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Traditional race sheet for 2018 German GP:- https://www.keepandshare.com/doc16/21456/gp-2018-10-pdf-39k?da=y

Just a thought but if mother nature decides to pi*s on our parade literally and we end up not completing the season due to the weather and/or failing to get meetings run, how stupid are the people running our sport going to look after the warmest summer in decades. There decision to alter the fixture calendar could ultimately cost them there jobs (here's hoping).

Very unprofessional what happened this evening. Some action needs to be taken if only to prevent this happening again in professional sport. Very few fans ever seem to make it across the 69 anyway but for the Diamonds to field such a weakened further damages the image of the sport but more importantly adds to the financial burden on the Comets promotion. Sad way for Robbo to bow out of a distinguished career, wonder if the missing riders gave any thought to this being his final meeting.

After reading the latest posts on this thread I decided to do a exercise on the two Saturday tracks Berwick race night Saturday Workington race night Saturday alternative night Friday,From Sat 7/4 to Sat 30/6 is 13 Saturdays Berwick raced 10 meetings 1 rained off, 2 with no meeting. Workington raced 4 meetings { 2 v Glasgow 1 v Edin 1 v BER on a Friday ) 1 rained off and 8 with no meetings . Looking at these facts Berwick 2 no meetings, Workington 8 no meetings in the same period nothing to do with Godfrey and Chapman if Berwick can do it [young promotion ] why cant Workington do it now await all the flak but figures do not lie

Got to balance out the dodgy polish referees somehow!!!

How can you have a long track meeting at Rye??

Strangely 3 of the teams who they tried to screw over , Lakeside & Worky , Peterboro , are in the play-offs now there's a bit of karma for ya

The trouble is it won't cost them there jobs Chapman & Godfrey are as thick as thieves and will back each other as they know what is best for British speedway , wink & a nod and all that sort of stuff . I am still waiting for Chapman's vision of clarity that was promised when he took over as BSPA chairman, if things don't change then it's going to be a long wait with more clubs going to the wall.

Yet again the long suffering supporters suffer. Last time the Diamonds were in town most of them at least turned up (though only Tero could be bothered) and I stated that they should give any of their supporters that made the trip over their money back. Tonight having deceived the paying public by stating that only Kus was missing, they should compensate the home supporters and the home promotion. What a farce. And they wonder why speedway is dying on its a**e.

Always supported George and the promotion 120%. Sorry, just no excuse for this!! Massive disrespect to the team and the supporters.

Guy ropes & pegs will be essential for keeping the folding chairs in place then.

IF you have ever witnessed the draw or actually been involved as I was for a while you will know that it is impossible to fix.

Four of those five are exactly the people who have presided over the slow and steady decline of British speedway. What makes you think they have the answers now? If you want fresh thinking you need people who ideally have no connection with speedway, potentially even from outside the world of sport.

Lets bloody hope so , needs to take the other one with him

Shambles the only word to describe the Newcastle team at Workington tonight, And people wonder why crowds are down and the sport can’t attract decent league sponsorship, Shame for the home promotion too who are clearly struggling to balance the books and will no doubt score 60+ tonight making it a very expensive night .

Surely Newcastle will face some sort of action from BSPA. I know its end of season.... but that really is just so unprofessional. Paying spectators short changed big style!! Sorry for Workington fans and indeed any Diamonds fans who had not given up hope of pulling off a surprise victory. Getting more angry as I write this so will shut up now!! PS Gutted for the remaining 4 Diamonds also who will no doubt try their very hardest to support the weakened 6 man team

Not sure I agree with the out of sight out of mind approach sorry, or with those saying there are no 'physical' victims. This man had 108 Cat A images and 100s more B and C including new borns to 15 years old, this is not a victimless crime! He is going to be released in a matter of weeks so bugger the idea of ignoring it. I almost guarantee he will be on here with an alias with us happily chatting away to him without any idea, very very soon!!

Chuckle brother's comes to mind .

