Grand Central

Just to keep up with the others in our particular area of 'Pedants Corner'. I don't think anyone has suggested that this was anything at all to do with the FIM. Ever. Here is a good photo of Ivan with the bike in the early seventies. http://justsolos.homestead.com/Ivan_12.jpg As you can see, Ivan liked to exhibit it with it's own plinth which he had sign-written as follows. "Triple Crown Special." This JAWA Speedway Machine was ridden by IVAN MAUGER in Wroclaw, Poland when he won the World Speedway Championship for a record breaking three times in succession. The machine was gold plated by Ray Bockleman and rebuilt by George Wenn and was presented to him in honour of the occasion.

You are quite right. But seeing as they were the only three he had won at that stage the pedantry is irrelevant in the context.

Goodness someone has been at the Sherry a bit early today. Would it be a fourth or fifth world title that would have ANY redeeming quality in your thinking. As you seemingly do not value the first three at all. Ivan Mauger got a Gold Bike for winning his third world title. Can't see what all the fuss was about.

What an unpleasant thing for the Millennium/BSI to do with people paying top dollar for a seat. After spending the best part of £100 you would think that they could give people the OPTION of going in a little earlier and making use of it. Having to get in a queue ahead of the 4pm opening and then have just 55mins to get settled. When most folk have been in the City from either much much earlier in the day, or even the previous night. Just seems a bit 'low rent' and bad for PR, at the least.

No there has not been much written that is too bad about the guy. Most decent folk draw a line when someone has died. Just as was rightly done when Charles Kennedy recently passed away. But do not let the dignified way in which their drink problems were discussed disguise the damage that it caused to not just them, but to others such as their family friends and other relationships. A little commonsense needs to be applied when discussing, and understanding, some matters.

Thanks for your interest in my experience. I did have a go yesterday just out of interest. As I currently use a iPad mini fairly constantly that is not jailbroken that interest waned quite quickly. But I just don't think i am a prime target for you at the moment. My current Smart TV set up allows me to watch youtube at will, plus those nice men at Sky and Eurosport show quite a bit of Live Speedway as well. I also am led to believe that it is possible to even watch Extraliga Live from Poland every Sunday if I were so inclined. But obviously I wouldn't as I would not want to do anything against the law. All that, ends up leaving me with just the off season to have the occasional delve into the hundreds and hundreds of old Speedway DVDs that are crammed into storage boxes. So I shall wait until you do have content over and above that which I can access easily at the moment. And therefore wish you well in your endeavours.

Is there some peculiar 'White Knight reason' why you have avoided watching the 72 World Final on You Tube? It has been available there, in more than one version, for probably the last ten years.

I would not argue with one single point in all that. The 'perfect storm' characterisation does also neatly avoid the powers-that-be having to address the simple fact that a rider revolt was the only real reason for the abandonment. And everyone else is just powerless when that happens. I think the 'Warsaw enquiry' should address the actual duplicity and conflict of roles though. The fact that you are able to go through the detail of the various layers of jurisdiction is all fine. But that is from a man closely involved for 40 years plus who also has in role in the show itself, on the night. Not so easy for Joe Public to instantly know all this when handing over his wads of cash and sitting in the stand.. A clearer, simpler line of responsibilities at GPs would be a very good outcome of the enquiry, surely. It was the continual messing around with the tapes and trying them again and again that was one of the daftest moves. One thing that I have thought about a fair bit since Warsaw is how Green Lights starts could be made to actually work in place of starting tapes. They did work well in Warsaw, that night, most of the time. And in some ways it made the sport look 'leaner' and cleaner' ; perhaps even more modern Starting tapes are really one of the most old fashioned looking parts of our sport, A project worth pursuing I would have thought. .

.Let's also not forget that the Jury President who passed the Warsaw track as being fit before the event was Tony Steele. The very same Jury President who then condemned it after 12 races 'for safety reasons'. I am unsure as to whether this points him out to be good guide on track suitability. Or the opposite. But if it's the best BSI/FIM have got to go on then I suppose beggars can't be choosers. I really am glad they they have taken such a different attitude over Cardiff. I really do want that to be the most successful ever. What happens in Latvia, concerns me - and BSI, clearly - much less. .

