Leaderboard

I had toyed with whether this was better placed in the general discussion thread and a slightly different title tailored more towards just general UK speedway, but I think actually the survival of UK speedway as we know it hinges on the survival of the Premiership itself. We already know that not only the long term but short term and immediate futures of Wolves, Peterborough and Kings Lynn are all uncertain… We normally get to the AGM every year and look for decisions made towards the running and long term future of the sport… So how can the Premiership survive? Here’s my take: 1) All efforts has to be made to keep the 3 mentioned clubs running. Easier said than done and the ball isn’t in their court so to speak for Peterborough and Wolves with regards land usage, whereas Kings Lynn just need a new promoter/owner. 2) We need more teams and more variety in the league. This means actively encouraging the likes of Poole, Glasgow, Oxford etc back into the Premiership. In my opinion a top division of 8 teams should be a minimum. More on that below at point 3…. In my opinion, talk of one big league joining up with the Championship simply won’t work. Lack of riders and complete drop in standard with the existing Premiership sides would be a sure fire way to close the sport down completely. There is already a lack of riders at both levels of the sport but even more so in the Championship. This was proven by the failure of Plymouth, Scunthorpe, Birmingham etc failing to name a team of 7 riders until either the last minute of the season or all together when they started the year with riders injured. 3) Additional night of fixed race nights - Add Wednesday into the mix. This absolutely goes head to head with Denmark but actually affects very few riders, especially if fixtures are planned accordingly. This for a number of years has been a massive problem for the UK in that they botched the fixture list up. The likes of Poole and Oxford could continue to run their home matches on Wednesdays and have their away matches on Monday or Thursday. Their home matches could be arranged to ensure riders were available. 4) 6 man teams - This immediately frees up at least 7 riders from this years Premiership. Teams to be comprised of 5 standard riders and 1 British junior (I hate the term rising star). Naturally by having less riders per team this will mean that each rider gets more rides so means they earn more money, whilst less travel money is paid by the team. Everybody is a winner! I absolutely hate the guest ruling. They are way too many guests being used nowadays which brings discredit to the sport and competition in general. If any rider is missing then they are replaced by rider replacement. Only when a second rider is then missing can a guest be sourced. By having less riders per team, this should immediately reduce the risk of needing guests. Further to that, it has been discussed previously but I would welcome a shared spot for the no.1 position. I will use the scenario where a team could sign Artem Laguta and Tai Woffinden to share one team spot meaning it saves on logistics for the rider not having to do a full season and again, reducing the chances of riders going missing. 5) The stumbling block to all of the above is the chances of the Championship then becoming either disbanded or severely impacted as we currently know it. They themselves would have less teams as several move up but should for 1 season only reduce their points limit. This would be done to lower the standard and used as a way of preventing doubling up as it currently is. Doubling up needs to be reduced and a bridge in standard to the Premiership. Teams should have either 5 or 6 riders, with reduced teams and riders again increasing rider availability. Riders like Sam Masters, Benjamin Basso etc should really be forced out with doubling up only afforded to British riders to the likes of Danny King, Steve Worrall, Charles Wright, assuming their averages then fit. ———— To summarise….. Premiership: - Minimum of 8 teams - 6 man teams (including British junior) - Race format to mean riders getting more rides - Race nights on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday - Shared no.1 spots for 2 riders Championship: - Minimum of 8 teams - 5/6 man teams (including British junior) - Race format to mean riders getting more rides - Race nights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - No doubling up for foreign riders I haven’t gone to the extent to work out what the points limit should be, but the Championship would have to be reduced to make it more affordable for the lesser sides and ensure there is enough riders to go round. Riders will be riding more than before with more fixtures in the Premiership and more rides per match. This is only scratching the surface but should in my view be a starting point to not just look at reducing costs, but increase the viewing quality for the fan and make speedway begin to prosper again.

So didn't the bikes have to be raced flat out before heat 10,,,it is strange they nearly always make it heat 10,,,but then suddenly can't get any further

2 home & 2 away would work perfectly with no play-offs, no need to cancel cup fixtures to race league matches before the cut-off date, no need to race on your off night / twice a week. Would have till the end of October to fit in the fixtures. However I know they'd never get rid of the play-offs

Especially when heat 13 and 15 are the big money races, I thought the super expensive Briggo dirt deflectors were going to put an end to this sort of farce.

