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this is definitely the way forward. And we need to stop worrying about riders' earnings - they can only earn what can be afforded to pay them. So what if big names are lost- generally i find the lower down the leagues the more interesting the racing anyway. Don't worry about shortages of riders - they said that in '68 and '69 about Div 2 and lo and behold there was plenty - quite a few of whom went on to be top internationals.

Special mention for the Panthers race suits they look a professional team ! Its how it should be done.

If it was mandatory that reserves had to be British u21s, that would be a great step forward. It was disgraceful that it was dropped a couple of seasons ago. Bring on our own talent. We will benefit in the long term.

If he was genuinely struggling for fitness for whatever reason (previous crash?) then having the night off rather than riding a minefield track was probably sensible.

Years ago I remember when someone like Barry Briggs came to Halifax for a league meeting, there was a special buzz and an obvious spike in attendance because this, apart from a possible international, was likely to be his one and only appearance at the track for the year. Those special times are gone. As world champion, I doubt if the presence of Jason Doyle attracted a single extra person through the turnstile, with all due respect to Jason. When the same teams and faces are appearing week in and week out, meetings become less meaningful and the sense of anticipation is diluted. The formation of one big league was the salvation of speedway in the 60's, maybe it could be again.

If we were full strength last night we would have won easily. We picked up a paltry 10 points from Brady and Klindt rides. Our 1-7 is fine if they are all there. Both Brady and Jack have shown stride forward this year. Bar a couple of riders they are as good as any other heat leader in the league. And Josh has shown fine form in recent meetings. Nothing to worry about and we will make the playoffs. From there it’s anyone’s chance to win it. Last season I thought we were weaker than this year and look what happened. We will be there when it matters.

What????!!! But for coming off in his tac sub ride he remained unbeaten but quite rightly spoke out against poor track preparation after the event.....with all respect it needs riders like that to air there views but as much as he and TB moaned at least they still led from the front best they could, could understand your comment if they pratted around at the back , as for the evening meeting instead of just moaning about the hole in turn one he tried to do something about it!

Why did they ask him after his comments

Absolutely no way would I support 5 man teams. Has to be 7 man teams with the points limit set between championship and premiership. A second league for the lesser championship teams who can expand the national development league. The problem is finding extra riders. Currently there are not enough to go between the two league without doubling up.Using young NL British riders will help. Sure, some will be out of their depth while others will thrive. Polish Extra league has u21 6 and 7 regardless of ability who stay there even if they are world champion. We should take the same mentality. Seven teams is no good. Not enough variety or meetings.

The difference is that Eastbourne consulted Sheffield and the two clubs agreed the postponement and a re-staging date. Mildenhall called off their match on the day of the meeting with the opposition left to like it or lump it. At least, that's my understanding of the situation, but if I'm wrong, I stand to be corrected.

Agree re Kyle and ultimately disappointed he did not deliver for Brummies when with us. That though was him in a struggling side and being asked to do Heat Leader job. May be once he gets race fit he can do better for Eastie sat as a second string behind Lawson, Kennett and Kerr. He's a good lad and deserves to get on.

A bit late to the thread this morning but can't really add too much, other than why all this KL stuff on the Pirates v Panthers thread? Good meeting last night and well done to the Panthers who thoroughly deserved the win as they attacked the track much better than the Robins on Monday. Track was better although still needs work, which I'm told is scheduled for the 2 week break before the next Cup fixture (interesting reading the 2 articles in the Speedy Star this week by MF and Middlo!!). More importantly for the speedway purists, there was some superb racing last night with overtaking, undertaking and (I think) only 2 falls - Starke and K,Anderson - the latter being way out of his depth!!. A couple of very strange 2 minute disqualifications by the ref - Ronnie Allen - one for each side, Nicholls and Covatti, both of which got the grandstand on their feet?! Nothing further to say about the Pirate guests other than it was Ellis or King? I think after Monday most would have rightly gone with Adam, but hey ho some you win some you don't. A final well done to Jack, Josh, Hans and BWD for making it a super exciting meeting. Lets hope the track works don't play too much into KL's hands on 13th?!

Josh Pickering is out until the end of June so our resident insider has nailed this one . I wonder who will be the next name plucked out.

Hey, I’m no fan of the situation but it was that or no top division. My point was at the irony of all three potentially getting to the last four when almost everybody predicted they would finish 5th, 6th & 7th. Which of course they may do!

Well done Peterborough! Just loving this team after I saw them ride on Bank Holiday Monday at their home track. (Possibly one of the best tracks in this division). Good to see Hans at his best.

