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E I Addio

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Everything posted by E I Addio

  1. I was told by one clubs General Manger that shale is bought by weight so if you get it when it’s soaking wet you get less for your money.
  2. E I Addio

    Belle Vue 2022

    Even by BSPA standards Godfrey is an embarrassment to the sport.
  3. E I Addio

    Plymouth Gladiators 2022

    Hans Andersen at his best, with his team - player hat on could be great for Alfie Bowtell and really bring him on, as Paul Hurry did at Lakeside, or it could be the mis match of the season. You never know with Hans, but he has great motorcycle skills that go beyond just winning the race. I like them both and hope it works for them. If they are paired it will be a pairing I’ll follow closely!
  4. My thoughts entirely. It’s not a question of refusing to watch speedway on TV more a matter of not being bothered most of the time. There is something special, almost magical, about the atmosphere of being present at a meeting, the noise, the smell , the feeling of being part of things, that just doesn’t convert to sitting in an armchair in front of a TV screen. Like others , I was a regular week in, week out supporter , until my track closed. The feeling of disgust towards those in charge these days doesn’t engender much enthusiasm either. I never though my view of the sport would become so tarnished. I agree with you about TV sport generally now. Most of the time it is all about money , not the true ethos of sport. Even the Olympics now pass me by as if they haven’t happened. I can still enjoy watching local cricket in the park but agree totally with you that the baggage that goes with televised sport is often a turn off.
  5. E I Addio

    West Ham Speedway Closes 1972

    I remember Pete Bradshaw well. He had a neat riding style tailor made for West Ham . I really thought he was going to do well in the sport until Lokoren. Martyn Piddock as well.
  6. E I Addio

    West Ham Speedway Closes 1972

    Memory No1 . Briggo winning the last of his six British Championships. I don’t think I’ve ever seem one rider who towered so much above the opposition as Briggs did that night . The No2 gate wasn’t working. Nobody was winning from it Even Mauger came last off of it. Then out comes Briggo with a tapes to flag win and a 15 point maximum. Memory No 2 . England v Sweden , Briggs v Michanek. Michanek gated first , Briggs tried to get through on the inside and was blocked. Tried the outside and was blocked . Then switched back to the inside and cast Michanek aside as if he wasn’t there. Nothing unusual about that you might say ? Well it all happened on the first two bends at Briggs was in front by the time they hit the back straight. Breathtaking stuff. Memory No 3 . Everything about Ken McKinlay. Hurri-Ken’s glittering career went downhill almost overnight towards the end , but I think that was due to a shoulder injury. It was a privilege to see him at his best . A master of track craft who rode with his head, a skill only matched, perhaps by Leigh Adams in more recent years. Memory No4 . Just being at the place . It oozed atmosphere.
  7. E I Addio

    West Ham Speedway Closes 1972

    As someone else said it seems business interests took over rather than disenchantment , in an era where riders generally needed outside briskness interests and didn’t make the sort of money world class riders get today. I think he had a car dealership but still did some longtrack atbweekends
  8. E I Addio

    Your Sandor Levai stories and anecdotes

    I didn’t see much of him but he was chalk and cheese against the world class Hurri-Ken McKinlay. It’s like comparing,Claud Vissing to Leigh Adams. I have to admit that my opinion is based on not seeing much of much of him but whereas Tony Mac described him as a hard man I would say that is a euphemism for “ dirty rider”. The memory etched in my memory is of him with leading Olle Nygren, doing all he could to keep,Olle behind when he suddenly snapped the throttle shut on the back straight causing Olle,to hit the back of him and go head first over the handlebars. A stupidly dangerous move against a superior rider he was never going to beat by fair means, and one for which he was immediately excluded.
  9. E I Addio

    Nigel Boocock -world Champion?

    You have touched on a good point there - the “killer “ instinct. The classic example was Jack Biggs in (I think ) 1951, four straight wins, then nerves got to him and he didn’t score another point. At the other extreme we have Mauger , the consummate prifessional, even the Inter- Continental Final was merely a qualifying round to get through safely and stay in good shape for the big one. Leigh Adams was the full package at league level, often called the best rider never to win a World Title, and to be honest he never really cut it at the highest level . It’s all a matter of opinion of course, but if you put the likes of Morton alongside the Fundins, the Olsens , etc I dont think many would put their money on Mort, but of course you can never account for injuries , engine failures , and gate positions, so it’s perhaps possible but unlikely I would say.
  10. E I Addio

    Nigel Boocock -world Champion?

