Grachan 7,364 Posted June 7, 2006 Me too! Would've loved him to have won it. Didn't he test positive for some drug in the Overseas Final and it took the authorities months after the actual World Final to punish him?! On seconds thoughts, its probably best he didn't win it. It wouldve taken the sport to previously unchartered areas of farce had he been stripped of the gold medal. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Especially when you consider that those below him weren't promoted a place. That would have meant that nobody was world champion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tigerblade 221 Posted June 7, 2006 Me too! Would've loved him to have won it. Didn't he test positive for some drug in the Overseas Final and it took the authorities months after the actual World Final to punish him?! On seconds thoughts, its probably best he didn't win it. It wouldve taken the sport to previously unchartered areas of farce had he been stripped of the gold medal. Still, I enjoyed that final. Jonsson/Moran, Jonsson/Nilsen and Gustafsson/Tesar were all cracking heats. Yes, it was the Overseas Final. If he was to be punished, fair enough. But don't do it two rounds later - mind you this is speedway authorities we are talking about.... I stand to be corrected, but wasn't that meeting Tesar's first time in England? He was known by his real name of Zdenek back in those days as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest schumifan Posted June 7, 2006 He was known by his real name of Zdenek back in those days as well! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Isn't Sam Simota also a Zdenek? Trust us Brits to have to change things we can't pronounce Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tigerblade 221 Posted June 7, 2006 (edited) Isn't Sam Simota also a Zdenek? Trust us Brits to have to change things we can't pronounce Don't know where Mr. Simota's "Sam" came from, but I believe that Tesar's was due to Sam Ermolenko being his hero. Then it starts getting even sillier, bearing in mind Sam is not one of the names that Mr. Ermolenko was christened with, either!! Confused.... you will be Edited June 7, 2006 by Tigerblade Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Turner 0 Posted June 7, 2006 Can I tell you a story Tigerblade ? Sit down then...and I hope my memory holds out You're right, the Bradford '90 Final was Sam Tesar's first UK meeting. The Continental Final was at Norden that year, and the Top 5 qualified for Bradford. Pre-meeting favourite, Gerd Riss, arrived at the pits for practice with his arm in a sling, as well as a crutch under his other arm. He was bent on playing mind games with the opposition...so he only did a couple of struggled laps at practice, on a bumpy track. However, it was all a blag and he stormed the meeting with a maximum There was a run-off between Zoltan Adorjan and Armando Castagna (I think for 2nd/3rd)...which was an excuse for them both to have fun on track - they also chased each other round the pits for ten minutes afterwards Roman Matousek was 4th. I was in the pits with Roman and his brother, as well as Darren Spicer, and we were in between Tesar's pit and Toni Kasper's pit. They had tied for 5th place and needed a run-off to decide who was going into the Final. Both of them understandably took it very seriously and were focussed on winning. But Evzan Erban(sp.?), the Czech team manager and Jawa boss, came over and spoke to Toni. Roman translated for me, and it turns out that Evzan told Toni he had to throw the race, because he'd had his chance in the UK and Tesar needed to be given the place, in the hope of him getting his own chance to ride over here. Toni looked awful in the pits, obviously. In the run-off, he flew out of the gate and led for most of the race before shutting off on the final bend to allow Sam through. I must add that Tesar knew nothing about the arrangement. In fact, being such a nice bloke I've never believed he would have allowed it to happen. But Kasper was in tears in the pits after, while Tesar was on Cloud 9. The irony of the Final was that Gerd Riss did actually get injured and had to pull out, which meant Toni Kasper got to ride as his replacement, and indeed Tesar was signed for the following season and had a fantastic career over here. The End. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tigerblade 221 Posted June 11, 2006 Excellent stuff Steve - I guess in a way that it all turned out right in the end for the two Czechs. Again, if memory serves me correctly, Gerd Riss suffered a serious head injury and they were worried about him for quite a while? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
