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Last night I watched a recording of the 2019 British Championship from Belle Vue. What a good meeting but the last two rides of Danny Ayres were real crackers, especially his 5th ride when he the race all but won except for him riding into the deep stuff on bends 3/4, him fighting with his bike to stay on, which he did, only to lose out to Chris Harris. i know the night belonged to Charles Wright, but Danny Ayres will be remembered for a brilliant showing, he so much wanted a win that night.

and a crossword solver site offers the following... We have 11 Answers for: A WHIMSICALLY ECCENTRIC PERSON Top Answers ODD 3 COOT 4 CRANK 5 WEIRDO 6 ODDBALL 7 i'm not sure that fella liked you to be honest John...

I opted for the £11.99 - monthly package which is a rolling contract and says you can cancel at anytime

If I could make some suggestions, Junior... Firstly, it would appear more genuine had you used bold. Secondly, I would suggest using "cannot" as opposed to "don't". Do you have any information about this Jens fellow, as I do not seem to recall him?

That can happen any year with a broken arm or collarbone. Happened to loads of riders like Janowski & Woffinden in 2019. But 2020 is unlike any other so lets get on with it and do the best we can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJCdz6Rn3ms

That makes sense. Could run from mid September for four weekends. Eight GP's in four weeks would be overload for some but I would support it. Its an odd year so odd things will have to happen.

I am now very pleased to be able to confirm that I will be commentating

In this lockdown-which I hope will end soon (note to andout -don't know where you live in Ontario Roger but here in York Region I still can't get a haircut- I look like Rasputin FFS) I have been going thru' my old speedway stuff-greatly enjoying reminiscing. In the Vintage Speedway magazine of summer 1998 (holy cow that's 22 years ago already)-there is a great article-as per the title of this post. It was written by a forumlander John Hyam (or Gustix as per his nom de plume) Great essay John- you went to your first speedway meeting in 1946 so you are a shade older than me-I was born in 1946-just ahead of Norbold). What struck a particular note with me was that you went back to the site of the stadium-now the woebegone Bridgehouse Meadows park and as you say, and I can well believe you ,realised that was a mistake. I had a similar experience I went back to the site of Somerton Park, Newport, in about 2008-now has housing on it but you can still see some remnants of the old track gates- like you I wish I hadn't gone. There are 3 tracks still going that were around in 1968 when I left UK. Brough Park, Monmore Green and Saddlebow Road. I understand the first two are shadows of their former selves, I have thought of taking a trip over and visiting these venues- but I remember seeing pictures of them full of fans and frankly I think I would be depressed (even more than I usually am) to see them in their current state with low attendance. Anyway gustix-just to let you know that I reckon you yourself are now part of speedway history and have incredible knowledge-at least you gave it a shot in the SAL ( I think) and I respect your opinion and your posts (even if sometimes a bit off-topic)-if other forumlanders don't like 'em they don't have to read 'em. But I enjoy 'em. Keep up the good work.

Q1 = No. 5 rides max. Q2 = Yes.

As the person who made the initial post, which I came across whilst confirming that Martin knew nothing of Speedway until sent on his first assignment to Plough Lane 60 years ago, I can confirm there isn't really any preamble to his description of you. He is simply telling us who the respective editors of "Soccer Star" and "Speedway Star" were when he started working for their publishers. He describes Jack Rollin simply by his name, but obviously felt the embellishment of "whimsically eccentric" was required in your case. Sadly, there is no further mention of you in his tome (which I have to say is a good read and very informative of his time around (and in) the sport), though he does mention that when Paul Parish took over as Editor of Speedway Star it "took a step up market"!

Serious question, John; do you REALLY think others are "offended" by Martin's comment?

vocabulary.com says the following... crackpot, crank, fruitcake, nut, nut case, screwball a whimsically eccentric person

Can't make it any worse.

Hey, the OLD BWitcher is back!

If it's "training" - surely they can use the local park in Poole - some push ups, a bit of jogging ??? Riding around the track on their bikes - we always used to call it "practice " in England .

