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Thankfully, the rolling averages mean that one bad score out of twenty has very little effect on a rider's average.

Seems like Laguta was in line for a wild card for Wroclaw according to his socials but for whatever reason it fell through 🤷‍♂️

The programmes available to buy on eBay. The post includes a picture of the completed scorecard PETERBOROUGH SPEEDWAY 1970 v RAYLEIGH. 1st MEETING EAST OF ENG. SHOWG. 12th JUNE | eBay UK

OK, make a cup of tea, sit down, put your feet up and get ready to read one of the longest posts ever posted on here! It is 60 years to the day since I saw the best and most memorable speedway match I have seen in all my 65 years of going to speedway. A match I can still remember vividly. In that year, one of the Quarter Final matches of the KO Cup saw a local derby London tie with West Ham drawn at home to Wimbledon. Before the tie, the two teams appeared to be evenly matched and so the match proved. With one heat to go the scores were level at 45-45. That final heat saw the Wimbledon pair, Olle Nygren and Reg Luckhurst, “fired themselves to the front” (as Kelvin would say) over West Ham’s Brian Leonard and Norman Hunter and it looked all over for the Hammers when suddenly Luckhurst’s engine blew up resulting in a 3-3 and a tied match at 48-48. Having drawn at West Ham, Wimbledon looked a good bet to take the tie in the replay on their own track. But there was even worse news for West Ham as their top rider, Sverre Harrfeldt, was injured the previous evening at Hackney and unable to take part and their third heat leader, Norman Hunter, was also unable to ride as it was his wedding day! There were no guests allowed so the Hammers had to resort to filling the places of two heat leaders with Tony Clarke, making his racing debut, and a Wimbledon junior, Geoff Hughes. Only Ken McKinlay was a recognized heat leader and, although by now a team regular, it should be remembered that at this time, although gradually improving through the season, West Ham’s 19 year old Malcolm Simmons was still no more than a good second string. No-one, not even the West Ham supporters present that afternoon, gave the Hammers much hope. By heat six it looked as though Wimbledon’s superiority was about to assert itself as Wimbledon skipper, the great Olle Nygren. along with the experienced Jim Tebby, took a 5-1 against West Ham’s newcomer, Tony Clarke, and second string, Brian Leonard. The lack of two heat leaders looked as though it was now beginning to tell. But as West Ham were six points in arrears it meant they could use a tactical substitute and they wasted no time bringing in Ken McKinlay for reserve Ray Wickett in the very next heat. The line-up for heat seven was therefore Bob Dugard and Keith Whipp for the Dons, Malcolm Simmons and Ken McKinlay for the Hammers. The young Simmons shot away from the gate with McKinlay behind him and that’s how the heat finished. A 5-1 for West Ham and four points pulled back. Simmons’ time of 66.2 was the fastest of the night. The next heat saw McKinlay out again, this time in a scheduled ride, with old campaigner Reg Trott lining up against Reg Luckhurst and reserve Mike Coomber. Some brilliant team riding by McKinlay and Trott kept Luckhurst behind them and with Coomber falling, it meant another 5-1 to the Hammers and, unbelievably, at the half-way stage, West Ham now found themselves with a two point lead. With Nygren and Tebby lined up against Simmons and Wickett in heat 10 it looked as though the Dons would edge back into the lead, but, once again, Simmons rose to the occasion and beat Nygren in the second fastest time of the night. Heat 12 saw another astonishing turn of events as Wimbledon’s Bobby Dugard fell and was excluded from the re-run. It was a simple matter for McKinlay and Trott to defeat Whipp and take a 5-1. It was now West Ham who were six points up and it was now Wimbledon who used a tactical substitute as they brought in Nygren for reserve, John Edwards. Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect as, for the second time that night, West Ham’s new hero, the young Malcolm Simmons, beat Nygren, leaving West Ham still six points in front. This time though, Simmons had done it the hard way, coming from behind and taking the Wimbledon captain on the last lap. With just three heats to go, time was running out for Wimbledon and the impossible suddenly looked possible. However, a Nygren and Dugard 5-1 over Trott and Leonard put them back in with a chance and when, in heat 15, Tebby and Coomber pulled off a 4-2 against Clarke and Hughes, the scores, were back to level with one heat to go. The line-up for that final heat saw Keith Whipp and Reg Luckhurst for Wimbledon against Ken McKinlay and Malcolm Simmons for West Ham. The tension around the stadium was palpable. Everyone was holding their breath. A match which at the beginning of the afternoon had seemed likely to be very one-sided had now come down to a last heat decider. To some extent the final race as a race was a bit of a disappointment as Simmons once again flew off from the start and never looked to be in any danger and with McKinlay settling for a steady third place, the match was won by West Ham by 49 points to 47. The small band of Hammers’ supporters who had made the trip across London couldn’t believe what had happened. The hero of the hour was the 19-year-old Malcolm Simmons. He had beaten the Wimbledon captain, Olle Nygren, twice and had set the three fastest times of the night. In fact he still wasn’t finished. In the second half scratch race event, he won the first heat, beating McKinlay, Luckhurst and Dugard and then went on to win the final, once again beating Nygren. As if that wasn’t enough, a special Handicap race was held with Simmons starting off 20 yards, Nygren off 10 and Trott, Leonard and Tebby off scratch. Yet again, Simmons got the better of Nygren, even with his handicap. As for me, although that match was held 60 years ago I can still remember it as if it were yesterday. In fact I can remember it better than matches I saw last season. It was just such an amazing afternoon. I went along there with a few other Hammers’ supporters expecting a reasonable match but when it was announced just before the meeting started that neither Harrfeldt nor Hunter would be taking part we seriously considered going home. The Wimbledon supporters around us were saying things like, ’You’ll be lucky if you get 20 points’ and ’This is going to be the biggest thrashing of all time.’ Of course, we gave back as good as we got but in our hearts we felt they could well be right. But suddenly there was this rider called Malcolm Simmons, who we had seen rise from the ranks of a second halfer at West Ham to a good second string but no more, taking on and beating the likes of Olle Nygren and Reg Luckhurst on their own track in the fastest times of the night. He was just phenomenal. Following that match, and now with a fourth top-class heat leader, West Ham remained unbeaten for the rest of the season, taking the treble of League, Cup and London Cup. Recalling the match later in an interview I carried out with him, Malcolm Simmons told me that the West Ham team had gone to the meeting thinking they would get thrashed but somehow the whole team had risen to the occasion. He went on to say, “It was the first good meeting I ever had for West Ham. I just came good on the night.” He also told me that he didn’t clean his bike for weeks afterwards as he was afraid of upsetting whatever it was that was making it go so fast! As we now know, Simmons went on to become one of Great Britain’s greatest ever riders and runner-up in the 1976 World Championship, World Pairs Champion in 1976, 77 and 78, World Team Champion in 1973, 74, 75 and 77 and British Champion in 1976. He was capped 80 times for England, seven times for the British Lions (touring Australia), five times for Great Britain and four times for the Rest of the World. But it all started that night and I feel very privileged to have been there to witness what must have been one of the best matches of all time and one of the most outstanding personal performance of all time. I should add that the rest of the team also rode exceptionally well, especially Reg Trott, Brian Leonard and Tony Clarke, who all rode far above expectations.