    Barry Briggs once said that to be World Champion you had to string 5 decent starts together. Mort and Booey were lucky if they could string two or three good starts together. It didn’t show at league level because most riders were average gaters and they could both come through from the back, but is a different kettle of fish at World Final level, missing the gate when race after race after face you have Mauger , Briggs , Fundin , etc or riders of that standard who dont exactly wave you through. I don’t think home track advantage makes much difference at that level. There were one or two exceptions perhaps but they were very rare.
  11. E I Addio

    NSS - South Stand

    Thanks for that information . It’s very sad, after the way they struggled with Kirky Lane. In a way it seems to encapsulate everything that is chronically wrong with the sport.
  12. E I Addio

    NSS - South Stand

    Mort and Gordon’s efforts over a period of years were enormous. The way they were treated was disgraceful.
  13. E I Addio

    NSS - South Stand

    I understand he lost his house over it. No doubt someone will correct me if this is wrong but it was a bit more than pub gossip. It camefrom a member of a clubs management team.
  14. E I Addio

    Terry Betts vs Malcolm Simmons

    Yes I read some thing similar but I think it might have been in Classic Speedway . I remember him saying how meticulous Prattie was when he was with Hackney and lived near Betsy . He totally stripped and rebuIlt his clutch before every home meeting and always got to Hackney early so he could make sure Len Silver prepared it the way he wanted it with a good line round the inside. Colin Pratt is another one that like Bob Kirby I don’t know why he didn’t to better at the highest level. He was certainly one of the great talents of .the era.
  15. E I Addio

    Terry Betts vs Malcolm Simmons

    I took the information from Malcolm Simmons himself when interviewed on his DVD . I can only presume he was talking about the period when Terry became the regular No1.
  16. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    As far as speedway is concerned, I think the days have gone when sales of merchandise are high enough to make to make much difference to profit ! I have a Hans Andersen cap that he took off his mechanics head and gave me, one of Andreas Jonssons shirts with his GP number on, which I also think he gave me and one of Dave Watts T-Shirts, but I’ve never seen anyone else wearing any of them so I don’t think they are exactly in high demand.
  17. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    Well, for the sake of discussion, lets put it another way round . If the team manager could set the team in any order he liked what would do on the present programmed rides ? For my part I don’t see any point in him putting his best rider at 2 or 4 for an easy win if it leaves a second string in a heat leader role. 1and 5 are likely to be out together 2 or three times anyway so it doesn’t make much difference where they ride. I can just see about see the argument that if 1and 5 both like the same part of the track they could be separated. However , from a fans perspective I , personally like to see the No1 race jacket as a coveted position that riders have to work to aspire to, and get paid accordingly.
  18. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    Yes, certainly in the 2008 season I recall the top two having to ride at 1 and 3 but I think not necessarily best at No 1 as there was one match where Jon Cook switched Andreas Jonsson and Adam Shields as an experiment to see how it worked but need week they were back to their old positions. I think 2009 was the first season the highest average rule only applied to No1. Thanks for all your comments. I think between us we have more or less covered it.
  19. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    I don’t know when they introduced the rule that the highest average was number 1. I am pretty sure it was long after Peter Cravens time. According to Malcolm Simmons DVD, if I remember rightly it was written into Terry Betts contract that he would ride No1. If that’s correct it would mean that No1 being dictated by averages came later than Terry Betts heyday. It would be interesting to know if anyone can pinpoint the date, that the rule was introduced.
  20. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    Yes .It’s not lay downs per se but each time you increase the power you normally narrow the power band more and more. I once saw Chris Louis being interviewed and he said he had ridden Tony Rickardsons bike which actually wasn’t all that fast but it was tuned to a level that he could hang on to and get the best out of the power he did have. Many other riders have their bikes tuned to a level that it becomes unpredictable. That was why Rickardson was such a great rider - he understood his bikes. How often did you see him crash with nobody else involved. Hardly ever I would say.
  21. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    Team riding is less now because modern bikes have such a narrow power band that even if you let the revs drop a little bit waiting for a team mate you lose power . If you lose power the rear wheel starts gripping ( as opposed to sliding)and you are in all kinds of trouble.
  22. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    I don’t remember that. Even today teams start each race either 1&3 or 2&4. Why should they suddenly start wiping each other out because tha they happen to choose which?
  23. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    I was in favour of that instead of the ridiculous tactical ride / substitute. There is no perfect system though. The problem with that arrangement is that it messes the fixed gate potions up. Points are money to riders, so they want at least one ride off the better gates, which they could miss out on if the opposing team is more than 6 or 8 points behind and start choosing the more advantageous gates . I still think it’s better than the T/R, T/S system though.
  24. E I Addio

    Meeting Formula/Team Lineup

    Historically the best ( and highest paid) rider has ridden No1 . It’s only right from a riders perspective and from the point of view of the fans that the best rider earns his money by facing the opposition’s No1 two or three times rather than once as used to be the case years ago. It’s hardly fair that the best rider should be getting easy rides against second strings and second strings get less points, and therefore less money by facing Heatleaders every time out . Personally I think it’s fair that second strings and reserves get a chance with races against riders of similar. standard. I don’t know if it’s still the case but until fairly recently at least it was the case that the home team had to declare their team first so apart from. No1 the away manager had a certain amount of latitude in his team order .
  25. E I Addio

    Supreme Stylist

    He looked always looked older than the actually was, having gone grey quite young and his hair receding by his mid thirties., but he must have been pushing 50 by the time he eventually retired. I sometimes used to chat to a guy at Lakeside who used to help him unload his bikes at West Ham . At West Ham the riders entrance was at the end of Nottingham Road and at the other end of the road was a pub called the Nottingham Arms where, incidentally my grandad used to drink. Anyway this chap that helped Ken with his bikes told me Ken used to stop for a pint in the pub on his way IN to the stadium as well as on the way home ! A different world in those days but not bad for a world class rider !
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