martinmauger

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Hull Vikings had 8 World Champions . Read 'em and weep folks: Ole Olsen (3x, 1 longtrack, 1WTC, 1 World Pairs), Barry Briggs (4x, 2x WTC), Egon Muller (3x long track, 1983), the late great Ivan Mauger (6x, 3x longtrack, 2x World Pairs, 4x WTC), Dennis Sigalos (World Pairs 1982), Joe Screen (U21 1993), Sam Ermolenko (1993, World Pairs, 1 WTC), Paul Thorp (WTC 1989). Ok, Olsen refused to sign despite being allocated by the 'interest generating' rider control system and it really has to be said only Ivan Mauger won titles while actually a Hull rider but, hey ....

My point (in a round about way as I was tired) was if folk don't rurn out to watch a special or at least different high-ish profile meetings then the sport is in a worse state than thought. E.g. my first ever meeting was a World Champs Qualy at Hull in 1974, when I told regulars I was going that nite quite a few said they weren't going as it wouldn't be as good as a match but that I would still enjoy it. I did ! It was the same when Hull staged England v Australasia or USA, some locals gave them a miss but more fans from out of town attended and so the crowds were bigger anyway. The GB v Aussie match showed that folk ( more folk? ) will still attend such meetings if they feel they are worth watching & value for money, Cardiff GP being the most obvious example. Seen that too....

Just adding my 2P's worth, re: the GB v Australia Test Match at Glasgow. The stadium capacity was quoted as 2,500, don't think the meeting was a sell-out but there was a more than decent crowd with many fans from other tracks. The novelty of an international & seeing Woffinden + the full GB squad (less Lambert) were draws, but had only the 'usual' Ashfield crowd numbers showed up, or even less as some fans didn't attend such meets at Hull as 'it isn't / wasn't Hull Vikings', then speedway as a whole surely IS in big trouble. I'm not saying the sport without it's problems, but the fact a healthier then normal atttendance watched the meeting means perhaps there is hope for the future afterall....

Sadly I never saw Mirac ride, but Ronnie Moore was a legend for sure. RIP....

Such things are no joke. Once came across a totyally unexpected flood around a blind bend I knew well, you can tell it's deep when twigs area at window level. Don't reccomend flood driving but I knew the road rose up and it was literally a matter of life or death: arranging the funeral of a dear friend. Punctures are quite rare but getting one can make one paranoid for a while afterwards. Another time I discovered the 'hard way' what one does when copping one then a 2nd puncture in the middle of nowhere, 25 miles from civilisation, no mobile phone signal or call boxes. Firstly one can drive for 12 miles at 10MPH on a 100% flat tyre thereby destroying it unitl one gets one glorious bar of phone signal. Then one gives much praise and thanks to recovery service membership and the arrival of that lovely truck with the yellow flashing lites. The funny bit was explaining to the car rental company how I destroyed 2 tyres: "because they went down". I can look back with a tad amusment but both incedents were pretty stressful at the time. If not already: join a recovery service. Finally, like the majority I log on t'net and forums to share info and for fun, not to argue who is right and who is wrong. Everyone is right: apart from actual facts it's all just opinions....

I do like that, though I have a weird sense of humour. Or so I'm told. In Hull it was absolutely lashing down, wind, thunder & lightning (actually it was pretty cool) though no fun and probably a bit scary for those caught out in it. Circumstances dictated I was never going to make it last nite but at my usual setting off time of 6ishPM I could easily have been tempted. Then the weather changed 180 degrees and then some....

That is exactly what I thought, was waiting for the guy in white shirt and tie to appear with a hose pipe on turn 1. Not a good impression with plans for the new stadium still apparently not 100% finalised and the need to demonstrate to the new local residents that speedway won't cause any problems....

Should point out that circumstances meant myself & the 2 passengers I brought had to leave after main match. We expected the car park to be empty but only few cars had left, so the majority stayed to take in the junior 250 / 500 event....

This ^^, riders battling the heat as well as the opposition, also met up with ex-Hull Viking Bobby Beaton. Didn't try the pies but I'm assured they are very palatable....

Hull's Frank Auffret beat both Bruce Penhall & Bobby Schwartz in an England v USA test match at the Boulevard in 1980 ( yea it was), now THAT brought the house down ....

Just been told Cardiff GP & Woffenden were mentioned on BBC Look North, I'm stunned & need a lie down . That said, Look North do mention speedway from time to time though....

Crikey, as I expected Kelv to say. Keep it going Cookie !...

This guy ^^^ is keen ....

I don't have any issue with Cook riding in the GPs, good luck to him, any professional rider should have the opportunity to qualify for and compete at the highest level. Not keen on a few too many permanent wild cards IMO. Adding up the points and counting the pennies at the end of the year will be the deciding factor of continuing or not....