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If you are going to stream live interviews during a meeting then surely it's best to put them up on a big screen so that everyone can see them as part of the experience. A stadium full of people wearing headphones and staring at a phone is not going to attract people to speedway. It just makes it less interesting for those who are not doing it.

Making it affordable for families to attend, would be a start.

The Mongolian ice speedway racers are an interesting topic. The Russians had introduced the ice speedway sport to Mongolia sometime in the mid-1960s. They were racing in the Grand Sports Stadium in the capital City of Ulan Bator for about 20 years. With the end of the communist era, the ice speedway racing ceased in Mongolia. They had problems to get bikes and equipment. There seems to have been an attempt to rekindle the enthusiam around the year 2000. A couple of Mongols rode in the 1999/2000 World Championship qualifying round at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, a one-day meeting over twenty heats, held on December 17, 1999. The two Mongolian riders were Sereener Myagsuren, who scored five points and finnished tenth, and Basuren Battsengel, who scored four points and finished thirteenth. Another Mongolian rider competed in the following year's world championship in a qualifying round at Yekaterinburg in Russia. That was a guy by the name of B. Khadbaator. Over the two days of racing he scored only three points and finished last out of the sixteen riders in this meeting. That was the last time the world has seen an Mongolian ice speedway rider. But let's take a look at the Mongolian riders' international performances of the 1960s and '70s: Back in 1966, the inaugural year of the F.I.M. Ice Racing World Championship, a couple of Mongols rode in the semi-final Meeting at Novosibirsk, but failed to qualify for the finals. There names were Sambu Lam and Mirgom Tusvin. In 1967, a Mongolian rider by the name of Salbu Seszbudee made his first appearance in the world championship, finishing thirteenth with 8 points over two days of racing in the semi-final round held at Novosibirsk. This was the meeting were New Zealand's Ivan Mauger finished sixteenth with just a coule of points over the two days of racing. Another New Zealander, Goog Allen, scored nine points and thus finished just one ahead of the Mongolian. In 1968 the first Mongolian qualified for the world final. Two of them contested the semi-final at Sterlitamak in Russia, and it was Salbu Serszbudee who qualified with seventeen points (9+8) over the two days of racing, finished in seventh place, with the top eight going forward to the world final at Ufa. The other Monglian in this meering was Sadambagin Oschirsuch, who did not make the cut, finishing eleventh with ten points. The 1968 World Final at Ufa was held over four days of racing and won by Gab Kadyrov. The Mongolian Salbu Serszbudee finished very credible twelfth with a total of 15 points. For some reason unknown to me Serszbudee was not riding in the 1969 World Championship rounds. The Monglian riders in the semi-final round in Moscow were Dasdors Damdisuren (12th place with fifteen points) and Tuvsin Serengin (15th place with five points). Salbu Serszbudee was back in 1970, and indeed finished among the top eight in the semi-final round Held at Ufa. Seventh place with sixteen points quaified him for the world final, while the second Mongol in this meeting Dasdors Damdisuren was eliminated in fifteenth place with only four points. The fact that the 1970 world final was the first one held outside of Russia, at Nässjö in Sweden, may have proved problematic for the Mongolian, who did not make the long journey and forfeited his place, thus missing the chance to ride in his second world final. In 1971, when the world final for the first time was held at Inzell in Germany, the two Mongolians did not progress from their semi-final round in Moscow. Salbu Serszbudee narrowly missing the cut in ninth place with eighteen points, and Dasdors Damdisuren finishing twelfth with thirteen points. The Mongolians had only one rider in the semi-final rounds of 1972, when the world final was again Held at Nässjö in Sweden. Salbu Serszbudee rode in the semi-final at Ufa in Russia, scoring ten points, finishing eleventh and thus failing to progress to the final. Again, Mongolia received just one place in the 1973 World Championship qualifying rounds. A new rider, Sokol Handmaa rode in the semi-final at Ufa but failed to impress. with just five points from his ten rides over the two day meeting, he eded up in fourteenth place. Dasdors Damdisuren re-appeared an represented Mongolia in the world Championship semifinal of 1974 at Ufa in the USSR. Disappointingly this rather experienced rider could score just three points over two days of racing, ending up in fifteenth place overall. 1975 saw the international debut of an other up-and-coming Young hopeful, who would become one of the leading riders in Monglia during the late 1970s and the 1980s, and who would make an unlikely comeback on the world stage in 1999. That was Basuren Battsengel. He rode in the 1975 world semi-final at Laningrad, but got no more than three points, which gave him the thirteenth place in the overall standings. In 1976 the two qualifying rounds were both in Western Europe in Berlin (Germany) and Grenoble (France). This may have been too far away to travel for the Mongols, so they withdrew and were not seen again in the F.I.M. Ice Racing World Championship until their all-too-short-lived comeback in 1999/2000/2001. I feel it is a shame that the F.I.M. has done absolutely nothing to help a nation like Mongolia to continue with the sport.

