lionheart

"Hurriken" McKinley was always immaculate in his black leathers. Immaculate because he was always at the front, with no one slinging mud on him

I think that it would be great for Ray to tell us how it was. Remember when England really had a cracking team ? Ray W P.C. Mort. Dave Jessup Malc Simmons Those were the days.With so many foreign riders in our leagues I doubt if we will ever put together such a team again

Feel a bit sorry for Bjarne. Top scoring and then not even reaching the final

I see in the Manchester Evening News that the mighty Peter Collins in helping in James Wrights pits team . So here's hoping

I have just been saying the same elsewhere on the forum.Such a pity that with a big wide track like that, made for great racing,they put virtually NO dirt on it. It might as well have been a concrete runway.

Two of my four finalist predictions were right so I suppose it a'int too bad. Pity there wasnt a bit more dirt on the track but I dont suppose most of the riders would have known how to cope if there had been. Scottie and Leigh had bits of hard luck, particularly Leigh, with his retirement, was it a chain ? Thought Crumpie did well to get second place in his semi-final, from fourth position. When you see a change in results such as Lee Richardson achieved in the second part I'm surprised that no one asked for a carb check,(Or even a capacity check) Anyway, well done to him. I dont think the TG victory surprised anyone.

Having now engaged my brain (AND realised the implications of the points position) I would like to amend my forecast. Being an ultra professional I think that Mr Trick will find enough points to to complete his taking of the crown, and then sit back to let the others fight it out. After all why risk your neck when it's all done and dusted ? Having said that, can I please take Tricky off my forecast which should now read; Gollob Hampel N.Pederson J.Crump STILL probably miles out

Having seen so many great riders between 1949 & 2005 I dont think that I had an out and out favourite,although I had a sneaking regard for HurriKen McKinley,if only for his longevity at competitive levels. Ask my wife though, and she has NO doubt. The GREAT Peter Craven,surely destined to be an all time great until the tragedy at Edinburgh extinguished his far too short a life

I bet that in 30 or 40 years time (Hope speedway lasts that long, although I certainly will not) people will be looking at photograph and confusing the Yello/Black helmet cover with the new fangled White/Black. cover. I can see the arguments raging for years.

I always reckoned Anders to be one of the smoothest, most stylish riders that I have ever seen. I well recall the race off at BV for the Knock out cup. The match ended up all square and should really have been run again, but the Reading track at Smallmead had closed down, so that was out of the question. I thought it extremely sporting for the Reading management to agree to a one-off match race because it would always favour the home rider. Perhaps a deciding match on a neutral track would have been fairer, but it was probably too late in the season. Never the less that race-off was a tremendous affair. There was so much passing it almost made one suspect that it was a "Fix", like the wrestling used to be in that era. It is one race that I will never forget.

Well I reckon; 1. Gollob 2. Trick 3. Hampel 4.N.Pederson Probably miles out

In the past I always regard Richardson as a gater, and not much else, but although I did'nt get to watch the WTC, from his scoring he seems to have matured quite well. Well done Lee, and keep up the scoring, but NOT against the Aces eh.

No its only England when we win. When we don't win we blame it on the rest of Britain Seriously though, GO YOU BRITS !

Rider control has always been a bone of contention. There are always supporters who complain that their team has been penalised for succeeding in the previous season. On the other hand there are supporters who love it when their team amass a cricket score to defeat the visitors. To me there was nothing more thrilling than a 40-38 (In old money). I think before looking at team averages we need to look at match formulae. We are talking of a TEAM sport here, so surely the heat points should be 4-3-2-0 (Which I know has been used in some events). I would hope that this would encourage more team riding, and discourage the big guns from blasting into the sunset knowing that to do so could often mean that they would be on the wrong end of a 4-5 heat disadvantage. As a means of balancing home advantage I would give home heat leaders fewer rides and home reserves/2nd strings more rides. The visitors reserves/2nd strings would benefit from having to face fewer rides against home heat leaders. In an attempt to ensure tight matches I would RETAIN tactical rides (That will draw some Flak ) but would look very closely at the rules governing tactical rides. Perhaps heat 15 (Assuming we retained Ht 15) could contain 1 programmed rider and only 1 nominated rider from each team. Whatever changes (IF any) are implemented it needs to be to ensure fewer runaway victories and tighter matches for those fee paying spectators who enjoy such matches.

Well, I hate to say it but I fear that GB will be bottom of the pile tonight I know that Bomber and Steady have the courage of Lions, but dont forget that Poland/Norway, and Denmark raced on this strip a couple of days ago. Given that, I think that the order will be; Poland/Norway (Rune Holta is about as Polish as Greg Rusedski is English ) Denmark Sweden GB I think that if it had been run on a more neutral track it may have made a bit of difference, but I think the other night could be described as a dress rehearsal for a Poland/Norway win. COME ON YOU LIONS,PROVE ME WRONG

Well I cannot remember much about my first view of Speedway. It was definitely Blackbird Road, Leicester in about 1949. I was just too excited to remember much about it, but THEN of course there were still the leg trailers riding. FANTASTIC I seem to remember that one of the visitors at one of my early matches was Phil Bishop. Could it have been v. Southampton ? My personal favourite amongst the Hunters was Lionel Benson. My first AWAY match was against the FLEETWOOD FLYERS, and the Hunters were thrashed ! Probably because they were used to riding on one of the fairest racing strips in the country, and the Flyers track was a bit like a bombsite with the brick ends left in ! A sad ,sad day, when Blackbird Road was consigned to history

I went to Blackbird Rd in both the Wilson era's, Ron Wilson as a rider, and later Ron Wilson as promoter, and son Ray Wilson as a rider. As others have said, it was an absolutely brilliant track with fantastic racing every week. When I first started following the Hunters there were still one or two leg-trailers riding. The only one that can remember was Phil Bishop. It really was thrilling back then, when riders used to battle to get to the fence, and not the white line ! Of course back then there was actually some dirt on the track, not the bald circuits that now pass for speedway tracks.It did mean that you went home as black as the ace of spades (Cinders not shale) but WHAT excitement

I posted a suggestion about standard engines nearly 2 years ago. I cannot see why it wouldnt work. Do we really think that highly tuned 4-valvers add anything but cost to speedway ? I dont think there is much rocket science involved in a making a virtually unbreakable standard engine that is simple to produce. Work out the numbers of riders in the leagues produce say 3 engines per rider. Divide the cost of the engines plus a factor to allow for overhauls after a given number of meetings. Divide this cost by the numbers of riders registered, and that is the cost for each rider to register. The engines are held by the tracks and each rider draws a number. That is their engine for the meeting. Carbs and settings are sealed, no tinkering allowed. The only adjustment allowed is by way of chainwheels and sprockets to suit the rider. Obviously each rider will have his own frames since these are custom built . It might even be cheaper to throw an engine away if it should blow up ! I expect an awful lot of flak after this posting