OveFundinFan

2 English, 2 Danes, 2 Aussies.... where are the Poles and the Swedes

British speedway doesnt need Robert Lambert but British Speedway definitely needs the likes of Robert Lambert. No one rider should be held so high that British Speedway needs that person. Apart from anything else it puts too much pressure on that person, Robert Lambert in this case. But British Speedway desperately needs the likes of Robert Lambert. When you look at the young Poles, young Danes and young Swedes, GB is lagging behind. Particularly in Poland, the youngsters are queuing up to be under 21 World Champion or a wild card for a GP. That sort of quality is not here in GB to the same extent, no where near. What is needed is a "school" to take the GB youngsters that show qualities that can be developed and give them experience at home AND in other countries with similar youngsters. GB is sadly lacking in this critical area of international development.

but weatherwatcher has not said lets put the short stoke (modern) engine in an upright frame. Ge said "is go back to the upright", that would imply going back to "the upright" with the longer stroke engine. How would that suit you oldace? Now whether a long stroke engine would physically suit to being "laydown" so to get the benefit of the lower centre of gravity I dont know. What i do know, is that we had some mighty fine speedway racing with the old style longer stroke upright engine called the JAP, then came the 2 valve Jawa which was fine, then the 4-valve conversions, and the Weslakes etc. All upright, all doing fine. So is it the short stoke higher revving engine that is contributing to the problem, be it laydone or if fitted upright?

Done Tony. Can you let us know when there is another e-book release so I can use the £3 voucher included with the Tragedy book purchase

Well surely he could get sponsorship from other countries that do show GP and other speedway meetings he races in ie Poland-Sweden It does seem strange, but he lost a lot of money when that Polish club didnt pay him, and now he married and by the sound of it has a small boy (think he mentioned him in one of his interviews on Saturday night)

He has said in the past that lack of top sponsors (and their money) is the reason he cannot afford a 12 series GP season - but he can afford a 4 round Euro championship effort. Some politics in the background. There was 4 Russians in the Euros last night - they couldnt get top four for the world team championship. Somethings going on thats causing negatives.

Just a few days ago I finished reading the e-book version of Tragedy - Kenny Carter .... all 29 chapters and they are long chapters as well. I stopped going to speedway about the time Kenny made his appearance on the speedway scene, so only saw him on TV. I didnt know anything of his background though I could see/hear that he had a "mouth" when I saw him being interviewed etc. The book describes his upbringing very well, and I can well imagine how this must have affected his mind set on many things - his younger years itself was indeed a tragedy. How frustrating it must have been wanting to win that world championship "for his Mum" but missing out due to misfortune or injuries, and boy did he have some injuries to contend with. I would love to have seen him ride,along with the rest of the top riders at that time,particularly the Americans and the top Danes. It would have been nice if Kenny had won that elusive world title, maybe it would have changed the outcome, who knows. I found the book compelling reading, sad yes, but that was the nature of Kennys life unfortunately, but also informative, giving lots of detail going on behind the scenes in speedway at that time. Would I recommend this book to others - yes! - its a must read be it in paperback, or e-book - my preferred version. Good value for money too in e-book form

I think Emil has something when he was saying how good the 4 event series of the Euro Champ was. He did go onto say you have to race hard in all four rounds. Thats a bit different to say 12 GP rounds I think the GP's should be 6 or most 8 round series. Keep the riders on their toes becaus eit would be a shorter series then current 12 rounds, hopefully provide better racing

Thanks for that MrMungo. Restored my belief in him somewhat.

Thanks Ghostwalker, I may well have been playing catch up on recordings and it could have been week before then, dont really know, only that in that meeting I was watching he went well.

More then likely Emil was on a different bike/engine. And Emil could have been taking it "easy" so he well fit for the Euros Ward has something to prove, Emil doesnt. Lots of reasons to make it difficult to make a sound judgement. Oh. and I am an Emil fan so difficult for me to hear him being talked down. Will Ward win a world title in the next five years - theres a good chance he will.

