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Was announced as being a Bournemouth player, despite playing for Newcastle for the last 2 seasons. No mention of Kelvin Mullarkey passing away. Bet your bottom dollar if Darcy Ward had sneezed it would have flagged up. Annoying.

http://www.swindonrobins.co/news.php?extend.3124 This is possibly one of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen relating to British Speedway, and that's saying something. From the cringeworthy garden shed production of the video to the awful amateurish interviewer, the apparent hen party going on in the background and that's before you get to the interview itself. British Speedway is absolutely dead in the water and needs putting out of its misery if this is the best it can do. Utterly disgraceful, and whoever decided that video was fit for an official website should be shot immediately.

Not difficult!

Win from Bellego in heat 14 makes sure the Robins don't lose. Just thought I'd mention it.

Another cracking and entertaining match last night. So pleased to see the OTA looking smooth again with numerous racing lines. Have to admit, when Morris and Thorsell led the 2017 world champion and BWD to an easy 5-1 in heat one, I thought it was going to be one of those nights. However, as what seems to happen quite often at Somerset, once the first track grade is completed, the Rebels almost always up their game. This was an excellent all round performance from the Rebels and as I predicted earlier this season, they will take some stopping on their own ‘turf’. Even with Doyle struggling to get out of the start, the engine room provided sold backing. The switch in positions between Holder and Lawson appeared to work and Jake Allen’s drop to reserve can only benefit him and the team. Jonas Jeppesen looks a fine signing by Garry May. He rarely makes the start, but is tenacious in his pursuit of a pass. It won’t be long before he posts double figures at the OTA I’m sure. Interesting to see Charles Wright, who apart from his first ride looked really quick, grumbling to track staff about track conditions. Reckon Charles is only happy when he’s having a moan! fortunately, the track looked fine but the gremlins crept back with constant issues with the tapes. The naked eye seemed to indicate they were sagging in the middle and lifting slower on the outside. This was possibly borne out with the remarkable statistics of 12 wins out of 15 from gate one. Unusual in itself for Somerset as the outside gate normally proves more popular. Wolves battled really hard all night and I thought they deserved a point Thorsell, Schlein Masters and Howarth all fought hard in every race Howarth on occasions did look pretty wild though Good to see ex rider Bruce Cribb on the centre green Delighting the many Exeter fans who regularly turn up at Somerset for their speedway fix Cribb was roundly applauded by the Rebels fans on his way out to the centre green and on his way back to the pits

Wow , clearly I have no idea, sorry for my saying my non understanding view now where did I put that teeshirt ?

Have you been to Plymouth ? You can see some excellent speedway there despite its size . Likewise Redcar isnt the biggest , but the speedway can be brilliant there . On the other hand , Berwick is one of the biggest and you can watch 15 heats of follow the leader there . To quote the old saying " size doesnt matter " .

That is a very fair post and IMO a very fair assessment. I grew up watching speedway at a big track and it took me some time to adjust to Arena but as you say its in the eye of the beholder. According to Stuart Robson, it was the most physically demanding track in what was then the Elite League, and according to Kelvin Tatum and Neil Middleditch it is a very mentally demanding track . Of course that gives it both plusses and minuses as a spectacle but unfortunately some want to dismiss it without looking for the finer points. However to see someone like Peter Karlsson performing his famous cut backs at Lakeside or Wolves is really a special aspect of the sport that you don't see at many tracks. One thing Kelvin said, is that many riders are beaten in their minds before the racing even starts. They convince themselves they cant ride certain tracks so don't overcome the mental challenge, especially if they know they have a track the next night that gives them a big payday. Of course there are the narrow minded armchair experts who never will get there minds round the fact that different tracks have different qualities, but personally I think we are very lucky in this country to have such a variety of tracks to enjoy. Its just a pity that most of them are in such dilapidated stadiums

Championship crowds run to lesser crowds after years and years of often having to run 'select teams' when their heat leaders are needed in other countries... Even the most ardent fans are now giving such nonsense a miss.. When it's not 'your team' then why attend? So many have simply lost that 'emotional attachment' as it has been eroded away by a completely unfit for purpose Operating Model.. One thing for me though is clear.... If the Leagues actually possessed 100% credibility, and everything else was equal, ie the same 14 riders, the same weather conditions, the same start time and the same admission costs. The crowd levels attracted on a Friday or Saturday evenings, or a Sunday afternoon, would far out weigh the crowd you would generate (for exactly the same thing) on any given evening Monday to Thursday... The flip side to that is it doesn't really matter what night you run if fans are not going to attend because they don't feel any attachment to any randomly cobbled together teams put in front of them... That weekend clubs currently ride in front of 'lesser crowds' is more down to a disillusioned ex fan base, who gradually got more peed off with the nonsense being put in front of them I would suggest rather than the night they race on... Quite simply the current British Speedway Operating Model does absolutely no one any great favours... And that is not usually a successful way to run a business....