There is no way I was trying to state that Malcolm Simmons has exclusive rights to be called a Legend regarding speedway that would be a completely stupid assertion of mine. There are many riders that I admire right from the beginning of speedway starting in the UK that I would have loved to have seen riding and i wish that I had a time-machine to carry this function out.

I'm sure the CEO of Domino's will have more ideas about how to market speedway than the current incumbents at the BSPA. When Barry Hearn became chairman of the PDC did he change the value of a bull's eye to 75 and introduce a rule where if a player is 100 points down his next three darts count double? Of course not. He was looking at the bigger picture, how to revolutionise the presentation of darts, engaging with sponsors who can bring credibility to the sport and negotiating a multi-million pound TV deal. This is the problem with the BSPA. They think they can turn around speedway's fortunes by endless tinkering with the rules, league structures and names. If anything the BSPA are too close to speedway. How often do the likes of the FA, RFU and so on introduce the types of rule changes we see every year in speedway. What the BPSA as the governing body should be doing is looking at the bigger picture not arguing over rule changes every year.

Not exactly achieved much have they? Quite the opposite more likely.

I know it's only folks having a chat about him but I will be happy when this thread has disappeared into obscurity, the fella is vermin and will probably be revelling in the fact that he's being discussed here. I know I know, by posting in the thread I'm keeping it prominent but if it discourages one or two from continuing then it's worth the effort.

I wonder if he's still able to sit !!!

Not including his stint with Poole Hancock rode 18 seasons in Britain, which I think puts him level with Hans Nielsen in terms of time spent in the British League. Nielsen quit the UK when he was 35, Hancock when he was 37 (or thereabouts). I don't think you'll find anyone claiming that Hans owes the UK anything, who did much the same and rode his final years in Europe. Forgive me if my stats or memory has let me down - I've taken them from Wikipedia but it seems about right. The main difference is that Hancock has carried on riding at the top level long past the usual, and perhaps by his mid thirties felt he didn't want or need to chase around Europe every day of the week unless the money was silly, which it isn't going to be in the UK. He certainly isn't the only one to make that decision I will admit being a Cradley fan of a certain vintage makes me probably a little biased

I've seen no evidence of Zmarzlik being a dirty rider, hard and aggressive certainly. But you have to be to get anywhere these days..unless you have Hancock's gating skills. I think Woffinden tends to get a bit precious over a bit of hard riding, although Nicki's move on him in Malilla wasn't even hard, never mind dirty. I don't know how Woffy (and Janowski) would've coped against Olsen and Nielsen! Being British I guess I want Tai to win, but I wouldn't mind if it was Zmarzlik, simply because I love watching him race.

Right call made by the promotion. Pretty grim evening and a lot of expense on flights etc would have been wasted. Fingers crossed for better weather next Thursday.

Triple headers, why not. You could run the whole home season in five meetings.

He's having a break, so he is.

Zmarzlik dirty, nah, no more than ANY others over the years, the list would be endless!

The nail has largely been hit on the head. Focus on the product and not the names. There si no doubt that a GP star in full flight is a fine sight to behold BUT week in week out i would rather see closely contested races with riders going to the tapes and all having a genuine shout of winning & the potential for some actual overtaking. I care not about who is involved in producing a good race as long as its a good race. The gulf in quality within teams needs to be reduced as does the gaps between teams in leagues. I like many i know want affordable entertainment simple as that.

Yes - Stuart Robson deserved the well earned round of applause after his final race. I'm glad I managed to shake his hand after the meeting and had the opportunity to thank him for the entertainment he has provided throughout his career.

That may be the case but, unless there is a decent amount of sponsor or tv money surely any Championship club would be very wary about joining the Premier League but that is up to them.

All the best to Robbo in his Speedway retirement .

I think ppl are jumping the gun abit, no body knows the reasons for putting out this team tonight, riders not appearing could be totally out of the promotions hands. I agree it's not good but I'm not going to slag anyone off until we get an explanation.

Keith M your being cynic

I don't doubt your figures - may be it is a case of not being able to find any opposition willing to visit on those dates.

