britmet

. Just received last week, a photo from his daughter, confirming Henry Long is still doing well for 89, - in Franschhoek, Western Cape.

. Not as successful, but probably more 'family relevant', were the Serrurier brothers, Doug,(Capt.) Jack, Harry, Allen & Bob, of the South African East Rand Eagles, for they all rode together in 1948, and constituted the full 5-man Eagles team in the SA Transvaal Lge. of that time. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5750/30750656091_2fc6be1a4c_m.jpg

. Maybe it was so that the crowd drifted away after the interval and few remained to watch, but promoters should recognize that, watched or not watched, opportunity was being given, and experience gained, by the non-team members, - novices, juniors and reserves -, by pitting them against one level higher, and the chance to show whether or not they were up to replacing a team man. Novice Race: 4 novices, - winner gets a place in the next race, the Juniors Race; Juniors Race: 3 juniors (by experience, not age,) plus winner of Novices, - winner to a place in the Reserves Race; Reserves Race: 3 Reserves (from the match teams' 6&7's) plus winner of Juniors, - winner to a place in a heat of the 2nd Half event against team men, i.e. 6 home + 5 away riders, - 11+1= 12, in 3 heats, usually. (All 14 thus assured of one more paid ride.) That way if a new name appears, (eg from grass racing or such like,) it was possible for mgmt to assess, and the rider to demonstrate, how good he actually was, and possible even to get a chance in the team next week, . . . or a regular Junior to show steady progress. . . . or to verify if a lower league rider was up to the senior league level. That development process is now lost.

. Apply the same rule to Cup Semi's & Final as to the Play-offs, in conjunction.

. The issue isn't about the person, it about the principle of riding for a team one day and against the same team another day, .How can you expect speedway to be taken seriously when that happens. The authorities have acknowledged that by the ruling on guests in the league Play-offs, . . . but obviously didn't think it through far enough. But 3 guests in one team . .? You're not watching a team match, . .it might as well be any 14 riders permed into 15 heats.

Anyone else had to do a double take after reading today's 2 SGB news items ? : - "Sissis Backing Tigers" and "Glasgow Clinch Cup". Didn't I see the name of Sissis in the Scottish Tigers, but the other bulletin says he led the Tigers to a win over Glasgow. ? ! ? ! Seems although there's a rule about guests in the Play-offs all other matches can be ignored ! Guests are still making a nonsense of the sport.

.Very enlightening.

. Has anything really changed ? Back in the 1960s promoter(-cum-rider-cum manager) Trevor Redmond reckoned that as long as he could break even during the season, his share of the pay-out from the Wembley Final ticket sales at the end of the season was what he relied upon to keep himself solvent for 12 months. That was, of course, in the days before sponsorship, - but that Wembley bonus has long since gone.

. Result of the 11th Josef Bossner Memorial, 16.10.2016 1. Norbert Magosi (H). 2. Zdenek Simota (CZ). 3. Marcel Kajzer (PL). 4. Jakub Jamrog (PL). 5. Denis Stojs (SLO). 6. Marcin Rempala (PL). 7. Simon Selch (DK). 8. Daniel Gappmaier (A). 9. Dmytro Mostovyk (UA). 10. Mike Jacopetti (D). 11. Matic Ivacic (SLO). 12. Kenni T. Hansen (DK). 13. Rafal Konopka (PL). 14. Alexander Schaaf (A). 15. Alexander Schreiner (A). 16. Marcel Bicher (A). 17. Robert Grichtmaier (A). 18. Philipp Kirchsteiger (A). .

Another Trevor Redmond!

. In today's Josef Bossner Memorial mtg (16th, at Mureck,) only one Austrian, Daniel Gappmaier, is named in the field, plus 2 slots for 'qualifiers', (i.e. juniors, I guess. ) In last month's mtg the only 2 Austrians, Alexander Schaaf and Alexander Schreiner, held up the score chart (from the bottom) with 1 and 0 pts resp'ly. ( . . probably they're the 2 juniors.) .

I echo those thanks, - Well done, much appreciated.

Anyone Else Considering Walking Away From Speedway? I already have !

