lucifer sam

No, not at all. Yorkie does a very good job - as I said before, he's one of the best in the business. Unfortunately, you've then got the god-awful music. All the best Rob

Entertaining meeting, with Zetterstorm a thoroughly deserving winner. Good to see Holder & Hampel qualify for the 2010 GP series. Track was quite heavy, but I guess it was like this to try to aid Harris through. Meeting really should have been starated sooner. An 8pm start for league meetings may be OK, but a 20-heat individual really needs Heat 1 at the tapes at 7.30pm and not 8.15pm. An 11.00pm finish is not ideal for families, even on a Friday night. And the music was absolutely dreadful - there's nothing other word for it. It really detracted from what is supposed to be a prestigious meeting - so why the comedy music? Last year, the music at Coventry was much better but now it's plumbing the depths again. It's a shame, because Peter York is one of the best mic-men in the business, but the music lets down the presentation package. All the best Rob

Fourentee, I did have a look for you - but not in the pits. The youngsters put on a great show at Northside. In fact, we had a good weekend of speedway - and the Red Arrows especially travelled to Newcastle yesterday to greet us. All the best Rob

Fourentee, I'm coming up with Shaleshifter so I'll see you there. All the best Rob

Just two - blue and red I'm fine with the directions, as long as I don't come across any roundabouts with bus stops on All the best Rob

BFD - we're not all whingeing Pomgolians, some of us are looking forward to the meeting at Coventry tomorrow. All the best Rob

Of course, they would have been guaranteed one finalist, but imagine if e.g. Kelly Moran had qualified and Bruce Penhall been eliminated. And to get those 3 finalists, Penhall threw the 1982 Overseas Final. I was a big Penhall fan, and even as a child, I knew what had happened. Penhall had been told what to do by the US bigwigs - it was obvious. I was almost in tears by the end of that meeting, as even the Cradley fans turned against him. And then Carter was grinning ear-to-ear on the truck as Penhall recevied a torrent of abuse from the fans - which gave me yet another reason to dislike Carter. So: rather than that unsavoury situation, would it have been better to seed 3 US riders to the 1982 World Final? It goes against most the principles of most people, including my own, but are principles as important as attracting a crowd? Food for thought. All the best Rob

And there was also the 1979 World Team Cup Final - amazingly England NEVER qualified for a World Team Cup Final at White City, slipping up on all three ocassions in the qualifiers. All the best Rob

I guess that's slightly different, but it still meant he skipped the tough Nordic and Inter-Continental rounds. Of course, "flying" Dutchman Henny Kroeze was seeded to the 1987 World Final (After being eliminated from the qualifiers). Actually I think the Poles were seeded in 1986 & 1992 as well - again after being eliminated. Ironic that these days it's the Brits who rely on seeding - and shows how far down the totem pole we've slipped. All the best Rob

Rob, it was only the World Champion who was seeded though - and surely there's some justification in that. The practice didn't last for that long - it began (I think) with Craven in 1956 and lasted until some point in the 1960s. I'm pretty sure the Swedes and Poles seeded their riders through when they were the hosts of World Finals during the 1970s. Can anyone else back this up or disprove it? I'm almost certain Jan Andersson was seeded to the 1980 World Final. And in 1977, Peter Collins was seeded to the Inter-Continental Final. All the best Rob

Weren't all five Poles seeded in 1973? They had a qualifying criterion and Jerzy Szczakiel just made it in fifth. The Poles thought about swapping Szczakiel for another rider, as they thought he would be totally outclassed in the World Final - instead he was the best rider on the day (and yes he was riding better than Mauger even before the run-off) and won the final. All the best Rob

Just to answer my own question, Sanders was white hot in the 1983 World Pairs Final as well as finishing runner-up in Norden. So he's a contender - along with Nielsen, Gundersen, Lee, Sigalos and maybe Carter. I think '83 may be the hardest year of the lot to try to work out the winner (although 1936 is still causing problems ). Who would it have been in '83? I'm really not sure. The contenders are: * Hans Nielsen - won the Nordic and Inter-Continental Finals, was favourite heading into the World Final, would have probably finished runner-up in Norden bar an engine failure whilst leading Muller, and in great form for Birmingham all season. * Erik Gundersen - won the BLRC at Belle Vue, scored a maximum in the WTC Final, and led Cradley to victory in the British League. * Michael Lee - a move to Poole revitalised his career, finished third in the World Final. * Dennis Sigalos - topped the BL averages with Ipswich. * Kenny Carter - partnered Peter Collins to victory in the World Pairs Final, but not quite the rider he was in '82. * Billy Sanders - the individual star of the World Pairs Final, finished second in Norden and registered an impressive average with Ipswich. Six riders who COULD have won the '83 GP series, but no-one stands out... All the best Rob

It's not my fault you're always doing the tiling All the best Rob

Parsloes, I've heard stories about your driving - surely it can't be THAT bad!! All the best Rob

