Reviresco

Thanks for the link and the results from the Qualifier on the Updates site Sue. Hopefully there is nothing more to read into Taylor Poole's non-appearance other than possibly a dispute over points money. Looking back at the Jason Crump Invitational from last weekend, I see that Kurri are showing Jason Crump as 'Retired' now from his 2nd Heat rather than 'Excluded' and that Karl Lawler took Tyson Nelson's place in the programme: http://www.kurrikurrispeedway.org.au/jc2015.pdf

I think I'm correct in saying that Tai Woffinden contacted Barry Hearn direct about taking on the job of promoting and modernising speedway in the UK and Barry responded that he may have been interested 20 years ago (Barry is in his late 60's now), so Tai then asked if Barry's son Eddie would be interested to which Barry replied that Eddie was probably too busy to take on another project, with Eddie now running the boxing arm of Matchroom Sport. And I don't think that you should compare Test cricket (which is international) attendances with domestic speedway, more equitable to compare County cricket attendances with domestic speedway. Not that I know the crowd levels for County cricket, but some that I have attended would be far short of a league speedway match with only the 'festival' matches being roughly equal or higher than current speedway attendances. Yesterday, the BBC did a comparison of the attendances at three cricket matches that were taking place that day with the SA v England match in Durban attracting 5,000+, Aus v WI in Melbourne attracting 7,000+ and the Big Bash match at the Gabba 27,000+.

As has been mentioned previously on this Thread, the Qualifiers for the WTC are: Qualifying Round: to be held in Terenzano on 02 June 2016 between: Slovenia, Germany, Latvia and Italy (with Norway on standby). Event 1 Vojens 23 July 2016: Denmark, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic (Russia is TBC... if they drop out then the 2nd team from Terenzano will replace them). Event 2 Vastervik 26 July 2016: Sweden, Australia, USA, Qualifying Round Team Winner With the Winner of Events 1 & 2 moving straight to the WTC Final on Saturday 30 July 2016 and the 2nd & 3rd placed teams going into the Race-Off on Friday 29 July 2016. On this basis, the Race-Off on the Friday will more than likely have two of either Denmark, Poland, Sweden or Australia plus two others, with only the winner going into the Final the following day.

Mason Campton finished last in Heat 1 (behind Crump, Masters & Tungate), then won his next two (beating Fricke and Sedgmen) and qualified with 10pts for the 'B' Final, which was a repeat of the opening heat, this time finishing behind Tungate (who went on to win the 'A' Final), Masters & Crump.

Result of the Jason Crump Invitational at Kurri Kurri on Boxing Day: (Three top scorers direct to 'A' Final and next four to 'B' Final) Max Fricke - (3,2,3,3,3) = 14pts Justin Sedgmen - (2,3,2,2,3) = 12pts Jack Holder - (1,2,3,3,2) = 11pts Sam Masters - (2,1,2,3,3) = 11pts Jason Crump - (3,X,3,3,1) = 10pts Mason Campton - (0,3,3,1,3) = 10pts Rohan Tungate - (1,3,2,2,2) = 10pts Tyler King - (1,2,1,2,2) = 8pts Alan MacDonald - (0,3,1,1,1) = 6pts Jye Etheridge - (X,1,2,2,1) = 6pts Taylor Poole - (3,0,0,0,2) = 5pts Kieran Sproul - (2,2,1,0,0) = 5pts Zaine Kennedy - (2,X,1,1,1) = 5pts Ryan Douglas - (3,1,F,X,0) = 4pts Josh MacDonald - (1,0,0,F,0) = 1pt Tyson Nelson - Did Not Start (Tyler King replaced the programmed Richie Worrall and Kieran Sproul replaced the programmed Josh Grajczonek) 'B' Final (Winner to 'A' Final): 1st = Rohan Tungate / 2nd = Sam Masters / 3rd = Jason Crump / 4th = Mason Campton 'A' Final: 1st = Rohan Tungate / 2nd = Justin Sedgmen / 3rd = Max Fricke / 4th = Jack Holder

Latest tweet from Gary: https://mobile.twitter.com/GaryHavelock/status/680124488843943936 Get better soon Gary, hope you are able to enjoy your Christmas and good health in 2016.