I find it works if you think of it as a draw (after all both teams get a point), and then there is a superheat for a 'bonus point'.

People aren’t seriously paying attention to who scored what in a testimonial meeting surely?

Coming in 2024: 5 man teams, 10 heats, £30 admission, meetings can be called a result after Heat 3.

experts say it can get up to a billion degrees.

Article on Dorset Live from Matt Ford. Has confirmed Poole certain to run in 2024 and fans should enjoy this season and next. No certainty for 2025 or beyond. Very frank words.

It's still just shuffling the deckchairs. While I don't disagree with much of what you say, I don't see how that would attract enough fans and/or save enough costs to make running a speedway club financially viable. I don't see how it will help create more speedway riders (possibly the biggest challenge facing speedway as a spectator sport) or address the issue of venues closing and being sold for development.

People who like me, who see nothing wrong with a draw / or wonder why when 2nd & 3rd is the same as 1st & 4th for 15 heats, is suddenly better in the 16th race? Same theory as not agreeing with a final in an individual after 20 races, or play-offs to decide the league title. Or wild cards getting picked instead of qualifiers. I guess I prefer a "true / fair" winner without any gimmicks etc

That might encourage them to make more effort to get the fixture on at times .There has alway been a few dodgy call offs because the riders know they will still get a pay night when it is rescheduled.No rescheduled match means no money.

All the usual suspects I expect

Maybe if there were more fixtures in the league, riders wouldn't feel the need to ride in quite so many different places? That's part of the issue. You can't make a living on one meeting a week, and let's be honest, it's barely that over a season right now.

Having sung the praises of the M6 between Manchester & Cannock on the Leicester hosted Prem Pairs thread it bit me on the ass big time tonight! Meeting done & dusted early for the flat track & female rider demo. In car by 21:15, thought great I'll be home by 22:30. Nah! M6 rubbish J17-J16 & A449 from Shugborough. Marvelous. #hatehighwaysagency Still better than M6 through Brum. Absolute drubbing for Wolves, score probably would have been bigger but a few Aces (Bewley, Lidsey & Wright) struggled in their opening rides. Toss up between Kurtz & Blodorn for top performer. Bewley picking his way through traffic in heat 15 probably the highlight. Kurtz blasting around Worrall on the final bend after making up about 20 metres in 2 laps close behind. Smith's paid win however got the biggest applause. Masters aside Wolves were not at the races and even their captain struggled in the middle of the meeting.. Aggregate bonus should be secured with that result. But if it isn't leaving not replacing Smith with Brennan in heat 12 could be costly.

The clubs know nearly all the fans that were mugged off tonight,, will be standing outside waiting to get in another time,, with another chance of being mugged off some more. Fans are treated like schitt,, cos they let themselves be.

How did they manage to ride 3 heats in poor conditions to get as far as Heat 10, and then decide it couldn't go on ... that's almost as suspicious as Bates Leicester getting a vital win at Bates Sheffield last week.

Was the breeze only on bend 2 and the back straight as well as the sun

Yes,and what I don't understand is if it was called off on safety grounds then why did the riders continue to ride in the wet,only to call it off when the rain had stopped and the sun was out...sorry but it was all about getting it to heat ten because the result stands.....hmmmmm now let me see.

Typical speedway fan who has no thoughts for anyone but themselves! Speedway bikes these days have to be raced flat-out. The sun was out on bend 2 and the back straight, we could obviously see these parts of the track were drying quickly. The problem came from the 3rd/4th bends and home straight which had no sun on it. Therefore the track will have been massively inconsistent, not to mention the glare from the sun going down the back straight. I agree with the decision to call it off.

Let's look at another motorsports,,, touring cars,, formula 1 and others,,, there was a big push a few years ago with things like getting people who played computer games to try car racing and stuff,, think it was Britain next top racing driver,, or something like that,, there was a whole program for them to start at the bottom and work their way up,,, but let's concentrate on speedway,,,,, it needs more young riders,, they need to be able to get free track time on free equipment,, okay that would need a sponsor to put money up,, but other sports manage,,, me personally I would be trying to attract some young muslim lads and some young Chinese lads or lasses,,,, these communities follow and support all their young sports people,,, just look at snooker in China now,, and the millions that now follow it because a Chinese lad made good,,,,each club has thousands of new fans possibly waiting in the wings If we can un earth some talent from those community. It's also about having an evening out where you go home feeling entertained,,, it's been said thousands of times before,,, but alot of people want more for their money,,,, not just 15 races,, where you may see a couple of good ones,, or maybe not,,, 5 mins of watching a tractor going round every 15 mins whilst listening to the greatest hits of the 70s,,, don't cut it in modern life.

