martinmauger

Reckon Ivan, and also Ove Fundin, would have won more World Championships under the GP system. And Ivan a-l-m-o-s-t won 6 in a row ! As we know: he took out 1968-1970, Ole Olsen won in 1971, Ivan won again in 1972, and had he waited another 3/4 of a lap to pass the Pole Jerzy Szczakiel in 1973, it could have 6 on the bounce. But any rider will say if you see a gap then you really must go for it as you may never get another chance, though there are relativley few 'must win' races under the GP format. Ivan disproved his 'just a gater' tag in that 1973 Final when he was passing for fun around the outside on his longstroke JAWA, and while he must have been well peeved at the time (to say the least !) and also afterwards at being constantly asked about it, he bore no ill will towards Jerzy "he was a better rider than most people thought plus he deserved to win because I fell off and he didn't", says a lot about the man Ivan Mauger....

Off the top of my head (busy at work !) + Wembley Stadium & Wembley Arena....

- courtesy of defunctspeedway.co.uk: http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/York Long Track (Nun Monkton).htm I remember the year as being 1980 as I couldn't go for some reason....

Very sad news indeed, deepest sympathy to the Mauger family. Difficult to know what to say that hasn't been said already, except Ivan Mauger was The Best and is still a Hull Vikings legend. RIP Ivan....

Promoters have right to sign who they want within points limits, and sack them if comes down to it, but the way Batchelor & Holder were treat was well out of order IMO. Was surprised they didn't appeal to SCB, ACU or otherwise contest it in some way. Still, we all move on, water under the bridge and all that, hope both riders concerned, and every other rider, have good a safe season....

Thanks, that woud be cool. And Redcar (formally Middlesbrough) returned too and Northside & Duns, + all of the above show it can still be done. Just....

This is what I alluded to re: new Belle Vue stadium that raising funds was 'almost' the easy part. I could literally write a book concerning the efforts required in order to build a speedway track, were I not sworn to secrecy . To get a flavour of what is invovled, I challenge anyone to find an area of land, or even an existing stadium for that matter, away from housing & known to be empty and unused for years, then enquire of the local authority about the possibility of a running speedway on said land. Then let the fun begin. So much time, effort, travelling, phone calls + some money, though not a lot initially, will be spent and potenially much blood, sweat and tears expended just to discover either someone owns the land and (frustratingly) refuses to sell or even lease, or that no-one actually knows who the owner is . One will wonder why one is bothering, apart from the desire to build a speedway track and possibly resurrect one's team. I won't say it will be a waste of time as anyone attempting the above will learn a heck of a lot, and you never know it, maybe, may just pay off....

Bit of politics. It was once explained to me that changing anything government or politics related is a bit like driving an huge ocean liner: you turn the rudder in order to adjust the course or adjust the engines to speed up / slow down but in both instances it takes quite a while before anything noticable happens. In other words: time will tell, as always....

Thanx. I have an uncle who enjoys 'the real stuff'....

With almost every track taking some kind of financial 'hit' over the weekend, you gotta feel for promoters. Well, a bit....

At the risk of appearing somewhat dense, though ball games aren't my bag at all, briefly how does 20./20 cricket differ from the 'regular' version of so many overs?...

How good was the racing at the Shay.? Mostly it was good. But also kinda irrelevant - it was worth going just to watch riders sweep up and down that banking. Being (slightly) serious though I loved my Saturday trips to Halifax, and Bradford after the Shay closed to speedway, a relatively near trip on the supporter's club coach meaning I didn't arrive back home too late to annoy / worry my parents, one of many venues which gave enjoyment & pleasure to 1,000's now sadly missed....

Reading headline I thought maybe speedway was featured in 'the' Big Issue that is sold on the streets, peeps might be surprsied at the subjects which get covered. But my bumper 'Star arrived ok and on time, excellent issue as always, will take the usual week to get through, so far I've loved Davey Watt's Premiership preview, Adam Roynon on the Champs League, 'judge' Drury's take on the NL & Crumpie's thoughts on the GPs & competitors therein. Good stuff....

'The Hull version' wasn't that tall....

Adding another 2P worth: ahead of the new season, and excellent 'Star preview, so far there are 3 teams (no names mentioned) whose suits don't match for all 7 riders. Just sayin'.....