Sidney the robin

My case for Billy is as sound as yours was for Sigalos ( who i rated highly as well.)You said Sigalos until his untimely injury was ahead of Nielsen/ Gundersen really?? Sigalos was not really in the hunt in the 1982 final and at Norden he was bang average so my point is Sanders was at least on a par with him all ifs and but's i know.

He will go because there working relationship has been so good over a long period it will never be quite the same with another party.Ford/ Middleditch have been great for Poole speedway and it will be a hard act to follow.

I can't disagree with that.

This is one of the craziest posts i have read the bloke has already been on the rostrum twice is odviously improving yet you basically class him as a also ran.Did you actually see him ride in the last two years of his life live chunky? because if you had you would definitely recognise that he had improved one hell of a lot.

Lee said Penhall was the one guy that kept him motivated and on his toes and was the rider he always had to beat.

Do yo remember Sam??? check the head to head records from the start Lee was the boss over Nielsen and Gundersen and Carter did very well to.Sanders/ Sigalos were players but fringe players.If Penhall had hung around he would of won more titles as well and Penhall keeping Lee motiavated would of changed thing's. Nielsen/ Erik were great riders but there competition dwindled and the era ended up falling on its feet.

He wasnt in a bad place racing wise Falcace, he was doing great and really going forward in his career.His personal life who knows what was going on but those two years up until his death he really was maturing.Also you were a huge Sigalos fan like myself i believe Sigalos was a class act yet Sanders was on par with Sigalos easily.Norden 83 Sigalos disappointing Sanders placed and there is a arguement. that Billy should of been HARDER on Muller in 83 when he had every chance Siggy was pretty poor in Norden..Also 85 if Sanders had got there Bradford would of been fine for him he would of loved it.My point really Falcace is with Penhall, Lee, Sigalos, Carter, gone it really opened up nicely for the three danes including Knudsen as well.

I think so he was really believing in himself and as Ivan and Hancock have proved age is no barrier.

All that hard graft and dedication he put in coming over here from the age of 16 wasted.I loved watching him ride Steve and that is coming from a avid Crump snr fan.

I think in his last year up until his death he was averaging around 11.50 ish and in the World Pairs at Gothenburg excluding the fall he was outstanding ironic that Guglielmi was his partner.

Sanders had not peaked in my opinion he was just approaching it the two years before his demise he really had upped his game.

Last year apart from Poole do you recon the average gate was between 11/1300?In Leigh's later years i recon the average gate was between 13/1600 since his retirement i recon we have lost between 2/300 fans.

Got there at 6 in the morning and the weather was horrendous i thought the meeting was a certainty to be called off.The track i loved the shape but the racing did not hit the great heights it should of done.I went believing Lee would win but things were set up for Egon and he was a deserved winner. For the last 3 months of the 83 season Lee for me was the best rider in the world and to say that in a mega era with Nielsen, Gundersen,Sanders, Carter, Sigalos takes some doing.

Price would have to be ahead of Loram/Havelock Gavan if you are going on the roll of honour??if not why no Farndon /Jack Parker/ Langton.? Freddie as well but he was Welsh.It is Impossible to compare to be honest , Lee is certainly the best English rider i have ever seen yet his record does not show it the facts dont lie and i hope Tai goes on and wins 7 titles.

I was very disappointed with Siggy in the 1982 Final but as you said he had not reached his peak yet and should of had a decade in front of him.In Norden again i expected Dennis to be right in the mix challenging Lee/ Muller yet again he disappointed again. The ability was there to be a World Champion he was good anough but injury ruined that he was certainly a notch ahead of Les Collins in my opinion.

Terrific post and i can identify with everything you have said my youth was took up with speedway and i would not change a thing..The nicest thing as you said was taking your kids my wife used to drop me and the two boys off and they went from the age of seven until about 14 now they dont go but they still keep up with the sport.I hope the sport in the UK can hang in there but i have my doubts the sport can truely get back to prospering again fingers crossed it does.

Pander for me is in a group with Harrefeldt, Harrysson, who were very unlucky with injuries which hindered there progress on the world stage.Pedersen as a rider i never took to and out of the five best riders of his generation Ricko, Crump, Gollob, Hancock all are ahead of him in my opinion.But you cannot take away what he has achieved in his chosen sport maybe debatable at times how he conducted himself but his achievements are terrific.I actually met Nicki once at Swindon and he was a really nice bloke down to earth and had time for people.

Nielsen, Pander, Middleton, Pedersen, Hancock, Lovaas, Wigg.

But as you said the system now is near to perfect as you can get a level playing field for everyone.

Spot on Doris great lot.

Was the system fair when Loram won it ( who i liked very much ) and some of Rick's early title wins.? the thing NOBODY can prove is what was the worth of the oppposition you were up against.

Spot on with Sigalos ,,1983 Carter , Lee, Sigalos, Sanders were all in the mix and within a few years they had gone.With those riders about no way would Hans/Erik have won seven titles between them yes they were great but fate did play some part and that is forgetting Penhall as well who only retired in 1982.

Does that tell you something that is not quite right ? the Gp series where it has evolved shows since it was first started the scoring system has not always been right.

But do you think Nielsen with his speedway brain could of rode percentage speedway with Hans you rarely ever got a duck egg from him and his strength was his consistency.

Autrey had mega problems with the Authorities hence him missing out badly in 1979.The USA final also had the likes of Bast and other homebased riders who were very very good on there home patch.The USA and Australasian final's were renowned for being tough one's and some riders fancied fell out at a early stage.