. Thats right, - 'cos they had their ultimate championship, the one held at Wembley every September, (called, as you said, the British Riders Championship post war.) Every winner of that event was a National Lge Div.1 rider, (- except 1951, when a Div.II rider made it thru the qualifiers and took the title. !) During the war, a similar competition, the 'British Individual Championship', was held each year at Belle Vue ! (see National Champions page for winners.)

. Len was a middle-of-the road 2nd string for Ipswich in the '50s in NL.2, and struggled when the Witches were in the top tier in 1960. In '61 he dropped back down to the Prov'l Lge when Exeter opened, was 2nd in their averages that year, and topped their scoring table in '62 & '63, when he excelled. He was a Silver Sash holder several times at the end of '62, - his season topped with that Belle Vue PLRC win - and again in early '63. (Full Sash results HERE .) In '64, the last year of the Prov'l Lge, he rode and promoted at the newly re-opened Hackney Hawks, retiring after injuries in July. .

. You can find winners of the limited number of 'League Riders Championships' that preceded the 1960 Prov'l Lge Championship, pre- and post-war, incl'l NL.II, NL.III and SALs on the Speedway Champions website, HERE .

There've been other riders, & ex-World Champs, who've offer to help train British youngsters and give them the benefit of their experience, - I'm thinking of Jan O Pedersen and Erik Gundersen to start with. Each time they've been rebuffed, declined, or their offers simply ignored. So while initially I thought "Was TW getting too full of self-importance?", I'm beginning to believe it has to be the attitude of the BSPA and the individual promoters that make up that body, that just can't be bothered.

Just looked up the titles, - DH a 3-times World Champ, as recently as 2003, won in UK twice, and in Oz.

. Some national championships are 'Open', and other closed to nationals only. Up to 1975 we allowed Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians into the British championships, but not any more. In Australia it was likewise, - Mike Broadbanks, Ken McKinlay and Ole Olsen were all past Aussie Champs. .

. 10 times NZ Speedway Champion ! . http://www.speedwaychampions.com/national-champions.php .

. In the 1960s the league in Sweden, - at the time a top, if not the top speedway nation, taking 5 World Championship in that one decade - , was run as a 4TT competition, with the same 16-heat format as the WTC. So I reckon one has to accept 4TTs. .

. Good racing !

. Quite right, Mattingly flew, Julian drove. But you couldn't do it in 6hrs, - doubtful even today, with motorways and moderns cars (or a Merdedes van.) Chris had an old (even then) grey 1955 Austin A50 Cambridge. It was a 2-day overnight run for him. . There weren't speed cameras back then, but he still couldn't have exceeded the limit with such transport, plus a bike strapped on the back just to create some more drag. I had a 1957 A55 around the same time, (1963) and never felt able to take it beyond 55-60mph on the M1, even though there was no speed limit then on the few motorways we had. There'd been little thought given to higher speeds on motorways when these cars were on the drawing board 10 years earlier. . .

Just briefly mentioned above and not pursued. . . . If you agree a rider can go in, what about his wife/partner ? , , and the family and/or friends he's driven there with ? Does he go in one gate and his family/friends sent round to another ? Would he tolerate that ? Unlikely if its the wife. ? . . ? .

Memories of Bank Holiday mtgs; . i) August Bk.Hol, 1961, - back then the Aug. Bank Hol was the first Monday in the month - , traveling by coach overnight to Exeter for the morning mtg v. Cradley, . . . in the days before any motorway other than the M1. . . . . . . and returning home to do it again on Wed. to Poole and back, . . . . and again on Friday, further West to Plymouth (Pennycross) and back Shattered !. . .but a pleasant memory. . ii) Whit Bk. Hol 1965. The first Internationale of the British Lge, . . . with the first appearance of a Cradley rider at a big mtg, . . . Cradley fans circuiting the dog track en masse, banners waving, to announce the Heathens arrival on the international scene, . . . Despair in Ht.1 as that Fundin fella cut across Ivor Brown, who hit the steel stanchion and was stretched off with lower spinal injuries. (Fundin rightly excluded.) Shattered again, with sad and angry feelings.