Well having spent some time reading thro this, IMO the bspa ( or whatever they call themselves these days ) have made a relatively simple idea into a mind boggling minefield leaving all sorts of questions to be answered. Maybe the official release may make things clearer ??

I haven’t stopped reading, but thanks for being patronising. Thanks for also confirming... team places and riders are being signed before the list has been finalised by the powers that be. So the rules have been bent and created to suit certain teams? Because Newcastle, Poole, Redcar and Edinburgh are going to have to make changes to their teams. Funny enough Scunthorpe don’t and have even confirmed their ‘rising star’ before the list as Tsunami has said has even been sorted or confirmed.... it does make you wonder!

I think you may very well be correct as it will take some holding of their nerve I would think, however, at least it looks like a plan of action rather than the usual 'make do and mend' nonsense that has pervaded for far too long.. As for the dilution of the standard, I think what we have this year (if it happens), is just about right for the amount of fans the sport gets. ie No "Superstars" that quite frankly haven't generated crowd levels to justify their high salaried inclusion. (No disrespect to them but that is the reality)... A "brave new world" or "a disaster waiting to happen"... Either way, at least it is something that has been thought through and accepted by the Promoters so let's see how it all works out, and as always with these things, the devil will be in the detail.. And from what I have read so far from those within the sport, a certain amount of 'rider control' will be taking place, therefore let's hope it's done fairly for all teams so each pair of RS's are all of a similar standard collectively..

I think those who have devised this plan would be very pleased to see GB lads earning big money in Poland as that would suggest the scheme has 100% worked.. The aim of this has to be getting the national team to the top of the Speedway tree and not whether certain teams may benefit from having a 'young superstar' at number seven for a few years.. The Poles have the right idea in that no matter how good their number six and sevens are (U21 World Champs some of them), they stay in that position.. Winning any Speedway competition over here doesnt mean much currently so it doesnt really matter if any team "gets lucky" with their RS riders... What does matter is in five years or so time, that GB is putting the Union Jack on the top step of the podium regularly at SON's, GP's and U21 World Championships.. As has been proved by other minority sports that have targeted international success above domestic club focus. This national success will 100% get the sport the publicity it needs to thrive and grow..

Can't see how Buckley can be the same grade as Perks / Bates & a higher grade than Kemp / Flint!

Why do people always assume everyone has got a smartphone....they haven't.

I lived in Cumbria for a few years, they couldn't believe I got out of the bath to have a pee.. total heathens

I personally think it would be far easier to get the many thousands of 'adults' who used to go to attend again. Rather than try to attract loads of younger members of the population to go... Many of these thousands being fans who still follow the sport regularly via TV but simply "lost belief" in the way the sport was ran and presented in the UK.. Maybe they should just focus on fixing the reasons why so many no longer go and see if that works?