Protasiewicz also rode two full seasons for Ipswich in 2005/6 and averaged around 8 both seasons.

And yourself Fella and hope your new home track and stadium all falls into place in good order in 2016 and provides as much entertainment as in Years Gone By.

I don't want to ambush this thread so will just say, thanks Sidney and totally agreed.

Farah is a strange case. He is possibly the greatest male athlete to ever represent GB & NI, seems very popular amongst athletics fans and portrays a wholesome family man image. Whether the Salazar case and the wider drug implications within the sport have had an effect or whether he is not seen as truly British due to his being born in Somalia and having part of his family left behind there, I don't know. Maybe people are just fed up with the 'Mo-Bot',,,? Is the 'born overseas, lives overseas', viewpoint a reason why Froome does not appear as popular as recent winners from the sport of cycling? That and the sport's continuing association with drugs. Jess Ennis has now featured four times in the top three and is as good and popular as any previous female athlete, but will she ever win one now? Maybe athletics simply isn't as popular as it once was during the days of Thompson, Foster, Ovett, Coe, Cram, etc. No doubt Murray would've been the recipient of a 'Scottish Vote', but he did - almost single-handedly, win the Davis Cup back for Britain and appears to be a very proud, sporting Brit and respectful of the National Anthem. The way he broke away from the team's celebrations in Belgium to console his opponent and the Belgium team, was admirable. Similarly, Kevin Sinfield would appear to have received a Rugby League Vote this year. Hamilton, I can understand why he and F1 are not as popular this year as last. Fury probably blotted his own copybook before the voting. It is amazing to think that speedway, in the shape of Barry Briggs, managed two runners up spots in the '60's and that in itself is a sign of how the sport's popularity has waned since then. People have mentioned the work that Tai does for GOSH, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Murray and others do similar charity work, possibly not quite as heralded as Tai's as well. Even if the the unlikely was to happen and a speedway rider found himself on the nominated list, it would still take a huge number of votes to obtain a podium place, let alone a win, and I don't know if the speedway family is big enough to achieve that these days.

The Shay, Hyde Road and The County Ground were always great visits and were huge losses to the sport. I remember that in his programme notes after one particular visit to the Shay, John Berry wrote that Kenny Carter must be getting 'reet fed oop' with Billy Sanders tapping him on the shoulder and saying excuse me as he went past him again. Also remember driving up from East London in '84 I think and driving into the car park only for the meeting to be called off and re-scheduled for the following Saturday and then forgetting my car park ticket for the re-arranged fixture. The track was pitch black, the weather, and fog, could come in very quickly and the burgers were awful. (Just looking at your original post Steve, I'd argue that Penhall shouldn't be on the '70's list as he only had two seasons in Britain and hadn't reached a World Final by then, but three great lists and many memories invoked.)

If it's correct that all 'new' riders start on a 5pt ave and cannot drop below that average for the whole season, then Edinburgh will have to hope that Jye does maintain his average at least, especially as the team's starting averages will be 6pts lower than they finished in 2015.

Darryl finished 2015 on 7.32.

Wasn't commenting on Hamilton as I have my own opinions on him that probably align to yours from your post. Murray, is somebody that can be defended, is one of the UK's greatest ever sportsmen, is proud to represent his country and plays in Britain whenever the schedule allows. Great family man too, who only this week said that he would return from the Australian Open if his wife shows signs of going into labour. Linking Murray with Hamilton is ridiculous.

Yes, good signing is Ty and, given an injury free season, has potential to add a fair bit to his starting 6.68 average. Looks a decent side and could easily make the play-offs. Always enjoyed my visits to Workington, well after 1976 anyway, and hope the Comets fans have an entertaining 2016.

Murray: Wimbledon, Queens, ATP World Tour Final, Davis Cup - quite a bit in 2015 for an international sportsman that doesn't have a league that he could compete in in the UK. Sings the National Anthem too

It's only Wiki, but the page for Brian Crutcher does not note him as a Reserve for the 1957 World Individual Final, whereas it does for 1958: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Crutcher A reference is shown as Tom Wareham's authorised biography. Maybe somebody has this, or can purchase it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brian-Crutcher-The-Authorised-Biography/dp/0752445839 Or, alternatively, ask the man himself? My money, if I had any, is on Westerberg as the other non-riding Reserve as per the Speedway GB web-site.

