, ever to grace these occasions. it takes me back to 1984, when USA v UK at Foxhall, Eglese, an out spoken ref , stopped the race on the third lap, after Lee had taken the lead, and excluded him, because he had delayed the start. It was a complete joke of a decision, that showed everybody how much Eglese personally disliked Lee. Last nights decision to exclude Woffy was of the same standard. It was premeditated and executed, totally to give those Polish riders the added insensitive, knowing Woffy couldn't make the semis now. I'm amazed that everyone accepted the exclusion without questioning it, even though, the Ref had fabricated a rule that doesn't exist... The 2 min ruling is given to the riders so they present themselves ready to race. Once at the start area, they become the responsibility of the (SM) Start Marshall . He doesn't have a clock to get the riders ready, he gives them time to prepare their space, then calls them to the line. When they are ready he holds his arms up and walks away, thus reliving his duty and handing the responsibility back to the ref to release the tapes. Sometimes the SM allows the riders too much time , sometimes they are super efficient and the races start quicker, but I have never seen a Referee exclude a rider when he is under the control of the SM . If we are to believe the decision last night, and riders have to be ready at the line when the 2min elapse, then the clock has to be where the SM can see it, and be written in the rules so riders and fans are aware of this expectation.. No this evil referee concocted a rule, that was for the sole benefits of the Polish riders who are trying to catch up with Woffy. When something like this happens, it enhances the public perception that this sport is all but dead…..
  2. 6 points
    Tracks are always faster when they are prepared grippily. That's basic science my friend. But they have to be rideable by all. I guess we all have our own opinions on this, but we are all speedway fans who want our own team to win. The question we all have to answer though is this: Do we want to see our team win on 1) a track that is fair to all, that produces entertaining and close racing or 2) a track that allows only the home riders to know how to race on it, producing processional, strung out races and no entertainment ?? If you answer anything other than the first answer, then I think you are part and parcel of the problem of the way speedway is going down the tubes. Please, think about it...
  3. 5 points
    My best memory of Malcolm Simmons is always of that day back in August 1965 when, as a West Ham supporter, I saw the best the best meeting I have ever seen. The day Malcolm Simmons became a star! In that year, one of the Quarter Final matches of the KO Cup saw a local derby London tie with West Ham drawn at home to Wimbledon. Before the tie, the two teams appeared to be evenly matched and so the match proved. With one heat to go the scores were level at 45-45. That final heat saw the Wimbledon pair, Olle Nygren and Reg Luckhurst, shoot in to an early lead over West Ham’s Brian Leonard and Norman Hunter and it looked all over for the Hammers when suddenly Luckhurst’s engine blew up resulting in a 3-3 and a tied match at 48-48. Having drawn at West Ham, Wimbledon looked a good bet to take the tie in the replay on their own track. But there was even worse news for West Ham as their top rider, Sverre Harrfeldt, was injured the previous evening at Hackney and unable to take part and their third heat leader, Norman Hunter, was also unable to ride as it was his wedding day! There were no guests allowed so the Hammers had to resort to filling the places of two heat leaders with Tony Clarke, making his racing debut, and a Wimbledon junior, Geoff Hughes. Only Ken McKinlay was a recognized heat leader and, although by now a team regular, it should be remembered that at this time West Ham’s 19 year old Malcolm Simmons was just a reasonable five point average second string who had shown no signs of the great rider he was to become in later years. No-one, not even the West Ham supporters present that afternoon, gave the Hammers much hope. By heat six it looked as though Wimbledon’s superiority was about to assert itself as Wimbledon skipper, the great Olle Nygren. along with the experienced Jim Tebby, took a 5-1 against West Ham’s newcomer, Tony Clarke, and second string, Brian Leonard. The lack of two heat leaders looked as though it was now beginning to tell. But as West Ham were six points in arrears it meant they could use a tactical substitute and they wasted no time bringing in Ken McKinlay for reserve Ray Wickett in the very next heat. The line-up for heat seven was therefore Bob Dugard and Keith Whipp for the Dons, Malcolm Simmons and Ken McKinlay for the Hammers. The young Simmons shot away from the gate with McKinlay behind him and that’s how the heat finished. A 5-1 for West Ham and four points pulled back. Simmons’ time of 66.2 was the fastest of the night. The next heat saw McKinlay out again, this time in a scheduled ride, with old campaigner Reg Trott lining up against Reg Luckhurst and reserve Mike Coomber. Some brilliant