Notwithstanding that the traditional programme sales and advertising revenue are a vital income to many clubs - especially those that don't own their own tracks - as they only have turnstile sales, advertising and sponsorship monies to cover their costs. I'm not sure that charging for an app would be very economical? I'm all for new technology but only if it can be viable.

The only benefit i can see of an app would be to remove the need for a physical program. A scorecard with the actual riders and updated meeting scores and actual times so that nobody has to rely on shoddy PA systems. They would get around any cancellation and reprints plus the dreaded insert. Obviously there are plenty who still enjoy the physical program but in a green sustainable world e-programs feel like the future.

Got to admire the BSPA for coming up with yet another version of compelling teams to track a young junior rider.The intent is good....but don’t see any signs the “rising star” system has been thought through. It’s a 5 year system apparently .... how does that work? 2 3 and 4 star grading sounds like a recipe for endless dispute between rival promoters. What happens when your rising star rises to a heat leader does he stay at reserve.. or into the team ...where does he go at the end of the season ? If your rising star sadly fails or is injured ...can he be replaced with another rising star? Think everyone will be pisces’d off halfway through the season when ad hoc rules are invented to manage rising stars who are all over the solar system.

It’s all a do about nothing. There are obviously things to sort out before the final list is released. So they are late, were you planning your year and holidays around the published list, whilst at the same time plenty on here are arguing between themselves about whether there will be any speedway this year in the UK. Get real and wait, when they are ready they will be ready, and you will be nearer the time when a decision is made as to if British Speedway can resume on 1st May, 2021. Chill.

Just been picking up stuff on this forum about the Rising Star plan and my immediate reaction to all I have read is that this plan seems far too complicated for old fans like me to understand. Lots of criticism from folk who seem to understand it all. What no one has answered is the question...what does the plan set out to achieve that is not being achieved already ? To find more good young Brits ? Or is the idea to simply rid the sport of all the riders over 25 ? I am a natural sceptic of complicated plans...I wish I understood this one fully.

There is nothing to say a rider has to get to the next star in a season bu there is a time and age limit on it at this moment. As I understand it once a rider has completed a minimum amount of years in he professional leagues he will lose the star grading protection of riding at reserve. National league is not classed as professional as I understand it

Yes there should be a criteria but equally if that criteria leads to a dysfunctional position in 2022 or beyond then you'd amend it wouldn't you. Like you say if the pipeline dries up within those years you might revert to one per team. Or if it's a huge success and there's more supply then you might increase to 3 graded team places for Rising Stars. Never paint yourself into a corner. Surely giving an opportunity to a kid who might go on to be successful internationally and even raise the profile of the sport in this country is preferable to giving another shot to a 3 point 30 year old who is never going to develop? It's product R&D and I don't see giving a team place to a youngster ahead of a low average old timer as reducing the quality, although I'll reserve judgement on that until I've seen Alcock in action [not a euphemism] Cynically you might also consider supply and demand. If there's a greater supply of riders then those riders can't demand as much. Either way the decision is obvious.

Just picking up on S4S last point about flying,,, am pretty sure that cheap flights in and out of Britain might not be around in the future. So flitting in and out for overseas riders may become a thing of the past, giving British youngsters more opportunities to fill vacated places from ageing British/British based riders? But other than that, a can't make head nor tail of this rising stars thing.

Is it just me or is it all just toooo complicated and we already have enough complications with averages but we do at least partly understand them so why not just set it as newcomers to the CL 2.00 - rider who has completed 30 NL meetings or fewer 2.50 - rider under 23 3.00 - newcomer who has completed 30+ NL meetings or over 23. from then on they just have the average the achieve with above minimums applied. For PL reserves need to achieve the required minimum standard via conversion rate as they do now job done. Im all for promoting British and making them more attractive signings makes sense but not if it makes it all too easy. The reason more Aussies succeed than Brits is because they have no choice, its make it or fly home.

