lucifer sam

A little push?? That was slightly more than a little push. The cause of the stoppage had to be Nicki P. Would Harris fallen without the contact from Nicki P, I very much doubt it. Gardell was awful. Nearly every decision wrong, including incorrectly excluded Nicki P in the re-run... although he should have gone first time. All the best Rob

Thank goodness for Nicki P. What would we talk about in the GPs if he wasn't riding? Ref was awful last night. It's time to use the excellent Craig Ackroyd again. I admit a degree of bias here, but Craig did a great job in the opener at Leszno. Use him again. All the best Rob

But the same old excuse trotted out for why Britain doesn't have a second GP is that we can't fill Cardiff. So we get 40,000 into Cardiff and don't get a second GP, the Swedes get just 14,000 into Gothenburg and yet do. Where's the logic in that? It really looked awful on the TV last night - a near empty stadium. Surely a few less in a smaller stadium - i.e. that almost bursting at the seems with people would look better? All the best Rob

I'm sorry, but that wasn't included in your original statement. Just admit it: you made a mistake. You've also made a further error, the 2003 GP in Ullevi went three races before being abandoned, not two. On the whole, Tony Olsson has exerted a positive influence on the GP thus far. Whether last night's decision to plough on as far as possible was the right one (which once the meeting has started, would ulimately be up to the FIM Jury, not Tony Olsson), depends on what the weather forecast was for last night and today. Does anyone have this information? All the best Rob

Why do IMG bother having a second Grand Prix in Sweden? From the TV coverage, the stadium looked about a third full last night. Surely it would be better to scrap Ullevi and have a second GP in Britain at Coventry. I'm sure Coventry would atttract a crowd of around 10,000, whilst the track is already there. And our weather, while unpredictable, is definitely better than that in Sweden in April / May time. And, in due course, it may be that this round shifts from Coventry to the new Belle Vue stadium, once that is completed. All the best Rob

Nope, Gollob will back down - he won't go through with it. All the best Rob

Good grief, I send something in a blue moon these days since the demise of Oxford and I've never had any personal contact with Phil Rising. I actually thought the Star should have been more critical, at the time, of the postponment at Gelsenkirchen in 2008. But your conspiracy theory is just plain daft. All the best Rob

Ladyluck, did you go to Gelsenkirchen in 2008? You're carrying on as if you were personally wronged, but I'm sure you weren't out there. I think Phil Rising has given the fullest and truest explanation of events that he can. Of course, the events leading to the postponement of this meeting were a complete and utter embarrassment, but surely trying to restage the meeting at Gelsenkirchen a week later would have only led to further disaster. And a lot of negative publicity came out of the postponement. I don't think for a moment that it would have been done on purpose; it just doesn't make sense. All the best Rob

Bryn, next Monday off? Tsk, tsk, lightweight All the best Rob

Not a U-turn by Mr. Gollob, surely? Ladyluck, my dear chap, does that mean you'll be branding Mr. Gollob a coward for backing down. All the best Rob

True, but also should remember that, in 1995, there were only 20 points for the win. So it all balances out. And the GPs are easier these days as well, with a weaker line-up. Gollob took advantage of that last year (and fair play for him doing so). Gollob was never a match for either Rickardsson, a fully-fit Crump or a properly firing Nicki P. All the best Rob

This table just shows how classy Hans Nielsen was. He's eighth in the table, despite the fact he only rode 5 seasons in the GP in the twilight of his career from the age of 35 until the age of 39. And his average is above everyone's bar Rickardsson's, who has the advantage of being in his prime whilst the GP was running. At the time of his retirement, Hans had won 6 GPs and Tony 5, despite Hans being 10 years older than Rickardsson. All the best Rob

Interesting to see Krasnikov not having it all his own way for once. I miss not being out there this year (including my session putting the speedway world to rights with Conkers in the hotel bar on Friday night ), but I do plan to return in 2012. All the best Rob