Iversen has had a lot of good years at Kings Lynn, Holder was a Poole rider andfor one season rode for Kings Lynn and add in the night he refused to ride he was never going to be liked in the same way as Iversen. They give him slack because of the past and he is coming back from injury.

Yes,i agree.Sports journalists would be used to that because I think both Cycling team and Cross country athletics etc all have to have a certain amount of team members finish in front of the other countries 4 or 5 and the winner of the race doesn't matter...that part isn't unique .In fact they would probably find the idea of one of the team going off on his own to win the race and leaving his team mate(s) to fend for him/themselves, stranger

If he did get big offers thrown at him it would be based on his potential.....at twenty years old he beat seven current or recent GP riders last week and he will only get better. He may not have scored hatfuls of points but those he did score were mainly unexpected given his lack of experience. You are absolutely right about keeping his feet on the ground, and from what I have seen this season his and his family's feet are firmly grounded.

The execution of this decision added to which you have fewer meetings in the Championship meaning that no team/rider can get some momentum going and probably a further reduction in fans going to mid week meetings probably will result in disaster for some clubs who may not come to the tapes in 2019 and others with a bloody nose financially speaking. Racing does not match the quality seen in individual events such as the British Final yet most supporters are fickle and only want league racing which is and will never be what it was many years back. Bikes have changed, with few exceptions riders can’t team ride and the double up is a joke and with no hope of the top stars ever returning to British racing you have a sport in its twilight years. It is going nowhere and those in charge have dug such a huge hole from themselves it is unlikely they can get out of the mire that they have created. The current fixed race nights are a disaster for the sport and would only work if the fixed days revolved around weekends and for that to happen and possibly see clubs survive, the sport at domestic level has to forget the other nations and start to rebuild for the future. The chances of that happening are nil.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. BV is a very good track but criticising all other tracks for not being the same layout seems a bit weird. There are plenty of decent tracks in the UK.

Rosco going mental at a trainee ref. Really, the word is trainee and therefore a ref that is likely to make errors. Does Rosco believe a trainee ref is not likely to make a mistake? When Rosco became a team manager was he perfect from the start? a silly rant in the local rag.

SURE they did and initially tried but too few on here are giving due credit to the Russian pair.

The predictable bit is right, At least he tells it like it is . You others on here, equally predictable that watch matches with their eyes shut , and then glorify it, in defeat. Let face it , What started out to be an optimistic season, has descended into a total farce. We are now position at the bottom of the league, where we belong. What a pity the Promoters don't understand the dire situation the club is in and get it sorted. Personally I'm fed up with all the excuses....

lmao! Oh heaven forbid it would have been a 2-4.. what a disaster that would have been, we'd have only got silver medal... oh wait. Staggering the level of intellect displayed on this forum at times!

Maybe not , but when you have a reserve scoring double figures away from home you should have half a chance . Certainly when your number 7 scores 11 you should expect to get more than 32 .

I don't think the surface or the width of Lakeside is what makes it a marmite track for many people, but how tight riders have to turn to get round the bends. It makes tracks like Arena, Edinburgh, Wolves etc more challenging for away riders as they are more unique, and if as an away fan you see your riders struggling to get round efficiently it can cloud your judgement. Personally I like the variety that smaller tracks provide and I've seen more good meetings than bad at Lakeside. That said I think good racing on a big, fast track will always trump good racing on a little one. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder at the end of the day.

I'm sure if NKI ever refused to ride in a home meeting he'd be heavily criticised too. This week is the first time Neils' UK form hasn't mirrored what he has been doing abroad....apart from a good score in Sweden he was pretty average everywhere before his op. Despite one or two unfounded claims on this thread he always gives it 100% in my eyes.....in contrast Holder never looked interested last year.

What do you think as a fan watching bikes bounce around the track?? What the rider's think is irrelevant as they're being paid. The sport needs to attract fans, not rider's opinions. To watch that every week I'd rather go to Alton Towers and enjoy the rollercoasters myself.

heat 13 was right out of the top drawer, a brilliant ride from Ritchie

that's not what the riders said at the after match press conference, they all loved it

Doesn't look as though the track improvements have improved much. Seeing bikes bounce around the track is horrendous.

Don't need anyone at Poole at the moment thanks

nothing fortunate - we were good, you were not

Don't think he would improve the team.

Starman, I am sure you are 100% right. The last 2 weeks Robert Lambert has made a big name for himself in European Speedway Circles, I would guess next season he will have big offers thrown at him from here there and everywhere. I would say for the remainder of this season, enjoying him while you can.

That's because on this topic, we do. That is indisputable.