I know, this again is a long shot, and obviously the remark by Martin, wasn't made by you, but do you think you could come up with one or maybe more suggestions as to why he would refer to you as 'whimsically exccentric'. It might help us to understand the modern John Hyam.....This is something that I understand to be in print and possibly a number of people are asking themselves the same question

Jens Rasmussen married a local girl which, of course, added some strength to his case when he was signed by Rye House in 1988. Olle Nygren and Soren Sjosten married local girls which enable them to compete in Britain during 1974 when commuting Swedes were banned from the British League as they were both domiciled in the UK at the time.

Could you define the term 'dancer' and why you have enclosed it so.

Must be some mistake surely ? I have heard one or two descriptions, but that is the kindest so far. Maybe hasn’t aged so well

Going back to his book, Martin mentions about starting for Echo in their Carter Lane offices when the "whimsically eccentric" John Hyam was the editor of Speedway Star.

Yes premier sports starting Friday

Further link for Friday http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-1.html

I think you are right that the opportunity is passed. The sad thing is that, as far as I can see, no one even bothered to do the sums to find out if my original suggestions were feasible. Like you I have no idea what it costs to put a meeting on but Philip's figures suggested that there is an audience for live speedway and even old meetings can get nearly 3k viewers.

IF, and still an if, an eight SGP series takes place in Poland it will probably be in September. All sorts of rumours, including four successive race nights (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) ... but lots of bridges still to be crossed. However, staging all the meetings in one country makes logistical sense not just for the riders but TV, officials, etc.

Tthat's one of the reasons I find these cuttings interesting; there seems to be a lot of misleading information. The way the articles read usually, it appears that the journalist isn't totally familiar with the sport, and tends to rely on hearsay. However, some of the writing is poor, and it is difficult to gauge whether the size and shape of the tracks refers to England and Australia, or just Australia. Thing is, we know that British tracks DID vary in length (NOT all one-fifth or one-sixth of a mile) and that the vast majority of them had noticeable straights. We also know that certain Australian tracks WERE more circular, with virtually no straights, but tended to be larger. To me, it comes down to lazy reporting...

It is easy. If there's any significant uncertainty about an event scheduled in a couple of months going ahead, then it needs to be cancelled. People will have/will be booking transport and hotels, but can usually get refunds or re-arrange up to a month or so in advance. On the other points, regardless of who actually runs individual GPs or collects, IMG/BSI is the championship organiser which should mean ensuring some sort of standards for the customer. It also means that dealing with the FIM and FIA comes with the territory - it's a necessary part of the job. I think it's also a stretch to claim that IMG 'run about 700 events in a normal year'. Their own website actually says they 'own or represent 800 events' which is different to actually running them. Indeed, as you're happy to point out most of the time, IMG don't run most of the Speedway GPs. I don't doubt that IMG have been badly hit by this whole thing, just as the FIM and FIA will have difficulties with loss of income and staff, and having to deal with multiple different jurisdictions in trying to work out how to restart things. But they're hardly in a unique situation, and with respect, the importance of their industry and contribution to the world economy is relatively insignificant. Airlines and tour companies for example, have to deal with refunding huge amounts of money. I'm also intrigued to know why Pinegen needs to furlough staff as the Star is still being published as far as I know. Genuine question?

The mid-1960s saw a number of team managers for Great Britain and England. In 1964 Tommy Price was team manager for the tests against USSR, which GB won 3-0. During 1965, when GB defeated USSR 5-0, Charles Foot took charge at Wimbledon and Coventry, Charles Ochiltree at Sheffield, Mike Parker at Belle Vue and Ronnie Greene at Newport. Vic Gooden was team manager when GB beat Poland 3-0 in 1966. The same year, England defeated USSR 4-1, managed by Bill Bridgett at Newcastle, Frank Varey at Halifax, Mike Parker at Wolverhampton and Charles Ochiltree at West Ham. I don't have a note of the team manager for the test at Exeter. Bill Bridgett was the losing team manager. Charles Foot managed the England team beaten by Sweden at Exeter in 1967. GB beat Poland 3-2 that year, managed by Wally Mawdsley at West Ham (lost), Ronnie Greene at Poole, Charles Ochiltree at Wolverhampton, Ron Wilson at Halifax (lost) and Ian Hoskins at Newcastle,

Difficult to tell what difference the widening will make until the meetings start but fair play for having a go at it. Hope it improves things.

This just worked for me. Subscribed for the monthly at £11.99 and entered the code, no monthly cost.

