robpeasley

First of all, let me say that if Kasprzak had won the meeting fair and square, he would have been a worthy winner given his form this season. But even he can't be too happy with this outcome. Winning a World Final on the toss of a coin - how naff is that This brings the sport into disrepute, how can we expect ANYONE to take Speedway seriously as a professional sport, when you've got stuff like this going on? All the best Rob

IMHO, The seven seeds should be: 1. Scott Nicholls... just missed out on automatic place, scored more race points than many in the top 8 but missed out by not reaching finals. 2. Antonio Lindback... Young, talented, erratic - good value for money! 3. Jarek Hampel... HAS to be in the 2006 series. Only missed out on top 8 due to missing three rounds due to injury. 4. Lee Richardson... on the basis of his World Cup perfromance and second place in Bydgoszcz. There needs to be a second permanent Brit in the series. 5. Krzysztof Kasprzak... the third Pole for 2006. Younger than Protasiewicz (who's been given enough of a chance in the GP series in the past). 6. Niels-Kristian Iversen... deserves a chance, after two very good wildcard appearances in the Danish GP in 2004 and 2005. 7. Matej Zagar... rostrum place as a wildcard in 2005. Nuff said! All the best Rob

Skelly, Thanks mate All the best Rob

This is what happened in Swedish: David tar starten följd av Mattias som ger Billy en lång resa genom första böj. Billy får sedan stopp på andra, och hemmaförarna kan enkelt bärga kvällens femte 5-1:a Any idea of what happened in English?!! All the best Rob

Seems that Billy Hamill crashed out of the VMS Elit v Smederna play-off match tonight. Could anyone from Sweden confirm how Billy is? All the best Rob

Subedei, Yes, we have, but I thought it was worth revisting, simply becuase I've now firmly made my mind up. Before I was slightly undecided if Rickardsson was as good as Mauger or Nielsen, but after watching his stinker of a performance in the World Cup Final, I'm now sure. He ain't. All the best Rob

Mr. Shovlar, "History in the making from the worlds greatest ever speedway rider!"??? Did you watch the World Cup Final? Rickardsson was an egg-beater rather a world-beater on that ocassion. And no disrespect to Tom P Madsen - but the world's "greatest ever" does not get passsed from behind by Tom P (as happened in Arena v Oxford earlier in the season on a deep track). Rickardsson is the best rider of his era, but that's all. Mauger and Nielsen were both far better riders - with the ability to dominate a complete season, not just a GP series. I reckon Gundersen and Penhall were both better than TR as well - although such comparisons are always so difficult to make. Rickardsson's had it easy with only one real consistent rival, Crumpie, and even Crumpie had his shortcomings until he matured a couple of years ago. Also he's been pretty luck that nearly all the GP rounds are held on slick tracks - as he looks very average on a grippy track! Fine accomplishment in winning his sixth title tonight, but it still doesn't put him right up there for me. Just my opinion. All the best Rob

Just a few comments on tonight's meeting: Superb entertainment, made the wrong choice in travelling to the GP at Wroclaw and not this one!! Surely when the Polish nation anthem was played at the end, it should have included a verse of the Norweigan national anthem in the middle somewhere. Well done to the Poles, though, they were on fire! Was the referee asleep. Didn't stop a single race... the one where Lindback cocked himself up was fair enough to let go, but the one where he got away in second place, should surely have been stopped. GB were fairly unlucky, with a bit of luck they could have been right in the hunt for second place. But, never mind, Lee Richardson looked better than ever before on the World stage, while Stead came of international age tonight, even though he seemed to have a "Please hit me" sign on his back. Anyone trying to convince me that Rickardsson is the best rider of all-time is going to have an even bigger task now. Away from the GP series, he's looked extremely ordinary when I've seen him in 2005 (getting passed by Tom P Madsen in a league match at Arena, and tonight he was frankly dreadful). He seems completely incapable of dominating an entire season in the same manner as the likes of Mauger, Nielsen, etc. Best of his era certainly, but best of all-time... not even close. All the best Rob

IMO Niels-Kristian Iversen would be a better pick than Bjerre at the moment. Iversen would help provide shake up the GP, as he's spectacular to watch with his dives around the outside. Isn't fazed facing the big boys either, he often saves his best for Heat 15! Not only that, but so I've been told by girls, that Iversen is a bit good looking as well!! Give Bjerre one more year. All the best Rob P.S. Down to one permanent Brit next year? Oh dear.

Very, very good interview with Mauger - interesting to read not only his comments on the GP, but also Kenny Carter, Hans Nielsen, etc. I was surprised to read that the Nielsen/Mauger combination nearly survived through to 1989, because when Hans went I did his own thing in 1988 (to be honest, I think that Hans was stuffed in that run-off whichever tyre he had on - gate 1 was underwater!!!) I though the relationship ended then. By then, I don't think Hans needed the extra vital 1% that Mauger could provide, as demonstrated at Munich, he no longer needed anyone to tell him he could do it, he now believed it. Anyway, back to the topic title, Mauger certainly isn't taking any credit away from Tony Rickardsson at all. His comment that we shouldn't really compare the greats is true - and all you can say is that Fundin, Mauger, Nielsen and Rickardsson all dominated their various eras. Still, it's great fun to try to compare. Maybe the question should be changed to - which is harder to win, a one-off final of a GP series? I'd go for the former, when one split-second of misjudgement can cost dearly, no matter how consistent you are over a season, but again there really isn't a definitive answer. All the best Rob

OK, let's build a time machine, and get the following riders from the peak of their powers to fight out a GP series: 1. Ivan Mauger 2. Ove Fundin 3. Tony Rickardsson 4. Hans Nielsen 5. Barry Briggs 6. Ole Olsen 7. Erik Gundersen 8. Bruce Penhall 9. Jack Young 10. Ronnie Moore 11. Peter Craven 12. Peter Collins 13. Jan O. Pedersen 14. Bluey Wilkinson 15. Vic Duggan 16. Jack Parker That'll solve all the arguments!!! :D All the best Rob P.S. Good to see Lol on here. Hope it's going well mate.

Ivan Mauger demands respect - he's certainly not an "old buffer"! I think he has said positive things about Tony, but points out at the same time how a GP series favours the top rider at the time, and how riders from the past would have probably got into double figures given a GP series. All of which is probably true and fair comment. All the best Rob

Hmmm... interesting... proof that maybe TR ain't the rider that Ivan Mauger or Hans Nielsen were - i.e. riders capable of not only dominating a World Final or a GP series, but a complete SEASON. All the best Rob

Hi guys, Didn't actually post it on here at the time, but here's my match report for the Leszno v Zielona Gora match from May 1 that I did for the Oxford programme. Hopefully it's still of some interest: Something a bit different this week. I normally use this column to give updates on the league meetings from Poland and Sweden. But, for the first time, I can actually give you my first hand experiences of such a meeting - and I can tell you, I've never been to a meeting quite like it before! I went on the Travel Plus tour to the Grand Prix in Wroclaw, and as an added extra, we also took in the Unia Leszno v Zielona Gora Extraleague match the following afternoon, a match between two fierce local rivals. On arriving at the stadium, our coach was led by a police car to the same place as the coaches from the away team - however, when we got there, we found the Zielona Gora fans surrounded by the police and some rather fierce-looking dogs! We were told that the Zielona Gora fans were "crazy" and it was not safe for us to get off the coach, so we were then escorted by the police car back to the entrance for the home fans. On entering the stadium, we took our pre-booked seats by the start/finish line, and then watched in amazement at the events unfolding on the back straight. Firstly, there was the pre-match presentation. A whole section of Unia Leszno fans on the back straight unfurled two large banners, one saying "Blue Bulls" (the team's nickname) and the other with a painted picture of, well, a blue bull. It was accompanied by flares and ticker-tape and looked very impressive. At the same time, the Zielona Gora fans, in a sectioned-off area on the second bend surrounded both sides by policemen, unfurled an absolutely massive banner, with a picture of the bull crossed out, with some rude comment above and below it! That was quite amusing, what followed was not. The meeting was due to start at 5.00pm, however in Poland both teams have an extended practice around the track, and Heat 1 actually commenced at around 5.30pm. By that time, the Zielona Gora fans were ripping up the wooden benches they were supposed to be sat on, and lobbing them at the police. They also had a couple of charges at the police in attempts to get out of their area to be able to attack the Unia Leszno fans. It has to be said that some of the Leszno fans were also far from innocent, going up and taunting the Zielona Gora fans behind the fence, while a section of Leszno fans situated towards the third bend sang songs directly towards the Zielona Gora fans which presumably were not too complimentary! In the meantime, a rather cracking match was taking place on the banked Leszno track. The home side, led by Leigh Adams, had far too much firepower for the visitors, especially with Krzysztof Kasprzak riding at reserve, with their only weak link being Oxford asset Lukasz Jankowski, who was gifted his only point (you may recall Jankowski rode for Oxford at Swindon in the British League Cup match in 2003, although his four points were deducted, after the BSPA decided his inclusion was not legal). In contrast, the visitors relied almost entirely on the efforts of Nicki Pedersen (who crashed rather spectacularly in his opening ride in Heat 2, but was OK to carry on) and Piotr Swist, currently with Arena Essex. They trailed 19-5 after just four races, and the match was already over as a contest. But the racing was first-class, with passing in nearly every heat - and plenty to entertain the 9500 crowd. Not that many of the 300 Zielona Gora fans seemed that interested in the action on the track. Finally, an official from Zielona Gora (presumably the Polish equivalent of a promoter or the team manager) went over to his supporters after Heat 10 and pleaded to the fans to behave. However, they continued to lob the wooden benching at the police, so they were escorted from the stadium with several heats remaining, where reading last week's Speedway Star it looks like they caused further damage, destroying a police car and smashing the windows of private cars. The meeting then came to a fitting climax in Heat 15, with Piotr Swist going from first to last, as Leigh Adams picked him off while battling with Nicki Pedersen, and then the impressive Damian Balinski swooped to take third. Fantastic Speedway - and we left the stadium in good spirits, while keeping one eye open for any maniac Zielona Gora fans! One or two notes on Polish league meetings. The away team is numbered 1-7, while the home team is numbered 9-15. The away heat-leaders ride in yellow and the second strings in white - the opposite way around to Britain. Each team can track only one non-Polish rider at a particular meeting. Heat 1 is a reserve race consisting of only Polish Under-21 riders (Nos 14 & 15 and 6 & 7). This is the only programmed ride for the home 15 / away 7, although if you have a strong under-21 rider such as Kasprzak, this can be worked to the team's advantage, as this rider can take a further four rides at any point (for instance, Leszno used Kasprzak to nullify Zielona Gora's tactical moves). Riders 9 to 13 (home) and 1 to 5 (away) have four programmed rides each, while the 14 (home) & 6 (away) have five programmed rides. There are two nominated heats at the conclusion of the meeting, with Heat 15 being for the top scorers. When a team is six of more points behind, they can use a tactical substitute. UNIA LESZNO 61: Damian Balinski 9+1 (5), Lukasz Jankowski 1 (2), Leigh Adams 13+1 (5), Adam Skornicki 9+1 (5), Jacek Rempala 4+1 (4), Norbert Kosciuch 10+2 (4), Krzysztof Kasprzak 15 (5). ZIELONA GORA 29: Nicki Pedersen 10+1 (6), Andrzej Huszcza 6 (6), Mariusz Staszewski 1 (4), Krzysztof Stojanowski 0 (2), Piotr Swist 9 (6), Zbiginew Suchecki 2 (4), Daniel Pytel 1 (2).

Hazzman, Last year the Poles took the opportunity to blood some youngsters, but my guess is, this year, with the race-off and final in Poland, they'll field their strongest possible side and go all out to win it. All the best Rob

Moving the question slightly sideways, now that football is going back to Wembley, what chance of moving the date of the Speedway at Cardiff to September, so that it's the final GP of the season. Would boost the meeting even more... and leave Wembley as an overhyped memory of the past. All the best Rob

VV, I have looked at Heat 10 again, and I do think the ref got this one wrong. It may have been on the second bend... but it's a genuine bunching incident. Rickardsson (the inside of the three) is fairly wide, Hancock consequently riding high, leaving no room for Crump. Should have been all 4 back, although I concede if I was told that I had to exclude one of the three riders, it may be Greg on this occassion. However, surely the key here is how this incident varies from the Nicki Pedersen ones. In Heat 10, there's no rider aiming his back wheel at other riders or being reckless... it's a racing accident, whereas Bjarne and Greg's heavy falls were completely caused by Nicki's recklessness. There's a difference in being pushed wide and having a back wheel aimed at you!!! So yes Greg should be able to take back what he gives, and if he'd only been pushed wide on the second bend and taken a moderate fall, then no complaints... BUT what Nicki did to him is something Greg would never do!! Actually, if a card system is introduced, I think it would be unfair if the referee had to adminster it as the meeting progressed, as they already have enough pressure. It should be up to a jury of officials (and maybe a rider or two, say former World Champions Sam Ermolenko, Billy Hamill and Gary Havelock) in the following couple of days. They could rewatch a video and decide. For instance, from Saturday, Crump could receive a yellow for his desperate move in Heat 18 which endandered Pedersen & Lindback. Hans Andersen could receive a yellow for his act in Heat 6 which got Crump excluded. Tony Rickardsson could likewise get a yellow for his acting in Heat 3, to get Norris excluded. And Nicki would get a yellow for Heat 11 (Bjarne's fall) upgraded to red for Heat 16 (Greg's fall). All the referees decisions on the day stand, but it's up to the jury panel to decide if further punishment should be administered or indeed if any riders who got away with something on the day should receive a punishment. A yellow would stay on a rider's record for 3 GPs, if they picked up a further yellow in the meantime, they would either be docked points or miss a GP, depending on their past disciplinary record. A red card would automatically mean the rider missing one of the next 2 GPs (this is so a big drawcard such as e.g. Nicki Pedersen would not miss the Danish GP, but would still miss the Czech GP, which would still be a massive personal blow to him). All the best Rob