Having just watched the GP Qualifiers for tomorrow’s SGP in Krsko, I was surprised to see that Polish clubs had precedence over the FIM on GP riders in qualifying for gate positions in an FIM event. Last nights Danish final took two Poole riders out of a league event to ride in an FIM event. Seems to me that the Polish Speedway Authorities are doing a Winston Churchill to the FIM!!! Might be a good idea if the FIM were to inform the Poles who are are the sports “Governing” body, that’s if they’ve got the B4LL5’s..

British speedway should have come out of the FIM years ago and done their own thing. The FIM have never been interested in the sport this side of the channel

It needs to cut its cloth accordingly... Domestic Speedway in Britain is a world away from Poland, the GP's and even Sweden.. So plough its own furrow.. At whatever standard.. I've said before, look at the BSB model against the WSB model.. British Superbikes don't try and compete with their more well renowned 'big brother'... Instead they have a very successful competition based on mainly 'decent' UK riders supplemented by riders who have tried the WSB or MotoGp and just came up short.. They augment this by having other competitions aimed at youth development, to ensure when their best move up to WSB, they have replacements ready.. If the likes of Lambert, Doyle etc cannot meet the demands of riding several times per week due to extensive oversees commitments, sometimes at weekend if the clubs require it, then they can move their careers forward elsewhere against riders of a similar level.. If someone of the calibre of Matt Ford is coming out with these type of comments and ideas, then I would suggest Speedway is pretty much being moved from the High Dependancy Unit into the Critical Ward.. Drastic times therefore means drastic measures... And if the patient cannot be revived in the Critical Ward, then no one will be earning any money over here anyway..

Klindt is a decent rider and rides well for us, can't compare what he got in a individual meeting to a league meeting especially in a different country. With our own riders we would have won last night.

At last... Sounds like some realisation and common sense has arrived.. Put out five man teams.. Grade the riders 1-5.. Grade five being young British riders or oldies but new to the sport. Have a maximum team average based on adding the mean average of every one of the five grades. Meaning no one can pick the best rider from each grade.. Run on nights you get your best crowds, with riders only getting contracts if they agree to be at every meeting. Only run on FIM nights when there are no riders impacted by the FIM meeting And have a maximum team payroll of £4500. 45 points at an average of £100 per point. Top riders £150 down to £50 for number fives.. That will mean it will cost circa £9k to pay for two matches from your home meeting.. £15 to get in, and just 800 punters would bring £12000.. Got to be do able 800 surely? And if you bring more in, performance pay the riders more. Let them be in charge of their own pay destiny.. Kids up to 18 free if in education.. And no g****s.. (wishful thinking). Lots of variety of teams.. More local ish derbies.. Lots of different riders only turning up once so, if decent, you won't get to see then again so you have to go.. Affordable to fans, on nights they want to watch, young fans in for free to help the future and credibility.. Come on Matt, you know it makes sense..!!

God there’s some dicks on this thread. He had a bad night and it ended up costing him a lot of money. Dont let the facts get in the way of drivel though eh ? Carry on as you were.

Taken from the Rebels website: There will be no meeting at the Oaktree on Wednesday June 5th, as originally scheduled but the following week - June 12th - the club will be staging a Somerset Select v Plymouth Gladiators Junior meeting. Admission prices will be just £10 for adults and their will be a couple of riders new to British Speedway in action that night. This will form part of our two-legged fixture with the return date planned for Friday June 28th. Better any speedway than no speedway.......Any 2 well balanced teams will produce good speedway @ the OTA.

Just out of interest, how did these many people by the pits believe it was to Swindon's advantage to have to use their non-scoring reserves in two rides instead of one of their heatleaders?

my pictures from the GP >>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_womble/albums/72157708851313203

So with all the real witches fans there on Monday,,, 400 to 500 of us should be able to make plenty of noise. Are air horns allowed in stadium?

And an Englishman who does both....

Seems Lynn will do it with Riss and Scunthorpe are doing it with Jedd List, another case of the rules dont apply or can be just side stepped for Chapman and Godfrey.

According to Peterborough Tungate has struggled for fitness in recent meetings so was ruled out. So he didn't fancy it and Peterborough knew they would be better off without him.

I remember Craig Watson at Exeter using the fence to superb effect to pass Mark simmonds round the outside, he had the white paint marks on the handlebars to prove how close he got to the fence as well. Watching from the 4th bend bar looking directly down at the track was without doubt the best viewing place I have seen in speedway. Breathtaking

The more rules you have, the more problems you create.