Last season the racing was pretty good after the reshaping of the bends & it was much better than previous years, but this season it's definitely gone backwards with little overtaking & back to follow the leader. Although the shape isn't ideal there's not a lot can be done about that now, it is what it is, If it produced decent racing last season why is it not this year? So you would presume it's down to track preparation. There doesn't seem enough dirt & the inside line looks almost bare before the meeting starts, what little dirt there is gets pushed out to the fence & doesn't get dragged back. Glynn used to have a blade on the tractor that dragged it back & he would go from outside to inside bringing the dirt back during grading, don't know whether that kit isn't available now, but it's not used. Finally it seems much too dry, & the attempts at watering last night were frankly laughable. I wish they would at least try putting more dirt down especially on the inside & keep it watered.

No, just that tracks under 300m can produce good racing. Nowhere in the UK matches the NSS but others can be very good too. (to Stoke Potter)

"hope"? That's exactly what he did! Except he went for the win. As for your remark about "scoobies" You know nothing of my experience in Speedway.

Your posts get worse and worse on this subject. But lets's engage in your fantasy world for a moment and assume that Tai did initially try and quickly gave up. Explain to me how it was in any way a good 'tactic' for Tai to chase the win. The win was irrelevant. By chasing it, Tai risked a greater chance of being excluded or falling which would have rendered any miraculous overtake of Sayfutdinov by Lambert irrelevant. Can you imagine the furore if Lambert had of got by Emil in the latter stages only for Tai to fall or be excluded in his chase of Laguta?

SUPER, SUPER, SUPER KELV! With respect to the many talented and brave riders who have ever pulled on a Rye race jacket, for me, Mullarkey, Fiala, Garrad and Hubbard WERE Rye House, (Those team leathers)! .. and what a team, all our own boys week in week out! No guests, no foreigners,- all who came to the ‘house’ were put to the sword! Joe Owen, John Jackson, Dave Perks and Tom Owen, all the league’s ‘big beasts’ could not live with our happy bunch... ah yes, that was a team, THE team!... all for one and one for all! ...And Kelvin was an integral part of that. But two things later on in his Rye career stand out for me, In 1989, when Ronnie Russell’s team were up against it, he answered the call to cover for injuries, despite having not ridden for three or four years,- and came straight back into the team Ah! Those infadex leathers, those wide handlebars and that trademark style, - partnered at number two with Mel Taylor his first match was at home against Poole? despite a fall in one heat he finished that comeback match with a score of 8+1 (I think?) from five rides, but in his second ride he over took one of the Poole superstars (Craig Boyce?) to win the heat, as he crossed the line the guy behind me on the terrace threw down his programme and said “ Well, I’m not worried about the result if he (Kelvin) can still do things like that”!!! He finished the year with a very healthy near six point average and showed many flashes of his old self! Next year he was not used again but, as our regular luck would have it the team suffered with injuries once again and back he came, this time in an unfamiliar set of plain black leathers but still with the open face helmet and the monkey mask, but time and equipment had moved on and that year Kelvin did find things tough and struggled at reserve scoring twos and threes. BUT, one wet Wednesday evening we (Rye) pulled off a shock win 49-47 AT Wimbledon’s plough lane track. For those of us who were there the match was exciting due to the closeness of the score rather than the racing, Kelvin contributed his normal two or three pints from reserve but in a result like that, every point counts and, meeting him in the alley which doubled up as the pits at plough lane straight after the match his first words to me were “ we’ve never won here before!!” Beaming from ear to ear his two point total was not a problem because the Rye House team had won the match! What a team man, what loyalty! Kelvin, for you, Hero is too small a word! Steve Ribbons.

Course you do, because you clearly haven't got a scoobies. In actual fact, Tai going for win was utterly and completely the wrong thing to do for more reasons than team riding. Tai winning the race was irrelevant as we have seen.. We have some trying to claim it's impossible or dangerous to slow and help a team mate, even though Tai had already done it in the event and its been done countless times in the past... so we'll eliminate that option for the sake of this argument.. As such we have Tai in a safe 2nd place.. and we need Lambert to pass Emil... So please tell me how it benefited us in the slightest Tai taking risks to go for the win? Just imagine had he come together with Laguta, been excluded, fell off in a brave attempt to pass just as Lambert happened to get by Emil.. or Emil suffered an ef. What a calamity that would have been! So in summary... Tai going for the win was never ever the 'right' tactic. If you're not going to team ride, you take the safe 2nd place and hope Lambert gets into 3rd.