He will promise you a lot of support,ie very good question,but will deliver sweet F.A. You have been warned.

Hi Sugarray, 7:30pm Meeting 8:45pm Reaction

To be fair (and trying not to come across as a Monarch) (Smug) it was pointed out to Glasgow fans 2+ years back that the club was losing cash hand over fist and that the place was being underwritten by the Facenna family business for six figure sums per annum as a corporate social responsibility on their company accounts and that this had been the case from when they first purchased to spot... yet the argument at that time was totally denounced as lies and jealousy; however "The Red" documentary has proved this to be fact... I also agree where you state that Glasgow and their fans are in a very fortunate position with such generous benefactors as the Facenna family and it also needs noting that this isn't their personal accounts or wealth that is being impacted but that of their main business and as long as they run the club as a charity on the basis of it being an aim of their main companies corporate social responsibility to support local sport and their main business remains profitable then this is fine and long may it reign... However the motor industry are having hard times at present... Crunch time will come if they ever sell their business and the new board/owners make a decision as to whether they will continue to support sports in the the local community or pay their shareholders a larger dividend... this is when it may come down to the Facenna family to underwrite the club with their own hard earned cash and at £100k plus a year losses its difficult to see this happening unless there were changes... I would suggest the club would no longer be allowed to live beyond its means if they stayed in charge under that type of scenario... I would also suggest the main reason that Glasgow have been honest and up front about saying they are not running is more down to the logistics and them having the common sense to see that it will be a logistical and financial nightmare to try and run Speedway without it costing even more money... Why run and lose say another £100k over half or quarter of a season when you can shut up shop and lose nothing (or very little) by not running at all... you have to respect what the promotion have done and I have been reliably informed that there will be no penalty imposed on Glasgow or any club for that matter should they decide not to run which is quite correct IMHO... and having 6 overseas riders in the team this year would raise problems. The Glasgow promotion I am sure would have much rather preferred to run if it wasn't for the issues raised in these strange Covid ravaged times and they have been brave enough to grasp the nettle with both hands and well done to them for doing so; they wont be the last promotion to make or take this decision I am sure of that and it will be interesting to see which way the BSPL jump (eventually) with regards to trying to run a fixture list which has so many hurdles to navigate before a wheel is turned... it just may be totally beyond them... The other thing of note on here are the vastly different opinions as to whether the sport should run at all this season and the questions that are being raise and the debate it is generating... I was in the "speedway should run camp" when this thing broke but now I am starting to think "should we? it may not be a good idea" and slowly residing myself to the fact that "maybe its not a good idea and we should write the season off totally" a fascinating debate. Interesting times and as stated well done Glasgow it may start the ball rolling on a definitive decision on whether we move forward or not and possibly give it up as a bad joke; write the season off and look to next year... But I honestly think we may still be in some form of Covid 19 impacted life style come the start of next season so we may be no further forward... I sincerely hope not but we will see... Regards THJ

Whilst understanding your point, that's not correct. Football is 55-60 minutes Rugby Union is around 35 minutes

While there is a administrative ruling body individual teams must be able to make decisions and not be forced into competing because the majority of its members do want to run. As the Glasgow Promotion have pointed out the Scottish Government have different restrictions and rules in place to that imposed by Westminster so running North of the Border could be different. If speedway is run this year it will be on a very diluted level with the unavailability of overseas riders having a major impact. A diluted sport can only be harmful and would do nothing to attract new fans or sponsors. Plus we don't want to put further stress on the NHS by sending injuries to A&E dept in these times. I would suggest this is an ideal time for the ruling bodies to have a good think about the future of the sport and decide in which direction to move forward. Stay safe everyone and remember there is more to life than speedway

Personally this decision is the correct and sensible one. This virus will return with a vengance at some point. My youngest daughter is a nurse working on the covid ward at the Queen Elizabeth. and in her words to me is to be careful whilst out working as the things she has seen and had to do are horrific. So with a predominately ageing fan base this is the only decision to be made.

i think donald trump mentioned something like that. but then again, he is a clown . covid 19 will re emerge bigger and more deadly . lockdown could be on again until christmas !

the word on the street is Hampel no 1, Jamrog no 2, no Miesiac