A Danish 1-2, could be lethal!!?

R/R for Jeppeson too according to Speedway GB website

Looks like two good teams on paper. Should be a good match especially with the recent improvement in racing at Redcar. New signing at number one? I presume Thomson will be a lot better than he was for Glasgow last week. Could be an away win imo.

with all due respect i couldnt give a toss about leszno that said i dont think ben will need to take too many risks to score well or for lynn to win

That’s my thoughts too.

Nothing from Shovvy or LBW very strange maybe they have gone on holiday together!

Good riddance to them then 👋, if you want to run a credible sport in this country

The problem with that approach is that most riders in that position would simply walk away from Britain deciding it isn't worth the hassle. I'm pretty sure Ben Cook, Tungate and Gusts to take the most obvious recent offenders would all take that approach.

And teams sign riders knowing full well that they cannot fulfill meetings on certain days of the week, as they are already contracted elsewhere on those nights, so go to tracks having to use guests... It's all a bit Mickey Mouse, so riders giving the UK a miss for their own reasons, or pressure from elsewhere, doesn't make much difference... The guest system is a major part of the reason riders miss these meetings.. No guest system, (and you either use RR or a 2 point unattached rider), and teams would simply not accept the situation, and the rider would have to be there.... As it stands, some clubs can arrange a meeting knowing that they have missing riders, but have already lined up "track ringers" to replace them, making their team better!!! Ludicrous in a so called professional sport... A 28 day ban, given so few meetings now take place per month, is also no deterrent... Maybe a season long ban (and next season too), would sharpen their focus?

It’s a gimmick made for TV which is what speedway became many years ago. It might add something for the neutral but what about those at the track? You see your team battle to a draw or salvage a point only to then walk away feeling like you lost.

Simon Lambert in for Barker.

And with Birmingham closing, an invaluable section of speedway racing will disappear: reducing the ability for new British riders to progress!

So far it seems that it was indeed Peterborough v Rayleigh on 12th June 1970 - the first ever meeting at the Showground. Gate 1 Geoff Maloney, Gate 2 Pete Seaton and Gate 4 Richard Greer. I'd love a scan of the programme to go with the photo if anyone can help! I'm curious why the stand is so empty given the large crowd at the opening meeting.

Being top of the table and never winning a meeting... The point gained for being within six, for the away team, was dropped, it was said, due to the home teams fans leaving the stadium feeling less than positive that "one point was dropped".... And home victories are, as we know, the main objective to keep a crowd level... Now they can leave feeling that they have lost, after they didn't!!! Typical UK Speedway though... Let's contrive something... Something that didn't need actually fixing too... Maybe spending more time in delivering a fit for purpose operating model, and a joined up, collective, national wide, and innovative, marketing plan would be more beneficial to UK Speedway?

It may well be a great race track. But is the business that owns it making a profit from running meetings on it? This is a genuine question that I don’t know the answer to. if it is making a profit then that shuts up R87. if not, then that brings into question if having “ the second best track in the UK” actually matters along with what is required to make such a venue viable.

Who cares ,they are all at these days GB meetings are just pocket money.

Ht13,what a race!,plus various others,but ht13 shows you dont need superstars to give you a cracking race.

SCB STATEMENT: FRANCIS GUSTS Wednesday August 13, 2025 The Speedway Control Bureau were made aware by the Oxford Management on Monday 11th August that Francis Gusts had informed them that due to illness he would be unavailable for the Oxford fixture at Poole on Wednesday 13th August. However, on Tuesday 12th August Mr Gusts represented his Polish League Club Wroclaw in the Under 24 League being undefeated by an opponent in his 5 heats. The report from the Polish media after the Polish fixture descried Mr Gusts performance as excellent On Wednesday morning Mr Gusts was made aware that having competed in the Polish League on the 12th August, he would be expected to ride for Oxford in their fixture at Poole on the 13th. Due to Mr Gusts failure to attend the Poole v Oxford fixture on Wednesday 13th August, Mr Gusts SCB Registration will be suspended for a period of 28 days as of the 13th August. Oxford will be entitled to a facility for the same period 28 days, where after Mr Gusts will need to return.

Stars and Birmingham have lot to live up to after Young Stars and Plymouth set a high bar last night.

Sunday’s matches line-ups Play- down semi 1st leg Tarnow v Poznan- start time 12pm UK time Tarnow 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Poznan 1 Nielsen 2 Szlauderbach 3 Gusts 4 Smektala 5 Douglas 6 Teska 7 TJ Musielak 8 Play-off Semi 1st leg Rzeszow v Leszno- start time 2.15pm UK time Rzeszow 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Leszno 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

KING’S LYNN: Jan Kvech, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Chris Harris, Richard Lawson, Nicolai Klindt, Ben Cook, Luke Harrison. BIRMINGHAM: Tobiasz Musielak, Jonas Jeppesen, Keynan Rew, Paco Castagna, Matej Zagar, Simon Lambert, Sam Hagon.