lucifer sam 3,953 Posted September 6, 2009 If you're going by the Speedway Star rankings I think that means it's all Ove Fundin from now on, apart from one Barry Briggs year. Well not JUST the Speedway Star rankings. But it's a useful guide, just as the Stenners books were. Interestingly Jim Stenner had Vic Duggan as No. 1 for 1946 (or rather, from around April 1946 to March 1947) for his Aussie form before he came back over to the UK. Yes 1956 onwards is going to be Fundin dominated... All the best Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,118 Posted September 6, 2009 Yes 1956 onwards is going to be Fundin dominated... Where's Star Ghost? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
star ghost 7 Posted September 7, 2009 I was going to put in a claim for Ove but thought that would be stating the obvious. The heading for this item is "World Champions that never were" but that could never mean Ove, the greatest ever past, present and future, but I would have loved seeing him ride against Jack Parker, Wilkinson, Milne and van Praag when such riders were in their prime. And Huxley, Farndon, Johnson and Grosskreutz would have been interesting opposition too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,118 Posted September 7, 2009 I would have loved seeing him ride against Jack Parker, Wilkinson, Milne and van Praag when such riders were in their prime. And Huxley, Farndon, Johnson and Grosskreutz would have been interesting opposition too. Yes, Ove would have beaten all of them...except our Tom of course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arnieg 3,652 Posted September 7, 2009 Norbold - OK, I bow to your superior knowledge regarding 1935. So I think we need to let other people catch up, but so far we have: 1928 - Frank Arthur... 1951 - Jack Young (Rob / Norbold) or Aub Lawson (Bobbath) .... Any disagreements with any of the above? We'll plough on with 1956 onwards after every has had a couple of days to discuss the above!! (which will allow allow me to dig out the Speedway Star rankings of the late 50s / early 60s, an idea of a BSF forum member, our very own speedyguy ) All the best Rob Put me down for Lawson in 51, and the Star Rankings are summarised here (on the Bob Andrews site): http://www.geocities.com/robnade2001/WorldRatings.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,118 Posted September 7, 2009 Put me down for Lawson in 51, May I ask your rationale for this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 467 Posted September 7, 2009 After in depth review of Stenners for 1951-I hereby change my vote to Young from Lawson Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucifer sam 3,953 Posted September 9, 2009 OK, time to get this going again? 1956-1963, could ANYONE have stopped Ove Fundin from taking eight GP titles on the bounce? All the best Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,118 Posted September 9, 2009 OK, time to get this going again? 1956-1963, could ANYONE have stopped Ove Fundin from taking eight GP titles on the bounce? All the best Rob Briggo maybe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 21,000 Posted September 9, 2009 All well and good up to this point.Not going to get into it too much.But now where exactly do we think these fictional GP's will take place?Because we are(well you two or three)are getting into the period where for instance Samorodov and later Plechanov showed they were a pretty god match for the western riders away from home.But would the western riders be able to match them if there were 3 or 4 GP's behind the iron curtain ,where things would have been made difficult for themno doubt.And that without the ability of the Russians and Poles.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,118 Posted September 9, 2009 The best guide we have would be the early World Team Cups I suppose. 1960 Goeteborg S won by Sweden 1961 Wroclaw PL won by Poland 1962 Slany CZ won by Sweden 1963 Vienna A won by Sweden 1964 Abensberg D won by Sweden 1965 Kempten D won by Poland 1966 Wroclaw PL won by Poland So Ove was able to lead his team to victory in Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany. So Mmaybe if the GPs had been spread around he wouldn't have done so badly either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 21,000 Posted September 9, 2009 The best guide we have would be the early World Team Cups I suppose. 1960 Goeteborg S won by Sweden 1961 Wroclaw PL won by Poland 1962 Slany CZ won by Sweden 1963 Vienna A won by Sweden 1964 Abensberg D won by Sweden 1965 Kempten D won by Poland 1966 Wroclaw PL won by Poland So Ove was able to lead his team to victory in Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany. So Mmaybe if the GPs had been spread around he wouldn't have done so badly either. 60 +62 i will give you.But in Vienna and Abensberg Ove wasn't really the force behind the Swedish wins.And in Germany was outscored by Plechanov for instance.But neither Vienna or Abensberg were behind the iron curtain anyway Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucifer sam 3,953 Posted September 9, 2009 (edited) Briggo maybe. Norbold, Briggo's strongest claim appears to be 1958. So could he have beaten Fundin over a 11-round GP series in 1958? I'm not so sure, Fundin was still pretty hot that year. In fact, Fundin looks completely unstoppable from 1956 to 1961. Briggo would be my favourite for 1966-1967 (and probably 1964 & 1965 as well), but we haven't quite got there yet. And what about Peter Craven and Bjorn Knutsson - two giants of the sport, but would they have been World Champion under a GP series? Most likely years seem to 1957 or 1962 for Craven, or 1961 or 1962 for Knutsson (and also 1964 & 1965 for Knutsson, but again we haven't quite gone there ). Actually 1962 looks like a chink in Fundin's armour, he finished just seventh in the NL averages. It's true handicapping was introduced that year, but it seems to have slowed down Knutsson and Craven much less than Fundin. I believe Fundin suffered a broken leg during 1962 as well. Therefore I plump for Fundin for 1956 to 1961 and also 1963, but Peter Craven for 1962. A slightly sentimental choice perhaps, but there you go. What are other people's thoughts for 1956 to 1963? All the best Rob Edited September 9, 2009 by lucifer sam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,118 Posted September 10, 2009 (edited) I do think iris has a point we shouldn't overlook in all this. If the GPs were held all over Europe like they are today, Igor Plechanov must have had a good chance in the early 60s as well. Maybe he would have won 1962! I also think that Bjorn Knutson would have done better under the GP system than he did under the one-off as he was very a nervous sort and didn't give of his best on the big night. Maybe under a GP system this wouldn't have happened. Edited August 25, 2014 by norbold Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucifer sam 3,953 Posted September 10, 2009 I do think iris has a point we shouldn't overlook in all this. If the GPs were held all over Europe like they are today, Igor Plechanov must have had a good chance in the early 60s as well. Maybe he would have won 1962! I also think that Bjorn Knutson would have done better under the GP system than he did under the one-off as he was very a nervous sort and didn't give of his best on the nig night. Maybe under a GP system this wouldn't have happened. Norbold, Knutsson seemed to cope quite well with the nerves in one-off finals - he won it once and finished second twice. There's no doubt from 1961, he was a real force. But I think his peak was in 1964 and 1965 and we'll come to those years shortly. Plechanov's best year also seems to be somewhere between 1964 to 1967 - I think 1962 would have been a little bit too early for him. I'm nailed my colours to the mast for 1956 to 1963, with Fundin champion for 1956 to 1961 & 1963 and Craven for 1962. Do people agree or disagree with that? All the best Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