So the usual troll moaning about Ellis taking the guest booking.... who were the idiots that asked him in the first place..... crazy management to book at rider who three days earlier was highly critical of the track Have to blame the Poole promotion for booking him Isnt it funny how tonight Peterborough took advantage of a weakened Poole ( which I agree with) yet on Monday , it wasn’t Poole taking advantage of a weak Swindon side it was a case of Poole riders wanting it more and Swindon overriding So I guess tonight the Peterborough boys wanted it more than the Poole riders The league is shaping up nicely .... 3 teams looking good for the top 4 at the moment in Ipswich , Belle Vue and Peterborough.... and I would say possibly Wolves look good for 4th but with Lynn strengthening them they could climb..... could Buster have 3 out of 4 in the play offs...

Well done Panthers.

OOPS

Hans is back to his old best. The man is winding the clock back.

Well done Poole in booking a guest in Ellis who hates the place Ipswich and Peterborough.... 2 teams mocked by many ...... seems like they are looking good for the top 4 along with Belle Vue ..... then you have Wolves possibly

To come from 10 down to win by 9 is some feat !!!

That article is a bit ropey,it States English saying we only won by 2 points on aggregate at beginning of season,what is he talking about.Dont know who put it together but it’s pretty poor.Imo

Great race for second... Some 'proper moves' in Polish Speedway isn't there?

Some interesting comments. I'd prefer 7 man teams and a 45 point limit with a stipulation of Under 21 British Reserves and help kids like Zach,Kemp; Brennan,Thomas,Bickley etc by adjusting their average down to a maximum of 4 until they are 20/21. If we have 7 in PL and 11 in CL surely we could keep 15/16 of the 18 in business and may be a couple move down to NL (Brummies most likely to do that anyway and I hear Berwick struggling for crowds too). I think most would love a 15-16 team league. I'd not want it split geographically though as that would defeat object; and would need to be able to race all 7 days to succeed as many CL are Sat/Sun tracks.

Freddie is already on record stating he is far too busy to come over this season.

Maybe BWD could have ridden on Monday and he could make his own mind up - at least that would be comparing apples with apples rather than feed your fantasies!

I think you would lose a lot more top riders than Doyle as the likes of Lambert would be too good for British Speedway, probably trying to get spots in 3 European leagues. Also, having a lot of riders doubling leagues, would we not need more NL riders to make up numbers or go to 6 man teams.

Plenty of bad luck on both sides last night, with the Kings nicking a point at the death. It was good to see a decent crowd on the island, with loads of kids in attendance.

Remember that well - he made up a huge distance doing it

Fortunately the plucky island warriors have managed to make this into a title decider and will travel to Kent looking for a win of 7 or more points to take an unexpected but would be richly deserved trophy. For the Kings there are fingertips on the trophy but they have fumbled before and the expectant result on the Island didn't come meaning a bit more pressure upon the home side and creates a meaningful fixture for the paying public but how will this one off fixture unfold?

The NL has been pretty much the same since it started way back when. You had teams who just wanted to develop riders (mainly due to them having a main team and a second team - like the Diamonds/Gems for example) and you've got those who are stand alone (Mildenhall/Cradley etc) who want(ed) just to win the league. Anyhow - back on subject - any team news regarding Saturday?

Well done agent Ellis

I'll just quote from an interview that Ivan gave in 'Backtrack' to perhaps help explain and/or qualify which I hope Tony Mac doesn't mind me quoting :- "At Exeter I had contests with myself. If I was riding very well, I'd go up around the banked part of turns three and and four and let my back wheel hit the fence - it would give me a ricochet and fire me down the the home straight. I used to practice doing that because, occasionally, if I was second or third in a race, and went up and got that ricochet on turn four, I knew I would have enough speed to pass guys on the inside by the start line. They were not expecting it. Instead, they expected you to creep round the outside. It would take me about a lap-and-a-half to build up to but I'd pass a lot of guys by riding in about the the gate one or two positions down the front straight - after my back wheel had deliberately clouted the fence. When we first used mufflers, I would tend to bend them on the fence - yes, Exeter was a really good fun place to to race at." Not a 'wall of death' feat by any means or in any way similar to the above race but a move using the fence to gain momentum which he apparently used successfully.

Remember your love ins with Linus all those years ago. Are you over MJJ yet?

Wow.... what a win that was! Hans was superb and everyone chipped in barring the guest. BWD to reserve will make us only stronger.