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I've said it before, it's easier than ever to have fan involvement with the "free" technology we have these days yet many tracks do absolutely nothing or very little during a meeting. Tracks should have an online presenter during a meeting on Facebook live (or similar) giving rider interviews and coverage from the pits and other interaction with fan polls, competitions and opinion etc. At Leicester all we get is the offer of a signed programme board if we make an Insta post and that's more than most do! Until Speedway is brought dragging and kicking into the 2020's it'll continue to be "happy 90th birthday to Elsie" and centre green presenters having one way "conversations" with the crowd while the tractors are endlessly drone around the track.

To be fair the racing was far better than the score line might suggest

Always better to use R/R at the birth, rather than at the conception.

I agree with most of 1 Valves replies it is the nearest the truth that can be conveyed and easily understood. This all goes back to the Shawcross report and the implementation of its recommendations. Track racing in the UK became the responsibility of the RAC/ACU under FIM Rules, The ACU contractually devolved the responsibility for managing Speedway to the SCB who in turn authorise the staging of the sport to the BSPA/L under licence. This pyramid provides the security to manage risk and/or litigation from anywhere in the pyramid to the top. To complicate matters further all organisers and competitors in any motor sport require the protection of the "Off Road Motor Sport" regulations which can only be through a recognised association properly constituted, adequately insured with established racing and racing circuit criteria. There's a bit more to it but basicly racing machines do not have to comply with the road traffic acts and construction and use regulations. Similarly a competitor cannot be prosecuted under those acts for say dangerous driving or overtaking on the inside as examples. The pyramid has remained intact for decades until Nora came along and set up a compliant model that mirrored the ACU on a smaller scale consequently there was not a strong enough reason to prevent Nora licencing/staging track racing or any other motor sport, they put everything in place. Now we've all seen the kicking and screaming coming from the bottom of the Pyramid but as long as Nora remain compliant I don't see a way of stopping them as long as they do not call it Speedway racing as that type of racing is legally the responsibility of the ACU in the UK. NB. The Off Road Motor Sport Regulations work slightly different in Scotland, very often the Police have to attend to verify that it is an off road event.

We coped when there was about 20 teams in our league ,and we had the fours too

Genuinely, I had the opportunity last evening at home of explaining the Super heat to a friend given I was pleased with the Lions draw and he is not a follower of the sport. His summery of the situation was. "so after two matches Leicester won on aggregate over 30 races and overall received 4 points (home win, away draw & bonus point) Sheffield lost but received two points one for a home draw and one for winning an extra race to the original 30 races". He then added, "doesn't seem sensible to have an extra race for anything other than if the aggregate score had been level" Sometimes the promoters forget that one of the attractions of speedway is, its simplicity. 4 riders, 4 laps, 6 points up for grabs in each of 15 heats, the winner of the meeting being the team with the most points at the end after heat 15 Or a DRAW if both teams have scored equal points!! SIMPLES.

Thought this was Oxford v Birmingham.Always have to give Poole a mention,and how good things are there.They must go and race in the Polish league as Poole must have outgrown the British leagues by now.

Piss poor and just makes more of a mockery of the sport.

In the Pairs at Sandy Lane last year he was doing wheelies down the straights while in last position, so it's a fair comment about whether he turns up or not - he was a disgrace. Try respecting the fans and perhaps he'll get the same level of respect in turn.

Surely if decisions were 'financial' they wouldn't have replaced Dorset-based Kyle Newman with Dane Patrik Baek who would need to be flown in each week etc. Could have kept Kyle and put Barker at 1.

Heard a rumour at Oxford last night that Tom Brennan might be Premiership only next season.

