Wee Eck 703 Posted December 10, 2021 13 hours ago, King Jamie said: Of those mentioned in this thread, the likes of Fisher, THJ and Daniel Andersson all rode for the Monarchs. Fisher won two league titles during his time at sunny Armadale, while THJ won one. That they all dropped off so soon after leaving 'Cardiff without a roof' just proves that bearing the famous crown on your race jacket is deemed the pinnacle of one's career and future World title ambitions pale into insignificance. Was THJ the same rider that Glasgow supporters called RR? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,022 Posted December 10, 2021 11 hours ago, enotian said: mid 80's when I first got into speedway Havelock, Dugard and Silver were the future of British/World speedway. All had great debut seasons in the old National League (Div 2 for newbies) averaging 7 ish in a fairly strong league with the likes of Kennett, Jessup and Collins in it you'd been World Finalists not to long before. I'd have said Dugard would have been the one to become a World Champ. World Final debut at Bradford in 1990? Must have been in his early 20's at most. Seemed to freeze in the spotlight and scored nothing or next to nothing. Don't ever recall him doing anything on an international stage thereafter apart from the wildcard (at Brandon?). Superb domestically for a long time, against all the top guys in the World. 10 hours ago, steve roberts said: Having watched Martin develop as a rider at Cowley he showed great potential. Personally I thought moving back to Eastbourne was a mistake and as Gordon Kennett was once quoted he should had taken himself off to "Aussie" during the British close season to help his development both as a rider and a person. There's a couple of podcasts out in the ether with Martin being interviewed, they make for very interesting listening 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatface 2,554 Posted December 10, 2021 1 hour ago, iainb said: There's a couple of podcasts out in the ether with Martin being interviewed, they make for very interesting listening Agreed. Very honest and self-aware. He had a lot in his favour. A speedway family, great role model team mates like Hans Nielsen, talented. He should have joined a big track and got away from Eastbourne. Truth is Dugard, Barker and Norris should all have done better and as three likely lads together, probably held each other back. In all sport though, you can never really say who is going to make it to the top until they actually get in that environment and see how they react. It's not always the most talented who make it. For example, not many of us would have seen Jason Doyle becoming a World Champion. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,022 Posted December 10, 2021 2 hours ago, falcace said: Agreed. Very honest and self-aware. He had a lot in his favour. A speedway family, great role model team mates like Hans Nielsen, talented. He should have joined a big track and got away from Eastbourne. Truth is Dugard, Barker and Norris should all have done better and as three likely lads together, probably held each other back. In all sport though, you can never really say who is going to make it to the top until they actually get in that environment and see how they react. It's not always the most talented who make it. For example, not many of us would have seen Jason Doyle becoming a World Champion. Or Artem Laguta for that matter... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Jamie 356 Posted December 10, 2021 4 hours ago, Wee Eck said: Was THJ the same rider that Glasgow supporters called RR? The very same one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted December 11, 2021 (edited) On 12/8/2021 at 7:42 PM, Sidney the robin said: Graham Warren , Dave Jessup ( never rated him) Dennis Sigalos, Billy Sanders, Tommy Jansson he would of certainly won a title. I've just re-read the book on Tommy Jansson. An excellent, if somewhat poignant, read with many references from different sources. It's clear that many of his rivals held him in high esteem. The likes of Briggs, Mauger, Michanek, Persson, Nordin and Collins all thought that he could have reached the very top. Ivan summed it up perfectly when he was quoted as saying "...that Tommy had everything but luck!" How true. Edited December 11, 2021 by steve roberts 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sidney the robin 4,735 Posted December 20, 2021 On 12/11/2021 at 7:23 PM, steve roberts said: I've just re-read the book on Tommy Jansson. An excellent, if somewhat poignant, read with many references from different sources. It's clear that many of his rivals held him in high esteem. The likes of Briggs, Mauger, Michanek, Persson, Nordin and Collins all thought that he could have reached the very top. Ivan summed it up perfectly when he was quoted as saying "...that Tommy had everything but luck!" How true. If he had of been given the chance would of been approaching his peak Steve tackling the likes of Lee, Penhall, Nielsen , Gundersen, Carter,.For me had a great chance of winning world championships but only my humble view he was a great ambassador of the game to a humble bloke stylish classy rider. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites