britmet

. Excellent summary, - Thanks for your postings thru the year. We shall expect the same from you in 2011, (please.) .

Thanks for that, I was suspicous, that I why I threw it in, (thought it might get a challenge or a confirmation.) I know what you mean, - a lot of their S.African data is cr**.

'DutchGrasstrack', Is your mailbox full? No PM possible. Would it be correct to say there has been no National Championship of Belgium held in 2010 ? (It was B.Borgers in 2009.)

QUOTE: I do not agree with the system of seeded riders, in my days not even the defending Champ was seeded, everyone had to qualify. Unquote] They say it comes to us all eventually, and so it has to dear old Ove. From 1956 to 1960 all World Champions, incl'g Ove himself after his first win, were seeded into the following years Wembley Final: Craven, Fundin, Briggs twice, (being brought back from NZ as late as August when in dispute with W'don,) and Moore all got the easy route thru.

Who was the Ukraine Champion in 2009, ? - Andriej Karpov or Kobrin ? .

DOB 9.11.94

Billy Janiro is the 2010 USA/AMA Champion after the second and final round of the championship at Auburn last Friday. Runner-Up was Charlie Venegas, 3rd Bryan Yarrow, 4th Bart Bast. Janiro won the A-finals in both rounds of the championship: he also won the SRA (unaffiliated) National championship at Costa Mesa the previous month and the Californian State championship at City of Industry. Last year's champ, 8x winner Greg Hancock didn't participate in 2010.

Bob, old boy, it comes to all of us eventually, and so it has. Don't you recall discussing Jack Scott, Bluey Scott and the other Jack S, the canadian singer of "What In the World's Come Over You" on this site about a year ago? (Lost since the site and its host chamged, so I copied this (below) from the Cradley site: Jack had a triple heart bypass in 2008. He's now 76. Jack Scott back in 1961, on loan from his parent club Southampton to Plymouth Bulldogs, had been the phenomenon of the Prov’l Lge., having invested in new equipment from a UK pools win after 2 struggling years at Banister Court. He had scored 212 league points, second only to our own Ivor Brown with 213pts, and though he had disappointed in the Harringay PLRC he was the only PL rider to get thru the NL rounds to the British Final of the World Championship at Wembley, - quite a feat. (On such form he ought to have earlier reverted to the NL, but the SCB refused it, declaring S’ton, with new men Briggs and Knutson, to be too strong. It cost S’ton the 1961 NL title !) With a NL place guaranteed, Scott failed to return to the UK in ’62. Despite attempts by everyone, every year, to sign him up, Cradley made a coup in 1967 and lured him back to the UK, - on a 2-year contract at that ! The preceding year Cradley had signed the new Aussie champ, Chum Taylor. Our need for a former NL heat-leader in the amalgamated British Lge had become obvious, and former World Finalist and WTC rider Chum was to be that man. But at 38 years old, the Coca-Cola Kid, (Chum’s employer, whose logo he proudly bore on his tank, and of whom he loyally would speak, -“Pepsi ? no comparison”,) disappointed, with an average of just 6.3 and had to take much criticism. He was even reprimanded by the ref at Newcastle for not trying! 1966 was to be Chum’s last year of UK league racing. Undeterred, Cradley again went back to Australia and signed the newly-crowned Aussie Champion, Scott. With visions of his 1961 performances still in mind, surely he would do better than last year’s champ, we all thought. Scotty flew in, and for the first month used Ken Wakefield’s Rotrax-Jap whilst his own ESO was on the high seas, (the norm back then.) He did …, - well - , not too bad, “ But wait till his own bike arrives,” we said. Meanwhile Howard Cole was sitting it out in NZ, arguing with the Cradley management that a champion should get his air fare paid. This subject was a regular ‘sticker’ in negotiations back then. Anzac riders had moved from the fast 10-day ship journey (with bikes on the slower 2-3 week freighters,) to flying in, bikes to follow. UK riders were trying on the same thing, and many would sit it out, waiting to see if their club, or any club desperate to boost a poor start to the season, would buckle first. Briggs, for instance, sat out 1959 after 2 World Final wins, to be brought back by the promoters’ assoc’n only in August to defend his title at Wembley. Scot Ken McKinlay was another who decided home was Perth, WA, and regularly expected his ticket paid or withheld his services. Cradley held firm with Cole and it was well into the season before the new NZ champ returned, - to Kings Lynn ! (Did they pay his fare?) With the arrival of his own shipped bike Jack Scott proceeded to get some double figures, but then had a couple of falls and several blown motors, and in early June he walked out of a mtg. and wasn’t seen for a few weeks! Scotty and his wife Pat had been living in Quarry Bank. She, - English born, Aussie bred - , was getting homesick, we learnt: they went down South to familiar territory and put up with fellow Aussie Geoff Mudge and his wife. Two weeks later they were sailing back to Aussie, - 2-year contract or not - , having sold his equipment to buy tickets home ! Cradley completed the season with neither of the champions they thought they would be running with, and fared little better than in ‘66, escaping the Wooden Spoon by one place, - 18th out of 19 teams. Chum Taylor was now lauded for his loyalty in staying the course through the full 1966 season despite poorer than expected results, ( 34 appearances, ave. 6.3, c.f. Scott’s 16 appearances, ave. 6.5,) and Jack Scott was never forgiven, – nor chased by any British promoter again. In Sept 2008 Scotty had to have triple heart by-pass surgery, after which some other complications followed. He apparently is “ still not too good now” but at the age of 75, in a country town outside Adelaide where he has 20 acres of land, he gets around on his tractor, farming a few sheep and assembling the odd computer or two.

I'm puzzled by the points if there was only one meeting -? They're not the points shown on your match report, 17.7.2010, (10,11,10 and a Final.)

At the risk of repeating whats already been covered on the subject of the PLRCs, Trevor Redmond won at Cradley in 1960 and was set to do the same at Harringay in 1961 when his chain snapped and so Reg Reeves won. Jack Scott who was the phenomenum of '61 after buying a new bike with a UK pools win, failed to shine at Harringay, (yes, thats how it was spelt before the pc brigade took over,) but Scotty, then with Plymouth did qualify for the Wembley Final, only a British Final that year, which was still quite something for a PL rider.

No, it was the first 24 hts & a Final format, the Prov'l Lge being 13 teams strong that year. 4th man in that final, unmentioned so far, was Guy Allott of Sheffield. The orig'l question of this posting has been answered, v/v Wayne & Barry, but the position of Murray in the family was questioned. The facts are, - Barry came to UK in 1952, Murray in '57 or '58, and Wayne in 1961. What odds on the order of birth being the same ?

Which demonstrates that anything a Hoskins (and a Redmond) say, - great showmen that each were - , has to be taken with a pinch of salt. (so we may never know whether Wayne did have a speedway ride before coming to Old Meadowbank.)

. So then you have to ask "Was there any point in the protest ?" In the following year the meeting reverted to the trad'l 20 heat format ! For the benefit of the youngsters reading this, No, there weren't 'Final Race-Offs' after 20 heats ! The winner was the man with the most points ! BUT on this occasion, 1964, 2 riders tied with 13pts, so there was a Run-off, which Mauger won from Charlie Monk. (and then another Run-off for 3rd place as Pete Kelly & Roy Trigg had tied on 12pts.)

The line-up of the 1963 PLRC final is on the front of the 1964 PLRC programme, - Hunter, Gilbertson, Mauger & Kitchen, walking out for the race with Ross prophetically pointing to Mauger. I attended all 5 PLRCs, Bobbath. That corrects the earlier posting on here,- Wayne was runner-up to Len Silver in the 1962 Final, not the 1963. So he is on the front of the 1963 Final programme, on the rostrum with Silver & Craven. .

Because the Heathens (and others another year, I guess,) want to sit on top of that table and demonstrate the pointlessness of Play-Offs, (The PL has it right !)

How many go thru ? .

But it won't help if Dudley councillors hear people in the know say on local radio that if we get our own stadium the name will probably be changed back to Cradley Heathens.

Definately agree. Yet how strange that since their emergence not one New Zealander has stood on the World Final rostrum since!

Both riding 500cc Japs round an oval circuit ! - ? One won and one didn't.

So its Runner-Up in a 2nd Div'n competition v/v. a 2x National Champion, - ? Surely there's no comparison. What do others think?

. Briggo's other (middle) brother Murray Briggs was a little more successful than Wayne when he came oover here for a short spell in 1958. see http://speedwaychampions.com/GrassTrackChamps.aspx He was Bristish Grass track Champion in both the 500cc Class and the 350cc class in the same year that his big brother was World Champ.

It can work, 'cos its worked before, - Midland Lge matches as one with main league. A fair amount of bad luck can occur in any meeting, a single meeting, a double-header, or a 2-in-1 mtg. Whats the fans won't wear, particular if admission price is up 70%, is a double header with the second against the same team as an hour earlier; - P'boro v. Eastbourne, ELA & ELB, a few years ago. A flop, particularly gate-wise.

Simple solution, (probably too simple for the BSPA,) - - - One match, 15 hts, 2 competitions, ie match winner wins semi of both Play-off and KOC . Its been done before.

Thanks, - How many Rounds to count in the Chmpshp ?

How many more Rounds? - and where and when are they ? .