team riding by McKinlay and Trott kept Luckhurst behind them and with Coomber falling, it meant another 5-1 to the Hammers and, unbelievably, at the half-way stage, West Ham now found themselves with a two point lead. With Nygren and Tebby lined up against Simmons and Wickett in heat 10 it looked as though the Dons would edge back in to the lead, but, once again, Simmons rose to the occasion and beat Nygren in the second fastest time of the night. Heat 12 saw another astonishing turn of events as Wimbledon’s Bobby Dugard fell and was excluded from the re-run. It was a simple matter for McKinlay and Trott to defeat Whipp and take a 5-1. It was now West Ham who were six points up and it was now Wimbledon who used a tactical substitute as they brought in Nygren for reserve, John Edwards. Unfortunately it did not have the desired effect as, for the second time that night, West Ham’s new hero, the young Malcolm Simmons, beat Nygren, leaving West Ham still six points in front. This time though, Simmons had done it the hard way, coming from behind and taking the Wimbledon captain on the last lap. With just three heats to go, time was running out for Wimbledon and the impossible suddenly looked possible. However, a Nygren and Dugard 5-1 over Trott and Leonard put them back in with a chance and when, in heat 15, Tebby and Coomber pulled off a 4-2 against Clarke and Hughes, the scores, were back to level with one heat to go. The line-up for that final heat saw Keith Whipp and Reg Luckhurst for Wimbledon against Ken McKinlay and Malcolm Simmons for West Ham. The tension around the stadium was palpable. Everyone was holding their breath. A match which at the beginning of the afternoon had seemed likely to be very one-sided had now come down to a last heat decider. To some extent the final race as a race was a bit of a disappointment as Simmons once again flew off from the start and never looked to be in any danger and with McKinlay settling for a steady third place, the match was won by West Ham by 49 points to 47. The small band of Hammers’ supporters who had made the trip across London couldn’t believe what had happened. The hero of the hour was the 19 year old Malcolm Simmons. He had beaten the Wimbledon captain, Olle Nygren, twice and had set the three fastest times of the night. In fact he still wasn’t finished. In the second half scratch race event, the Cheer Leaders’ Trophy, he won the first heat, beating, McKinlay, Luckhurst and Dugard and then went on to win the final, once again beating Nygren. As if that wasn’t enough, a special Handicap race was held with Simmons starting off 20 yards, Nygren off 10 and Trott, Leonard and Tebby off scratch. Yet again, Simmons got the better of Nygren, even with his handicap. As for me, although that match was held 52 years ago I can still remember it as if it were yesterday. In fact I can remember it better than matches I saw last season. It was just such an amazing afternoon. I went along there with a few other Hammers’ supporters expecting a reasonable match but when it was announced just before the meeting started that neither Harrfeldt nor Hunter would be taking part we seriously considered going home. The Wimbledon supporters around us were saying things like, ’You’ll be lucky if you get 20 points’ and ’This is going to be the biggest thrashing of all time.’ Of course we gave back as good as we got but in our hearts we felt they could well be right. But suddenly there was this rider called Malcolm Simmons, who we had seen rise from the ranks of a second halfer at West Ham to a reasonable five point second string but no more, taking on and beating the likes of Olle Nygren and Reg Luckhurst on their own track in the fastest times of the night. He was just phenomenal. Recalling the match later in an interview I carried out with him, Malcolm Simmons said that the West Ham team had gone to the meeting thinking they would get thrashed but somehow the whole team had risen to the occasion. He went on to say, “It was the first good meeting I ever had for West Ham. I just came good on the night.” As we now know, Simmons went on to become one of Great Britain’s greatest ever riders and runner-up in the 1976 World Championship, World Pairs Champion in 1976, 77 and 78, World Team Champion in 1973, 74, 75 and 77 and British Champion in 1976. He was capped 80 times for England, seven times for the British Lions (touring Australia), five times for Great Britain and four times for the Rest of the World. But it all started that night and I feel very privileged to have been there to witness what must have been one of the best matches of all time and one of the most outstanding personal performance of all time.
  4. 4 points
    Time to outlaw all this gardening once and for all. The 2 minute rule should be applied, that is ready to race and what the referee did last night was correct. Woofy was a bike length back when the clock ran out. There should be a line some distance back from the start. You cross that and you are under the start marshalls orders and no gardening. You must cross that line in the 2 minutes. always thought gardening was the worst thing about modern speedway.
