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Well I’ve just watched the semi final that Kyle Bickley won and it was one of the best 71st or 72nd heats I’ve seen in a while. Well done to all concerned.

Seems a shame that the British Speedway Official Website has totally ignored this meeting, both beforehand and afterwards. The result from some meeting in Australia is on there, but sadly not this one. Thought the idea of that website was to support and help promote British speedway?

ACTUALLY there are limitations on the size and shape of the track that can be installed... for many and especially those who return year after year it is the occasion, the atmosphere and the whole day that combines to make it special.

That's simply not true. I think we get it that you don't like the Cardiff Gp and Cardiff itself for whatever reason, but to say it's been follow the leader since day one is guff.

Of course not but given the nature of the article in the speedway star I'd have thought a simple statement saying "the speedway is unaffected by the recent changes at and around the OTA and we very much hope to be back racing in 2022" would be good PR unless of course....

think there was over 60 races yesterday there was a full youth meeting before the open class so i think the track staff done a great job keeping the track decent couldn’really water the last couple of races because the track was so blue and the sun was out all day night meetings would be a lot different and easier to keep track

Lets hope so. Cardiff is pants. Terrible racing, astronomical prices, stadium half empty. Nothing to do in the city. Belle Vue can showcase speedway in a way Cardiff can only dream of.

It would be good manners towards the Rebels faithful, the Oaktree is a fantastic track, the facilities "clubhouse" & toilets were better than most, car parking brilliant & the team always competitive. I think the Hancocks are good people but are lacking in P.R. skills. I beginning to think no news is bad news?

Thank you for this extremely insightful and fair assesment. We certainly noted most of the comments you raised, unfortunately we needed a few more hands than we had to sort the issues that arose as once the stream began it becomes a bit frantic to fix things that aren't working. Really appreciate this post as it gives a very balanced view. We will be back, and we will address what we consider were the small issues.

I thought there were a few positives and a few negatives, but for a first attempt it wasn't too bad overall. The camera work was good, just a few hic-cups early doors, although a second camera showing the start and finish line side on would be nice, rather than just a head-on camera angle. There appeared to be a few glitches with the on screen graphics, the graphics themselves were good, just bits of information missing (points scored under the name of the rider during heat line-ups), which shouldn't be to difficult to sort out. Roy & Paul doing the commentary seamed to get carried away with themselves at times, and overlooked the one thing commentators are meant to do, keep the viewer at home up to date with the match details. It wasn't a normal individual meeting that we are all familiar with, 16 riders, 20 heats. It was 2 groups of 14 riders (A & B groups), with the top 4 from each group going into a semi final made up of 2 from group A and 2 from group B, which wasn't explained during the qualifying heats, so the viewer at home needed the help of the commentators to make sense of the race details. At first I thought they didn't have a screen to see what the viewers at home were seeing, forth coming Heat details, Heat results, Leaderboard, and occasional scrolling list of club sponsors (nice touch) etc, as they just seamed to be ignoring what was on screen and having there own conversation, It wasn't until just before the semi-finals that Roy & Paul finally used the details being presented on screen as a reference point to the conversation to inform the viewer. From what I could see, the Redcar promotion team seam to have gone to a lot of time and effort to get the various elements of a live broadcast right, the camera work, on screen presentation (graphics) and a commentary team , once they get these elements working together as one unit, they will have a very good product. It's a learning curve for all involved, and it was a very good effort for a first attempt.

A tad sentimental here. A potentially good race has just been reinstalled, but it doesn't have SCB let alone FIM approval. The spectator facilities at Odsal are also sadly a decaying wreck (crumbling terracing) if my last visit a couple of years ago for rugby league is anything to go by. Odsal needs massive investment to bring it back into the modern age. One of the reasons for the return of the stock cars is that neither the city council, the RFL or Bradford Bulls are willing to fund that investment.

2021 MSDL The 2021 MIDLANDS + SOUTHERN DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE will consist of three clubs meeting each other home and away twice. Coming to the tapes are the reigning champions Birmingham , who won the title in 2019. Joining them in 2021 will be Eastbourne and Wolverhampton. Each track will also be staging their own second halves as well with Wolverhampton also having a side in the new Premiership Junior League. They are organizing their MSDL side in conjunction with Birmingham . League co-ordinator Laurence Rogers is pleased that the league will be back in a shortened 2021 campaign, “ I was determined that the league would continue . It is a vital part of British Speedway along with the Northern Junior League giving young riders their first taste of league racing and being in a team as a stepping -stone like so many before them into the higher leagues.” “We have unfortunately lost the nomadic teams under new rules which is a great pity but once the pandemic is over and those clubs can continue their search for land for their tracks we can then hopefully welcome them back.” “ A big thank you to Ian Jordan at Eastbourne and Chris Van Straaten at Wolverhampton for ensuring this league can continue by agreeing to enter sides. With an excess of riders wanting to ride for Birmingham we are assisting our West Midlands neighbours with their team building.” “At Birmingham we plan to run a 2nd half every meeting and in addition to the MSDL we have agreed a three club experimental NJL Shield with Redcar and Berwick involving all three cc classes (125, 250 and 500) . We are also involving the Birmingham and Wolverhampton squad members split into 3 groups of 4 riders who will contest 2 Grand Prix type rounds each with the top 8 contesting a Final. We will also have demo races involving 125 and 250cc youngsters“ “Eastbourne also plan other events as do Wolverhampton so there should be plenty of track action for the up and coming riders.” JUNE Weds 9 Birmingham v Wolverhampton A FIXTURE Sat 19 Eastbourne v Birmingham A FIXTURE Mon 21 Wolverhampton v Eastbourne A FIXTURE JULY Sun 4 Eastbourne v Wolverhampton A FIXTURE Weds 21 Birmingham v Wolverhampton B FIXTURE Weds 28 Birmingham v Eastbourne A FIXTURE AUGUST Mon 2 Wolverhampton v Birmingham A FIXTURE Sat 7 Eastbourne v Birmingham B FIXTURE Mon 9 Wolverhampton v Eastbourne B FIXTURE Mon 30 Wolverhampton v Birmingham B FIXTURE SEPT Weds 1 Birmingham v Eastbourne B FIXTURE Sat 4 Eastbourne v Wolverhampton B FIXTURE Dependent on fixture dates Birmingham will stage a MSDL Riders' Final with 8 riders over 8 heats with top 2 averaged riders from the 3 clubs and 2 wild cards.

