lucifer sam

Going by the above, what are you predicting? A 50-40 win for Scorpions?

The other point around this era is that Graham Warren was the dominant force in 1950, but fell in one race at Wembley while chasing Freddie Williams. He won his other four outings to finish in third place on 12 points. Given a GP series, the favourite to win would have been Warren. The old style World Championship and current GP series were/are BOTH very tough to win. But, under the GP system, the top rider in the world is more likely to end up as the World Champion. Although the cream normally rose to the top in World Finals as well. Both systems have their merits. I miss the trips to the old one-off finals, but at the same time, I appreciate being able to see a number of Grand Prix rounds on the TV throughout the year.

Jack Young was top qualifier in 1950 (i.e one year before he was World Champion), which suggests he would have won the 1950 Grand Prix challenge and therefore qualified for the 1951 Grand Prix series. PS Just checked there are currently 64 riders in the international stages of qualifying. And many countries use the results of national championships, etc, to determine who goes into the qualifiers. It's not a closed shop. If you're good enough, you get into it pretty quickly, as Emil did at the age of 19.

Thought the racing was decent enough - especially from Heat 9 onwards. Not the complete classic of the previous week, but still plenty of good racing. By my reckoning, Josh Auty gated on 3+1 but scored 13+1, plus there was Jake snatching Heat 11 at the death, while the proverbial blanket could be thrown over three and four riders respectively in Heats 12 and 14. The later race had a thrilling conclusion, even if it didn't go Scunny's way. Believe me, the meeting was around 10 times better than the bore-fest that I witnessed at Leicester eight days previously. I was also grateful that the whole meeting at Scunny was completed in 70 minutes - the wind was freezing. Track grading would have had a negative effect on the racing, and also you can't keep people hanging around when it's that cold - you have to consider the spectators.

I dunno. Zmarzlik doesn't seem quite as good under pressure as Tai. I tip Woffy for No 4 this year. I realise he'd already won in 2013 and 2015, but IMO Woffy seemed to step up a further gear last year. He's going to be hard to live with for the next few years.

I've had my run-ins with Tsunami on the political threads, but you can't question his speedway credentials. Involved in one of the most successful spells of Newcastle Speedway and then running some invaluable training schools.

Very poor team - no Woffinden, no Hancock, no Doyle, no Lindgren - I presume they want Poland to win

Nah, just the two

Farndon's death was only the year before, so I'd say it counts.

Max Grosskreutz... favourite to win in 1936, but got injured and missed the qualifiers. He lent his bike to fellow Aussie Bluey Wilkinson, who raced to a 15-point-maximum at Wembley on his steed. Grosskreutz subsequently retired and became manager of Norwich. He raced the odd meeting for them, and made a brief comeback post-war.

Arne Pander is a prime candidate for this one! It should also be pointed out that it wasn't just the injuries, but also his decision to prioritise riding in Britain, which didn't go down well with the Danish authorities. Arne took out British citizenship and entered the British qualifying rounds in 1966, having missed out in a few key seasons in the meantime.

Vic Duggan, Vic Duggan, Vic Duggan, Vic Duggan and Vic Duggan. Easily the best rider in the world for a number of seasons between 1946 and 1949, yet never World Champion. Even given CHR has used 1948 as the start-date and therefore Duggan's incredible 1947 season is missed out, Duggan was still far ahead in 1948, and won the biggest event of the year. Never has another rider been so utterly dominant and not ended up as a World Champion.

My track (Oxford) closed in 2007, so you have my sympathies. I go to Scunthorpe most Fridays during the season. Very friendly lot up there - you'd be very welcome.

Cocker was bloody amazing in that meeting - I remember his full throttle battle with Chris Morton. Awesome! Munkedal just never got it going at Oxford. Normally, Hans could take a fellow Dane and get him to up his performance. Per Sorensen was the classic example. For some reason, it just didn't happen with Lars. We probably should have dropped him before we did. I can understand why he was more popular with the Wolves' fans - especially as he was part of the '91 championship side.

I remember that meeting at Belle Vue - it was a double-header with Wolves and Oxford. We commented at the time how good it would be to have a reserve like Munkedal. The following year we had him and he was shocking. You'd have Hans Nielsen slowing down the whole race, by pinning the other two riders to the white line on the second bend in his trademark style, and Munkedal would turn the throttle off and stay at the back. Munkedal had some talent, but either lacked the belief or the desire.

New sponsors for Scorpions: http://www.scunthorpe-speedway.com/?p=9611

Not keen on team suits. I think back to Oxford in the 1980s, and we had Hans in sleek black leathers, Wiggy in distinctive day-glo green, Cocker in his chequered-leathers, etc. The leathers were an extension of the personality of each rider. Team suits and that's lost. Not only that, but it's a significant cost that most clubs simply cannot afford.

Wonder if we should actually start a 2020 thread for this http://www.scunthorpe-speedway.com/?p=9607 That's what you call forward planning!

Ht 11: Barker, Hack, Naylor, Hooper Ht 13: Naylor, Hack, Barker, Hollingsbee

Rider with the most misspelt name in British Speedway... Mike Broadbank. Mind you, if he was bothered about it, he would have pointed it out to the editor of the Swindon Speedway programme.

Sid, no need to get upset. It's just a discussion. I know people sometimes wind you up something rotten, nobody is trying to do that on this thread. We simply disagreed regarding Billy Sanders being a major threat to Erik & Hans at Bradford in 1985 and subsequent finals.

Indeed - Lance was young enough to come on strong again after signing for Bradford in 1986. He didn't reach another World Final after '85. You can't blame him for deciding to make some money from speedway, and prioritise that before chasing World Championship success. I was just adding another IF

Correct. Billy's best chance was in 1984, around his beloved Gothenburg, and he was nowhere near. Sentiment makes you want to believe he could have won a title, but for his tragic demise. Logic suggests otherwise.

If Lance King had stayed at Cradley in 1985, and the flow of his career not been interrupted... There's another But here's a counter IF... IF Erik Gundersen hadn't been seriously injured, what would have happened? At the time of his injury, Erik looked like capable of winning more, while Hans had won three out of the last four titles. So what were we looking at? Erik a 6-time champion and Hans a 8-time champion? The other way around? How long into the 1990s would the domination continued, with a fit Erik and an unfettered Hans?

And indeed Penhall, Carter and Sanders did not pick up career-ending speedway injuries either. The only one from Sid's list to be ruled out by injury was Sigalos. The rest ruled themselves out, one way or another.