Then you need to read it again. Any rider refusing a position will be taken off the scheme, therefore being ineligible for a team place in a reserve position , basically your barred ! . A brand new youth rider is highly unlikely be offered a team place in a 1 to 5 . Lets hope they see the error of there ways and change things when a few of the less desperate , or less wealthy kids, say no I’m not going to do a 500 mile round trip to ride at a club I don’t want to be at and I’ll sit out the year or go moto crossing instead.

say what you like about whoever is under what grading system but there are 58 riders that that clubs need to support as they are the future of British Speedway, enough riders there to fill over 8 complete sides.

So like any other rider then. You get offered a deal and either accept it or reject it. I guess all riders have preferred options but not all of them materialise.

So if im getting you correctly should a rider agree to go onto the rising star register they must accept a team place if offered to them regardless of where it is or face the consequences whatever they may be? Obviously there might be some sense applied in some cases but only likely to financial such as not paying a rider 500 miles fuel money each home meeting. Would certainly be interesting reading to see the sanctions being held against the riders especially if you consider that two places per side will become the norm in the Champ in future. I can see the fun being sucked out of the sport very quickly for some riders being forced to clubs/tracks that they don't like very much.

yes and lets use my lad as an example born and bred in scunthorpe and helped massively by the club and its owner, rode for berwick in the junior league and the team there who run the Juniors have been instrumental in his development ,and as i read it may not have the choice of going to either in his first season (if he makes it) because of the system set out . He could end up 249 miles from home with little choice in the matter. My attitude is if they BSPL are guaranteeing the spots as per the system set out then we have to suck it up . remember riders dont have to accept the scheme they can decline and make their own way through (some will ).

So no programme= no adverts= less income= less money to pay riders/stadium rent= no speedway. Sounds like plan.

and Newcastle

I completely agree but with printing costs on the rise and an increasing demand for better value for money how much revenue do program sales generate over a season? The programs on sale are often printed prior to team changes due to injury/unavailability, rain offs cause either redundant stock or repurposed scruffy examples plus of course the surplus of unsold items. More fans are printing their own sheets and filling in trackside as circa £3 for a document that is rarely read or adverts noted is a pricey addition to each visit. Advertising space could still be sold just to be displayed on the app and with links to companies websites may actually create some genuine trackable sales. Throw in a link to any team merchandise and it could be a very usable item.

Why not say that after a week then? It’s treating the fans with utter contempt that after a week a reasonable explanation couldn’t just be given for the delay - it the BSPL who set the week announcement themselves after all, when knowing about the Somerset/Plymouth situation. It’s the typical “ahhhh say nothing, they would of forgot we said a week” approach within the BSPL that pi$$es everybody off and rubs them up the wrong way. Such a simple simple mistake that could do easily be avoided and dealt with beforehand - instead of having to try and cover their tracks when the FIM ‘jump the gun’.

But why is it so complicated? Why not say 0 years Champ experience 1 Star, 1 Year experience 2 stars etc. PL Experience 3 Stars min. All riders under 30 are eligible. Verge has ridden for 10 years, Harrison hasn't been on a 500. Naming individual riders and putting them into grades is opening it all up for criticism. There is still no incentive for any of the clubs that need the riders to get involved with the development of emerging riders, thats where the progression and success of the system will come from.

Spot on. Even my own kids pretty said the same thing. Why would you want a speedway app? You go to speedway if you're in to speedway.

Or they haven't resolved the fixtures especially the need for Plymouth to accept the offer to join. Pity people don't think for themselves rather than 'join the gang'.

But on the positive side there are new youngsters coming into the sport....... Paul Hurry, Lewis Bridger.

An announcement will be announced in due course to announce when the fixture list will be announced to the public, which will happen in due course once the announcement is announced. All will be revealed in due course.

Smart phones could be used to stream live video from the pits and interviews during delays and or the interval. Smart phones can be used for keeping tabs on the scores instead of filling in a programme with a pen. There are free apps already out on the 'net for these.

