Split

From your (self appointed) Johannesburg correspondent: Sadly speedway in Southern Africa is not what it was and the days of world class riders such as Henry Long and Doug Davies (not forgetting Buddy Fuller) are long gone. In later years riders like Peter Prinsloo, Denzil Kent and Mike Ferreria emerged but we are unlikely to see their like ever again. This quote from https://www.speedway-sa.com/ says it all: "As of 2019 there is no longer any motorcycle dirt track speedway racing in South Africa." So sad.

I assume the lack of responses to this topic indicate that the forum members who saw handicap racing back in 1963 regard it as a failed experiment that needs no further comment.

I happened to see that in another section of this forum , handicap racing has been suggested to avoid the processional races that we sometimes see. This was of course tried in National League racing back in 1963. The ‘Big Five’ (Fundin, Knutson, Briggs, Moore and Craven) started off a 20 yard handicap with certain other heat leaders (How, McKinlay, Boocock etc.) starting off 10 yards and the second strings starting from scratch. I attended most of Wimbledon’s home meetings that year and recall that Gerald Jackson given a 20 yard start proved a difficult man to pass and there were other second strings who enjoyed similar success. The experiment was abandoned after a revolt by the 20 yard men with Barry Briggs being the most vociferous. I think it very unlikely that reintroducing such a system would ever be seriously considered in the future but would be interested to hear what others think.

So sad to see that one of the all time greats in no longer with us.

Indoor speedway meetings are rare but I attended one here in South Africa back in 1983

Wasn't Hans Wassermann nicknamed 'Split' by English fans when he rode for Reading, his surname being a translation of Waterman?

Like David Livingstone.

Göte's name always seems to come up when "the best riders never to win the world title" is discussed.

His equipment always was immaculate and nothing has changed.

KNEES?

Same for me but Rune Sörmander retired after Brian Crutcher which explains it.

I think that Björn Knutson also tried his hand at car racing when he retired from Speedway.

There was probably some action in Australasia or Southern Africa.

I recall that Ronnie Moore simply rode in a red helmet at Wimbledon and riding at number one seldom needed to use a helmet cover at home meetings.

In German the word Flasche meaning bottle is also slang for an idiot.

Here are details of Ron Johnston's World Final appearances. Impressive! 1955 - London, Wembley Stadium - 12th - 6pts 1957 - London, Wembley Stadium - 6th - 9pts 1958 - London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 8pts 1960 - London, Wembley Stadium - 5th - 10pts

Okay, very very unlikely but statistically possible. If the first 19 races resulted in all four riders crossing the line together, they would all have scored the same number of points (1.5?). So whoever wins the last race outright wins the meeting.

Indeed!

He was a member of the Belle Vue team that won the League Championship six times in seven years in the 1930s. After retiring from the sport he returned to Belle Vue in May 1946 scoring a full maximum in his first match back and averaging 10.93 in his comeback season. Remarkable!

WOW - Fundin and Nygren against Plechanov and Kurilenko. Four world class riders who seldom rode against each other. It must have been a privilege to watch the action.

I was at that meeting as well. I happened to be in the car park when Knutson was off loading his bike and Colin Pratt walked by. Björn greeted him with, "hello Mr. Maximum" so I think he knew what to expect.

With two riders averaging close to 20 points between them and generally finishing up well ahead of their teammates on the score sheet, it might seem strange to mention the Southampton team of 1962 on this thread. The fact is that the team became league champions without a recognised third heat leader. It was therefore necessary for other team members to put in a “compact team performance” and equal or better the points scored by Briggs and Knutson in order to win the match. Fortunately they had the type of solid performers who could do exactly that to break the domination of Wimbledon and win the National League title that year.

So my mother - who was there that night - must have been 19 years old at the time. I can imagine how seeing the crash and hearing the tragic news later must have affected her. She never attended another speedway meeting.

Along with Reg Luckhurst and Leo McAuliffe, Jimmy (James Everard) Gooch was one of the three second strings at New Cross when I started watching speedway back in 1960. They all went on to become world finalists and represent their country.

It should be added that certain riders benefited massively from a one-off World Championship Final meeting. I think we would all agree that it's highly unlikely that either Jerzy Szczakiel or Egon Müller (and maybe others?) would ever have become world champions under a GP system.