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Thanks to the responders who helped with our travel plans. This was our first time at Cardiff. What an incredible experience! Us adults really enjoyed - my 8 year old loved the immersiveness. He was sure the louder he shouted, the faster bewley, lambert & brennan were going. There were many empty seats but that didn't stop the crowd. Fantastic atmosphere. We are the described "new fans" - my Dad took us to watch in Glasgow when he could lay his hand on free tickets (there was 4 of us kids, so I'll give him a pass 😆). We, all 20's and 30's now, have a rekindled love for the sport, with my 8 year old. It's a shame to see so much negativity- there are new supporters coming into the sport: most younger folk are simply unaware that is in existence. Word of mouth is incredible - I've not known anyone I've recommended to attend - even at that much lower championship level - to not enjoy it and have a fantastic night and either want to or actively go back. The amount of "gatekeeping" by older fans is laughable - not all, of course, but those "diehards", my best example being that I still can't comment on our local teams fan page! - these need to be verified and have waited for 1+ year! Please, be more accommodating of us newbies! I certainly hope Cardiff goes again next year. I'll be one of the first in line for tickets and will be recommending to many others - may even put on a bus (we also had no response to the glasgow one, despite it being broadcasted of availability on here..). Very open to all of your knowledge and experience. Welcoming of suggestions for tracks to visit, and other GPs for us to plan around our holidays next year!

Ridiculously cheap. £20 to watch the worlds best riders in a world class stadium with a roof. Plus a fanzone, plus fireworks. Yet the armchair viewers want to move it to Belle Vue, which they also won't attend because of the ticket prices/hotel prices/weather.

Decent GP, and great to see a British 1-2. Th crowd looked a similar level to the last couple of years, so this looks like the new normal now. It can't help having tracks closing down all the time. A lot of fans from the likes of Swindon, Wolves, Peterborough and so on are probably lost over time. Swindon, for example, used to put on a coach. Cardiff is still the best place to hold it though. I think most people can see that. It's only the Belle Vue Freedom Fighters that seem to be resisting this. Belle Vue is obviously a better track, but it's outdoors and the crowd for the SON doesn't exactly encourage change. I don't know if crowds can ever get back up to the previous levels. I saw a comment on the Digital Spy forum recently in a discussion on speedway, where someone said they used to enjoy watching it but have lost touch with what is going on now since it stopped being on Sky. I think that was a bit of a shark jump for the sport when that was lost. I'm sure Dan Bewley could be a World Champion if he can retain a level of consistency. He certainly has the skills!

Great to witness a British 1,2 on the podium at Cardiff today , rarer than a white rhino that one. Congrats to Dan Bewley on his victory, chuffed for him following an inconsistent 24 series to date. Cardiff is a great place to hold this and the Principality Stadium a great venue. Need the hotels to stop their exorbitant pricing and help get the crowd levels back to where they were pre covid which will ease pressure on cost cutting measures. Way too much negativity from some on here. No wonder the decline of what could be an even greater sport continues.

He has a good Team behind him,he is laid back character and enjoying the sport which is a great attitude to have.Good for him ,he does not think he is Prima Donna like some of the others around him think they are.

Glad me my daughter and friend decided last night to go today.Bought tickets and park and ride this morning during our 4 and a half hour journey and the rest was history.£20 a ticket upper tier,1st bend,excellent viewing,cheaper than a league meeting with 8 extra races with the world's top riders.That is value for money.A British 1,2 dont think that has happened ever in a GP series,has it?

And speedway still won't get a mention on BBC's Sports Review of the Year.

A GB 1 and 2 in our home GP. A Gold in the Pairs. No complaints from me.

Well that was a fantastic evening at Cardiff, great atmosphere, great racing and tension with a Brit 1-2 and no holder or Zmarlik in the final. Added to being on a great city we really enjoyed it. Getting our tickets for 2025 very soon.

How many falls were there last night?

