Grachan

Stuart Mountford was/is Phil Herne's cousin.

Although I don't recall the meeting personally, I do have Speedway Star with the report of the 1967 British Final. Barry Briggs won it. France came 5th with 11. The comment in the magazine about Rick France says: The number one surprise qualifier and the most courageous rider of the night. Rick had the dislocated shoulder he sustained at Hackney ten days earlier well strapped and padded and still rode suberbly. His heat 1 scrap with Boocock was one of the best races of the night and while he was never content with second place he finished in front only once - when he beat Eric Boocock. We should all be thankful that we have riders with the guts of Rick France at Wembley. According to the report, the track was excellent - so good that riders rarely made mistakes so the quality of racing was something of a disappointment. Nigel Boocock broke the track record in that opening heat with France when he finished in a time of 71.2, yet failed to qualify.

I quite liked the system in a way as it made each race seem more important throughout the match. It's certainly fair way to decide the points. Slight negatives though. The final didn't seem to be quite so important as it did in the past, and Nicki's celebrations seemed slightly muted as he must have already known that he had the meeting in the bag. Also, I do think the top scorer should be meeting winner rather than the winner of the final - like they used to do (still do?) with Long Track meetings. Overall, though, I think it's a pretty good system, but my guess is it won't last long as the final isn't quite so dramatic.

Ask him why he turned up for a World Team Cup final with just one bike.

I did see the 'Far East' mentioned too in Speedway Star, which I suppose could mean places like China (Hong Kong?) or Japan. I'm sure there would be a massive market in these places if it was promoted well.

It must have been mid/late 80s when the ban was lifted. I think it was Maxine Hill who was the first female rider to emerge, and Lisa Whibberley was also around at that time. I guess it was the emergence of these two who got it lifted. I know Julie Cross rode some indoor meetings, but I don't remember her doing conventional speedway. I might be wrong though.

Thanks for that LW. Whatever happened to Savalas Clouting?

Ah, the year of the 6 man teams. Very strange. Not a bad top 4 though, was it? How good was Scott Nicholls back then?

In the Speedway Star Preview edition Jon Cook compared this year's Swindon side to the Ipswich side of 1998. I have vague memories of Ipswich having a great side then, but they are a bit dimmed as I wasn't paying much attention in those days. I just wondered what that side was and what it achieved. After all, it is cited on Wikepedia and the Ipswich website as being one of the greatest sides ever. Must be going some to beat Cradley 1983.

It says in Speedway Star this week that the England v NZ match in 1973 was in Leicester. However, this match was rained off. The semi-final of the Daily Mirror Tournament was England v New Zealand, and was staged at Belle Vue.

I have a Hotbird dish and I've yet to have software loaded on it that will show Polsat. There is a channel on there that shows Polish league. I watched quite a bit of it last year - normally about a week or so behind. I can't for the life of me remember what channel it was, though,so if anyone wants to remind me.......

Newbury!! I live in Newbury and I'm getting a hotel in Cardiff. Last time I drove back to Newbury from Cardiff I nearly fell asleep and decided I'd never do that again. You've just missed out on a big opportunity unfortunately. Travel Plus had a whole heap of rooms available a couple of weeks ago after a big cancellation. I know this because it was in Speedway Star and I phoned up and booked a couple. In fact, the two I booked were two of the final remaining three - so you'll be too late on that score I presume.

Riders include Alan Bridgett, Hec Haslinger, (both with 30 appearances for the club). Leading points scorers: Gordon McGregor 257, George Major 226. Other riders include Doug Wyer and Reg Wilson.

I remember the Mike Keen Testimonial. Hottest and driest summer on record and it peed down all day. The track was absolutely drenched, and I rememver Mike Keen standing on the second bend during the meeting with a hosepipe and watering the track in pouring rain. Dag Lovaas scored a maximum and was untouchable. Just how good was he in the wet?

As far as I know, Olsen made his debut in 1970, scoring 6 points.

Sheffield - 18 May 1967

Bruce Penhall never rode for Hull in 1976 if that's any help.

I thought he never rode there, but another to add to the impressive list of World Champions linked to the Vikings in the 70s. Maybe they allocated him to Hull in 1976 but never actually bothered to tell him!!

I was looking through an old scrapbook that I made in 1975/76 the other day. On my special 'Yanks' page there was a typically badly cut-out picture of Bruce Penhall. Written underneath it, in my own fair 14-year-old hand, were the words: 'Bruce Penhall, who has been allocated to Hull for the 1976 season'. Obviously I can't say that this is the first time I'd heard of this considering I actually wrote it, but it was certainly something that I'd forgotten. Was I right? Was Bruce allocated to Hull in 1976? If so, does anyone know the story there? Because, as far as I remember, he never rode for the Vikings that year. My guess is he decided not to come, but changed his mind about riding over here after being somewhat outclassed at White City in 1977.

Correction to this post/ The score was Wolves 38 Oxford 39. The second half was abandoned. Gary, I have a few press cuttings and match reports from Gary Peterson's career. If you would like me to scan them for you either PM me or send me an e-mail.

That will be interesting. I don't have much stuff myself, but I hope you get some good pictures of the Tilehurst Stadium. It closed down before I started going to speedway, but I sometimes goe to a kids play area which is right next to where the stadiun used to be and I'd be fascinated to see how it looked. Speedway Fun Day? What on Earth is that?

Yup. You want proof? I'll give you proof.

The aforementioned cine footage from the first leg can be seen here: Gary in yellow.

The meeting definitely wasn't called off. It ended Wolves 40 Oxford 38. Reports in Speedway Star said he was killed instantly.

Do you know which bit it is? The only Wolves rider I can identify on it are Martin Ashby and Finn Thomsen. The file I have is 8mins 24 seconds. If yours is the same then tell me which bit and I'll put in online.