Interviews with the motley crew (that's you.)

[schumi]

admin said:

schumi said:

You saying that reminds me - I'd be quite happy to get rid of the exclusion rule for touching the tapes. I think it would be quite interesting to bring back rolling starts, although probably expensive in terms of replacing tapes!

No, I'd go the other way - send the culprit back to the pits and get on with the race. No fifteen metres, no replacement.

That's because you and I have different opinions on everything. But it makes life much more interesting.

Here's another question for you all: What would have been your preferred points limit this year?

[Deleted]

schumi said:

Here's another question for you all: What would have been your preferred points limit this year?

I actually think 38.85 will produce a great season.......I'm probably in the minority, but I'm happy with it.

[Deleted]

1..What was your first meeting, and where?

Weymouth v Crewe in 1974. I was taken under duress by my former Bristol speedway supporting mother who thought it seemed a good idea while we were on holiday. I objected strongly, insisting it would be crap. Than afterwards I kept insisting it was brilliant and demanded to be taken to Swindon.

My first Swindon match would have been Swindon v Hackney in 1974, but it was rained off while we were in the car park. Instead it was Swindon v Wolves the following week. In the first race I saw at Swindon Martin Ashby broke the track record after beating Ole Olsen.

2..What's your most memorable meeting, and why?

Not sure if there are too many to mention or none! The 80s seemed to come to mind for some reason. Particularly Swindon losing 29-49 (or was it 28-50?) to Cradley in 1983 and Phil Crump scoring a maximum for Swindon. also a Midland Cup epic against Coventry which went to two replays in around 1984.

3..Which team do you always hope to get one over on, and why?

Nobody in particular. It depends on the league situation really. It's always been special to win at Reading or Oxford though.

4..Who have been your favourite riders over the years?

Other than the obvious choices of people like Ashby, Crump, Adams etc, my favourites for entertainment value were Andrew Silver and Shawn McConnell.

5..Which rule(s) would you abandon if you were in charge?

All of them. Then start again from scratch. Far too many rules and most of them have very little point. The Tactical Ride is the worst one though. Things like that really do knock numbers off the gate.

6..Who's your money on for World Champion this year?

Leigh Adams. Now or never Leigh!

7.. What would have been your preferred points limit this year?

Difficult one this, particularly for the perspective of a Swindon fan. The 38.85 limit has definitely made for some even looking teams, but the effect on Swindon has been pretty damn brutal. To be left in a position where we either lose all of our top five bar Leigh Adams or go with no bottom end was rather extreme.

There definitely had to be a low limit after last year, but the rejected limit of 39.9 (I think) would have been better as we could have probably kept Lee Richardson then, which I think would have prevented crowd levels dropping. By losing Rico I'm sure we'll also lose fans, which surely isn't the way to go.

[Deleted]

1..What was your first meeting, and where?

No idea who the opponents were, it would have been at Cradley in 80-81. The first heat I remember is when Jon Cook visited and almost went through the card beating Penhall twice (which was unheard of). Then Phil Collins overtook him on the last bend of heat 13.

2..What's your most memorable meeting, and why?

Probably the 1992 Dudley Wolves Trophy. Cradley had been ravaged by injury (again), losing World Champion Jan O Pedersen in the early weeks of the season. After a couple of re-jigs we'd finally got a team that could compete again dropping Mark Robinson & bringing in Andy Grahame & Andy Phillips. Wolves were riding high but we beat them home & away Heat 15 at Monmore being utterly fabulous!

3..Which team do you always hope to get one over on, and why?

I dont really support any team anymore.

4..Who have been your favourite riders over the years?

Bruce Penhall
Phil Collins
Simon Wigg
Jan O Pedersen
Mark Loram
Chris Harris

5..Which rule(s) would you abandon if you were in charge?

I'd attempt to find a viable alternative to guests. And T/R's would be gone, hail the return of the Tactical Substitute.

6..Who's your money on for World Champion this year?

Jason Crump, but I'm hoping Leigh Adams will nab it.

7.. What would have been your preferred points limit this year?

EL 40.00, PL 41.00

[Deleted]

Rider's Perspective:

1..What was your first meeting, and where?

Mildenhall Shareholders Junior Championship... scored nothing.

2..What's your most memorable meeting, and why?

German Under 21 Final 2001, I was on 10 points after 16 heats, a win in ht. 20 would of meant a run off for the title with Christian Hefenbrock scored 13 out of his 5 rides. Before ht 20 he came up to me and said "if you win this race, congratulations, I will turn down a run off for the title, I'm not feeling well" ... I made a good start, was blasting around the boards and was aiming for the lead but then it happened... the rear chain snapped! Title hopes were gone... but my meeting wasn't finished yet.. I had to go out again in a run off with 3 fellow riders on 10 points for 3rd place... I gated and was leading, while, behind me riders were falling off one by one, race was stopped after 3 laps, race awarded to me, but I was never troubled for the win anyway.