Nora is independent of the "international" structure as previously outlined. Regarding track time for riders, within the current structure of speedway in the UK there are training/practice facilities available which are well used by both amateur and professional riders. Unfortunately with any governed sport comes the rules and regulations which form the structure by which the sport operates domestically, nationally and internationally. . On the domestic front, nobody, especially British speedway promoters want to see the sport suffer unnecessarily and similarly, welcome new potential investors. some clubs such as Leicester are fortunate to have an owner with a structured vision, and sponsors onboard in JCB who support the club without the need to to do anything other than be "sponsors" . They are not alone in this regard. Unfortunately, other clubs/promotions have found that the promise of sponsorship comes with caveats where the sponsor thinks they have a right to demand change and frankly have more self interest at heart than the good of the club or the sport in general. Not everything in the UK speedway garden is rosy, but that does not mean, a new broom would sweep away the bad and replace it with anything better. The sport in the UK is not in terminal decline as some naysayers would have us believe, but it is far from being as healthy as we would want. The evolution rather than a revolution, will continue towards a brighter and healthier future albeit without a revolution and still within the global structure.

When I started watching speedway (1955, age eight months) and through the 60s and 70s the tractor came onto the track as the riders left. It did two laps and left the track as the riders came out for the next race. While that was happening about twenty rakers were busy pulling the shale back towards the inside line and away from the fence which meant the tractor had shale to move around. The racing was never delayed by track grades but the racing surface was well looked after. Then we got health and safety saying that no riders or staff could be on the track while the tractors were and the tractor had to be in the pits not on the centre green. Add to that the near total absence of rakers and we end up with lots of delays for tractor racing while the track is not maintained as well as it used to be.

50-40 is a great result considering Cook and Vissing were missing. Batch superb and Jenkins an excellent guest.

Partner due to give birth I think.

Would going to a wedding not be classed as withholding your service or whatever its called, unless it was your own wedding.Fair enough for birth of your child which can't be planned for timing wise but not a wedding.

If the points limit goes down, that would be insane. 42 next year would provide parity to this year.

Exactly. No point Birmingham throwing their toys out of the pram. They lost the meeting because their number 1 choked when the pressure was on. They got what they deserved

It’s also worth mentioning that in this weeks star dated August 3rd, Peter Oakes said he was contacted by Neil Vatcher after the article and apologised to the SCB Manager after accepting that the SCB had in fact provided facility’s to Workington for the missing riders and it was Workington who were unable to find riders to accept the bookings at short notice.

Can you demand a competitive team for the blue n gold next season?

Think I've I'd paid good money for the pairs last year to watch bachelor's antics I might have joined that club too!

I demanded a postponement and the people listened.

Get extra 5% for home meetings don’t you. Klindt 6.59 + 5% - 6.92 Harris - 6.79

You and Mr Godfrey probably think Scunthorpe have seniority over Glasgow. But Glasgow changed to Fridays in 2018 having agreed a deal with Edinburgh, opening in March. Scunthorpe then changed from Sundays for the 2018 season due to rider availability, opening in April. Had Glasgow not changed first they like Arena Essex and Workington would have been forced to move fixtures so Godfrey could get decent guests.

You couldn't! If you had an employee who year after year made the same mistakes and never learned from them, eventually you would sack them. You get what I'm saying, when is the point where enough is enough?

Troy's been excellent all season so Workington fans have no concerns whether or not he turns up. He must just enjoy riding somewhere he's liked and appreciated this season!

Yes......and it could be for Poole.........??!!!

Felt for Kyle Howarth last night, found cure for ignition issue with bike number 1 after two rides and had good win over Max Fricke in third ride, then in fourth ride through no fault of his own whilst trying to avoid Ryan Douglas who’d locked up on exit of bend 2 clashed with him causing chain to go and cause around £2k worth of damage to his bike! Engine case cracked and gashed so that’s for scrapper, diamond squashed where chain flattened the tubing, engine plates damaged, clutch wrecked including basket, throttle cable snapped and that’s just for starters!! It’s an expensive sport especially for someone who isn’t going to be on the receiving end of massive sponsorship or at the top of ££ per points. But you know what he still put his kit away, went to the bar to meet the fans, had some pics with some kids, when he could have just got in van and drove home with no interaction with fan base like a lot of riders. Went up in my estimations for that