Greg Hancock is out injured, possibly with a broken scaphoid, after being speared by Nicki Pedersen in Heat 16 at Cardiff on Saturday. Surely now yellow and red cards should be introduced into the GP series - as the way some riders, and in particular one rider, are riding in the series is dangerous. Nicki should have picked up a yellow for KOing Bjarne Pedersen in Sweden, then a red for his completely reckless move on Saturday night, forcing him to miss the following GP. There has to be a consequence to his actions, otherwise where will it stop... maybe with Nicki fencing Tony R so that's it possible to catch him in the series... as for Nicki absolutely any means justify the end. All the best Rob

Great meeting tonight... spent most of the evening willing the Aussies on, but changed alliegance before the final race, as to qualify via the joker rule would have been by default. Amazing stuff by Gollob, crazy stuff by Jonsson, superb riding by Kolodziej, and weren't Sullivan and Boyce pants. And Neil Street? Well, first of all let me say that he has done so much for Speedway over the years. But maybe it's time to move on. Had he played the joker earlier (it was begging to be used in Leigh's third ride) rather than Heat 25, the the Aussies would be through. And the selection of Boycey was such a mistake, I saw him against EL opposition a couple of weeks ago and he was far too slow. The same tonight. Surely one of the in-form pair of Schlein (match winning paid 13 at Coventry) or McGowan (paid 29 from his last two meetings) should have been selected. The youth policy worked tonight for Poland, it's already paid big dividends for the Danes. However, said that, let's hope that British experience prevails on Saturday night!!!! All the best Rob

Actually, very top heavy team, with three 10.00+ men (Pander, How and Gooch), but no back-up, after rider control took away Genz, Gooddy and Geran from the 1964 treble winning team. But still on course to win the 1965 British League until How was injured riding for GB against the Russians, and without guests or R/R (not available that year), Pander & Gooch could not carry the rest of the team, they lost to fellow contenders Wimbledon & West Ham at home and Oxford ended up fourth, having led at mid-season. All the best Rob P.S. Ron How was not allocated from Wimbledon for 1965. He had been signed from Wimbledon prior to the 1964 season.

Oh no... here we go again. Havelock let his country down in the 2001 race-off, again in the 2002 race-off, then again in the 2003 final. For someone who is supposed to be proud to wear the racejacket, some of his performances have been woeful, especially from a former World Champion. In contrast, Screeny rode with a passion on Monday night. He should be in the team on Saturday, not Havelock. All the best Rob