  5. 4 points
    Awful GP with nothing exciting to watch. The Ref was abysmal. Please FIM never go there again.
  6. 3 points
    I agree with you about the race. I have been following the Aces since the mid 50's and can't recall a better race. I also agree with what you say about Chris Morton and let's not forget that David Gordon also played his part. As I understand the position, the current management have invited him to attend and would make him very welcome, as would the fans. He did attend the 90th anniversary meeting and received the biggest cheer of the night when the former riders were introduced but for whatever personal reasons, which I can understand, hasn't felt able to attend since. Despite what happened in 2016 and there are very different sides to that story, Belle Vue owe a huge debt to Chris and David for keeping the club alive during their time at the dog track, when they were losing money year after year and for having the vision and determination to get the NSS built. They have left us with a tremendous legacy.
  7. 3 points
    Commonplace?! I know we all tend to slip on the rose-tinted specs when we look back on the past, but I think that’s stretching it. I have never seen anything as good as that in 38 years of watching the sport. And I was spoiled growing up with PC and Mort at Hyde Road. A rider going from last to first on the last turn? I’ve certainly never seen that before. Bar Doyle in fourth, at some point in the race, every rider occupied every place. Nine overtakes? Let’s be honest, it was a once in a lifetime race - no matter whether your favourite era was the 50s, 70s or modern day. One word too for a guy who we all should be thankful that we are able to debate a race like this - Chris Morton. We wouldn’t have a track like this without his hard work and vision. The pity is he is not able to truly enjoy the fruits of his labour in person.
  8. 3 points
    I think godfrey is the one thick skinned having to ask him to ride after being sacked !
  9. 3 points
    I normally avoid posting on this forum these days due to the incessant nonsense that is posted continuously by some and this thread is no different to that ( nice to see Ian and George now they have been replaced as main photographers in the West by the excellent young Taylor chipping in having not been in attendance) However a few things to clear up from last night 1- yes the track was prepared with too much grip on it at the start of the meeting that can not be denied however this was not intentional but a misreading of the conditions 2 these conditions were not directly involved in the cause of the monarchs injuries, I will concede that they were the indirect cause of Joel’s as he slid off due to the difficulty in turning in heat 2 but it was the fact he got hit by Zach W that caused his injury (zero fault of Zach’s btw), victor’s fall he gated level with the two hammers tried to throttle off to move inside then realised he was to far into the corner throttled back on and the bike took off on him causing him to bail out. 3 if the track was so bad and no one was attacking it then why was there a sub 55 second time and multiple sub 56 second times all within 2.5 seconds or so of the track record 4 the delay caused by Joel’s injury allowed track grading to be done and from there on in the track was perfectly rideable and the riders that attacked it got their rewards.Including Lakeside riders, haven spoken to 5 of the riders involved in the meeting last night (2 Edinburgh and 3 Lakeside) they all said the same, the track was difficult to start with but was more than raceable a season the meeting progressed. 5 At no point did Erik say the track was ‘very dangerous’ he said it was to grippy to start with which was dangerous as mentioned above this was alleviated by the re-run of heat 2 though I’m not saying last night was a good meeting as it was pretty poor all told but this was not down exclusively to the track conditions. it takes 2 teams to make a good meeting and increasingly over the last few weeks awaybteams appear to be defeated by their attitude before a wheel is turned. It strikes me it’s never the monarchs that come away from a meeting home or away complaining win lose or draw we have guys that go everywhere and get on with it, other teams could do with a bit of the same not to mention the fact that the makeup of our team since the introduction of Richie and Victor we basically have a top 5 who are all heatleader calibre at the Dale that is why we are turning teams over.
  10. 3 points
    Full marks to the Bears tonight who rode with spirit and determination and put the Diamonds' pathetic performance into perspective. Barker and Jorgensen being particularly impressive, but they all played a part. I enjoyed the fact that they went over to their supporters at the end for a bit of a love-in, they deserved it. Note to the Monarchs - everyone managed to turn their bikes all night, and no-one got hurt.
