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Let us celebrate the beginning of something bigger than petty squabbling. When all else has gone, history will show that Great Britain raced against Australia in a Test match today. This is no small thing and if GB weren't good enough to take home the honours, then bloody well improve. Oz take the bragging rights today and if that hurts (it should) come back fighting all the harder. Feel the desire, because sure as hell the Aussies ain't going to make it easy. And why should they? We have the makings of an international side, but there is a long way to go. There's the need, now want the right outcome. Well done Glasgow. You did a good thing, even if the wrong team won (just kidding!).

This weekend is the one weekend of the season when all FMNR`s have priority on their riders. PZM or any Polish club for that matter has no say where a British or Finnish rider rides this weekend, he rides where his FMNR says he rides. This is why we have the finnish, swedish, polish and danish finals this weekend. All agreed last winter between the big nations.

Mate, it is a big thing. Every single clash between us and your lot is a big thing. As someone said before, if it wasn't an official international, Chris Holder wouldn't get a visa to ride in it. I'm in Glasgow now, nice city. Bring it bloody on!

So I guess Aussie won - so what, why not. Its the first test match in years Team GB has been in (Great Britain is too long so I gonna keep calling them Team GB or even GB). The youngsters have got to start somewhere and now they done it. Its a yardstick been laid and that's a good thing.

Definitely Perhaps because often the view of a good race is one of their teams riders making a pass which is more likely to happen at their home track

With regard too how good or bad the racing is at different tracks...One things for sure posters opinions are nearly all biased towards their own tracks ..and I do include myself in that observation......

Couldn’t disagree more. I support neither club but now living in Colchester and recently retired, I visit both quite frequently. Ipswich is a much better race track IMO. Having been to both venues Thursday and last night it was night and day. Respect your own personal opinion of course. We all have an opinion and what we see. I’ve seen Covatti for example pull of moves at Foxhall in recent weeks that he’d never have a chance in hell of pulling off at Lakeside.

Hope its a huge success.

They must have moved the inside line out to the fence when Nick Morris and Scott Nichols were out then because that's wher e a lot of their 13 points each came from. In fact Scotts two defeats both came when he was off the two inside gates and couldn't get get out to the dirt quick enough . Nicks win in heat 13 was aff gate 4 and he blasted right round the outside of both Scott and Rory.Alfie Bowtell only knows one line and it's not the inside one . His heat win was right round the fence. I though it was a good meeting myself. Highlights for me were Zach in heat 10, going from 2nd to 3rd, back up to second then just taking the win on the line, and heat 11 , with Nick and Rory passing and re passing, several times often so close it was difficult to tell who was in front. It takes two sides to make a decent meeting and I thought Rory and Scott both rode like the quality riders they are, Scott in particular was in find fettle for a 40'year old.

Must of just been me then but I enjoyed the meeting and I thought their was plenty of passing. Looked to be a very good crowd and they even had the fans back on the stock car track. Some encouraging words from Cook regarding the clubs future so fingers crossed what he said they are trying to do comes off.

I enjoyed that today.... well done Glasgow. Well deserved win for the boys from down under Just as I thought pre meeting, it was very difficult choosing who to cheer on with 5 X Monarchs split between the teams so I changed my allegiance from race to race Love or loathe Tai Woffinden, I have to say he makes riding a Speedway bike look so easy. He looks like he’s sitting in an old favourite armchair Big crowd, big noise.... nice touch with the free horns and flags Hope the collection for Lewis Kerr went well, get well soon lad

The problem today was that Lambert refused to ride for his country, deciding he would rather have a holiday, and Rosco chose the wrong Worrall. Why choose an out of form rusty one when Richie is banging in the points? Made no sense.

I think we're going a bit far here by wanting other forms of entertainment. It's speedway ffs and there should be no reason to attract people for any other reason than watching a properly run sport. Speedway is thrilling, but the thrill goes for the newcomers the longer they have to stand around waiting for the next race. waste of time trying to introduce newcomers if you're going to instantly lose them. No gimmicks like double points, no teams being near the bottom after a few months and then signing a few better riders and coming good just at the right end of the season (I didn't even mention Poole). It's like Popeye eating some spinach and growing big muscles. The qualifying matches for the Play-Offs allows this. As long as the team gets there, even if they just scrape it with a much better side than began the season, then they are quids in. Belle Vue lost some fans that they managed to win back a few years ago when Wolves brought in Woffinden to eventually come good in the PO Final after BV had made all the running. Ridiculous. Get the rules right, make it simple, fewer gaps between heats and fewer restarts because of a rider getting a quicker start. There is nothing worse on a cold night than gaps between heats. Nothing worse on a cold night than gaps and having to watch someone trying to entertain you with another form of a show while there's a speedway match going on. Again, the latest BT Sport matches have overrun. Why? 120 minutes to do 15 heats and we still run out of time. It's wrong to make the public think they're getting value for money the longer they're out of the house, but most of the time is spent wishing they'd hurry up with the next race.

