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Riders who should have made the World Final but never did!

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1 hour ago, M.D said:

Ron Preston..

 

1979..Poole..32..139..277..21..8.58..4F..2P
1980..Poole..23..101..214..16..9.11..1F..1P
1981..Poole..12..62..110..9..7.68..1F
1982..Eastbourne..38..162..354..18..9.18..5F..3P

 

World U21 champion in 1979, quit the sport half injured aged about 24

Remember Ron Preston at Arlington...a very classy rider especially his first bend sweeps!

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15 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Remember Ron Preston at Arlington...a very classy rider especially his first bend sweeps!

Ron had it all. from the gate, from behind, inside and outside.. In the one season at Eastbourne he outshone both Gordon Kennett and Kelly Moran, that took some doing around Arlington in those days..

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18 minutes ago, M.D said:

Ron had it all. from the gate, from behind, inside and outside.. In the one season at Eastbourne he outshone both Gordon Kennett and Kelly Moran, that took some doing around Arlington in those days..

His average was lower than both though. Or are you saying just at Arlington he was better or more exciting or something?

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1 hour ago, iris123 said:

His average was lower than both though. Or are you saying just at Arlington he was better or more exciting or something?

I think tha he achieved a higher average around Eastbourne than either Gordon or Kelly.

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On 4/21/2019 at 5:06 PM, M.D said:

Ron Preston..

 

1979..Poole..32..139..277..21..8.58..4F..2P
1980..Poole..23..101..214..16..9.11..1F..1P
1981..Poole..12..62..110..9..7.68..1F
1982..Eastbourne..38..162..354..18..9.18..5F..3P

 

World U21 champion in 1979, quit the sport half injured aged about 24

Not someone who immediately sprung to mind, but his league figures are far more impressive than my memory had gave him credit for. Maybe it's because he didn't seem to feature too much in Test Matches or the World Championship. Did he race again in the US or was that it for him? Don't recall the injury either. Fill me in :-)

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9 hours ago, falcace said:

Not someone who immediately sprung to mind, but his league figures are far more impressive than my memory had gave him credit for. Maybe it's because he didn't seem to feature too much in Test Matches or the World Championship. Did he race again in the US or was that it for him? Don't recall the injury either. Fill me in :-)

It was very disappointing for Eastbourne that neither Gordon, Kelly or Ron turned out for 'The Eagles' in 1983 having all putting in superlative performances the previous season. There was a very interesting interview with Ron in an edition of 'Backtrack' some years ago (I'll hunt it out) but if memory serves he decided not to return to the UK because he was involved in setting up his own speedway in the States. He rode with a knee injury picked up while at Poole which, if I recall, always caused him some issues. A great talent and lost too early in the UK.

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How about a World Final of non-World Finallists? Obviously only riders eligible when there was a World Final.

I'll have a crack...

1. Bobby Schwartz
2. Alan Grahame
3. Ron Preston
4. Mike Faria
5. Preben Eriksen
6. Bob Kilby
7. Andy Grahame
8. Steve Bastable
9. Peter Ravn
10. Peter Nahlin
11. Bobby Ott
12. Gary Guglielmi
13. Bruce Cribb
14. Lars Gunnestad
15. Neil Collins
16. Mike Bast :)

Hmmm...passable for a Star of Anglia or the like perhaps?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, falcace said:

How about a World Final of non-World Finallists? Obviously only riders eligible when there was a World Final.

I'll have a crack...

1. Bobby Schwartz
2. Alan Grahame
3. Ron Preston
4. Mike Faria
5. Preben Eriksen
6. Bob Kilby
7. Andy Grahame
8. Steve Bastable
9. Peter Ravn
10. Peter Nahlin
11. Bobby Ott
12. Gary Guglielmi
13. Bruce Cribb
14. Lars Gunnestad
15. Neil Collins
16. Mike Bast :)

Hmmm...passable for a Star of Anglia or the like perhaps?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great idea!

1. Bobby Schwartz

2. Bob Kilby

3. Garry Middleton

4. Ron Preston

5. Vaclav Verner

6. Arne Pander

7. Charlie Monk

8. Jim McMillan

9. Roy Trigg

10. George Hunter

11. Dave Younghusband

12. Sandor Levai

13. Phil Herne

14. Reg Wilson

15. Norman Hunter

16. Andy Grahame

...different list tomorrow probably!

 

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11 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Great idea!

1. Bobby Schwartz

2. Bob Kilby

3. Garry Middleton

4. Ron Preston

5. Vaclav Verner

6. Arne Pander

7. Charlie Monk

8. Jim McMillan

9. Roy Trigg

10. George Hunter

11. Dave Younghusband

12. Sandor Levai

13. Phil Herne

14. Reg Wilson

15. Norman Hunter

16. Andy Grahame

...different list tomorrow probably!

