daveallan81

Thank you all for your replies. The scenario is an account of what happened at the Glasgow v Oxford match 24th July 1981. The rider in question was Kenny McKinna. He was riding, or attempting to, with a broken ankle. He was programmed at #3 and his first ride was in heat 4. Unfortunately I have no recollection or record of whether he was under the 2 minute allowance. He made a practice start on the back straight and, if I recall correctly, rode into the third bend at speed, as if to test the strength of his injured limb. Whether it gave out or he fell of his own accord (the latter being unlikely) he ended up in the fence. He then withdrew from the meeting and the reserves covered his rides. In the Speedway Star Glasgow track review for 1981, Bryan Seery credits McKinna with riding in 37 matches out of a possible 38 (36 league & 2 KOC). As McKinna was ever-present throughout the rest of the season, the 'missing' match must be the Oxford one. However, the 1982 Yearbook credits him with a full house of 36 league matches and affords him a 0-0 score for the Oxford match. Looking to other sources, the Glasgow programme averages do not credit him with the match. The Edinburgh programme of 18/09, with figures compiled by Dave Welch, follows suit. It seems to be universally accepted that riders such as non-riding #8's or those who didn't arrive are not credited with an appearance. An example of a rider being present and named in the team but not riding would be Jim Beaton at Edinburgh in 1979. For reasons unknown Jim, named at #6, took no part in the match and Glasgow had to run 2 races with 1 rider only. Beaton receives no credit for that match. The only comparable scenario to the McKinna incident I have to hand is from a junior challenge at Blantyre in 1980, where Bill Logan looped his machine performing a practice start prior to his first ride and suffered a dislocated shoulder. The yearbook reports simply 'did not ride'. In the same meeting, Ian Barney blew his machine in the pits and took no part in the match. Again he is afforded 'did not ride'. My personal take is that McKinna should not be credited with riding in the match. There is no report of any exclusion under the 2 minute rule. That rule was radically different then to the klaxon-fest we suffer today - with McKinna on track and heading for the start I find it unlikely he would have been under warning. I may change my stance if it was to be proved that he was on 2 minutes and subsequently excluded while he received treatment. Similarly if the 2 minutes had been applied for him in later races, perhaps to give the reserve a breather. With regard to the 'when a race starts' conundrum, I have always taken it to be when the green light comes on. Where abandonments are concerned, the carefully worded disclaimer used to be 'prior to the start of the sixth race in the programme'. If you were to get three Golden/Silver Helmet races, then three races of the following match before abandonment, then re-admission tickets would not be valid. A promoter once told me that was the reason for 'Event 1, Event 2' etc. - each meeting must have an official running order.

I'm looking for the race details and heat times from the 3 Silver Helmet Match Races between Mike Ferreira and Steve Lawson which were staged before this match, if anyone can oblige.

As anyone who has compiled speedway statistics will agree, the sport contains many instances where the waters become somewhat muddied. I would be interested to hear opinions regarding this one. The scenario: a programmed rider falls and aggravates an existing injury on his way to the tapes for his first ride. He is forced to withdraw from the meeting and his rides are subsequently covered by the reserves. The question: should this count as 1 match ridden, with a score of 0 points from 0 rides, in a rider's statistics?

That's what I wanted to hear. The scorers in the Star and the yearbook indicated Close & Wright were swapped in one of the heats. Many thanks.

Another year, another mess to clear up. Can anyone help with: 25/08 at Stoke, I'm looking to confirm the results of heats 5 & 13, reported in the Star as follows: Heat 5: Mountford, Turner, Bloxsome, Lawson, 66.6 Heat 13: Janke, Gledhill, Mountford, Lawson, 66.7 21/10 at Berwick, confirmation of heats 3, 5 & 9, reported in the Star: Heat 3: Wright, Close, C. McKinna, Bloxsome (ret), 76.0 Heat 5: Wright, Close, Caffrey, Beaton, 76.0 Heat 9: Richardson, Wright, Close, Bloxsome, 74.8

As usual I'm looking for someone with a meeting-marked programme who can clarify the number of rides taken by Coatbridge #8 Max Brown. Speedway Star reports only one in heat 12 however end of season averages indicate he took two rides. The likely scenario is an unreported tapes exclusion in heat 7. If you can assist please get in touch, thanks.

Orion may possibly be referring to this http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=82765&page=8&do=findComment&comment=2851526

Many thanks. Forgot to ask, do you know who Weymouth's #8 was?

Does anyone have a meeting-marked programme that can confirm the reasons for the following changes (reserve replacement/tapes exc/2 mins exc): Heat 01: Nigel Couzens replaced by Brian Paddington Heat 09: John Wilson replaced by Chris Quigley Heat 13: Dave Gifford replaced by Chris Quigley

Does anyone have a meeting-marked programme from 7th April 1975 Crewe v Coatbridge? I'm primarily looking to confirm the rides taken by Brian Collins & Paul Heller. Please get in touch if you can assist.