Yep. All makes sense. I went pretty much every year until about four years ago. It’s a great place to spend the weekend, brilliant stadium and great atmosphere around town. I’m just one of those that has drifted away. It’s very very difficult to imagine it getting back to 40k crowds. Multiple reasons for that, but the biggest for me is that British Speedway’s continued shrinkage, tracks closing and new audiences not being attracted to replace the ‘old farts’. The harsh reality is that a fair chunk of those 40k that used to go are now either dead or too elderly to manage a full day visit like that anymore. A feature of the day was meeting and chatting to loads of fans who followed the sport closely in the 60s and 70s…the reality is they are passing on. And there just isn’t enough younger people interested enough to fill their shoes. I used to go with my folks and one is too grumpy to go now (yes, father) and the other not too mobile (mother). We have said we might go again for ‘one last time’ next year. Honestly though, i don’t know anyone else my own age or younger that would have any interest at all in going.

Not bad from the 'throttle jockey' Bewley who people say can only do it in Poland and NSS Belle Vue. Twice won on the small track at Cardiff.

I suspect the one you will watch is the one Eurosport decide to cover. The outcome of your preferred match will mean diddly squat when it comes to the play offs. As for gate and go, the Leicester track is fair and welcomes opposition riders to make good starts should they wish to do so. The best riders attack this track and don’t make excuses, or read about all the negativity on social media.Have to admit though it’s no Belle Vue, where every meeting is orgasmic and a fast bike takes usually takes care of a rider’s technical shortfalls.

Liverpool is a far superior City to visit imo.

Do a bit of googling as you’ll find that’s very much an incorrect assumption. Of all the UK cities outside our capital Manchester is the top destination for tourists. Having more than double the amount of hotel beds than Cardiff provided by many different operators, it is hoped more affordable rates would be available. Problem there though is with Manchester being so popular availability would be an issue.

Manchester is a problem, it is not a tourist city and thats putting it nicely as I can.

Manchester itself isnt a problem its got more museums, pubs, hotels, restauraunts, and a myriad of other things to do, as for the speedway side are,nt there other GP,s held in stadiums with similar capacities? having to put in a temporary stand on the third and fourth bend and the cost of recuperating that cost is a problem. As the council were adamant a condition of the stadium being built was to host world events could a perminent facility have been put in place on the third and fourth bends? Obviously its not required for league meetings but would have given the stadium that extra capacity without the hike in prices we saw for the SON. I always felt the stadium looks incomplete.

Should be home win ...If they cant beat these they wont beat anyone...

If so, that's something new. Wembley was always packed, yet nobody went THERE for the racing...

What like the mad dash for SON tickets 🤣 You may not be interested in museums, hotels and pubs but plenty are and make it a weekend.

Absolutely!

The viewing figures are usually respectable and if thousands of people who know nothing about speedway see Bewley and Lambert in action, who knows if some may get the bug.

There would be a mad dash for tickets at Belle Vue. Its a brilliant track which is all you need. Nobody is interested in museums, hotels and pubs. They go to speedway for the racing.

I neither like Holder nor dislike him but he does seem to split opinions, to call him the new NP is a bit ott I can’t really think of any crashes where holder has fenced someone like Nicki did. Just because he doesn’t shake peoples hand after a race does that make him a bad person? I don’t mind he doesn’t acknowledge other riders most of the other riders have such a love in it’s too nicey nice.

All belle vue has got is a great track, Cardiff is more fan based, it will kill the GP if it doesn’t move to a new location that is out of the norm, the wow factor etc,which is why Cardiff has worked for at least 15 years but now that novelty has worn thin and a new venue is needed ,if you want a great track only then Workington northside is a better track(wider, more lines and no so engine dependent ) than belle vue and is on the seaside and no I wouldn’t want to spend a day in Workington town center either as lovely as it is

Both Lambert and woffinden can be hot heads at times and think they are it. Dan is so cool and don’t let a blip in form seem to affect him. He is such a nice guy, so level headed and worthy of all he gets.

Bewley being interviewed post final was refreshing. He seems a genuinely happy guy. Compared to Woffinden he really is a breath of fresh air.

