sandman

thanx Wes, but do you know how far the trophy went back? BTW, I think we, the contributors to the days gone by section all outta meet in Calif. USA and go on the Phil Collins Wine Tour. all he would say is it was a night mare man..

Speaking of the Golden Gauntlets, is it true this was one of the old traditional open meetings that went back years? I know some may have had longer histories, but maybe not that many? LT?

Excellent pictures Malcolm, Just tell Phil to keep his eyes peeled for a handful of scabby riff raff comin his way in the forseeable future, with no money lookin for free grog at the winetastin's.. Phil was a speedway classic..

i believe it was on the old World Final format. Each rider having 5 rides, each racing against each other once, positions one thru three settled by runoffs if they ended on equal points. Hope this helps..

i cant seem to find the thread concerning Phil Collins and what he is doing now.. Something about driving a double decker bus giving wine tours in Ameriker? Any details? Now, that would be worth the trip to see. Sandman and friends always liked Phil, just might show up if we knew where he was exactly.. I know he would be thrilled.. especially since we have no money.....

I remember when Speedway riders drove the same kind of cars as the supporters did...

Thank you!!! <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I seem to remember looking at the USA Canadian Speedway website and saw some photos of Gary on there, its been so long, but maybe a tribute too as he was Canadian Champion. You could probably email them and get one. Not much help I know.. Good luck..

Jim, It is hard to explain to people who werent there. I saw Briggo on his down hill side but he was still great.. Ove, never saw him in his prime and never saw Peter Craven. But if Ronnie Moore before his terrible injuries is any indication, I'm totally sold on all of them. The persona, the manner and the way Ronnie carried himself on and off the track, well, it must have been something in the water back then.. Always will remain a hero of mine, surely welcome on board, cept I'd have to let him be Skipper..

back to Ronnie Moore, I think a sign of how tough the man is, just the fact he survived that crash in NZ, and is up and about to this day considering the horrific injuries he sustained, is a huge testament to his greatness.. they didnt call him Mirac for nothing..if i were to have one hero, it would.. is... would... is be him..

I know what you mean Sandman. I felt the same way. I said to him at the VSRA dinner this year that he did have that effect on me and I guess many others. That he had an 'aura' about him like a movie star when he was racing and he would give me 'goose pimples'. He is quite deaf now and he just looked at me and said, "I really hope they keep having these do's". I am not sure if he heard me - or was just embarassed. It was both sad and amusing at the Golden Greats night I organised last year when Briggo had to keep getting up and shouting in Ronnie's ear all the questions from the floor directed him, as he usually answered the question - the one before though.... I am still in awe in the man's presence. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My memory of him is his last racing season in England.. His aura was hard to explain. I just felt I was in the presence of a great man. He spoke little, chose his words carefully .. I dont know, anything I say cannot do him justice.. You articulated it perfectly, all I can say is I agree..

Very similar to the feeling I had when near Bruce Penhall (obviously before he went off to Hollywood!) I have a picture of him and I taken by the showers at Poole, when I say by the showers I mean the hallway just outside them before anyone questions that ! Mind you, I was also thrown into the bath at Poole one season, fully clothed I must add here, but they were nice enough to take off my new boots first! Oh the memories of my younger days! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hey Tabby, no need for so much self explanation.... I believe you, really i do..

The first time i saw Ronnie Moore ride.. Speaking to him in the pits afterwards and still remember the incredible stage presence he had. I felt as though i was in the presence of a movie star.

yer missin the point son..

And for me Nielsen beats the pair of them ! The GP argument is blown away with Nielsen. NOBODY else would have won a World Title between 1985 and 1995 had the GP format been in during those years. For sheer consistency Nielsen was the absolute master, was it 4 wins and SIX 2nd's in his time. The other thing Nielsen had that Rickardsson certainly has NEVER had was the ability to team ride, apart from Bobby Schwartz nobody was in his class in this. Nielsen also done it at Longtrack level. His ability to help his team mates was 2nd to none. Add to that the fact that when Nielsen was at his prime so were Gundersen, Jan O Pedersen and Tommy Knudsen. The strength in depth at the top was far far higher than today. For me Nielsen stands out as the greatest all round speedway rider. Mauger is up there with him but sorry, Rickardsson is a great rider but not even in the remote same class as Hans <{POST_SNAPBACK}> all due respect to Hans which he obviously deserves.. Mauger was much tougher mentally. Nielsen learned from Ole, who learned from Ivan, who didnt teach his all, he was too smart for that, and kept some back for himself. Chris, did you see all of the three greats at their peaks? I did. Mauger has those two easily beat, although, admittedly great, they werent Mauger. I think with all due respect, Hans won a couple of his when the weakness in the calibre of racers was a bit down from previous years. you cant say that about Ivan. Respect your opinion though, and i surely could be wrong.. just my thoughts after seeing those three at their best..