There is a reason Tai does not ride in the U.K. Lets face it if he did then he would be scoring maximums every meeting but would it make him a better rider, no - its competing with the top riders in Poland, Sweden etc. that keeps him sharp and at the top of the game. Only one in the Aussie team double up here the others are abroad and until the GB riders do the same we will never be at their level consistently.

That's a fantastic idea. I've never worked out why the promotion here in Ipswich don't do more with the cycle speedway club. When I was a kid I wanted to be a speedway rider but never had the opportunity however I found out about cycle speedway and I did that. They could have a rider at the club in Whitton every week and then open up the Foxhall track once a month to the any kids who want to come along and use pedal power. Hats of to ipswich thou on the tie up with the football club that is great promoting.

My lad plays Sunday League Football... His Club has teams from U8 to U18... There must be around 200 lads/girls in the whole of the Club.. They play in a League that has 40 teams per age group over Four Divisions.. Thats approx 400 different teams in total... That's approx 8000 lads and girls.. Many of the games are played on adjacent pitches so three times on a Saturday and on a Sunday all pitches are full of kids playing football, coaches coaching football and lots and lots of parents, guardians, friends, relatives etc etc of the kids watching football.. Why dont Speedway clubs sponsor their local League and set up 'roadshows' at the various game venues each weekend..? They could either do giveaways or flog £5.00 tickets for adults with kids free.. (These people invariably are not attending Speedway now so hardly any threat of loss of revenue I would suggest).. Plus you would get 'teams' turning up together which can only encourage further visits as individuals won't be 'the only kid there' which looks to be often the case currently.. (As BV have a football pitch in the middle of the track maybe they could even put some short games on during the interval or maybe a longer game before the Speedway starts)? It costs approx £3000 to pay for the end of season prize giving day trophies... My team (BV) must have circa 20 different football Leagues in and around the Gtr Manchester conurbation, in towns such as Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Inner City Mcr, Bolton, Wigan, Tameside... A huge amount of U18's to be made aware of the Sport and targeted... Add to Football, you have Rugby, Cricket, Hockey, Lacrosse and even Cycle Speedway Leagues, (many U18 riders of which don't attend Speedway)! (?)... There are lots of opportunities to get Speedway noticed in its local community with many not costing the earth to do so..

No penny dropping required here. My history of criticism of our promotion's BS over the years is well documented on the forum.

I wasn't there so can't comment on it..but some people class good racing as riders being close all race and some would say that's rubbish as riders can't pass. As long as the majority think it's good and turn up the week after then happy days. I personally try not to visit some tracks , because I don't like what I see, but will travel the other end of the country to what I think is good. We all see and want different things.

Very difficult to go there and score points on a one off visit when home riders are so dialled in even if he used to ride there, one could argue that his score proves how tricky a circuit Armadale is. Even Cook has posted modest scores there in the past as a visitor. Just like Poole in the top division Edinburgh look to be revitalised by a couple of changes and seem to be the team to beat now.

isn't it amazing how we see a meeting differently!. I thought there was a lot passing, good close racing and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Surely representing your country in an actual meeting is more important than practice?

He has started crashing on the way to meetings now, I knew he was prone to the odd accident well several accidents but doing it on the way is taking it to a whole new level.

Not a fine, but there's a big presentation made to Stoke every year they manage to complete their fixtures. Not sure what the presentation consists of because I haven't seen it, as I have only followed the sport since 1956

I have been “lambertlasted” by mostly Kings Lynn fans for having the temerity to say Lambert should cancel his “holiday” to ride in the meeting. To cry off as tired is feeble in the extreme, especially for a kidof his age. Very poor imo.

Thanks for travelling up and giving your views. From what I heard, above the noise and general atmosphere, all riders interviewed over the tannoy thought the shape of the track was better but there were a few bumps. Track record was broken with ease by Tai and most races quicker than normal meetings, as you might expect. Cookie showed what could be done when he finally got his set-up right with him getting a standing ovation for his win over holder in Heat 15. Don't think any Glasgow fan could believe that Steve Worrall was in the GB team. I know its good to be loyal but Steve isn't the Steve that rode with style last year. Hes come back from a bad injury and putting him out against Australia can't have done his confidence any good. Finally a well done to everyone that helped get the meeting on plus all the volunteers.

Despite it being pretty naff racing it was well worth the 500 mile round trip to see the top riders. Surreal watching Holder and Woffinden battle it out at a venue that I've seen Lee Dicken try to fight Pepe Franc. GB were just annihilated from the starts and was very little passing throughout really. Heat 8 was good. Woffinden class above really from a GB perspective. Aussies have a good future ahead, Fricke and Kurtz remind me of Adams and Crump in style and seem like decent blokes too. Jack Holder getting better all the time too. Glasgow have done a wonderful job with the stadium and facilities but, as the racing and criticism from a couple of riders proves, still work to do on the bit that matters.

It's not multi billion in the lower leagues though is it. Even the likes of cash strapped Leyton orient were never in danger of losing their ground.