We move on to tomorrow`s match Bydgoszcz v Tarnow start time 5pm UK time Links http://spedway.ucoz.lv/ http://www.maniak.tv/mk7 http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-1.html

We move on to tomorrow`s match Bydgoszcz v Tarnow start time 5pm UK time Links http://spedway.ucoz.lv/ http://www.maniak.tv/mk7 http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-1.html

Having been fortunate enough to be there ( on the tools ) I can say it was a very good day with some top class racing in all classes even after the track, inevitably after 70 plus races, went slick. Whilst the pits and parking was a little chaotic, to be expected, everyone enjoyed being back racing and from what I’ve seen of the ‘ live stream ‘ it was a good first effort , especially as it was FREE and Redcar should be congratulated for giving it a go. As for the Official Website coverage , they don’t give Scunthorpe meetings any coverage either so this was to be expected but still disappointing when there is nothing else for them to report on. The fact that a 30 odd year old upright engine saw off some very expensive new lay downs should at least warrant a few words in next weeks Star.

IF the intention now is to sell the whole site, announce it now, the fans deserve that surely?

Wouldn't that be a qualifier for the 2022 GP series? Travel restrictions are more likely to interfere I would have thought.

And then you spend two hours bored to death by follow the leader garbage. If this is it for Cardiff, then good riddance. It's rubbish, and has been from day one.

PERHAPS I should have said viable alternatives...

Surely they don't need to make any statement until the 2021 AGM requires all clubs to give their intention to run in 2022?!

3 days now and no sign of an announcement from the management. If there's nothing to worry about why not issue a simple statement

It’s a 15 minute walk , hardly out of town, and they close the motorway to enable you to walk back safely. For me Warsaw is better than Cardiff as you don’t get ripped off by the hoteliers.

Think you are a bit out of touch Dave. I know Newcastle paid for flights for certain Dane’s in the past but that was their choice in their negotiation with said riders, no DMU agreement in place since 2017. This is why the riders get the cheapest flights possible and fly into Heathrow or Stanstead instead of Newcastle, etc ( when riding for northern clubs ) as it’s at their expense. But each club does its own thing ,hence why certain clubs pay way higher than others.

All of which is beside the point. Why were the 'ghost teams' a 'thorn in the side' of the BSPA? The result of this decision is to sharply reduce the opportunities for riders to develop into team riders proper. In any case, all MDL teams - including those theoretically attached to league teams - were run by 'enthusiasts' in my experience.

Well organised and good meeting for juniors,but you can see the problems regarding track prep when you want to run NDL as double headers,keeping the track decent is very difficult and racing will be Gate and Go stuff IMO.When you want fans to pay good money to watch.30 heats on one night is too much IMO.

The original link wouldn't start unfortunately so we had to change it to a new one. Again without an extra pair of hands we struggled to hen get that link out to the public.

They definitley might be.

That's the drivel us Newcastle fans have had to put up with for years now... And some people say he's good!!

Two weeks tonight!

Looks likely to me Hopefully an announcement will be forthcoming shortly as the Somerset fans deserve that at the very least

That is true. But unfortunately I personally cannot support "ghost teams". The BSPA finally ran out of patience with them and when Cradley closed shop it finally gave them the excuse to remove that thorn from their side. Ghost Teams are run by enthusiasts that can't be denied. BUT there is a distinct difference between those that genuinely are seeking to bring back speedway to towns and those that are using a name from the past to play fantasy speedway without any intent of putting their money where their mouths are. Without naming names a very successful "club" in the early years of the MDL gave it large how they wanted to bring back speedway to the area. I told them how the owner of a certain greyhound circuit within a racecource was a motorsports fan and they should approach him. Said fantasy club were not interested. Enough said.

Brilliant coverage, but OMG ! The commentary was absolutely horrendous Well done Redcar for putting this on, can’t be easy with so many heats

AT least 40,000 people think you are wrong.

That's true but it doesn't matter any way as there will not be anyone willing to take a big gamble on running speedway there, this year or in the future IMO.

Give it to Barry Bishop on the Island on a weekend in August. That would be a show. Now a COMPLETELY neutral venue and a fantastic place for fans to visit for a weekend or longer.

That’s stupid, you may as well say they pay for his bacon sandwich and tins of red bull ! Now back to the Skunny thread.

Each rider's current average should be beside his name on the declared team line-ups in each league on the British Speedway Official Website. How difficult would that be to do? Or is it a big secret?