6 rider teams,, no doubling for foreigners,,, it's all been said before,,,, what's new? Shared number 1,, been mentioned before,,, more teams,,,, well yeah Is it about dragging the sport on for a bit longer till all the oldies are dead,,, or is it about finding new ways to find new fans? Let's be honest the majority of speedway fans are probably over 50,,,in fact I would say probably over 60,,, so the majority of remaining fans will be dead soon,,, what then? As for me,, hardly go at all anymore,, like thousands and thousands before me. Can I be tempted back,,, yes I would think so,, but I don't think the put forward suggestions would do it,,,, bringing some integrity back into the sport would help,,

What an absolute joke! Rushed through 2 races in rain to get 10 heats in. blue sky’s 15 min later… most of riders looked confused that they’d called it off… want my money back

Plymouth and Kent wanted to run NORA with CL and NDL respectively and basically told they couldn't in collaboration with IOW. Some Clubs run NORA on amateur basis with SCB blessing it seems but others can't.. All very messy. Wouldn't be a massive surprise if NORA gained 2 Clubs and BSPL lost 2 more as a result. Crazy though when likes of Morley, Bowtell and Edwards all of whom have ridden CL for Plymouth and Trigger can ride NORA on IOW but not at Kent or Plymouth

Same old,,,, been all said before

I've no idea which leg he's broken. Sorry.

Seen an appeal from Mark Phillips.. "bring a friend bring an enemy, bring someone" seems he needs a few hundred more every week or 2023 could be last season in CL. A shame as a great little set up there. I wonder if he'll jump to NORA with maybe Kent too. Can use CL and NDL riders far less costs and focus on a summer season.

what absolute rubbish

No - all correct

So, you would rather have no speedway to watch. I take opposite view and just enjoy the racing.

Have they made some new signings then ?

Pleased for Jason if he gets the chance, he's a good lad.

IMO modern bikes look horrible without the covers but the upright were a sight to behold when presented in tip top condition ,Ivan's ,Ole's for example then you had Briggo's who's needed covering up even when clean .

The Carr Brothers - Peter and Louis always looked the part , anodised frames and wheels and engine plates and matching leathers, in the upright era well ahead of their time before those stupid engine covers covered all the interesting parts of the bike.

Why? If he still enjoys racing & can make a living, no reason to stop, unless he wants to. It's up to the club to drop him if they have a better option!

I went to Ully's farewell today... 4 full teams, no guests, no R/R and all on a Sunday afternoon... it's the future (and the past )

Easy…let’s rip off season ticket holders. Or have I misunderstood?

Could go either way this one Plymouth should win but I’ve said that a few times this season but as a caution there’s a fair bit of rain around Tuesday morning/ early afternoon.

It couldn't get much worse than watching a club legend wobble around the track being beaten by rising stars

Unlucky loss for the Bandits.

Good to see Drew Kemp riding at Ully's farewell meeting, so no serious injury from Friday night.

Lucky home win.

Rock, Paper, Scissors!!!

Plymouth, l'd think....

Would not be better if you have a Super Heat for it to be a Match Race between 2 riders.The winner then wins it for his Team.

Hang on a minute, let’s not start taking the moral high ground about loyalty when UK sides are happy to slash riders from their line ups whenever they wish, move then on during the winter and frankly change riders at the drop of a hat when something better comes along. That’s no different to Woffinden, when he went off fully committed to Poland. Let’s not start pretending the UK teams are fully of loyalists.

Without Keith Chapman Stars would have closed. is that what you want? no-one else to pay the bills.

When we have had new blood come into the ranks of the promoters with new ideas to take the sport forward they soon realise they are banging their heads against a brick wall. Coincidence that the Isle of Wight opted out and are putting on events that the public are praising and embracing?

I was never a fan of predominantly white leathers, but I thought that the Gulf/Weslake leathers (mostly white, with orange and blue trim) used by a few (Gordon Kennett and Steve Weatherley etc) looked cool! Steve