Dave the Mic

I think I'd worked that out.

Think I would rather race an ice bike than join the Russian Army!

That would explain it! Thanks very much.

Does anyone know what happened to Egor/Igor Myshkovets who did well in the series last season - he doesn't seem to figure anywhere, either nationally or internationally & he looked as though he had a lot of potential.

Rider of the Year: Jason Doyle. Don't like him that much, but robbed of the World Title through injury. Stunning season. Young Rider of the year: Bartosz Zmarzlik - has World Champion written all over him. British Rider of the Year: Tai Woffinden because there is no-one else. Was immense at the SWC. Young British Rider of the Year: Robert Lambert. Huge talent. Most improved rider: Jason Doyle. From also ran to world championship contender. Most improved Brit: Robert Lambert. Not in scoring terms, but experience. Biggest Surprise of the year: Greg Hancock. Not the cheating so much, but the unbelievable crassness of lying about it afterwards. Biggest Debacle: Belle Vue's opening meeting. Nuff said. Best Track Promotion - Somerset. Very forward thinking. Best Meeting: SEC round at Daugvapils. By a mile. Best meeting (Britain): SWC Final. Great atmosphere, great racing, huge surprise that England did so well. Incredible leadership & performance by Tai Woffinden. Most Tapes Broken : James Sargeant Best Twitter Account : Havvy. Hilarious. Best Celebration : Danny King after winning his last ride at Cardiff. So pleased for him, lovely guy.

This is very sad news. Only met Bryn a few times at Swindon when I was presenting & he was announcing. He was always very friendly, warm & had a really dry & ready wit. He really was speedway through & through. Condolences to his family & many, many friends. RIP Bryn.

I am so terribly saddened by this news. I cut my speedway teeth at Exeter after seeing speedway on World of Sport in the early 70's, with the "Voice of Speedway" providing commentary in his own never equalled, never mind bettered, style. I can still hear his voice now, beautifully toned for the job at hand, coining such fabulous phrases as "That was poetry, poetry on wheels", "High, wide & handsome" & "He's right out on the ring road". His brilliant observations during the likes of PC's world final win, the infamous Penhall/Carter clash in 82, Mauger's incredible win in the rain in Gothenburg & many others, where he held the viewer enthralled with his very own brand of analysis, his unique & brilliant turn of phrase, & that fabulous burr, so perfect for our beloved sport, all of which set him apart as the doyen of his art & very much "Mr Speedway" in the commentary sense. On top of that, having met him more than once, a real gent & a lovely, lovely man. He will be missed. The phrase "they broke the mould when they made him" is often used, but with this man it happens to be true. One of a kind. RIP Dave.

Sorry Gavan, that simply isn't true. I watched speedway at Exeter from 1975 until closure & whilst in the very early days (actually before I started attending) there were some harum scarum riders - Chris Julian ( I did see him ride a few times) & Chris Blewett spring to mind, they most certainly weren't dangerous or even particularly hard. And to say Green (or any of them) were rarely in control is ridiculous. Further, given the track's fearsome reputation, the truth is, there were very few serious accidents there, even the sadly missed Tony Sanford's crash seemed innocuous & it happened about 5 yards from where I stood, so I am qualified to comment. The Simmonds crash was in a fours meeting, when he tangled with Watto & speared the fence. He arrowed past me, missing by about a foot & disappeared down the bank behind. I can still see him flying at me now! There were plenty of riders who didn't like the place, I agree, but there were equally many who loved it. Ask both Phil & Jason Crump, PC & Mort, Booey, Andy Galvin, Martin Goodwin to name a handful. It was a track to be attacked & if you did that, many, many riders will tell you it was easy to ride. Fear it before you start & you were always going to struggle. The reality is, the vast majority of home riders new how to ride the track & some opposing riders were beaten before they arrived. Stoney hated the place, but turned up one week with the right approach & scored 16. State of mind, nothing more.

First meeting was at Exeter on August BH Monday in 1975 v Reading. Went to pretty much every meeting until closure. Intermittently visited various tracks since, but nothing does it like following the Falcons for me. Maybe one day I will get to do so again.

If Emil wants to get back in the GP's he should get off his arse & do the qualifiers. Why should he be handed a place at he expense of someone who has done the hard yards. He doesn't deserve any special treatment, quite the opposite.

I found an old copy of FS in a drawer when I moved recently, but it doesn't seem to work on my laptop. Does anyone know if there are compatibility issues with newer versions of Windows, or if the makers of the game are still around? I have tried contacting them, but the e-mails just seem to bounce back. Thanks

I was with you all the way BW, just didn't understand your last post

Uh?

I refer the honourable gentleman to the reply I made on his previous post

I don't disagree with you. The point is, Woffinden has been totally slated by all & sundry for his decision, whereas Hancock can seemingly do no wrong. It just irks me that Woffinden appears to be painted as some kind of devil incarnate & Hancock a saint.

Oh, the irony

Very disappointing. The perfect American shows his true colours. I don't buy at all the "give the kids a chance" - they will be out of their depth & will learn virtually nothing from riding alongside Janniro. If anything, it would have made more sense if he had stood down than Hancock, those youngsters could have soaked up a lot from his presence. As it is, he can't be bothered. If he was that interested in US speedway, he would be there regardless of any dispute. All this does is devalue the event & robs the paying public of seeing a world class performer in the UK for only the second time this year. I wonder what the Tai Woffinden haters will make of this.

Event 1 Russia Emil Sayfutdinov Artem Laguta Poland Maciej janowski Bartosz Zmarzlik Czech Republic Eduard Krcmar Vaclav Milik Denmark Michael Jepsen-Jensen Niels-Kristian Iversen Event 2 Australia Max Fricke Jason Doyle USA Greg Hancock Ryan Fisher Germany Kai Huckenbeck Martin Smolinski Sweden Antonio Lindback Andrea Jonsson Thanks for doing this, better than most of the tripe you read on this forum!

Yawn. And you my friend are an idiot.

It's clear, you don't understand he concept of a forum & your only argument is abuse of anyone who doesn't agree with your view. Blocked.

Nope

Are you sure? many Aussies back then raced here on very low averages & not all of them had JC's birthplace. I am not saying you are wrong, I genuinely thought there were others, in fact I am certain as Leigh Adams was the same - started at reserve for Poole on a stupidly low average.

Indeed. JC was good enough & at the same age, Woffinden would have walked into any national team, Australia included. Regarding Morris, yes he did. Woffinden hasn't. No he didn't. As he was born in England, he was perfectly entitled to race on what I seem to recall then was a 2.00 assessed average. You really are a most unpleasant individual. There is no need for abuse at all & your opening comment just serves to show that you cannot hold a reasoned argument with anyone without resorting to abuse. The football link you provided & point you raise is not relevant, nor is the fact that many clubs are in difficulty. The fact that you liken the story of that young man to a completely different sport with different rules & a set of circumstances that bears no comparison shows how you are simply attempting to create an argument, which everyone else knows doesn't hold water. I'm not really sure why I have even responded to this as your comments are so puerile they should just be ignored, which, in future is the approach I will take.

Yes. Once his contract expires he can play for who he wants. If they want him, that is. I'm not sure I have ever seen more stupid posts than yours. The only delusion here is yours. If you "know" the point you state in your second paragraph as fact, prove it. If not, get over yourself.

Oh dear.