Well that really was a team effort against a rider. Stand up Robert Lambert and take a bow. Was brilliant until his last two rides. Pirates finally clicked as a team tonight. Sure the opposition was very poor bar one rider but a few weeks ago KL would probably have got a point. No chance tonight with every Poole rider getting at least one race win. Should have hit 60 tonight but for two silly falls to Woryna and Kurtz, who hobbled off in heat 13. Hope it’s nothing serious. Some very good racing with special mention to Richie Worrall whose last two rides brought the house down. In heat 13 Iversen led but Worrall got through only for Kurtz to fall and a rerun. In the rerun the KL boys were on a 5-1 but Worrall first passed Robert Lambert then went after Iversen and got him with a superb cutback. In heat 15 he did it again to join an excellent Sundstrom for a 5-1. Here’s clip I shot of Lamberts welcome.

where does it say if you ride a speedway bike you have to make money at it ? costs to riders are what they are and that is vastly inflated by themselves having all the latest bling that isn't needed , ive seen riders lately buy a complete new set of rear sprockets and then sell them for another set because they changed the colour scheme ,not cause the sprockets were worn or in some cases even used but because hey the fans will pay for it, strangely you don't hear motox riders saying they want paying cause their costs have risen, I know exactly what the costs are but if you don't like it then go do something else, sick to death of hearing this costs this and this costs that, go do some other motorsport and tell the organisers you want paying because the price of diesel has risen or you just had an engine serviced, they will tell you to go away, we are talking about the lowest league riders and they want paying about £300 to do something they supposedly love, they should be greatful they have a league to ride in, ive tried to put forward ideas to reduce the costs to the riders but they are not interested and give a million reasons why they need this and that, if your big sprinter van doesn't do 40mpg get a smaller van that does or cant you fit the girlfriend in the back ?

NEGOTIATIONS currently taking place

He wouldn't ride...…..We all know what went on. His well documented problems didn't stop him from scoring 13 at Poole, i think it was the night before? If he had, no doubt he would of finished the season out ? NKI's slack will soon start to run out.. But Nki has been loyal to Lynn, where as Holder didn't give a toss imho

Whilst the shape is certainly not ideal, it isn't the only factor conducive to decent racing. It is the same shape as last year and yet the racing is nowhere near as a good. The SWC at belle vue in 2016, the race off was one of the dullest meetings I've ever seen yet the next day the final was fantastic. Shape was the same both days therefore it must have been the weather & subsequent preparation that made the difference in quality. With regards to any radical reshaping, the only options would be taking the track out and doing away with either the back straight stand or taking the home straight out into the waste ground. Either way I doubt it is affordable in the current climate (lottery win aside lol)

Did they? Looked to me like Laguta was going flat out for the win until Tai passed him.

Very sad news, so many fantastic memories from that golden era at Hoddesdon with Kelvin in the forefront of most! One that stands out for me was a second half final at Rye and Kelvin and a young Andrew Silver were in the race. Kelvin gated and rode every inch of the track to keep the much faster Silver behind him, on a bike that was popping and spluttering away! It was as if he had wing mirrors and he had this ability to control a race, holding the white line and moving at what looked like walking pace. The young Silver was not best pleased after the race but he had learnt a lesson in trackcraft! But Kelvin was a very good NL rider as well, boasting 9+ point averages in the days that the National Leagues was exceptionally tough, featuring riders of the the ability and standing that Steve mentions above and leading a young, precocious group of mainly home grown talent to the top of the league. Rye House and speedway have lost a true legend, easy to say but in this case fully warranted. RIP Kelvin and thanks for the memories.

Surely it depends on the standard of the riders involved,quite sure you would see excellent racing at these venues with BF field.

the big names haven't come back because of £££. And don't say if you bring them back crowds will rise because there's no guarantee and people will go bust finding out.

properly remodel the track... or watch attendances drop off and the club die

Now confirmed Rybnik

Ever heard of a edit button. Idiot

The league that we entered 25 years ago is unrecognisable today and in my opinion has lost its way. The problems started from our point of view when the NL was formed and costs doubled overnight. Since then Eastbourne and Birmingham dropped down as they couldn't sustain the costs of the leagues that they were in and their costs must have more than halved but they have mostly retained the support so financially must be better off. Lakeside also did a season which added to the bigger clubs in the league and pushed costs up. Riders demands are increasing at an impossible rate for clubs like ourselves and Kings Lynn. The league is now, more than ever, an extension of the Championship with riders asking and getting £25-£30+ per point with tyres, fuel, oil, racesuits and mechanic wages in addition. Riders expect to be paid a wage for NL speedway and we can't compete with that. Most if not all other forms of motorsport are pay to enter. There are less riders to go around as a number are injured or have walked away from the sport and the up and coming riders from the Youth scene invariably go to the highest bidder. It becomes harder each year to field a team and the pay rates in the NL must have an impact on the leagues above. It seems that some NL clubs want the cheaper alternative of NL racing but want to be a professional league which understandably doesn't sit well with the higher leagues who are paying far higher rates to stage speedway.

That's your opinion , have you seen Grondal racing this year, his average is over five and a half riding at no;2 Shanes has had the luxury of riding at reserve and struggling to achieve 4 point average