salty

Why weren't they picked? Seems strange that Kennett gets picked in front of Danny King for the Cardiff reserve position but doesn't get picked for this.

That's true but crucially he did finish ahead of Richardson who got a seeded spot. From what I remember Pepe's sponsors (Pentel) were a factor in him getting a seeded place. Obviously this farce should not be repeated as the qualifiers are back this year. I still think there are some seeded spots though, could someone clarify.

Really thought the Russians would win this, looks like the absence of Renat in the latter heats cost them. Looks like it was a pretty close meeting though.

Thought the fact he got the wild card at Krsko meant he had settled his differences with the Slovenian authorities.

Joonas would be the perfect candidate for a wild card at the Scandanavian GP.

Looks like a heavy Hackney influence! Not complaining though as I can't wait to read the Bernie article. I'm sure Simmo will have a lot of interesting memories.

Richardson is evens to beat Lindback with the dreaded Bet & Win

Scott Humphries and Nathan Simpson from Wimbledon, Pete Bradshaw who died at Lokeren as did Mal Carmichael (don't know if he rode in league comp or just 2nd halves) Dennis Gavros, Bob Jameson from Halifax

Now I should have remembered him!

Just thought of one more... Graham Coombes.

There was always the strong feeling that some clubs were treated more favourably than others. In John Berry's book he bought the licence to West Ham(including riders) but then states that Christer Lofqvist (the No 1) was spirited away to Poole who were then run by the influential Charles Foote(I think). I remember Cradley being refused permission to keep Jan Simensen one year who then got allocated to the Ochiltree show at Brandon.

Craig was born in Manchester, used to go to NZ in the winter though.

Having seen Reading on the TV last night, I sincerely hope massive improvements are done to both the stadium and the track before the World Cup. Looked ramshackle and as mentioned before goes against the previous philosophy of BSI to try and give a positive image of the sport.

Yes, but he became a naturalised Kiwi and represented them at Test level, famously winning the World Pairs.

Unless I've missed him one of the best Kiwi's of recent times was Mark Thorpe.

The thing that struck me watching that meeting again was how awful the starts were. Green light and go, with rider after rider getting a flyer.

I remember Mike Letch riding second halves at Cradley in 1970, as did Mal Carmichael who sadly lost his life at Lokeren. Remember seeing a photo of Mike in one of the Websters annuals watching the racing at Hackney in his wheelchair.

Can't wait to read that interview, and yes Tony Cradley fans won't hear a bad word said about our Bernie. I would like to hear from Bernie how he felt riding for the Heathens when Dan McCormick was in charge and he ended up being sacked. You have to remember that Bernie was not excluded following the Briggo crash, though having watched it again recently that is definitely a questionable decision. Bernie was my hero from when he joined the Heathens in 1969, particularly when you remember how the loyal Heathens fans had to endure season after season of disappointment. As many Cradley memories as possible please!

I saw Cradley beat Halifax 64-14 in 1980 I think. Pretty certain the Cradley rider who missed out was none other than Erik Gundersen in about Heat 9 or 10. Extremely dull meeting from the racing point of view, only interest being whether the max could be achieved.

Just to clarify DeWayne Keeter's British career.He was introduced at Leicester for the 1969 season (when he was the only American to ride here). After understandably slow start using borrowed machinary he improved throughout the season to finish on a creditable 4.87 average having ridden in all fixtures. Who knows what he might have achieved if he had come back the following season. Of others mentioned on this thread I always thought Mike Caruso was a perfectly respectable second string and I find it hard to see Lance King as a failure when he finished on a World Final rostrum. While I take your point that he could have done so much more, then you could say the same about a lot of riders. Particularly, in relation to this topic to the Moran brothers who were seen as supremely talented but never reached the absolute pinnacle of the sport. On a personal level I found Brad Oxley to be a frustrating rider, because after a perfectly acceptable first year with the Dons he never kicked on in his second year and left the British scene behind.

When Bruce Penhall walked out on Cradley in 1982 he left a massive hole, both in terms of points scoring ability and personality. That Simon Wigg was able to fill that void (in both categories) when he rode full time in 1983 is a testament to the qualities of the man. He just had one of the best smiles didn't he?

I guess what it all boils down to is that the system used by the powers that be is (as is often the case in Speedway) wrong. Seemingly only the decision makers can't see that hand picking 7 of the 15 competitors for a World Championship is soooooo wrong. At the very least numbers 9-15 in this years GP's should be racing in a GP challenge against 9 other riders (preferably ones who have qualified for such a meeting) or at worst been nominated. Top 7 qualify simple as that. I'm sure there would be hard luck stories, riders who are injured or have hard luck stories on the day, but at least they get to try again next year. This to is the nature of sport and it's attraction. Trouble is you could then get the "Andy Smith" scenario whereby one unwanted rider keeps getting through the challenge year after year. Much more preferable to the followers of the sport then the current farce.

I think if you look at form in the Swedish and Polish leagues then Rune Holta is the best rider not already chosen. Add in the fact that he finished 7th in the GP's in 2003 and only missed out in 2004 because of a debilitating shoulder injury that hampered him in the first few GP's and he should be the pick. Having said that he might miss out because of his nationality problems - he's a Pole but not really a Pole etc,etc. If its done on riding ability he should be in - no question.

Bert Harkins always had very distinctive leathers in the early 70's. as far as team leathers go I liked the late 60's Leicester Lions, much better than the 1972 Cradley dark brown!!! Always used to like Jan Andersson's Halvarsson leathers of the early 80's.

The crowd figure was widely reported as 32,000 which I wouldn't describe as poor. Would imagine that costs were sky high and I can't see any other promoter having the balls to give it a go considering the losses incurred first time round.