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Castagna is really really bad for the sport. He is misleading it in a totally wrong direction. Speedway is such a special sport - a team Sport first adn foremost - and as such is absolutey different to any other from of motorsport. That's why I am a speedway fan and couldn't care less about road racing or motocross. They ususally only have one long distance race and have to award championship points for that. Speedway has 20+ heat races, plus semi and final, were the riders EARN their points. Perfectly easy to understand. And the winner of the last race in a Gradn Prix (the final heat 23) is the winner of that particular SGP, regardless of the points total scored in all of his races during this meeting. By the way, the winner of that final race DOES actually get the most points (in that race, that is) - three points , compared to two points for second and one for the third. So what, if the rider who wins the final, has not scored the most points on aggregate from all of the races he has ridden that night, nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly fair that he does not automatically get the most points, when he has got beaten more often than another rider/riders. There is absolutely no need to award artificial points in Speedway. I hate this stupid stupid decision by the FIM. Castagna has to go. First they abandoned the hugely popular SWC and gave us a "Speedway of Nations" to fall in line with the "Motocross of Nations", "Flat Track of Nations" and "Enduro of Nations", and now they spoil the SGP by changing from a perfectly fair points scoring system to a totally unfair and unwanted artificial one. I'm fed up. What's Your next idea, Mr Castagna? Do us all a favour and please, please resign from Your position !!!

A thoughtful parent who has createdfurther opportunities for his child which will been entitled to dual nationality/freedom of movement between AUS & the UK yeah those true colours are disgusting.......sometimes there is a whole lot more to life than speedway.

I heard someone say that they thought the chicken was not free range.

Could the new points system lead to cheating ? If points from heats 1-20 dont count toward the Championship could a rider who is safe for the semi let a team sponsor mate win a race so that he also reaches the semi. It will happen.

You said that on 4th October

Castagna comes out with a load of rubbish. And a lot of poor developments for the sport under his watch

Castanga says “The main thinking for us is to harmonise our championship scoring system with other big sports events so that the winner always comes away with the most points, which will help attract and retain a wider audience for our sport.” I can't think of any other World Championship series that has 2 semis and a final, although no doubt somebody will correct me. So if you want to harmonise with "other big sports" (and that's a whole different argument as to whether Speedway is a "big sport") then award the points after 20 heats... other wise leave well alone

Yes i see that but sacking NBJ and getting Wells in!

so they have to change the scoring for SoN too then regarding qualifying, i definitely feel for Mikkelsen, with the extra wildcards it just gives more scope for riders in the World Championship to be chosen around a desk, depending on what country they are from. i love the GPs, but we need unbiased qualifying. After the final GP of the season have the challenge how they started to do it years ago, bottom 8 from GP and 8 qualifiers, top 7 going through

No rumours on potential signings yet but this is how you should treat your sponsors. http://www.leicesterspeedway.com/_mobile/news.php?extend.31567.1‬&fbclid=IwAR0Id9tOlE40LD37y1W4EqXuZFnYd1qvsaCYnoDovwigISfCmZJcdPO7Ebw

They were, because that is how they were affiliated into the world of speedway back then. New Zealanders and Australians, as much as it seems strange now had no other way of getting into the World Championships etc

Personally I wouldn't have Schlein within a hundred thousand miles of our younger riders but there you go.

Don't get me wrong, Matt certainly took his eye off the ball for a time but the decision not to replace Richie sooner was purely down to averages, availability and finance!!

Not at Poole then ?

i suppose he will now become an aussie and ditch his uk meal ticket . just . think , no more aussies in the British championship and you can water the track as much as you like .

Bet Phillip Rising doesn't agree with you ?

Quite right, nothing to do with the Scots, this is a world final we are talking about!

The Scots can’t win a referendum never mind a World Cup.

Not particularly relevant as it was seven years ago, completely different rider now.