 

Vaclav Verner was in Los Angeles,1982.

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54 minutes ago, BobC said:

Vaclav Verner was in Los Angeles,1982.

Jim McMillan got 2 rides as a reserve in 1972 at wembley

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I even thought of making the non-world finalist world final a little more specific, and narrow it down to riders of a specific year. Good to see some names already mentioned, but leaving out the 70's and 80's, let's look at riders who were active in1969 who never made a World Final (reserve spot included).

1 - Tommy Roper

2 - Dave Younghusband

3 - Garry Middleton

4 - Sandor Levai

5 -George Hunter

6 - Bob Kilby

7 - Odd Fossengen

8 - Roy Trigg

9 - Geoff Mudge

10 - Chris Pusey

11 - Charlie Monk

12 - Jan Holub

13 - Tony Clarke

14 - Norman Hunter

15 - Bruce Cribb

16 - Oyvind S. Berg

I would pay to watch that line-up today...

Steve

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1 hour ago, Tracy Bird said:

Jim McMillan got 2 rides as a reserve in 1972 at wembley

Yes I was following 'falcace's ' lead whereby Alan Grahame was listed who also rode twice as a reserve during the 1984 World Final.

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On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 7:39 AM, falcace said:

Not someone who immediately sprung to mind, but his league figures are far more impressive than my memory had gave him credit for. Maybe it's because he didn't seem to feature too much in Test Matches or the World Championship. Did he race again in the US or was that it for him? Don't recall the injury either. Fill me in :-)

As an Aces fan,  in the same era as me, you probably didnt see him ride much. He missed the 1981 Poole BL meeting, and also the 82 Eastborne meeting. He had a couple of rides in the 1981 test match at Hyde Rd, but missed the 1982 test. So the only full meeting (well, nearly) I saw him ride was as a guest for Reading in 1982, where he scored 3 points from 4 rides i think.

I did always rate him though, as his high average in 1982 meant had a high grade in Speedway Scene board game, in which I endlessly replayed the 1982 season as a speedway mad child!

Wiki states he retired due to the death of a friend, which I assume may have been Denny Pyeatt?

In world  championship, seems the closest he got to making it out of the Amricn final was in late 1979 (1980 qualifiers) where he fnished 4th after finishing last in  run off.  Not sure why he didnt ride in it in 1981 or 1982. I didnt realise he was part of the 1980/1981 WTC squads where US finished runners up, nor that he should have rideen in 1979 world pairs but got stranded at heathrow (according again to wiki).

 

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Going same era, but omitting anyone who rode as a reserve

1. Mike Bast
2. Bobby Schwartz
3. Ron Preston
4. Mike Faria
5. Preben Eriksen
6. Bob Kilby
7. Andy Grahame
8. Steve Bastable
9. Peter Ravn
10. Peter Nahlin
11. Bobby Ott
12. Gary Guglielmi
13. Marc Courtney
14. Andrew Silver
15. Neil Collins
16. Joe Owen

Really wanted to fit Buzz burrows in as well.

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6 hours ago, waiheke1 said:

As an Aces fan,  in the same era as me, you probably didnt see him ride much. He missed the 1981 Poole BL meeting, and also the 82 Eastborne meeting. He had a couple of rides in the 1981 test match at Hyde Rd, but missed the 1982 test. So the only full meeting (well, nearly) I saw him ride was as a guest for Reading in 1982, where he scored 3 points from 4 rides i think.

I did always rate him though, as his high average in 1982 meant had a high grade in Speedway Scene board game, in which I endlessly replayed the 1982 season as a speedway mad child!

Wiki states he retired due to the death of a friend, which I assume may have been Denny Pyeatt?

In world  championship, seems the closest he got to making it out of the Amricn final was in late 1979 (1980 qualifiers) where he fnished 4th after finishing last in  run off.  Not sure why he didnt ride in it in 1981 or 1982. I didnt realise he was part of the 1980/1981 WTC squads where US finished runners up, nor that he should have rideen in 1979 world pairs but got stranded at heathrow (according again to wiki).

 

Just re-read the interview that he gave in an edition of 'Backtrack' some years ago.

Yes, Ron, was very upset by what happened to Denny as were many of the Americans at the time. On his return to the States he began to promote a yearly Denny Pyeatt Memorial Meeting at a track that Ron had opened at El Centro. He admits however that although he should have continued to race for a further two years he felt that he was "burned out after ten years of racing" although he had no regrets.

At the time of the interview (2004) he was in the process of developing a 2.5 mile paved track, speedway track, motorcross, drag strips, trails, campground, water-park on an 1100-acres huge piece of property in Imperial County.

I saw him ride many times for "the Eagles" and was a class act.

Edited by steve roberts
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