lucifer sam

Parsloes - that's always been the case to some extent, though. There was the same number of seeded riders in the 1973 World Final (five) as the 2010 Grand Prix (four seeds, plus a wildcard in each round). It could be also argued that the Inter-Continental/Continental split guaranteed that the World Final never took place with the 16 best riders in the world on show e.g. would Erik Gundersen (16th in the 1982 ICF) failed to qualify had their been two equal semi-finals? All the best Rob

I enjoyed my trips to the plush Plough Lane, even if the track was an abomination. All the best Rob

Are you for real? Do you realise what is happening in young Woffinden's life at the moment? You are just scum. Congratulations to Darcy Ward. And hard luck to Tai Woffinden. All the best Rob

Personally while I think Greg might have been gutted to lose out on the final bend in 2007, I think he'd still be pretty chuffed in this parallel universe where the World Final replaced the Grand Prix in 1995 - because looking at the venues and years I posted, he'd be a multiple World Champion. All the best Rob

I hadn't thought of that. Yes, Chris Harris as 2007 World Champion. I introduced Cardiff in 2001, and then repeated it on a three-year rota, then added the other venues around that depending on which venues were in vogue at that particular time. I hadn't really looked into who won each meeting. All the best Rob

Computer says no. I believe the deadline is 12 noon. All the best Rob

Well fourtunately some FIM documentation from an alternative universe has just appeared through a wormhole in my bedroom and reveals the venues as follows: 1995 - Hackney, GB 1996 - Lonigo, Italy 1997 - Wroclaw, Poland 1998 - Prague, Czech Republic 1999 - Vojens, Denmark 2000 - Bydgoszcz, Poland 2001 - Cardiff, GB 2002 - Sydney, Australia 2003 - Stockholm, Sweden 2004 - Cardiff, GB 2005 - Bydgoszcz, Poland 2006 - Copenhagen, Denmark 2007 - Cardiff, GB 2008 - Bydgoszcz, Poland (after cancellation of Gelsenkirchen, Germany) All the best Rob

Rubbish, it's Big Josh, which is just across the Josh river from its sister town, Little Josh. All the best Rob

Norbold, I think we can count out any European-based GPs during that period (large sporting events were banned in Britain, as they would have made perfect targets for German bombs) - the whole series would have taken in Australia. In which case, Vic Duggan would have been the dominant force. OK, moving onto an idea suggested by Grachan. Having staged a GP series from 1928 to 1994, the FIM decide to shake up the championship by introducing a one-off final in 1995. Who would have won each year? All the best Rob

Bo Petersen's best year was probably 1980, when he almost led Hackney to the most unexpected British League win of all-time. Bo was very inconsistent - he scored a maximum for Denmark in the 1984 World Team Cup, but failed to score in his other 2 World Team Cup Final appearances. Any more for any more on the years 1928-1994. All the best Rob

I would like to change my captain to Gollob for this round. Thanks. All the best Rob

What impressed me on Saturday was not only the way these young lads handled their bikes around a tight track, but also the sportsmanship on display. Every time there was an incident, the lads got up and shook hands. In one race, two of the lads piled up on the first bend, and the lad who got up first anxiously moved his bike to help the other get to his feet. The riders all behaved impeccably, and showed certain supposedly more "mature" riders how to behave. All the best Rob

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