. BSI has run a World Team competition, right up to world final stage, whilst finding it quite reasonable to do so with absolutely zero reserve provision for injury In a Speedway meeting of all things. Any one who regards that as a reasonable cost cutting measure may very well view a few budget airline trips to Latvia as being an expense they can avoid quite happily. .

I don't want to be accused of being negative, I'm trying to be helpful. But, no, last year there were quite long periods of complete silence throughout the meeting from the PA. Quite eerie at times. So unlike the 'classic' years which gave the event it's name. If you have the ear of anyone at BSI it is an area they could really 'ramp up' from 2014.

Actually, I really do think it was. I just don't think ANY of the officials on show that night, were up to GP standard though. There are any number of GPs - indoor and outdoor - that could have been called off for the same fictitious reason if the starting gate had so unfortunately failed. Alongside that perfect storm of Greg and Nicki leading a dressing room coup. Thankfully that is unlikely to happen again.

'Know it all' ! KT may not be the font of all knowledge. But perhaps it would have been more accurate to say 'knows a damn sight more than me'

Fair enough, quite understand. It's just that I expressed a wish yesterday for just a little extra info. And everyone rounded on me as if I was traitor-to-the-cause.

From what PR told us I don't think that the races were taken too seriously to be taken as proper 'results. A fee was paid to the riders, not points and prize money so it was not meant to 'matter'. Tape offences etc were not penalised and there was no 'runoff' etc as positions were not too relevant. Must have been quite an experience to have attended, and participated in though.

BSI have put a short video package of this meeting up on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=majPPW-mtQ4&feature=youtu.be All looks and sounds as good as people have said. .

All really good news. Thanks for passing on the information.

That was actually in May 1980. My memory of the incident was that Mikael Lohmann was blamed on the terraces for the incident, particularly by the Halifax fans. Their anger being largely tempered by the horrific injuries Mikael suffered and his previous 'Duke' status. I thought it was subsequently understood that his footrest had broken causing him to 'straighten' up and 'spear' McKeon a-midships. Not really 'fencing' at all. There was a feature on this in a recent Backtrack edition

I happen to think that a meeting of this type could be a cracker. I shall certainly be keeping a check on YouTube in the next few days to see if any justifiably proud parents have taken some illicit video of their lads at the Millennium. .

I agree that this is a very positive thing. And the fact that it is young British riders who are bring given the chance is great. A bit odd to criticise any Speedway fan being marginally interested in who those lucky young guys might actually be. Similarity, the thread title. Being a bit jokey ... Is it no longer possible to chat in a way that retains a little 'lightness' of touch ?

.As you rightly say it may be nice to know who is riding. So let's just be nice, eh? .

It is June 23. The day of the Top Secret test meeting in Cardiff. I know that the most recent Sky televised meetings at Coventry and Lakeside LOOKED as if they were being held behind 'Closed Doors'. But this one actually is keeping the public out; not just coercing them to stay away by presenting substandard fare. So I just thought there may be some smidgen of interest among us here. The information on Speedwaygp website last week was " In order to maximise this opportunity, BSI Speedway, will put on a practise event that will be open to selected British (non SGP) riders on Tuesday June 23. This will give BSI Speedway and the Millennium Stadium the opportunity, not previously available, to run through many elements of the event. " After that we have been told absolutely nothing at all. Unless I've missed it. Anyone able to enlighten us with a little more ? .

To be fair, for most of his time, Sam has been used as the 'comments' and 'colour' man who was supposed to have an opinion rather than offer BBC-type impartiality. The fact that he has never fulfilled that role well but still continuingly employed is amazing. His total inability to see anything other that 'Greg's point-of-view' in all the years he has worked has proved quite comical at times. But only when we have been able to decipher what the hell it was he was trying to say.

Ah, the old 'cold morning' excuse. Next we will get the 'large Oaks from little acorns' one being used.

About ten years ago. I have just about recovered.