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There is so much more on offer when you compare Polish speedway to British speedway - and the whole spectacle you mention is exactly right. Going to a big stadium with a great atmosphere would make it an enjoyable experience even for someone who wasn’t a fan. When you compare that to riders going round on a clapped out pick up truck in Britain with a track in a field and 80s music being played through tinny speakers, it’s just not anywhere near the same experience. That’s before you even get into the speedway itself on offer. A lot boils down to the money on offer but Poland have nailed it and is the absolute pinnacle of team speedway. British speedway now just has to do what it can to get by.

Rider safety comes first is a contradiction in itself ,if it came first then the sport would make riders use a more adaptable engine, the engine used today is power and nothing else, safety doesn’t even come into it ,speedway is dangerous, if you don’t like it don’t ride

Say’s a man who watches his Speedway at Rough Park

To be honest I’m not really interested in the safety side, life is dangerous deal with it but as a fan I don’t want to travel round Europe paying my hard earned money to watch meetings get called off needlessly and it has happened ,after the call off yesterday the PGE should have had an inquest into what could be learnt by calling off a basically dry but heavy track, the answer until they can control the weather has to be in the bikes but speedway never learns from its mistakes and the really sad bit is they already know the problem

"The Axeman" as nobody called him... Except for Peter Yorke

Spot on

It’s weird isn’t it? When the bikes reved less and were lay down, it is presumed that riders had more skill yet in the next breath, the bikes were much easier to ride. The modern rider has this stigma levelled at them by the old generation that today, there is no skill, then in the next breath acknowledge the bikes are volatile and harder to control in difficult situations. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but in my book that is the very definition of a contradiction. Here is how I see it. Today’s rider are BETTER than yesteryear. The bikes today are in fact even harder to manage with more power. As ever, it’s just an old generation with nothing better to do than moan and groan because things are ‘different’ now. And you know, that is exactly the issue with the current speedway fan in this country. Never stop whinging about something, it makes them happy! Polish crowds are better than ever-clearly the current package is working out there. Perhaps it’s time the sport in this country moved away from the current generation of fan and move into a younger, more vibrant market who won’t spend their days playing divide and conquer

Well said.Exactly what Rafal Dubrucki was saying in Speedway Star last week.80%power 20% skill.and being small and light.

Yes I have, I got one in my workshop and I’ve got a long stroke GM from 15 years ago and I’ve got a weslake and a 2 valve Jawa and have ridden them all, the modern engine in fine if the conditions are good but when they are not which in our sport is quite often, more adaptable engines could be used in the sport, everyone knows this even the modern superstars but nobody will do anything about it, calling of meetings is doing and has done the sport no favours at all, apart from expense absolutely nothing has been gained by the evolution of the engine we have today, racing is no better or worse than years ago but the balance of engine/rider has changed dramatically especially on bigger tracks and all that has done is push the cost up, nobody is saying a return to a 2 valve or a weslake and there is nothing wrong with the angle of the engine but when it comes to safety it doesn’t even get considered when you’re talking about the engine, it’s all about getting the edge and that means higher risk

No, it’s a recording of a future meeting

Royal Mail deliveries are, sadly, very erratic these days as many have previously posted here. It is frustrating for us, having paid for first class mail, but it is out of our control. Sorry ...

Can't make it any worse.

Do they have many headless horses over there?

Betsafe, Unibet do bits.

you dont need to wear masks , but only if you are facing away from the track.

Can’t believe I’m reading posts giving riders stick for not fancying it at Częstochowa yesterday. Riders have been waiting nearly 3 months to start racing and are going to have far less meetings to make money from than they usually would in a season. It can’t come as a surprise to see them not wanting to ride on an incredibly unpredictable track on their first meeting back in anger. There were no fans in the stadium to turn away and with no other racing, easy to rearrange for a few days time where the weather and track should be better. The performance of the bikes is a different argument and agree that things need to be done to make them better in a wider range of conditions, but we are where we are with that at the moment.

They've been giving Torquay the usual flannel. Grandiose talk of a wonderful new stadium - then somehow something comes along.... Plainmoor is very residential. The last I saw of the new stadium was that it wasn't going to happen yet. "It's that deja vu again".

Yes he also referred to Jens Rasmussen as "Rambo" which I disliked. We preferred just plain 'Razzer!"

It’s clearly not working in UK though.As for moving away into a younger fan base it’s clearly not being able to attract them in UK.IMO.Polish Speedway is a good spectacle. IMO

Correct... Oxford is my local club

The super dome!

Haven't they got that roof on yet? I thought that was the reason why it closed... at least that was the story we were being fed at the time

We have been lucky to have some true entertaining riders over the years. The pole who came in for a few meetings at the tail-end of 2005 or 06 was a real crowd pleaser. For the Thursday rerun nights maybe we could see some national league action with the young Louis loram and moggo maybe witches v Hackney?

