lucifer sam

Well done to Greg Hancock - a hugely worthy World Champion. All the best Rob

They are they to push off the rider if they stall at the tapes. It also explains the 30m line, this is the line to which the riders were allowed to be pushed in the case of a push start. All the best Rob

Sandie, it's freezing cold at Buxton in July All the best Rob

Any dates for the play-off semi-finals yet? I hope last season's lessons have been learnt in messing about and not getting on with the play-offs. All the best Rob

Oh yes, it's in the little sub-heading bit. Don't remember Mark Robinson apart from the name, Scott Smith was more memorable as a Cradley junior because he was a dirty little bugger. All the best Rob

That's what I was wondering. No mention of a surname during this thread. Looks like the Heathens fans in talking in secret code and they're hard enough to understand at the best of times. All the best Rob

I assume so, although I would prefer it to be at Pardubice, which is 10 times a better racetrack than Prague. All the best Rob

Jaybea 42? I reckon he's lost count at some point and missed a few years off. Incidentally, has anyone explained to Rob Henry how to do a TR? All the best Rob

Hope John Oliver is OK. Nice to Lee Smethills showing a bit of form. A bit of anti-climax after a thrilling Scunthorpe v Edinburgh meeting in the first half. Mildenhall need a new team manager who understands how to make a tactical ride. All the best Rob

Fantastic meeting at Malilla. Just got back yesterday from a 10-day Travel Plus tour, also incorporating the GP challenge and 5 other meetings. Wonderful relaxing time in Vastervik (although I ended up with a bit of a hangover after staying out until 3am the final night ) and the weather was kind, allowing us to get all 7 meetings in. All the best Rob

Kev, I see Merv at the Oxford Supporters Club BBQs - I will ask him next time I see him (currently in Sweden and also not about for the next GP, so it will be a few weeks. He is English. All the best Rob

I've been reading this discussion with great amusement, as if there's one thing Jonsson is not, it's bland. Somewhat annoying in the way he can suddenly turn it on at times, and look next to useless at others, would be a fair criticism. I think "inconsistent" is the word that sums that up. But bland? No. Totally the wrong word. Ironically, if the word "bland" does fit against a top-class speedway rider, it's Bjarne Pedersen. All the best Rob

We need a snooze smiley for such cases. All the best Rob

Parsloes, I still can't quite see why it's Len Silver's fault if Hackney have failed at Lakeside but are still running at Rye House. Surely it is Uncle Len who is the one now keeping the team running? All the best Rob

I think the Hackney revival was very worthy, and an attempt to recreate the Cradley success. However, not all clubs maintain the same interest over years of inactivity. When I recently interviewed Dave Perks (available in Backtrack Issue 43), I think he hit the nail back on the head, saying how special speedway was to Cradley, since they didn't have a good football team or anything like that, so speedway is therefore the main sporting attraction. I wonder if Lakeside will continue National League speedway, but with the team branded as Rye House / Lakeside in a similar fashion to Scunthorpe / Sheffield. All the best Rob

Oh dear, I give up. All the best Rob

Because keeping a match close away from home, in a sport where home advantage is large, deserves a reward. All the best Rob

Not the same as the Joker. Look at what DRS stands for and you'll find out why. DRS is there to reduce the handicap on the car behind, not give them an unfair advantage, as the Joker does. All the best Rob

Apologies for the cross-boarding posting, but I want to make sure that fans from all three leagues have a chance to see the below. It will take around 5 minutes of your time. Here are step-by-step instructions to register an objecton to the council's Preferred Option to build houses on the site of Oxford Stadium. There are later planning stages BUT the more opposition shown at this stage, the more chance of the plans being thrown out at this stage. * Go to this link: http://consultation.oxford.gov.uk/consult.ti/sitesandhousing/respondByQuestionnaireLogin * Register on the site * You will then get a conformation email to verify your account. Click on the link that verifies your account * You will then be taken back to the questionnaire site where you can then log on * Fill in the questionnaire. You don't have to fill in all the questions, you can press "next" until you get to question 14 * Once at question 14, enter in the box "Site 141 - Oxford Stadium" and write why the stadium should remain and not be re-developed! * Confirm your answers * You should then get an email to say thanks for taking part. Please put aside 5 minutes to do this today, since the deadline is midnight tonight (Friday). Thanks very much. All the best Rob See http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=65192&st=30

Apologies for the cross-boarding posting, but I want to make sure that fans from all three leagues have a chance to see the below. It will take around 5 minutes of your time. Here are step-by-step instructions to register an objecton to the council's Preferred Option to build houses on the site of Oxford Stadium. There are later planning stages BUT the more opposition shown at this stage, the more chance of the plans being thrown out at this stage. * Go to this link: http://consultation.oxford.gov.uk/consult.ti/sitesandhousing/respondByQuestionnaireLogin * Register on the site * You will then get a conformation email to verify your account. Click on the link that verifies your account * You will then be taken back to the questionnaire site where you can then log on * Fill in the questionnaire. You don't have to fill in all the questions, you can press "next" until you get to question 14 * Once at question 14, enter in the box "Site 141 - Oxford Stadium" and write why the stadium should remain and not be re-developed! * Confirm your answers * You should then get an email to say thanks for taking part. Please put aside 5 minutes to do this today, since the deadline is midnight tonight (Friday). Thanks very much. All the best Rob See http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=65192&st=30

We'll claim that one then. We'll also claim the World Championship successes of Lionel Van Praag, Bluey Wilkinson, Jack Young, Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger. All the best Rob

Interesting. And it begs one more question: when Australia won the World Team Cup in 1976 and New Zealand in 1979, were they actually the "Great Britain" team? All the best Rob

HenryW, an interesting question. Even though the team were known as England for years, the official name was Great Britain. But it does beg the question what the Scotland team were officially called? Does it mean that there were actually two Great Britain sides in the competition? One for Humphrey to investigate. All the best Rob

Does cricket or any other sport have a "double points" rule, though? I could be wrong, but I can't think of any other sport which does this? What's wrong with just having tactical subs to keep the score close? If there has to be a double points rule, then at least there should be a 15m handicap at the start or something along those lines, so that the competitor has to earn the extra points. Double points from the gate just holds up the whole event to ridicule (as it does with domestic speedway in this country). Is it a World Championship event or a circus? EDIT: As for the Poles, they might have had a problem if the 2009 final happened in reverse, i.e. they were the beat team on the day, but ended second due to an extra two points being given to one of their opponents. All the best Rob

The team has always been called Great Britain, according to FIM documentation. All the best Rob