Thanks for the info. I went through the 1977 season file last night and found another 4 matches where this had happened, 2 with r/r in operation and 2 without. All the rides came in heat 2 so I assume you couldn't just use the #8 as a supplementary reserve throughout the meeting.

Can anyone confirm the forename (and correct the surname if necessary) of a G. Rand, who I have riding in a second half race at West Row in 1977?

Steve Wilkes requested information for this meeting a couple of years ago but unfortunately none was forthcoming. So I thought I'd try again. Essentially the Speedway Star report appears to be a load of honk. Scunthorpe seem to track 8 riders, 1. Allott, 2. Whiting, 3. Baugh, 4. McNeil, 5. Sid Sheldrick, 6. Young, 7. White and 8. Mick Sheldrick. There doesn't appear to be any r/r in operation. Further confusing the issue, Mick Sheldrick is reported in heat 2 as a replacement for Danny Young. I'm not aware of a rule that covers this but I'm open to correction. This is Mick's only ride in the meeting. There is also confusion surrounding heat 13 as Steve says "Speedway Star states Collins, Baugh, White (f exc), Richardson (exc), S.Sheldrick (fell), I am not sure how White has managed to appear in this heat. The report states White was with Sheldrick in the original running of the heat with no mention of Baugh." It should also be noted that the yearbook reports scores for all 8 Scunthorpe riders. Only a marked programme can sort this mess out, so if you can help please get in touch.

Including last night's fixtures rider replacements clock in at 272. Combined guest & r/r total is 838 from 413 matches. Regarding Peter Oakes' figures, I don't know what date he used as his cut-off but it obviously wasn't as late as the 11th so I would expect my figure to be higher. Considering there have been 41 guests used in the last 7 days, our two totals certainly appear to be in the same ball-park.

The total includes all 411 completed league, knock-out cup and National Trophy matches. Postponed matches or matches abandoned without a result being declared are not included.

I've only tracked the number used, not the reasons.

Not so Phil, I've been tracking the figures all season. 562 up to and including 11th September.

562

Oh aye, you were a wizard with the spelling

I've used the averages from the SGB website 'Stat Attack' pages to come up with a rough guide. Guest appearances are not included. Riders who switched teams during the season have had their figures combined. There are currently 32 riders doubling in the Premiership & Championship. The top 10 by all points scored including bonus points: Danny King 599 (564 + 35 from 57 meetings) Rory Schlein 590 (551 + 39 from 56 meetings) Nick Morris 532 (502 + 30 from 47 meetings) Kyle Howarth 530 (486 + 44 from 54 meetings) Josh Grajczonek 516 (496 + 20 from 51 meetings) Steve Worrall 499 (464 + 35 from 49 meetings) Craig Cook 488 (469 + 19 from 42 meetings) Robert Lambert 480 (455 + 25 from 46 meetings) Ricky Wells 466 (437 + 29 from 49 meetings) Sam Masters 446 (427 + 19 from 45 meetings) The top 11 by matches raced: 57 Danny KIng & Jack Smith 56 Rory Schlein 54 Kyle Howarth & Paul Starke 53 Lewis Kerr 51 Josh Grajczonek 50 Nathan Greaves 49 Steve Worrall & Ricky Wells & Charles Wright

Steve Lawson scored 16 out of 23 (69.56%) for Glasgow at Arena Essex in 1985.

You could take 2 r/r rides (and a tactical sub ride if necessary). The rule changed at the end of 1977.

I wonder in how many seasons that feat was possible. Interesting to note that Cradley were never behind in that match. Kenny McKinna recorded 20+1(7) at Berwick 11th September 1982. Only 19 years old at the time, youngest ever 7-ride max?

These next ones are from Glasgow season files. 16th May 1982 at Rye House v Glasgow & Edinburgh, Bob Garrad scored 14+1(5) and 15(5). 15th July 1983 at Weymouth v Stoke (NL) & Glasgow (KOC), both Martin Yeates and Steve Schofield recorded 15(5) in each match. And we have a new leader: 21st August 1983 at Rye House v Edinburgh & Glasgow, Bob Garrad scored 15(5) followed by 18(6).

I've looked through results from 1965-78 and found one top league equal in Ole Olsen. 6th August 1971 he recorded back-to-back 15(5) scores for Wolverhampton against Poole (BL) and Oxford (KOC). Three weeks later he repeated the feat, this time against Sheffield (BL) and Cradley (Dudley-Wolves Trophy). In the second division, 3rd August 1977 at Newport v Peterborough & Glasgow, Brian Woodward recorded 15(5) in each match. John Goodall came within a point of matching him. As an aside, I also found a couple of instances where 3 riders were unbeaten over 8 rides. 19th September 1974 at Sheffield v Hackney & Leicester, Bob Valentine (11+1 & 12), Reg Wilson (11+1 & 11+1) and Doug Wyer (10+2 & 12). 10th August 1975 at Eastbourne v Peterborough & Crewe, Paul Gachet (9+3 & 10+2), Steve Weatherley (11+1 & 11+1) and Neil Middleditch (12 & 12).