Prices need to be dropped to compensate for the drop in standard. it’s no good dropping the standard every year and hiking up the prices. It’s all about value for money. I’d never buy a program but assume most do, so on average say it’s £20 admission for an adult. For what? To stand around for two hours watching 15 minutes of racing. The rest of the time is filled with tractor racing, an out of touch presenter waffling on about scores from the week previous which 99 percent of fans will know anyway. Music from the 70s. It’s just not the in thing anymore. speedway, in the UK at least, is a 10 pound sport at best. A lot of people value 20 quid a week and is a lot of money to them. That’s before they’ve bought a few pints, a burger, the kids drink and food etc. There is absolutely no value for money in speedway in the UK 9.9 times out of 10.

Good point, well made. Quite the charmer.

I find it quite sad when you see all the clubs having end of season events and our club don't have anything not even a rider of the year award .just shows how the interest has faded over the last couple of years

My first post here as only recently discovered speedway even though I'm in my late 40s. Coming at it from a newcomer I can see the point of concentrating on the target audience of the middle aged. However I would assume the majority of these people discovered the sport as kids so I still think kids should be targeted more. I have been going for last 3 months with my two daughters (13 and 9) and they absolutely love it. They dont understand or would be bothered that most races finish as they start from the gate. They love the smell, the roar of the engines and interacting with the riders afterwards. By the time they are older and are more aware of the politics behind the sport they will already be hooked. To a child this sport is still very exciting...as long as they know about it. I asked my eldest to bring her friend to the last meeting and they were instantly hooked too even though the races were poor.

You are 100% right. The GP series, when it was introduced, had one feature which countered the "how can a rider who has one good meeting, be considered WC?" effect. Well, what better way to prove that the WC is the most consistent rider across the season that to make every race and every point count? A 3rd in your opening ride should not be considered a bit of a slip, to be caught up later. It's 2 lost points, lost for good. And what about "I've qualified for the semis, so why try hard to win further races" under the new system? We want riders making every race meaningful don't we? Pushing for every point, not making judgements about their likelihood about their qualification for the later stages of the meeting. This is a fundamental mistake and ignores simple psychology. Think on. At Torun this year, we were following the destiny of the championship from race 1 and throughout the meeting race by race.

Was Anders Rowe ready? Was Leon Flint ready? If they're good enough, they're old enough.

Where abouts? Poole? Think it's a given he'll be included

I say this tongue-in-cheek! but had Chris Harris not already been signed for Brum would he have been awarded the Rebel of the season award? Very poor P.R. when you publicly sign other teams riders BEFORE the current season has officially finished.

has he ever been away ? he has been a regular poster on here .

Just after those days when Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs were "British" too?

At Allsvensken level, Valsarna have announced the following signings; Tomas Jonasson - 2.421; Jesse Mustonen - 2.0 (assessed average); Kenneth Hansen 1.75; Jonathan Ejnermark 1.515; Lasse Fredriksen 1.303; Glenn Moi 1.154; Adrian Bergqvist 0.667; Benny Johansson 0.5; Emil Larsson Karlsson 0.5 and Oscar Larsson Karlsson 0.5.

Rather than Ri W meaning Ricky Wells , do you mean Richie Worrall or am I barking up the wrong tree?

If only the Town were as good as the Robins.

Apparently his last season in Britain before he returns to live in Australia

Yep! Lambert cook klindt and riss would be a decent top 4 I think!

May 16 – PZM Warsaw SGP of Poland – Warsaw May 30 – German SGP – Teterow June 13 – Czech SGP – Prague July 18 – Adrian Flux British SGP – Cardiff July 25 – Swedish SGP – Hallstavik August 1 – Betard Wroclaw SGP of Poland – Wroclaw August 15 – Scandinavian SGP – Malilla, Sweden August 29 – Russian SGP – Togliatti September 12 – Danish SGP sponsored by ECCO – Vojens October 3 – Revline Torun SGP of Poland – Torun

Why doesn't your Supporters Club run Rider of the Year comp, after all it's the fans who vote, it's a fan/rider thing ....