Just to follow up... a bit of info on matches between Oxford & Swindon.... On Friday, Oxford celebrate the 55th anniversary of one of the most keenly contested derby matches in Speedway - that between themselves and arch-rivals Swindon. It was exactly 55 years ago from Friday's date, on Saturday, July 23, 1949, that the two clubs clashed in what was the first-ever meeting at the Abbey Stadium in Blunsdon. The first meeting at Oxford Stadium had come over 10 ten years before on Saturday, April 8, 1939, in the shape of an individual meeting won by Roy Duke. However, it wasn't until 1949 until league racing came to Cowley, with the stadium transformed (with a new track built) in the early months of that year, to allow Third Division racing at Cowley. The Cheetahs roared into action for the first time ever at Exeter on Monday, April 18, crashing to a 24-60 defeat, before making their home debut three days later on Thursday, April 21, losing 37-47 to Hastings. Meanwhile, the Swindon Robins also entered the fray in 1949, but only in mid-season and initially as only a non-league club. That opening challenge match that took place exactly 55 years ago resulted in a 45-39 win for visitors Oxford and the scorers for the two sides were as follows: Swindon 39: Bill Downton 5 (from 4 rides), Ginger Nicholls 11 (4), Reg Lambourne 7+1 (4), Harry Hughes 6+3 (4), Bob Jones 0 (4), Ivor Atkinson 4 (4), Paul Best 0 (1), Tom Wilson 6+1 (3). Oxford 45: Dennis Gray 6 (4), Ernie Rawlins 8+1 (4), Alf Viccary 4 (4), Bert # Name Removed # 11 (4), Alf Elliot 3 (4), Jim Wright 10+1 (4), Oz Osborne 3 (4). Later in the season, Hull were forced to shutdown and Swindon replaced them in the Third Division. The first-ever league match between Swindon and Oxford came on Saturday, September 24, 1949 at Blunsdon, when the Robins won a highly-charged match 42-41 after a 3-2 in a dramatic final race, in which Dennis Gray (after a collision) attempted to push home for a point for Oxford, only to be ruled out by the time limit. That first league match was strangely prophetic. Firstly, it set a standard of excitement that has often been matched in subsequent clashes between the two clubs. Secondly, though it grieves me to mention it, it also showed that Swindon had the edge. In fact, with the 104th league match between the two clubs coming up tonight, the current record is: At Oxford: Matches 51 Oxford wins 30 Swindon wins 16 Drawn matches 5 At Swindon: Matches 52 Oxford wins 13 Swindon wins 37 Drawn matches 2 Overall: Matches 103 Oxford wins 43 Swindon wins 53 Drawn matches 7 Biggest wins: By Oxford at home to Swindon: 58-20 (1986) By Oxford away to Swindon: 56-21 (1986) By Swindon at home to Oxford: 71-25 (1955) By Swindon away to Oxford: 59-37 (1957) However, before the Swindon fans get too carried away, it should be pointed out that when it comes to winning league titles, Oxford have won 6 league championships (5 in the top-flight), while Swindon have won just 3 (2 in the top-flight). Swindon triumphed in back-to-back championships, winning the National League Division Two title in 1956, and then the National League in 1957, after the top two divisions merged. The Robins then won the 1967 British League, led by all-time Swindon legend Barry Briggs (twice a World Champion with the Robins) but incredibly have not won another league championship since - a wait of 37 years! The nearest that they have came was in the 2000 Premier League, when they were beaten into second place on race points by Exeter, but only after Paul Fry lost a run-off for the bonus point to Newcastle's Bjarne Pedersen in Swindon's final league meeting of the season! Oxford won the National League Division Three in 1950, then collected the National League (at that point, the title for the top division) as part of the treble in 1964. The Cheetahs, led by Hans Nielsen (who won three of his four World titles while at Oxford) & Simon Wigg, then hit a purple patch in the late eighties, taking three British League titles in 1985, 1986 and 1989, while more recently Oxford won the 2001 Sky Sports Elite League. While still on the subject of championship wins, Oxford have clinched THREE of their six titles against the Robins! In 1964, Oxford defeated Swindon 45-39 at Cowley on September 17 to put themselves out of reach of Coventry, while a 45-33 home win against the Robins on October 11, 1985 saw Oxford home and dry in the eighteenth out of 20 league matches. The 1986 Oxford side (arguably the strongest ever British club team) clinched the league title with a 56-21 win AT Swindon on October 11, with Per Sorensen (sacked by Swindon earlier that season) returning to Blunsdon and scoring a paid maximum in Oxford colours! So what will the 104th league clash between the two sides bring on Friday? Hopefully plenty of excitement - and, a win for Oxford, of course! All the best Rob

You beat to me it Chris!!! Great list of guests... should be quite a night!! All the best Rob

With my mind very much on the Exide Championship Of Great Britain, which is being held at Oxford on Friday, my mind has been going back thinking of the last time we had a meeting of this magnitude at Oxford. And I think it's the 1984 British Semi-Final, when the stadium was packed to the rafters, with Kenny Carter riding with a broken leg and finishing third despite falling in one race, Simon Wigg (who REALLY looked in pain) riding with a freshly broken collarbone and bravely scoring eight points, only for it to be only good enough for a reserve place (although Malcolm Simmons then withdrew from the British Final to give Wiggy a second chance, and he ended up as the only British rider in the 1984 World Final - if you discount reserve Alan Grahame). The meeting at Oxford suffered from rain in its second half, with Neil Evitts winning after a run-off against Andy Grahame. I reckon the crowd was somewhere between 3500-5000, there were a LOT of bodies of the stadium that night. Oxford's successful staging of this meeting led to an England v Denmark test match in 1985, and we then got given an England v Denmark AND an England v United States (the meeting where Wiggy was excluded for doing a wheelie!!) AND the Midland Riders' Championship in 1986!! All the best Rob

Er.... it's the wrong flag!!!!!!!! All the best Rob P.S. "Word Cup"? Has that got something to do with scrabble :)