- the best and at the same time worst meeting in my career so far... now which rider can say that about one of his meetings?

3..Which team do you always hope to get one over on, and why?

The team I'd be riding for

4..Who have been your favourite riders over the years?

Jan Staechmann
Sam Ermolenko
Chris Louis
Garry Stead
George Stancl
Niels K. Iversen
Robbie Kessler

5..Which rule(s) would you abandon if you were in charge?

no comment

6..Who's your money on for World Champion this year?

Hard to say and to be honest, I don't really follow the GPs anymore.. I think everyone in the top 10 has a good chance this year

7.. What would have been your preferred points limit this year?

45.00

[Deleted]

schumi said:

Thought it would be fun (?) to see what your average Joe's answers would be to some interview questions, and would alleviate the boredom. So what would your answers to these be (guests can post too):

1..What was your first meeting, and where?

2..What's your most memorable meeting, and why?

3..Which team do you always hope to get one over on, and why?

4..Who have been your favourite riders over the years?

5..Which rule(s) would you abandon if you were in charge?

6..Who's your money on for World Champion this year?

1 1969 Crewe Kings 1st meeting at Earle Street, can't remember who it was against, as I was 4!

2. 1975 The Kings final meeting, been waiting for them to come back since.

3. None really, the Danes in the World cup would be a start though.

4. Phil Crump, John Jackson, Geoff Curtis, Paul O'Neill.

5. The bloody its a knockout joker rule!!!

6. Nikki Pedersen.

[Deleted]

On the preferred points limit my 1st instinct would be to say whatever kept The Bees 2007 team together & all others should build to that or what Swindon had.Realistically though,some teams just can't cut the mustard with higher standard clubs, so for parity i would've said 41.00.

[Deleted]

schumi said:

I'd be quite happy to get rid of the exclusion rule for touching the tapes. I think it would be quite interesting to bring back rolling starts, although probably expensive in terms of replacing tapes!

Excluding riders for tape touching was one of the better rules the BSPA brought out. I've seen videos from the 70s and early 80s and I found it annoying watching riders roll forwards and backwards. It did deprive the crowd of 4-rider races, but that's since been stopped by the introduction of them either going off a handicap or putting a reserve in.

schumi said:

Here's another question for you all: What would have been your preferred points limit this year?

The limit always seemed to work well when it was 45. I've read it equates to about 42 without bonus points so I'd say 42.

[Deleted]

booeyboy said:

On the preferred points limit my 1st instinct would be to say whatever kept The Bees 2007 team together & all others should build to that or what Swindon had.Realistically though,some teams just can't cut the mustard with higher standard clubs, so for parity i would've said 41.00.

I don't think it's got anything to do with teams not being able to "cut the mustard". The riders just aren't out there or available anymore for 8 EL teams to build to a points limit of 45 let alone anything higher.

The "higher standard" comment also smacks of have & have not snobbery, it's swings & roundabouts in the sports higher division (and lower divisions too to some extent), teams go through rough patches for whatever reasons, and there's been a good few current EL teams with new owners in the past couple of seasons who haven't had the luxury of a good asset base when they've taken control & have had to start effectively from scratch.

Comments like that Booeyboy often come back and bite you hard in the bum - I for one am looking forward to that unfashionable lot at Arena kicking some serious arse of the so called higher standard clubs this season.

[Deleted]

When i say that Wacks i mean that they don't have the means to be as succesful so they just take it from those who have instead of investing themselves, to be fair to BV they are in a way trying to do something but there going a cheap way about it, i hope they do get it right, for the clubs sake.We don't want another Oxford do we.I'm a big fan of what youngstanley & Cookie are trying to do & they deserve to succeed.We all want the best for our sport at the end of the day. ATB Booey

[Deleted]

booeyboy said:

On the preferred points limit my 1st instinct would be to say whatever kept The Bees 2007 team together & all others should build to that or what Swindon had.Realistically though,some teams just can't cut the mustard with higher standard clubs, so for parity i would've said 41.00.

Let me just say this Booey, it is 10 years ago this year that the mighty Witches 1998 side swept all before them, and guess what 1999, saw them split up.Why should it be any different this year to then, and a lot of the other years in between.

I'm afraid that your post has come across as rather superior, when I'm sure it wasn't intended, but just at the moment it is Coventry's time, probably this season or next it will be Lakeside's time and so on. Come back in 20 years time and tell us if you still have the same promoter and whether the Coventry fortunes have changed over that time.

[admin]

7.. What would have been your preferred points limit this year?
As I understand it, Belle Vue finished last season with a combined average of just under 40 points, so, in theory, a points limit of 38.85 means that all teams had to de-strengthen, which should bring greater parity, but will it?
I understand the rationale behind it, but I don't think promoters have been especially smart in the way they've approached it. For me, 38.85 works best if the riders over 9-9.50 are culled from the league. But aside from Nicki P, that hasn't happened.
As far as I can see, there's just too much cannon fodder in the teams announced. The league might be closer, but since track preparation and home advantage are issues which don't seem to have been addressed and they're as important as points limits in my book, I'm not certain meeting scores will be closer and I don't think the racing will be improved.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that I haven't a problem with the limit set, but that I think it's been undermined and won't have the desired effect.