So you’re saying that the list hasn’t been finalised and teams are signing riders without the grades actually being finalised? That probably makes it even worse!

Averages tell you they should really be the same grade IMO.Irrespective of what the future holds.

Its not good though Dave is it... release the idea with nothing sorted... you would have thought everything would have been resolved and all parties knew what was happening with regards to set up roll out how it was going to run and operate... especially the riders... but is this not just typical of the BSPL There is one guy on there I know who had to ask to be put on the list... and I can't for the life of me understand how he ended up as a 2* rider... not had a full season as a pro that's for sure... Regards THJ

Because that is the list that has gone to all those mentioned and asking the riders if they want to join the system. No good publishing the list for critics like you, rather wait till the list is formal and then publish it. That's how business is done, not lashed out to just to satisfy the critics.

Wish that I hadn't sold my extensive collection of programmes. Something tangible that I could always refer to in times past.

as i read it there are no consequences you either accept a place on the scheme with the terms and conditions applied which means as i understand it protected places for british youth riders. or you dont accept it and have to take your chances with every other rider . as i understand it there are are no sanctions you can still ride just not in the protected scheme. i think it can work going forward just needs time to settle 2022 will be the telling year as its first full season under the regs as stated. bonus for is we wont have to go to Edinburgh

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when/of say a rider really over achieves and scores highly. Do they move into the main body of the side? Do they stay at reserve? Do they get regraded at the end of the season? Do they end up no longer being a ‘rising star’? Is the 5 year plan for the current crop of riders along with additions or is the 5 year plan for the teams meaning that riders could be removed from the system after say 1 or 2 years once they reach a certain level? Or more importantly... Are we just going to be making it up as we go along?

Maybe we are all looking in the wrong place. British Speedway communication is an absolute cesspit of incompetence. It needs an expert and not someone whose main claim to fame is yelling "woofy woofy woofy" like an inebriated soccer hooligan

will the 4* get a new reassessed ave ? in the championship

It's a good point as printing costs are replaced by hosting costs etc but you can gain advertising revenue via apps. The trouble is it's digital advertising so your local plumber etc who'd advertise in the programme might be excluded, although it's not that difficult to make a digital advert. However, rather than having individual club apps this rather lends itself to an App which covers the whole league(s) so you subscribe to the App and get every scorecard for every match. Have the updates linked directly from the referee so you find out first who has won or been excluded first. That would be something no other sport has. As with any successful App content is key and speedway has that in abundance. As has been suggested rider interviews (live or pre recorded) but also statistics. Whilst I personally don't gamble betting culture is massive. Knowing pre heat each of the riders stats for that heat number and that gate position against those opponents on that track. Whether you gamble or not everybody loves it when their prediction is correct. Even if you're not at the meeting. As for people not using Apps at sporting events I don't think that's true. Maybe it's because Sunderland games have been dreadful over the past few seasons but I've witnessed many people using their phones during games. Gambling Apps encourage it with Cash Outs etc but I'm sure some people are doing their on-line shopping!! Certainly having a meeting App would make those boring seemingly increasingly frequent track grading sessions more palatable. As with everything in businesses it's content and scalability.

funny thing, saw a copy of this a few weeks ago and Palin and Joe Thompson were 2 Star and Dan Thompson 1 Star. you are probably very accurate in your conspiracy theory. I think the big mistake is to have genuine "Rising Stars" and "solid NDL performers who have been around a fair while" on the same programme. Not compatible for a serious attempt to deliver a proper programme. It all adds to view of a lot that NDL is being quietly ditched.

please remember all decisions are made by all promoters just announced by Mr Godfrey.

Edinburgh also having to change team

Great bit of research Christian. Thanks for that

Alot of the issue is the foot print of the stadia & what is on the inside of outside of the speedway track that limits what can be done even if the money is available. Ipswich carried out major track works a few years ago and have been tinkering ever since. Not sure how much of a difference it has made to the racing though.