Asleep on the air fence! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> man,.. but what a dream! after a bit of thought i'd go for mauger by a nose,... so far.. if tony can win his final one at 40 years old he got my vote.. he's great too though, but great and a bit greater can be a wide divide my friend. i think mauger, if he was young and hungry with nothing but determination and drive, no money and a young wife and family to support, loads of talent, cleaning the bathrooms at wimbledon for some extra money to survive like he did do, against the extremely talented tony, today in the here and now, the macavallian character would have an edge..mauger is unlike any, that todays racers have ever faced. noooo disrespect to trick, who really is something special.. time will tell. at the moment, no contest... Ivan..the later world champions may not have been, had the race against time not caught up with the great one., no mike, no bruce no eric etc etc..

i guess only the ones who have seen both ride at their best can give a balanced opinion. close your eyes, it is thirty years ago, and both in their prime, racing against each other. then think a young ivan raised in todays speedway against tony at his best.. man that would be something to see..personally im on the fence on this one..

i dont wanna have people use up band width, but i checked some odd pages from last year, and what fun this was! most naturally gifted definately Tommy Jansson.

The subject of Barry's Bikes came up when he visited Wimbledon about 18 months ago. We had lunch in a Pub over the road from the Stadium and he told me that he has NEVER sold any of his OWN bikes. These are some of the machines that are used from time to time in the Golden Greats. Barry has kept the lot over his entire racing career, so if the bike you are referring to was one of Briggo's own, then there's a fair chance he will still have it. # Name Removed #. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Very interesting. For some reason I think he was sponsored for those couple of meets, quite possibly by K&N Engineering. My knowledge is a bit limited as I only read about those meetings. Wish I could have been there! It was the stuff heros are made of..

I dont have much recollection of the particulars of the bikes. I had seen some photos from the meets, but remember Briggo really gave the top boys a scare, he was extremely fast. His bike had the Yamaha 250 twin road race engine which certainly would have been a handful on a short track. Just the sound of that bike with two unsilenced expansion chambers at full song, 14000 rpm would have been worth the price of admission. Mauger rode one time at the Houston Astro Dome on a factory Kawasaki two stroke single. For some reason I remember his bike looking more like a 250 cc grass tracker. If memory serves me correct, Ivan wore the famous factory green leathers. Dont really know how he finished but he too put a big scare to the top dogs. I would bet the bikes no longer exist. I remember the photo of Briggs from that long ago, and Barry had the number 70t on his number plate..Hope this helps..

i remember something from my childhood. Briggo rode a Yamaha TD2 in a special frame, speedway style, at Santa Fe ? shorttrack, did very well and Mauger rode a Kawasaki single at the Astrodome in Houston. Very quick and impressive, but the amount of laps required 30? made it near physically impossible to last that long compared to the sitting down technigue the americans used. They did prove speedway style was much faster through the corners. I believe Scott Autrey rode Briggs bike in a few short track events with some success..

John Berry was a tall, succesfull promoter whose stature was only exceeded by the size of his ego...

anyone who has asthma will tell you this medication is a blessing, it allows them to live a normal life.. as far as performance enhancing, nah.. no way... at least in speedway or longtrack...the authorities need to back off the young fella on this one..they are wayyyyy off base..

The most exciting sport in motor racing is quickly becoming the most boring..Falcace,..... Ole, being promoter at Vojens and his experience combined make him a person who knows exactly how to make a good racing surface with different passing lines..He was a rider who preferred slicker tracks when he raced but often excelled in deep conditions when he had to.. Im still a bit lost on this one..

I shall go away quietly now..