Peter Waite would have had Billy the Bowser out watering that track tonight,

This has been done to death. The Welsh government provide funding for the Cardiff GP on the basis that it's the only GP in Britain. Whilst there is a GP at Cardiff, there won't be a second GP anywhere else.

What track, there isn't one there? The stadium is a dump and parts of the terracing has been condemned.

How can they run on Monday, it's a UK night.

With everything that’s going on in the world and it’s been a while since I’ve seen any speedway I kind of forgot how much some modern riders are prima donnas where there is a bit of rain around

Not many there...

Really wish we had a more updated game with more leagues. The interest in this has increased, surely there's gotta be a game dev out there willing work on something.

Good to see Timo Lahti as 1st reserve, although after his appearance as a wild card last year, he should have been in the series as of right. But then I guess One Sport know they aren't going to sell many tv packages in Finland on the back of him being in the series. Like the GP Series, the European Championship is another series, where you are selected if your face fits and/or if we can make money of the back of you being in the series.

no but proper speedway and £££ to the sport and not the stadium. I'd rather stand anyway. Saw 2 world finals there, both excellent

Just bringing everything together in 1 place for later Friday June 12th Wroclaw v lublin programme start time 4.30pm 1st race 5pm Eleven sport 1 and Premier Sport Friday June 12th Czestochowa v Grudziadz programme start time 7.15pm 1st race 7.30pm Eleven Sport 1 and Premier sport links(both matches) http://www.maniak.tv/mk1 http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-1.html https://ustreamix.to/stream.php?id=eleven-sports-polska&token= Score chart download Wroclaw https://wts.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/program-1206.pdf page 43 Czestochowa https://wetransfer.com/downloads/8612e4a7820f5c8e4e2b006c58fa8aa720200612065602/1541f9?fbclid=IwAR1qrZ7cXWBMQ_7XuSZRiIwqQAc9ADr8q6AWMmqInLfdXcahd4qfoSc6ZQ4 pages 6 and 7 Live weather from tracks Wroclaw https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/104523/betard-sparta-wroclaw-motor-lublin Czestochowa https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/104524/eltrox-wlokniarz-czestochowa-mrgarden-gkm-grudziadz

I live quite near as well, I agree with you. You have also to consider how it died before, despite having the best team in the country, lots of British international riders and lots of space. I suppose if it's run on similar lines to Scunthorpe, where the Stockcars subsidise the bikes, it might be viable but I imagine we can forget Bradford Council pouring shedloads of money into the place (which is what used to happen).

I think this could happen but it needs more than 1000/1500 in that place to keep it there. Also, would this be a cheaper venue for the GP? Prob holds around 40. thousand and its a proper track. Must cost a fortune to hire and adapt the Cardiff stadium.

You sound like one of the many CleverDicks who know exactly how to promote Speedway but have never had to guts to do it.

Going thru' my old Vintage Speedway mags, came across an interview with Barry under the tile of "Speedway's Happy Hippie". It was in Vol. 7 #4--winter 2000. A large part of the interview was to do with Barry's health-in 1999 a lump on his neck was diagnosed as a malignant tumour- a secondary tumour- he had a major operation and had a big dip in back of his neck which his long hair covered. He said his life had now taken on a new urgency and the interview ended with the interviewer saying" he intends to enjoy the rest od his life as much as he can and the sort of year he had in 1999 makes that a decision a sensible one". The irony is that the interviewer was Bob Radford and that 20 years afterwards Barry is still around but Bob is the one who has gone. Who would have thought it. Life is such a crapshoot.

Yip ,fair play to them for doing it, think it will make difference.

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.

They are modern art masterpieces, Mr Main Man. Such a fine collage of images of all those crashes and stuff, that it's almost too much to take in when passing by. Ever heard of "less is more"? Too bad that leaving enough room to fit in the names and dates of the next fixtures was forgotten about in the design. Seeing information written in felt tipped pen on cardboard and pinned onto the end of the board, really doesn't impress, I'm afraid.

But it's Poland, I live in the UK, my team are the King's Lynn Stars, I couldn't give two hoots about any Polish team

There is danger in every step we take, but there are also many things we can do to control that risk and decrease the likelihood of certain things happening. Not sure it’s just a case of ‘dealing with it’. If we had that attitude across many spectrums of life our society would be significantly worse for it. Not just speedway. Safety should be of paramount importance, as much as can possibly be achieved in a sport that is already dangerous. The introduction of safety fences for example was such a positive step forward. I agree the bikes are the issue. I think our arguments were crossed somewhat, my point being that riders are actually more skill full now than we have ever seen, given the cruise missiles they are piloting.