Greg Hancock

[waiheke1 4,295]

 

Off the top of my head. And it was one of the biggest 12 individual meetings in the world that year e.g. the equivalent of a Grand Prix.

 

He had an outstanding year. It would be interesting to see the list of riders he beat on the World Championship trail - Olsen, Autrey and Mauger at the ICF for starters. Again off the top of my head.

 

Ironically you've picked the one year that JD really was World Class.

 

All the best

Rob

Davis I ranked 13th in the world in 80. as you say, his best ever season. world class - perhaps in that one season (and at a push in 85 when he was again in the top 20), but over the whole of his career, no.

 

 

I would be interested to know where Waikeace has Batch ranked for 2014. There were times during that season when he actually performed. Batch of 2015 was almost universally cr*p. When they are demolishing the Abbey and wondering who that bloke still going round the track is, it's Batch completing his final ride of the Swindon v BV play-off match.

 

Although one point is that Batch followed up with 20 points in Denmark with 3 (?) at Cardiff. Whereas JD was a consistent performer in every round of the World Championship of 1980. Hence his presence in the final.

 

All the best

Rob

i had Batch at 45th, a couple of places below Bomber.

 

Plenty of riders made 11+ under the old system, but of the riders I've seen only Neilsen would, in my opinion, be just as dominant if the current system had been in place.

as subsequently pointed out, actually only three riders did it after the nominated heat came in in 88.

 

 

Yes, I'd already mentioned the 1985 British (Super) League.

 

Again, look back, it was BWitcher who brought in averages, I believe he was recycling his argument from another thread and it wasn't entirely appropriate here when no-one had actually mentioned averages until he popped up with it.

 

My argument was the riders that Bwitcher said could be perceived as mediocre.

 

Let's look at the Grahame brothers. Andy Grahame won the British Final at a time that was mega-difficult to win and pushed Hans Nielsen for top spot at Birmingham in 1981 and 1982. While Alan Grahame was the rock of the so-successful Cradley Heathens. When the Heathens won the league in '81, their top scorer that season wasn't Penhall or Gundersen. It was Alan Grahame, who never missed a match.

 

There's nothing even slightly mediocre about those sort of riders. Nothing at all.

 

And yet I probably would call Troy Batchelor mediocre. His performance in the Swindon vs Belle Vue meeting was all the evidence you need.

 

Compare it with the photo of Big Al from 1980, plastered head-to-toe after giving his all to triumph in the Grand Prix Final at Wimbledon.

 

All the best

Rob

Alan Grahame I was surprised, I have ranked top 20 in the world from 81-84 (though never top 10).

Andy on the other hand was only in the top 20 once, that in 82. Yes he won the British Final (but so did Steve Bastable the year before), and was arguably world class in 82. but otherwise, was he really that much better than say Craig Cook?

again though, we're not saying the Grahame's were mediocre. Just that under a different heat format, perception would have been that they were nowhere near as good as we preceive them under the BL pre 88 format.

[SPEEDY69 1,253]

I think this thread is about the best USA rider ever. Now that's a subjective question! For me, Hancock has shown his consistency and as an ambassador and exempler to others there is no-one to match him. Those that criticise for the fact he achieves only because he makes great starts (which is not down to luck of course) need to see this years GP series where he has frequently come from the back, including last to first in Aus. His lack of serious injuries - whilst there is a strong luck element of course, (definition of accident), there are things riders can do to minimise the risk and Greg has proven to be very skillful in this regard. Other riders people remeber as greats, such as Mauger, Fundin, Briggs, Nielsen, Rickardsson, Lee, Jessup, P Collins, Simmons and others also had long periods without injuries.

 

For me, there are a few USA riders I'd highlight - Autrey, Ermolenko, Penhall, Sigalos and Hancock. Autrey kind of paved the way for USA riders to compete in Europe which got the ball rolling. Ermolenko had strong periods of dominence and could have won more than one title, especially if he'd remained injury free so has to be up there. Sigalos too looked set to get better and better until injury affected. Penhall of course won two world titles but I'd place him below Hancock (Les Collins was very unlucky not to win in 1982) because Greg has been at the top, on and off the track for so long, on any surface, length or location of track.

[barrybishop 896]

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