Well since you ask . The tractor racing is actually a very important function during a speedway meeting . They appear at the end of every four heats , well it takes around four heats to savour a pint in its entirety. Ok if there is a couple of reruns one might have to go thirsty for a few minutes . But Ted the tractor man strutting his stuff every four heats gives me just enough time to go for a refill

Nothing. https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/24491058.abbey-stadium-homes-swindon-not-breach-planning-rules/ I think when swindon council planning wrote the minimum criteria for the stadium it was poorly done, especially given the form of Gaming International.

Tom Brennan will be in Cardiff for GP.

Too late now unfortunately. Which is probably a good thing - stops Jody Scott coming in to replace Rohan Tungate.

Bought my ticket , can't wait for this again , love going to Oxford

Though that was a fantastic meeting. As usual another last heat decider at Oxford in the Premiership. Certainly value for money.

It has been boring for a long time and is like a leopard, so won't change its spots.

What a meeting! Large crowd, Birmingham very unlucky not to come away with a win. Fantastic racing throughout the meeting. Well done to both teams.

Pawlicki rode better than his points total, flint looks down on speed, can’t fault Freddie in heat 15 he took janowski to the fence to stop him but janowski kept it on and the clattered together inches from the fence, Birmingham didn’t really lose the meeting by fault they were unlucky in 15 with Brenen being excluded

Oh Birmingham, so near but, great entertainment though, Riss definitely took one for the team there and it paid off

Erik knows what he’s don there, tactical dive to an extent knew Tom had him and took the chance of a rerun hoping it would go his way.

No he's on your bus and the driver got lost

He will be yeah, he’s riding at for us at Redcar tonight

Me too, but they never win in this situation. I'd have been minded to chance it though, especially given the team we had tonight.

Is Cookie riding?

If that is the lineup, i think we have a fair chance of coming away with the points. It's always nice to have a 7 riders. Hope Ben is as fit if he does return for this one. Otherwise we have Kvech, NKI, Harris, who can take a ride. I'm not sure on Adam Ellis. I don't know if he retains Tobys average for RR purposes, or the 6.16 we have for him?? Someone will be along to put me right quick smart..

Saved a pumping

Spot on Sir! I did many years track prep at Cleveland Park (Middlesbrough) under Tony Swales in the late 70's. We'd start watering the track with hosepipes at about 2 in the afternoon (whatever the weather) whilst continually tyre packing - tractors and Tony's huge mobile home. I'd then be one of the rakers during the meeting (we only ever had 6 at Middlesbrough) pulling the sh(ale) back into the centre for the tractor to distribute wherever, after every heat without disturbing the flow of the meeting. Though maybe now at my age I should be thankful for the 'toilet breaks' after every 4 heats.

I went to Sheffield with my, then, 19 year old lad, a couple of years ago and he mentioned how many races were "in memory" of someone. And then the next time at the NSS, with those thoughts in our minds, we picked up on the same... The demographic of the fanbase perfectly summed up I would suggest. And it shows the challlenge faced by promoters in replacing those sadly departed very loyal regulars...

Yup, the government gives funds to the local councils, they get a lot of money for sports. If a team is better in one sport EG. Poznan with football, then bigger percent of the pot goes to football. Vice versa for speedway. Interestingly Lublin football have been promoted to the top tier for next season and the city is forced to take money from their speedway club and even it out for football. So it looks like their start studded speedway team will split after the following season

Lindgren disappoints again. He should be winning heat 15. If Birmingham had signed Laguta instead of Lindgren, they would be challenging for the play-offs.

As teams averages will rise from 38 at the start of the season to one close to 42 at the end of it, most/all riders should be expected to raise their starting average by about 10% without actually improving their under lying performance. A starting average of 6.5 would need a season end average of over 7.00 (7.15) just to stand still.