If we do get past Somerset then I would prefer BV as we would have the choice of home or away first. If its KL they would have the choice.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone,now all we want is good weather,a great meeting and a Stars victory of course

As for highlights i think most have been covered in terms of exceptional rider performances. Bickley & Edwards have been encouraging without stealing headlines likewise the progress of Rowe & Atkins. Other highs include the growing reputation of the IOW and the respect they receive for their promotional efforts, the National league continuing to flourish and an exciting play off run in. Lows injuries to far too many, non committed riders occupying places others would have benefited from, Buxton not scoring a point so far (they deserve better) and Stokes track woes continuing.

But true

I am not a lover of Barry Hearn a dictator i know but he gets things right 99% of the time and has kept up with the times.That sort of leadership could work Berry would of been great but it was not to be ancient history .Five names i would put forward to work TOGETHER to revamp British speedway would be Eric Boocock - Neil Vatcher- Neil Machin- Lee Kilby- Peter Adams all of them have serious qualities and what they all have in common is that they all love speedway.

The only thing is Hodgy he puts himself forward as the Poole spokesman and that sometimes puts the 99% per cent of the good Poole fans in a bad light.He often posts just to get a reaction and as was shown on his comment on the Bewley/RR situation does not do his research.Gavan is like me we have BOTH been critical of Poole in the past but both of us dont hate Poole far from it i have enjoyed most of my visits there over the years. Also to Gavan's credit he did not react badly to that nasty personal attack on him by SS that was totally uncalled for.If Poole win the play/ offs i will give them the credit they deserve for me winning it with this side would be up there with there greatest ever achievements.

With racing like that and getting home before 10pm its looking more likely

I've lost count of which 'five year plan' is currently running as there seems to have been so many over the past five years... One thing is for sure though. There is no doubt that this AGM will be the most important in the Sports history.. In fact. Very much the same as last years was.. And the one before that.... And indeed the one the year before that year etc etc etc ad infinitum.. Another thing for sure is that this year they need to come up with an operating model that has credibility, integrity, and is both cost effective and fit for purpose.. In fact. Very much like they needed to do last year.. And the one before that... And indeed the one the year before that year etc etc etc ad infinitum..

Pity it's not being held in Durham and at 1.00pm, but it's not.

It was in a different way !!!

The original point was about both riders getting booed.....Batch can’t be surprised at receiving that treatment for pulling out of a meeting he clearly didn’t fancy and then guesting for somebody else the next night before putting in zero effort for Lynn at Leicester on the Saturday. Pretty sure it was said on Radio Norfolk by Dale that no chances were taken with Niels’ knee after an extended assessment period which resulted in the extensive grading. I’m quite happy to believe that he pulled out as a precaution and then found the next morning that it wasn’t too bad and that he was able to ride in a very important play off meeting for Smederna. I also believe that had it been a Lynn meeting on Tuesday that he would have ridden in that too. As professionals Batchelor and Iversen are chalk and cheese.

1970s pop group Mud were Wimbledon fans back in the day. They even sponsored a second half at Wimbledon in 1976 a picture take at the meeting appeared on the back cover of 22 May 1976 edition of the Speedway Star. They are seen sitting on bikes whilst in the background are Martin Ashby, Tommy Jansson and Peter Collins. The picture was taken at the Wimbledon Vs Belle Vue (Speedway Star KO Cup) (35-43) match on 8 April 1976. The Mud Challenge Final result was Peter Collins, Martin Ashby, Tommy Jansson with Chris Morton (retiring). Martin Ashby was at Wimbledon due to his Golden Helmet challenge match against Tommy Jansson which Tommy won 2-0. Sadly, the Speedway Star was printed and published with a date 2 days after Tommy's tragic fatal accident in Sweden and was his last image printed on a cover of the Speedway Star magazine.

It is a scourge on society unfortunately but not enough is being done to remedy it.

Any rider who doesn`t even attempt to qualify by right should never be considered for a GP spot.