Oxford 2026

[szkocjasid]

5 hours ago, Youhave2minutes said:

Don’t rate Smith. Been around long enough and should be better

While I agree with that, question is would Smith be better than Perry or Summers etc.

[Youhave2minutes]

Just now, szkocjasid said:

While I agree with that, question is would Smith be better than Perry or Summers etc.

I’d go with Perry myself.

[Pinny]

11 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

2004, if I recall correctly. Started the season like a steam train, but ran out of steam by May.

Lots of factors; Jones - an absolute revelation - picked up an injury and chucked it, Bentley’s form fell off a cliff, Blackman and Campbell were dreadful and subsequently replaced by Cockle and Carrillo which improved us at reserve, but McAllan came in for Jones, so we were on to plums.

Still, we had a 15-team Premier League. Imagine.

Didn't Stancl start to fade slightly that year as well after two good seasons in 02 and 03? Lots of engine issues?

He was a class act. 

[Pinny]

11 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

2004, if I recall correctly. Started the season like a steam train, but ran out of steam by May.

Lots of factors; Jones - an absolute revelation - picked up an injury and chucked it, Bentley’s form fell off a cliff, Blackman and Campbell were dreadful and subsequently replaced by Cockle and Carrillo which improved us at reserve, but McAllan came in for Jones, so we were on to plums.

Still, we had a 15-team Premier League. Imagine.

Didn't Stancl start to fade slightly that year as well after two good seasons in 02 and 03? Lots of engine issues?

He was a class act. 

[TigerIain]

19 minutes ago, Pinny said:

Didn't Stancl start to fade slightly that year as well after two good seasons in 02 and 03? Lots of engine issues?

He was a class act. 

He was classy and quick, but didn't seem to handle pressure very well. My memory is that he generally didn't do well in heat 15 and all his bad matches seemed to be against Edinburgh

[M.D]

8 hours ago, Pinny said:

Didn't Stancl start to fade slightly that year as well after two good seasons in 02 and 03? Lots of engine issues?

He was a class act. 

I remember going to a meeting at Newport after the Cardiff GP and he had a big off going into the solid fence off turn 4 back first, don't think he was the same for a while after that.

[TheWellBehavedWorrall]

10 hours ago, Pinny said:

Didn't Stancl start to fade slightly that year as well after two good seasons in 02 and 03? Lots of engine issues?

He was a class act. 

George was a breath of a fresh air for us. 

He was our first proper number one since Robert Nagy; our first rider to break the nine-point average barrier in a season since 1994, I believe.

He was a classy rider; he would have looked less comfortable in an arm chair than he did on a speedway bike. He was a fantastic gater.

Where George struggled was when he found himself not at the front; passing didn’t come easy for him and subsequently, didn’t happen often.

Heat fifteen at Armadale on the 12th of April 2002 will always be my favourite speedway race.

We hadn’t won at Armadale since 1997 and after fourteen heats, we found ourselves 43-41 ahead. Armadale was packed. George gated and lead Peter Carr and Frede Schott for three-and-a-half laps until Carr came under him going in the third bend of the last lap, but somehow through defying physics, George - millimetres apart from Carr - returned the favour exiting the fourth bend to take the chequered flag. The sea of red on the first bend (now third) erupted. Edinburgh 44, Glasgow 46. 

[Youhave2minutes]

1 hour ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

George was a breath of a fresh air for us. 

 

Yes he used to get right up my nose😂

[Nickinho]

13 hours ago, Youhave2minutes said:

I’d go with Perry myself.

Good call. He was starting to show a few flashes of something before his bad crash on the home straight at Ashfield. On his average he could maybe double it.

Edited 9 hours ago by Nickinho

[Pinny]

10 hours ago, M.D said:

I remember going to a meeting at Newport after the Cardiff GP and he had a big off going into the solid fence off turn 4 back first, don't think he was the same for a while after that.

Wasn't that Frank Smart?

I remember that meeting well, think it was 2003. Frank Smart was chasing Stancl in the opener and Stancl pulled a huge locker and Smart avoided him and come down and was somehow excluded. 

Stancl went all meeting unbeaten and needed to win heat 15 for a Glasgow win but Wato and Puk got a 5-1 over him and won us the match. Great times.

[Robinh88]

I remember going up to Ashfield for the first time in 2002. Stancl had his big average and passed Paul Bentley twice that Sunday with ease. Certainly that day looked a class apart.

[M.D]

1 hour ago, Pinny said:

Wasn't that Frank Smart?

I remember that meeting well, think it was 2003. Frank Smart was chasing Stancl in the opener and Stancl pulled a huge locker and Smart avoided him and come down and was somehow excluded. 

Stancl went all meeting unbeaten and needed to win heat 15 for a Glasgow win but Wato and Puk got a 5-1 over him and won us the match. Great times.

It was an individual meeting, I was there with Adam Shields, Adam won his first ride but then pulled out aggravated his broken pelvis.

Loved Newport, went there a good few times.

[Robinh88]

Double post x2

Edited 56 minutes ago by Robinh88