  11. 3 points
    I know that everyone at Mildenhall sends their most sincere best wishes to both Sam woods and Tom Bacon. two of speedways most pleasant genuine guys. Both accidents were truly horrific and one can only imagine with horror what the result would have been without an air fence. We are hugely indebted to teh brilliant work of Jason Gillingham and his team of medics who were cool, calm and superbly professional. Initially we think that Sam woods has a broken arm and some minor additional fractures..bad enough, but Tom Bacon hit teh turn 1 air fence at full speed with no time to get the cut-out to cut down the speed impact. Initial diagnosis is possibly fractures in his back....as I said we wish both boys a speedy return to health. Our thoughts also go to their team colleagues, the management of the Brummies, and all fans . They have had a dreadful season with injuries, and they have our respect for some great matches this season. Not the Saturday evening we were all looking forward to. James
  12. 3 points
    I'm sure Scunny aficionado, Lucifer Sam can confirm to you the following paragraph from the 2018 Speedway Regulations:- 16.3.4 No Team changes will be allowed after 12TH August with the effective date being 15th August, except for riders returning to the Team after injury who must re-take their position, dictated by their MA with their replacement being released. In effect Godfrey was trying to make a change, that was not because of either injury or a rider withholding his services. If it was the action of the SCB that insisted on the reinstatement of Phillips, do you not accept that part of their remit is to ensure that the current Regulations are adhered to by all promotions, including Scunthorpe?
  13. 2 points
    Despite the score line I thought there was some good races against Newcastle . Good effort from all the riders who visibly tired in the Redcar meeting.
  14. 2 points
    Take Jason, TJ and Josh out and im sure you and Sheffield fans will be very happy with that top 4 in a Sheffield racejacket
  15. 2 points
    Apart from Aarnio that was just embarrassing from the Diamonds. If any fans did make the journey over, they should have been reimbursed by their team. Redcar showed later what a bit of determination can do. NB Does Carl Wilkinson have a twin, because the one who rode for Redcar is a totally different animal to the one who rode for Newcastle.
  16. 2 points
    He's already been crucified at Scunthorpe.
  17. 2 points
    Yeah the Scunny fans cant seem to see the bigger picture here
  18. 2 points
    He didn't "get away with one"; several riders did the same, and NONE were punished. The reason was that the white line was not THE white line, but was one that was added during the meeting, and one that interfered with the known racing line. That is why NOBODY was penalised. Here, he was penalised despite others not being ready to race during at the end of the two minutes. That is what is wrong here, and why people are unhappy. Inconsistent and seemingly biased refereeing. Steve
  19. 2 points
    You should try and patch things up if it stops you posting regularly.
  20. 2 points
    Colin Cook? Happy memories of one of my favourite Leicester riders. Agree about the race though ~ brilliant.
  21. 1 point
    Ebdon was consistent that day and excluded anyone who touched the tapes from either side. I had this meeting on tape for years. There's also an interview with Carl Glover, who says he told them before the meeting started that this would happen, so they couldn't argue about it. As for last night, my issue with it is that Woffinden was at the tapes and ready to race, but, because the Poles were dicking about, he moved back and cooled his clutch and waited for them. Then, as soon as the two Poles were ready, Woffy moved back to the tapes, ready to go. It was an outreageously bad decision, although, the way Woffinden rode last night, he may well have run a last in that race and wouldn't have reached the semi anyway, so not as disastrous as it could have been. I do think it was a biased decision from a Polish ref, though. That, plus Doyle's warning, should exclude him from any future GPs.
  22. 1 point
    Suit their own agendas you have said, yet you’ve twisted Eriks words, he never once said it was very dangerous he said when it is that grippy it can be dangerous. You also failed to mention the part of the interview where he was struggling on track due to being exhausted from travelling and riding for 6 days in a row. So I’m siding with mr muncie on this one thanks
  23. 1 point
    Weather looks good for both meetings scheduled on FreeSports Sunday afternoon, with no rain forecast https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/travel/world-city-forecasts/1858002~gorzow,%20Bielsko,%20POLAND https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/travel/world-city-forecasts/1870122~leszno,%20Leszno,%20POLAND
  24. 1 point
    We had medical cover but had to wait for 2 county ambulances for both crashes unfortunately.With the 2nd ambulance likely to take a while to come they took Tom off to hospital in the ambulance at the track.Right decision to call the meeting off.Best wishes to both Sam and Tom.2 really bad crashes tonight.Speedy recovery to both
  25. 1 point
    Glad to see you're supporting Richie Take it you'll be doing the same on Tuesday?
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