I think there's nothing wrong with the odd older rider in the third tier, as long as there are enough youngsters around them. As for whether Dean Felton holds the appearance record, it depends if anyone from the 1947-1953 period surpasses him (the third tier was called Division 3 from 1947 to 1951 and then the Southern League in 1952 & 1953). But unfortunately we don't have the same kind of detailed information on this period. All the best Rob

66 months and counting on the Parsloes grudge-o-meter... All the best Rob

Indeed it did Bryn. Some great moments that season - such as the away win at Rye and the home win against Wimbledon. Happy days. All the best Rob

It's more a case of a succession of different promotions. All the best Rob

Oxford WCQR (May 22nd, 1969): 1 Jay (excluded), 2 Everett, 3 Gifford, 4 Timmo, 5 Saunders (res for Pander), 6 Saunders (replaced Bishop who was excluded, not sure reason why?), 7 Jarman (ef), 8 Owen, 9 Saunders (res for Pander), 10 McKinlay, 11 Jay, 12 Timmo (excluded), 13 Saunders (res for Pander), 14 Everett, 15 Bishop, 16 Saunders (res for Owen), 17 Saunders (ef) (res for Pander), 18 Lukehurst, 19 Gooch, 20 Saunders (res for Owen). Oxford v King's Lynn (October 2nd, 1969): 1 Brown, 2 Major, 3 Persson, 4 Gooddy, 5 Persson, 6 Bellham, 7 Simmons, 8 Bradshaw, 9 Bellham, 10 Featherby, 11 Gooddy, 12 Timmto, 13 Betts. All the best Rob

Oxford v Scunthorpe (May 5th, 1977): 1 Whiting, 2 White, 3 Shedrick, 4 Sizmore, 5 Whiting, 6 Watkin, 7 Sizmore (Meeting adandoned after Ht 7) Oxford v Canterbury (May 18th, 1978): 1 Sawyer (fell, excluded), 2 Clifton (fell, excluded), 3 Kennett, 4 Askew, 5 Meredith, 6 Sawyer (fell, excluded) (Rumsey also touched tapes in Heat 6, being replaced by reserve Clifton), 7 Kennett, 8 Shilleto (ef), 9 Ferreira, 10 Clifton (R/R), 11 Shields, 12 Kennett (R/R), 13 Koppe (excluded). Oxford v Mildenhall (August 10th, 1978): 1 Hack (fell, excluded) AND Taylor (fell, excluded), 2 Moore (ef), 3 Askew, 4 Spink, 5 Bates, 6 Knight, 7 Henry, 8 Spink, 9 Lamb, 10 Bales, 11 Henry (R/R), 12 Bales, 13 Spink (R/R). All the best Rob

Hi Steve, I think of it more as being creative. Ok, let's stick to the third division teams: Oxford Cubs (1997) Oxford Kids (early 2003) Oxford Academy (rest of 2003 through to 2005) Oxford Lions (early 2007) Oxford Cheetahs (later in 2007) Is that more honest for you? All the best Rob

Oxford Cheetahs (too many seasons to mention) Oxford Rebels (British League 1972-1975) Oxford Cubs (Amateur League 1997) (i.e. NL level) Oxford Silver Machine (Elite League 2003-2005) Oxford Silver Machine Kids (Conference League: first part of 2003) Oxford Silver Machine Academy (Conference League 2003-2005) Oxford Lions (Conference League 2007) All the best Rob

1986, England v USA at Oxford. Simon Wigg scores a brilliant 18-point maximum, only to be excluded for pulling a wheelie over the line in the his final race. The place went nuts!!! All the best Rob

Steve, I'm so sorry, I've just realised I never got back to you with those other Oxford details. I should have all the details you need for the Oxford matches, I will post them by the end of the week. Apologies again. All the best Rob

Trees, I think "Mr. Meridian Lifts" would know a little about speedway sponsorship, wouldn't you? All the best Rob

Speedwayondisc, well done mate, that's got to the bottom of that. All the best Rob