That dont bother me, cant afford Michelin priced food. Have they got a McD

At the moment the form Emil is showing in the Euro Champs, Tai would have to raise his game to come level with him. Might do Tai good as the other GP contenders are not pushing him to the limit and he seems content to pick up enough points to stay in the lead. Nothing wrong with that, just stiffer competition may bring out the best in him again.

Mikkel Michelson let himself down a bit last night, did so well in the first round, performed ok in the Danish GP and rode well in the Swedish league during the last week...... then a disaster, 6 points

I no expert not having ridden speedway, but I would of thought as a beginner you might be better with the long stroke on the basis the short stroke could be too revvy and you initially looking for an easier ride. Someone more qualified then I will clarify if thats right or wrong

Emil in a class of his own far above the others. Nicki seems a shadow of his form earlier in the year. Lindback a bit of a disappointment in his last couple races. Gregory L did well to clinch silver when he only scored 8 - but, hey, thats the rules.

Has Gollob got a sulk on following what happened at the last Euro. Hope not.

and am I correect in saying BV compromised stands on at least one of the corners to be able to get the track shape they desired?

A mature comment from Mikkel Michelsen on speedwaygp.com today. Basically saying he wil bide his time to get into the senior GP. It took a lot of money to do the one off wild card in Manilla so he wants to get funding in place and the right level of preparation to sustain a 12 series GP attack. Sensible head I reckon

Peter Collins, but he "only" won one ("only" used with the greatest respect, he was worth more then one ie 1975 and 1977 at least, and one win enough to be included within an elite number of riders).

In the quoted newspaper link quoted in #79, Mr Russell says “I don’t know why people have to be so negative about it. “Their business is to know that we are shutting this stadium at the end of this year and we are moving into the new one for next “It is all systems go and we have had many meetings about the fence and the diameter of the track and everything else and it is all positive.” “There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes between myself and the stadium owners and the planners, so we are in the picture.” So there is a message for all the worrying fans - its not for them to know more then the old stadium closes and new one opens next year. How do you all feel about that? ps Phone interrupted my initial posting, hence come back and finished now.

Since the NP / GH incident with the flying head tackle, I am right in thinking Nicki has "quietened" down a bit on track? I only see him in the GPs and every so often in televised Swedish league matches so I am not fully sure. I think some attention needs to be put the way of Kildermand and it seems Doyle is going the tough way as well. Re the comments of Ove Fundin and his era. I saw quiet a few of the Golden Helmet match races and league matches at BV between OF and Peter Craven. I cant remember any dirty moves between them, what I did see was them racing hard within inches of each other but with no barging from either, wouldnt expect that from PC but OF was tougher. I saw total respect for each other from two of the worlds top riders of their time.

Excellent news, just hope the improvement continues, but certainly sounds promising

On that site, CH, the centre of ENGLAND is claimed to be Lindley Hall farm, Leicestershire, challenging Meriden, West Midlands Matters not, the new National Speedway Stadium is at Belle Vue, Manchester which doesnt claim to be centre of England, simply a brand new speedway stadium which will have modern facilities for riders and supporters..

I am desperately trying to stay out of this one but to reason Suffolk is centre of ENGLAND doesnt sound right to me, Gustix The centre of a circle is in the middle, that is equal distance from the bottom, from the top, from the left and from the right. I hope no one disagrees with that, its logical ok. Now, England is not a circle so its more difficult to determine the centre. However, Suffolk by any stretch of my imagination is not centre of ENGLAND. It might be getting very close if you just look at how far up from the bottom it is, and how far from the top (of ENGLAND) it is, but the other two criteria ie from the left and from the right - well to me it looks obvious it is not far enough in from the right - in fact its on the edge of the right. IMO centre of ENGLAND would perhaps be somewhere about Leicestershire, maybe south Leicestershire. But hey, whats terminology. The government is decentralising some decision making. Where does the government govern from? - London. Now if any one wants to reason that London is centre of the UK, I will try to arrange the men in white coats and white vans to go and round them up! As Ghostwalker says........ a new stadium is being built, thats not stuck in the middle of nowhere (lets not get into a debate as to where the middle of nowhere is, please), its just a few miles from the centre of a major city, with good road, air, and rail access. The fact BVue have got a council (a big council at that) on their side deserves applauds all round.