Eastbourne as well is under threat I hear. As far as Lakeside is concerned the development is probably still some way off because, as I understand it ther3 still has to be risk assessment for environmental impact and pollution. As the was previously a sand pit or quarry it seems quite possible there will need to be clean up of the site which could be expensive, even prohibitive. Things are very much in the air at the moment and could go either way, but Jon Cook seemed very adamant that he wants to keep Speedway alive in the South East.

Big Boys Club gathering at Stockholm this weekend... I think I want to get in it.

When did a Test Match get reduced to 15 Heats?

I was waiting for somebody to come out with that.....different situation as it was agreed between he and Rosco that he is rested, whereas Tungate wants to ride, Lemon wants him to ride but he is being told to attend practice by the bully boys in Poland. For the record, I've always said that Lambert should be there really but that I understand why he won't be. It's a situation which has had common sense applied to it unlike Tungate's. Any meeting where countries are being represented should take priority over practice.

But according to yourself, it's OK for Robert Lambert to be excused for a prearranged holiday break Personally, if a rider declines a short notice booking for whatever reason, that's their prerogative

It’s horses for courses, surely? There are some riders that perform first/ second bend cut backs at Lakeside that would be difficult at certain other tracks. On the other hand there are riders like Scott Nicholls who has shown in the last couple of days that he is a class act at both tracks at both tracks. That’s what makes the sport so interesting, different riders having different capabilities.

Teams build to Premiership averages upto around 35 and if you want to go top heavy fine as some like Berwick, Peterborough etc will go balanced with six and five point riders mainly

I'd be happy with 65-25 right now

Jake certainly prefers a larger track but is good enough to get around the tighter ones now,. Sounds like he held his end up tonight for the team on an otherwise difficult night.

Has Heeps had enough chances? Perhaps another change and possibly the witches could just make the play offs. I really hope that next season the teams can get back to weekly racing a build continuity so that the riders are getting regular track time and they can be slighter better in terms of race fitness then appears to be the case at present. Forget doubling up, build team to ride as a team and with that will come the confidence and camaraderie rather than individuals plying their trade around the country with little or no loyalty and no rider/club following

Why should the FIM do anything about this? The meeting in Glasgow is just another open meeting under the same of 'test match', nothing more, nothing less. Business talks in Lodz right now. They need to get their riders ready on their new home track if they wanna avoid the relegations.

Just a little reminder, that one of the up and coming riders, (Stephan Nielsen) that was doubling up for you, broke his leg near the start of the season whilst entertaining your supporters, he has been out injured ever since that night, and as a Scunthorpe Scorpion supporter I am suggesting that Poole could have a collection for the young guy at one of your remaining home meetings. I am sure that Steph would very much appreciate any sort of financial support you could muster up, as he has only been able to ride for less that five weeks of this season and has just had his pot removed this week. Thanks to who ever deals with these things at Polle.

Yes it is a s**t hole but its our s**t hole, if I had Belle Vue or Poole on my doorstep I would go there but I don't, and unlike a lot of football fans, us speedway supporters follow our local teams.

Does it really matter where he broke his leg IronScorpion, he is our rider who was doubling up to earn his wages, mjust like 60% of other Championship Riders. It would not hurt Poole to also have a collection for him, but in my opinion Scunthorpe acted very quickly in having a collection for Steve, where I always throw a £5 in along with my youngest son who also does the same, so whoever does these collections I for one would appreciate one being done for Steph, and if you feel like your comment suggests IronScorpion, please inform me and I will also put a fiver in for you !!! If there are any supporters that have Poole conections that read this, please just remind someone about them doing something for the young lad who crashed and broke his leg whilst entertaining your fans.

I’m really looking forward to this meeting. A line up like this in Scotland is fantastic. Plaudits to Glasgow and organisers Now..... who to support? Team GB obviously but so many individual favourites...... got our tickets, bring it on

It appears this is the official thread for this meeting.

Metal Speedway league. http://metalspeedwayleague.dk/forside.aspx DMU website: http://dmusport.dk/sport/speedway/ http://speedwayzone.dk/ http://www.danskspeedway.dk/ http://se.aktuellspeedway.eu/resultat/danmark/

Best you take a look on youtube from meetings back in the day.

Think all tracks should do it if it improves the track and ultimately the racing. Just be a bit more discreet about it.

So if it was on purpose, surely Poole will be fined, they can’t do that, health and safety and all that?

Well at least it was closer than I expected. Great to see the Pie-man rattle off those early wins, though he'll be less happy with the 3 subsequent falls. However he's showing improvement, long may it continue. Saw Drew Kemp late last season at BV & was impressed then. But was thrilling to watch his trackcraft in heats 13 & 15, phenomenal for one so young! A future star, absolutely no doubts about that.

WHATEVER the pros and cons of Pardubice, the fact is that Prague is a huge favourite for fans with the stadium just a tram ride from the city centre.

What a stupid post. Rene bach at reserve? Name one team in either league that wouldn't snap your hand of at that? Also since buying a new engine have you seen rene's scores riding at number ? Also it's plain to see me Godfrey has manipulated workingtons fixtures for his own benefit