I'm not convinced at all regarding Sanders in '83. Other than second place in Norden, what else did he do that year? There's more of a case, I would say, for Nielsen, Gundersen, Lee, Sigalos or maybe Carter. I'm not sure whether a GP series would have suited Carter or not. He had a habit of going to pieces at a vital time, and I don't think that would help in either a World Final OR a GP series. Although in 1982, it's arguable that he could have got into such a situation where it wasn't that tight. But had Penhall stayed with him with '82, he would have nailed Carter in the final couple of rounds as the Englishman went to pieces. Another tricky year is '79. Olsen and Collins both dipped in form that season, and Mauger had one last great season, but could he have kept it up all season in a GP series at the age of 39? In the end, I plumped for Lee, who in many ways, rode better in '79 than he did in '80. All the best Rob

Before we start that, we'll have to work out the venues for each World Final All the best Rob

In '93 probably, but not '92. That would have been Jonsson's year. TNT, how do you figure Ermolenko was better than Jonsson in '92 - he blantantly wasn't All the best Rob

Well, since we're racing ahead, I reckon: 1979 - Michael Lee (and yes he would have been in it. In fact, he had an outstnading 1977 season and would have qualified for the 1978 GP series). 1980 - Dave Jessup 1981 - Bruce Penhall 1982 - either Bruce Penhall or Kenny Carter - discuss 1983 - no outstanding candidate, probably Hans Nielsen but I could be persuaded elsewhere on this one 1984 - Erik Gundersen - IMO, this was his best year and I think it unthinkable that Erik wouldn't have won a single GP series 1985 - Hans Nielsen (Nielsen stepped up his game even further this season) 1986 - Hans Nielsen 1987 - Hans Nielsen 1988 - Hans Nielsen 1989 - Hans Nielsen 1990 - Hans Nielsen (Actually not Hans's best year by a long shot, I think Gundersen's accident was on his mind, but who else could have won a GP series this season? There isn't anyone!) 1991 - Jan O. Pedersen 1992 - Per Jonsson 1993 - Hans Nielsen (remember lay-downs would be allowed in the GP series and Ermolenko didn't have one ) 1994 - Hans Nielsen Sorry TNT, but I can't see Ermolenko ever taking a GP series. In Ermolenko's best domestic season (1993), Nielsen would have had the advanatage of being on lay-downs. Nielsen looked the fastest rider at the '93 World Final by quite a way. All the best Rob

Norbold - just to confirm, I had Plechanov for '65 not '64. If you have Briggs for '64, who do you have for '65? All the best Rob

Right, we've leapt forward a bit but I think it's time for people to nail their colours to the mast for 1964-1878. My own choices are: 1964 - Bjorn Knutsson 1965 - Igor Plechanov 1966 - Barry Briggs 1967 - Barry Briggs 1968 - Ivan Mauger 1969 - Ivan Mauger 1970 - Ivan Mauger 1971 - Ivan Mauger 1972 - Ole Olsen 1973 - Ivan Mauger 1974 - Ivan Mauger 1975 - Ivan Mauger 1976 - Peter Collins 1977 - Ole Olsen 1978 - Ole Olsen All the best Rob

Whilst PC is very much up there in 1976 and 1977, there's no way he would have trumphed in '74, '75 or '78. 1978 is Olsen's most dominant year, whilst 1974 is probably Mauger maybe Michanek, and 1975 is a toss-up between Mauger, Olsen and maybe Phil Crump for the mechanical advantage that Grachan has mentioned (although I don't Crump would have been in the '75 series). Of course, we should not completely dismiss Malcolm Simmons from the equation. His best season was 1976. I think Peter Collins would have won in '76, but would have had Mauger and Simmons breathing down his neck. All the best Rob

RETAIN: 2 Jason Crump 5 Hans Andersen 7 Andreas Jonsson 1 Nicki Pedersen DROP: 15 Emil Sayfitdinov OLD £50,000 NEW RIDERS: 3 Tomasz Gollob NEW £50,000 Crump to remain as captain please. All the best Rob

Zonkers, so if you're not watching it live, then watch or record the repeat instead. All the best Rob

Jack Young had a pretty fine year in 1950 - his peformance in the World Final certainly suggests he would have breezed through the 1950 GP challenge and into the 1951 GP series. And yes league consistency has to be backed by something else and that's whay Michanek would not have been the GP champion in '73 - his performances on the world stage were not good enough. All the GPs from 1928 to 1956 were held in the UK, with the exception of one Aussie GP in the early fifties that cost the promoters a packet and was not repeated. Following Fundin's GP win in 1956, the first GP in Sweden was held in 1957 and the Swedes then had around 2 to 3 rounds of the 11-round series. The 1960s saw the GP become truly cosmopolitan with rounds spreading across Europe. So by 1965, the competition would have been Europe-wide, including a round in Russia and a couple of others behing the Iron Curtain. In which case, would Igor Plechanov been 1965 World Champion? All the best Rob

But as the fifth best Pole, he wouldn't have got into the GP series in the first place. All the best Rob