"There are a few riders that I am close to, who do two leagues. They are saying that they can't make it viable (with one big league). They earn good money in Britain if they are doing two leagues. If they cut it to one, I'm sure most of them will go back to Australia and won't worry about speedway. They would earn more money in Australia, working in the mines. It's going to kill the sport." Jason Doyle opens up on the dilemma facing his fellow countrymen this winter.
SIXTY SECONDS...
"My mum was really ill around that time. I remember going to that meeting and wanting to do her proud while she was watching it on TV. I ended up going to see her in the hospice with the gold medal. That makes those races I had in the SoN much more poignant for obvious reasons. It had so much meaning." Tom Brennan recalls Britain's 2021 Speedway of Nations victory, a meeting full of special personal memories.
MY YEAR: MALCOLM SIMMONS IN 1978
"Just as we were about to be pushed out from the pits, Peter Oakes walked very close by me, turned round and whispered in my ear: 'You know Ivan's never been beaten in a run-off, don’t you?'. It was ever such a clever move by Peter, another part of Mauger's psychological strategy and typical of the mind games he played on a lot of riders through the years. As I came back to the pits gate afterwards, Peter was the first person I saw, so I just looked at him and, with a big smile on my face, said: 'He has now!'." Simmo recalls the 1978 World Pairs Final.
ALSO IN THIS WEEK'S MAGAZINE
Closing Times: Exeter • Track review: Scunthorpe • Grasstrack: Barrie Bennett interview • Off the Beaten Track: Chelsea photoshoot • Snapshot: British Grand Prix 2000.