The Thompson twins case is an interesting one as others have said they don’t 16 until late April so which clubs sign them will have to go with other 3pt riders to start the season. Also both of the twins are very intelligent with one wanting to be a Vet at some point in his life. The family are keen for them to get good formal qualifications at school so ideally they were looking at doing NL only in 2020 until exams were over in June but with the future of that league in doubt this may not be an option. Both Joe & Dan are very skilful motorcyclists and can have a good future in Speedway and I know Tai is going to help them further later in the winter once he is back and is keen to get them out to Poland at Wroclaw practising once 16 to practice with the Wroclaw juniors

Yes. If the numpties that came up with the scheme for next year think it is such an improvement ... Then why not put it into practice when they had the chance by giving the SEC winner a wildcard for next year. I think it's a poor change but at least my picking Mikkel M it would have shown their integrity by being committed to the idea. Right now. As it is they look pretty shabby.

What smell is that ?

My comment has nothing to do with the racing just see it as a negative step ps yes i know its his money but we give it to him in the first place

Being around the junior scene for many years now with my own produced riders, I have watched his progress and he is the real deal. He has progressed very steadily with great support from his whole family. He is not dirty, he is not a throttle basher, but he is a very technical astute rider who has great confidence and style. Of the recent great successes emanating from the junior scene and the NL, Jordan is the best, and is now being pushed by the Thompson twins, who will make great progress next year. My protege Archie Freeman is next, and next year we have hopes that he will follow in the same direction that Jordan has. The junior scene is looking very good and healthy, but we need a National League to drop into for more competition to take them to the next step, the Champiomsship.

It may be sensible financially but dropping down a league is not brilliant, we are the most successful team in the modern era, one bad year and we jack in the top league,i will still go but it won't be the same. Teams in most sports do everything they can to stay in the top league, we just give it up willingly.

complete twaddle. If you're good enough, you're old enough. NDL likely to reduce is quality and quantity, he could double down anyway, let him race older more experienced riders and he will learn quicker. Didn't do Peter Collins and Michael Lee any harm did it??

Bin the averages let teams sign who they want . Speedway s on it s knees in this country let's see how we go

Ian Paterson will be opening his fabulous From Cinder To Shale private collection of speedway bikes and memorabilia on Sunday 17th November 9am-4pm at Edgefield Road, Loanhead, Edinburgh. EH20 9TB Tel: 01314400864 This collection is considered by many to be the best in the world and not to be missed.

A quick reminder for anyone who has never been to see this collection. It is well worth the visit and you won't be disappointed!

What you will note is, although those things have regained popularity, it isn't branded or marketed in the same way as when it was popular previously. Gin has regained popularity by targeting young drinkers, selling itself as a premium drink and coupled with exotic mixers. This is the problem with speedway. The world has moved on but the sport hasn't. Promoters idea of marketing hasn't changed since the 70s and still involves going into schools and down the local village fete. The other problem speedway faces is that is it a premium price for a spit and sawdust product. That is a hard sell in anyone's book. I think too many promoters are sitting around thinking "speedway will be next" - however, they've been doing that for the last twenty years.

I don't think King should be anywhere near the GB side anymore, had his chance.

Can't say i'm really that ar$ed about changing the scoring system. The people in charge need to concentrate on the racing. Far too many tracks provide lousy racing this year. That's the bigger issue that needs to be resolved

Several reasons why teams request to drop.. With financial being the obvious one. With the underlying reasons of there being absolutely no kudos by winning any Speedway title nor any attainment levels to aspire too from the lowest league to the top.. No disrespect but a Grand Final in Speedway (UK), is akin to two bald men fighting over a comb.. Therefore what difference does it make to the clubs what league they race in? Hardly anyone cares who wins. There is almost zero National coverage.. And there is no financial reward worth speaking of, in fact, as we see, successful clubs can actually lose money and go bust by winning!! Therefore you might as well decide amongst yourselves where you want to compete, and at the end of the day you can watch pretty much the same set of riders anyway so no loss there.. As you say, it sends out all the wrong messages, but that's where the sport is in the UK, and I suppose the overall thoughts are better to have clubs still in existence than not.. An ever decreasing circle though isn't it?