[Deleted]

1..What was your first meeting, and where?
Wolverhampton 1971 - Cant remember the match, but remember James Bond was riding !

2..What's your most memorable meeting, and why?
The Wembley World Finals. 1978 was great, nut the 81 Final with the Penhall/Olsen/Knudsen clashes were great while Dave Jessup again blew his chances with his engines.

3..Which team do you always hope to get one over on, and why?
Obviously had to be Cradley Heath, but Coventry are possibly the team now due to the strong links they had with CH after they finnished.

Belle Vue as a close second due to the tradition of the club.

4..Who have been your favourite riders over the years?
Favourite all time rider has to be Hans Nielsen while Sam Ermolenko, Ronnie Correy, Ivan Mauger, Malcolm Simmons, Jimmy McMillan, George Hunter and Dave Jessup are favourites over the years.

Favourite rider at present would probably be Hans Andersen, Andreas Jonsson, Fredrik Lindgren, Leigh Adams and David Howe.

5..Which rule(s) would you abandon if you were in charge?
Abandon .... possibly the ruling making riders ride at certain numbers.

If the two lowest averaging riders were at reserve, a team should be allowed to move riders to any riding number they wish to.

6..Who's your money on for World Champion this year?
Money would have to be on Nicki Pedersen .... but who I would like to see win the title would be Leigh Adams who deserves one title before he retires.

[Deleted]

1. My first meeting was at Belle Vue in September 1952. I don't remember much about it though, I was only six weeks old.

2. I've seen some great meetings over the years, but the one that stands out, for all the wrong reasons, is Belle Vue v Leicester in the early 70's when both teams ended up fighting on the track.

3. Love to get one over on Poole; their supporters are so damn smug.

4. Belle Vue have had some great riders over the years, but my particular favourite was the late, great Peter Craven. I also used to like watching Barry Briggs, Ole Olsen, Ray Wilson and of course Ivan Mauger. I can't really ccomment on the 80's because I missed them completely; too busy raising my family.

5. Leave the averages alone - decide on a figure and stick to it.

6. I'm a Belle Vue fan so I've got to say Jason Crump, although I would love to see Leigh Adams win it.

[Deleted]

1..What was your first meeting, and where?

Can't really remember the first meeting - other than it was at Coventry and it would have been around '72 when I was 4 ish. The only names that seem to stick in memory - for whatever reason they would stick in a 4 year old's memory - are Ron Mountford and Nigel Boocock

2..What's your most memorable meeting, and why?

It will always be the '81 world final at Wembley. The whole atmosphere at the place with 90-odd thousand fans at a speedway meeting was superb, but those two last lap home straight passes by Penhall over the two Coventry boys (Olsen and Knudsen) were just sensational.

[That'll be in the days when I was openly a fan of our erstwhile illustrious GP track shagger.]

3..Which team do you always hope to get one over on, and why?

Most of them have gone unfortunately. Cradley and Leicester were always huge - and for some reason more so than Birmingham and Woollyhampton. Exeter was a bit special with Ivan there and then Scott Autrey.

These days top of the list is definitely Belle Vue for me. They've always been this big club from Manchester that has so much history and some great names from my speedway-going era (Collins, Morton et al)

4..Who have been your favourite riders over the years?

Coventry
Nigel Boocock, Ole Olsen, Mitch Shirra, Tommy Knudsen, Gary Guglielmi, Alf Busk, Rick Miller, Greg Hancock, AJ, Scott Nicholls, Billy Janniro, Martin Smolinski, Johnno

Other
Simon Wigg, Peter Collins, Dave Jessup, Malcolm Simmons, Kenny Carter (more a love/hate thing actually), Chris Louis

[Bit of a gap in the middle due to being 'lost in a speedway-less wilderness for 20 years!]

5..Which rule(s) would you abandon if you were in charge?

No surprises here - that stupid double points tactical 'jeus sans frontiere' farcical bollocks!

[Sorry Peterborough - Reading were the deserving champs in 2006 as far as I'm concerned]

6..Who's your money on for World Champion this year?

Its really really hard to bet against NP again.

I'd love one of the Brits to make it obviously - and I think Bomber will certainly be closer this time round - and I'd certainly bet on Scotty breaking his GP duck this season - but neither of them to be champ.

Crumpy will probably lead the chasing pack, but I think Leigh's missed his chance.

AJ should also have a better shot this year if he can stop breaking himself.

The 'Young Guns' (Freddie and KK) are more than likely to stir things up and get podium places.

Then, of course, there's Mr G... and who knows which persona will turn up each time - but I bet its exciting and a bit hairy at times!