I wasn't saying that Team Championships can be used to determine a riders standing, just pointing out that you were incorrect in saying that Sanders had not won a World Title by the time of his death. Also, where was I suggesting that Sanders had stopped Nielsen winning an Individual Title? Not sure how you have read that into my post? You said that Sanders hadn't won an Individual Title by the time of his death. No rider has until they have won their first. I just don't understand how having not won one already, would stop a rider winning one in the future... Both Sanders and Nielsen had both qualified for five Individual Finals before Bill died and neither had won one by then - Sanders finishing on the rostrum twice and Nielsen once. Also, I think you will find that it was two and not three Individual Finals that Sanders didn't qualify for that Nielsen was in - 1981 and 82. They both qualified in 1980, 83 and 84.

Interesting post on the "new Visa's" thread reporting that in this week's Speedway Star, Rob Godfrey has provided some explanation of the rule change in that: as has been suggested, 'new' foreign riders to the PL will come in on a 5pt assessed average in 2016 and will have to have attained a 7pt average by the time their visa is due to be renewed (end of their contract) to return or they will have to go back through the qualification process, and; any 'new' foreign PL riders, including Europeans, will not drop below their assessed 5pt average for the next year, whereas 'existing' foreign riders, like Paco Castagna, will be able to retain their existing PL average until the end of next season, but will have to come back in 2017 on a 5pt assessed if they haven't achieved a 5pt average by the end of 2016. If this is correct, I guess Chris Louis was aware of this before he brought Castagna in on a contract and that he is confident that his new rider will attain the 5pt mark in 2016.

World Team Champion 1976. Not sure what not having won an Individual World Title already has to do with it. By the time of Billy's death, both Nielsen and Sanders had qualified for five Individual World Finals. Sanders had finished on the rostrum twice and Nielsen once.

Do we know if the comment "Grading of heat leaders was done by common consensus of the EL promoters via an open poll and anyone thinking that's wrong is either thick or biased, or both." attributed to Jon Cook are correct, or have been taken out of context yet, before we take this topic any further?

I didn't say that he didn't deserve it on the day, simply that he didn't look an Individual Title winner in the Pairs Final three months earlier and that, IMO, home track advantage assisted the transformation. I also remember seeing Muller score 4pts in the 1980 World Individual at Ullevi and 3pts in 1984. Simply, IMO, Muller would not have won the 1983 Individual Title if it hadn't of been staged in Germany that year. All The Best Rob.

I understand that the PL club has priority (maybe with the exception of the NLRC) and that in such cases the NL club can use R/R or a Guest in 2016. NL fixtures are due to be planned out around EL and PL fixtures.

Exactly, and not just low scoring but Nil Points. And if you look at the 1971 World Pairs Final that Szczakiel won alongside Andrzej Wyglenda when they both scored 15pts, it was held in Rybnik, Poland and had Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia & Austria 'qualified' from one semi-final and Scotland qualified from the other semi-final ahead of Great Britain & Australia. The Final was effectively a contest between the seeded host nation, New Zealand & Sweden. At that time in the '70's, the semi-final splits for the World Pairs were about as lop-sided as they could get. Maybe there was a good reason that the Polish authorities didn't let Szczakiel ride outside of Eastern Europe much. If he did beat Mauger six times between 1971 and 73, we know that at least three of them were in Poland. (Having travelled to the 1976 World Individual Final on the Warners train, I remember how difficult it was to simply get in and out of Eastern Europe at the time.) As for Herr Muller, I saw him get 6pts in the Pairs Final at Ullevi in the June of 1983 and thought that maybe he wouldn't be so much of a threat in the Individual Final later that year, but home advantage, track preparation and a super fast engine changed that around.

See that Witches No. 7 Darryl Ritchings has signed for Birmingham in the NL: http://birminghambrummies.co/news.php?extend.2226