iris123 20,977 Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Trees said: Michael Lee maybe, who knows his stats? Ended up on 9.22 in 76 and 10.64 in 77 so Wikipedia tells me .... No idea what Ronnie Moore came in as or how he ended his first season, stats wise, but he must be one, as he had only done a season in NZ before coming over, I think Think one of the 1960s Swedes was also an overnight sensation....maybe Knutson ? And of course Scotland's Tommy Miller got over 9 pt average in his very first season in the 2nd division And for improvement, I guess Ivan Mauger had an amazing improvement from his early years at Wimbledon and returning to become arguably the greatest ever rider Edited March 28, 2021 by iris123 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,106 Posted March 28, 2021 John Louis averaged 8.74 in his debut year, then up to 11.31 in his second. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted March 28, 2021 20 minutes ago, norbold said: John Louis averaged 8.74 in his debut year, then up to 11.31 in his second. ...and then achieved an average of 9 plus in his debut year in Division One and qualified for that year's World Final. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shrub 1,109 Posted March 28, 2021 Some really good shouts on here and I'd just like to add Tony Davey. Only started riding late 1970, had a handful of matches at the tail end of the season to average 3.38. On to 1971, he achieved in his first six matches scores of 15-5 (away), 15-5 (a) + track record, 12-4 (h) + T/R, paid 14-5(a), 15-5 (h) 9-4 (h) plus a fall. Ended the season on 9.93, with 9 full and three paid max, finishing 7th in the overall averages. What could have been but for the terrible hand injury the following year.... 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
enotian 562 Posted March 28, 2021 6 hours ago, Tsunami said: Jordan Palin started with the BV Cubs in 2019 at number 7, and was no 1 after the first green sheets were published. I think his first meeting was a 15 point Max. excluding assessed starting averages Tsumani!! Arguably if he scored a 15 max on debut he's been on the decline ever since 3 hours ago, Trees said: Michael Lee maybe, who knows his stats? Ended up on 9.22 in 76 and 10.64 in 77 so Wikipedia tells me .... wasn't he a nine pointer from the off? Obviously started on an assessed two or whatever it was at the time but was never anything less than a nine pointer straightaway. I was more interested in riders who had difficult/average starts to their career but suddenly improved during the course of a season. Charles Wright is a more recent example. Having spent a fair few seasons as a four ish pointer was it Somerset he went to and added three points to his average? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
proud panther 1,505 Posted March 28, 2021 Robert Lambert ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leicester Hunter 381 Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Shrub said: Some really good shouts on here and I'd just like to add Tony Davey. Only started riding late 1970, had a handful of matches at the tail end of the season to average 3.38. On to 1971, he achieved in his first six matches scores of 15-5 (away), 15-5 (a) + track record, 12-4 (h) + T/R, paid 14-5(a), 15-5 (h) 9-4 (h) plus a fall. Ended the season on 9.93, with 9 full and three paid max, finishing 7th in the overall averages. What could have been but for the terrible hand injury the following year.... Indeed. In John Berry's first book he stated how he rated Tony Davey higher than Peter Collins. The rules in 1971 apparently precluded Division 2 riders from partaking in Division 1 unless they had a tie-up with a Division 1 club. Of course, PC was at Belle Vue, John Louis at Newport, Malcolm Shakespeare at Leicester... the list was probably a little longer than that. When it came to the first match, JB said that Davey was a complete bundle of nerves never having ridden at that level before. Things didn't improve as both Olle Nygren and Alan Sage were excluded from the first heat for tape breaking. Then came Heat 2 and the awful crash... A classic case of 'What might have been'. Edited March 28, 2021 by Leicester Hunter 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,706 Posted March 28, 2021 6 hours ago, norbold said: John Louis averaged 8.74 in his debut year, then up to 11.31 in his second. Thats a great point Gap closure to the perfect 12 is much harder than big jump from a 2 or 3 starting figure Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shrub 1,109 Posted March 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Leicester Hunter said: Indeed. In John Berry's first book he stated how he rated Tony Davey higher than Peter Collins. The rules in 1971 apparently precluded Division 2 riders from partaking in Division 1 unless they had a tie-up with a Division 1 club. Of course, PC was at Belle Vue, John Louis at Newport, Malcolm Shakespeare at Leicester... the list was probably a little longer than that. When it came to the first match, JB said that Davey was a complete bundle of nerves never having ridden at that level before. Things didn't improve as both Olle Nygren and Alan Sage were excluded from the first heat for tape breaking. Then came Heat 2 and the awful crash... A classic case of 'What might have been'. The rule was reputedly brought in to stop Louis being used by all and sundry as a guest in Div 1, after he was guesting often for Newport in 1970. Shrimp's crash was actually in heat 4, his third ride of the afternoon, it seemed a routine first bend spill. It's scary to think I saw that 49 years ago..... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 10,359 Posted March 29, 2021 TheLate great Wayne Brown at Berwick went from reserve 3.94 to 9.00 the next season and improved it again the next season.He actually improved overnight in the 2nd half of “78 after beating the Owen brothers at Berwick one week.Great guy sadly missed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 10,359 Posted March 29, 2021 15 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said: Thats a great point Gap closure to the perfect 12 is much harder than big jump from a 2 or 3 starting figure Especially in that era.! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
