Grachan

It's not great quality and fairly short, but I've downloaded it and you can see it HERE.

John Louis coming off at Reading on the second bend, his bike then getting up on its own and going down the back straight in a straight line all on its own before hitting the fence on bend three.

I can't remember the exact circumstances, but in 1975 Oxford used a guest for John Davis (who had signed for Reading) in their opening match. The guest they used was.......John Davis! Brian L's post also reminds me of a snowy day in Oxford - also in 1975 - when Cradley decided they had had enough and went home, leaving Oxford to ride on their own to win 58-14.

Lee is in there virtue of his nationality and nothing else, which is probably part of what Hans is complaining about. The thing is, though, if Lee wasn't in the GP there would only be one British rider, as he is still more deserving than any other British rider at the moment. As long as there is no qualifying system then this is the kind of decision that will be made. It is no surprise to see Zagar in the GP, but in reality is he any more worthy of inclusion than someone like, for example, Simon Stead who, in my eyes, is a year ahead of Zagar developement wise. Yet, Steady being British, he's not even close. If Zagar were British, or Danish for that matter, he'd be nowhere near to being in the GP. If Simon Stead was Slovenian he'd be as big a name as Zagar Worldwide and be in next year's GP. There simply HAS to be a proper qualifying system. Top 8 in for next year - fine, I wouldn't argue with that. The rest have to be in there through qualification. There's no other way that makes this a valid series. Ivan Mauger is right once again.

Woo hooo, he'll miss loads of Reading matches.

I think Canterbury closed because they forgot to apply for a license or something totally ridiculous like that. I went to the site of the old stadium a while back, just to see where it was, and was amazed there was still wasteland there and you could still make out the shape of the track (it was actually me who took the photos on the website, showing how the stadium looked at that time). I spent quite a while there justwandering about imagining speedway going on in the area. It was a really wierd experience.

Great race, though - young Ole's opening ride. I was on the edge of my seat for that one.

Ah, but Bernie shouldn't have even been in the run-off because he should have been excluded from his second heat! It was, though, a very good performance by said Heathen, if a little, shall we say, 'Pedersen-esque'. On the subject of the 1972 World Final - how daft was Ole Olsen to throw it all away like that in his first ride? I have this meeting on DVD. It's regularly available on ebay.

Maybe you could also interview Barry Briggs and get his opinion on Bernie Persson's in the 1972 World Final.

If you read the post, it says rode in 'a British league', rather than 'the British League', so the NL would qualify under that description had she ridden in it - which, apparently, she hadn't. If it wasn't her, then I suspect there wasn't another female rider who rode in a league, although I do remember there being another one around at the same time but can't remember her name.

Lisa Whibberley?

Possibly the same stuff I have from the early 90s. Coincidentally, I watched an old highlights tape the other day and was surprised by two things. One was the fact that Henka was totally amazing, and was passing anyone he wanted at will. The other was just how good Gary Havelock was. Not sure about putting him in Backtrack, though. He is in the Oxford team this year, after all. (Mind you, who isn't. Ho ho ho.)

There was Johnny Hole too. I recall Derek was the son of one of them, though I'm not sure which one.

Hearty congratulations to Leigh 'World Number 3 and top of the EL averages' Adams. Not bad for a below par year, is it?

It's 11-15. They already extended it by 15 minutes didn't they? If meetings are going to overrun by so much, you can't blame the schedulers.

Looks like another good GP win for Trick, firmly establishing his position as the second greatest rider of all time. Tonight was all about one man though - World Number 3 (that's THREE), Leigh Adams. At last!

Oh quit your moaning. I didn't get to see any of it and I'm happy.

Post subtly edited later in the hope that nobody will notice that I was completely wrong because I didn't realise Greg Hancock could still have caught Leigh. Too busy concentrating on NP you see. Still, nobody reads these old pages so nobody will ever know.

Great result for Leigh. Still can't believe it though when I think of some of the meetings he's had this year. Hoooorah!!

If he deserves it he'll get it.

I was kind of wondering that myself.

BIG chance now for Leigh Adams to make World number 3. He'll be delighted if he can do that. Come on Leigh! Hard to believe, though, as it seems as though he hasn't had a particularly good series.

Arrr, that it be.

I know who it is now. Initials CG.

There's a new picture from Oxford v Poole on my signature. Bob Kilby in the lead, but can anyone recognise who is behind him?