Nowhere near as many people will go to Manchester as Cardiff, it's not really a 'weekend away' place is it?

we won at Foxhall 2022 season with Howarth top scoring.. need a similar performance Monday

He just is one 🤪

Hi Lisa, you maybe right but it's on the night where anything can happen. Poole to win hopefully with an Improved performance after last week.

I agree, Whatever the system they use to decide order it can't be hard to get a spreadsheet that can instantly give you the correct order.

Love Liverpool and at 30 odd miles away that would easily add to a long weekend in the North West.

I've just had an online chat with them, they haven't a clue, after explaining their website is incorrect they apologised and sent me 2 links to tomorrow's meeting, both showing Leicester, ha ha, chat ended with me saying I hope their outside broadcast team know where to go. Then I get a satisfaction survey - they got one star for everything.

Does anybody care about that anymore?

Doesn't mean they're not English, though, and it doesn't mean we won't have an English 1-2-3...

Not a bad crowd considering the lack of promotion for the event. I think a lot of what you say stands up, undoubtedly the move away from the UK's "mainstream" sports channels hasn't helped. Interestingly there does seem to be a different demographic that attends the GP, many Polish fans still, even though they have Warsaw but also I do notice how many young people attend the Cardiff GP, many, many people in their early to mid 20's and who can blame them it's a very cheap day out... it just seems to be the old fart complaining brigade that stays away 🤷‍♂️

Sad to hear of the passing of Milan Spinka at 73. Milan was a true speedway gentleman who wore many hats within our great sport. As a rider he excelled in all disciplines of track racing Speedway, Long track, Grass track & Ice speedway winning the World title in the latter. He was also a manager & coach to riders & teams at national & international levels as well as a Referee taking control of FIM events. Born in the Czech town of Pardubice home to the famous Golden Helmet event which he was very proud to have won in 1973 breaking the dominance of Jiri Stancl & Ole Olsen. Mr Spinka will be greatly missed by many of his friends around the globe. Best wishes to all his family & friends at this sad time. Thanks for the good times "Spinky" Ride fast

I do wish Bewley would get himself a proper manager/mentor, a Pete Adams type or even Adams himself. The rest of the SGP field must be absolutely crapping themselves at just how good Dan Bewley can be. For me he's by some distance the most talented rider in the field, generally is always right up there or fastest in qualifying, gets through to a final and generally wins it, pressure doesn't seem to effect him, must have ice running through his veins... but inexplicably just goes missing from time to time, maybe he just needs somebody to focus his mind, I don't know.

Well done! You got there in the end

Probably sharing his dummy

IMO it was 50/50.Charles was going to run out of room if Scott hadn’t pulled a small locker to stop running really wide and Charles was already anticipating Scott running wide and turned back but Scott had slowed and he had nowhere too go.Personally think Scott ran him in too far for Charles too go round him.I appreciate the riders view but I’m not sure Rory would have seen it the way he did if Scott done that too him.Unfortunate end too meeting thoug.

Not a fan of Lambert either, prefer Bewley’s cool temperament Lambert in the past has shown how immature he is and I believe he is a poor loser but don’t like to show it. Dan top guy for me

But they have GP’s elsewhere with equally low capacity????

There was the same amount of raking as there always is

Riders do not get paid points money in these events, payment is on the pairs finishing position.

Everyone watching last night's Championship Pairs will better understand why Paco Castagna has not been 'snapped up' by a Premiership club!!

For me, that was the deciding factor. Nicholls made a clean pass but because of his steering angle he was scrubbing off speed and therefore suddenly travelling slower than Wright, leaving him nowhere to go.

I've answered the question a few times on different threads, search them out I've detailed the dates and locations of Kurtz's appearances and non appearances while "injured"

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/24512822.new-fight-launched-keep-swindon-speedway-abbey-stadium/?ref=socialflow&fbclid=IwY2xjawEodFRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYd9gJiimx0L1hiuz7o9SyEhcxK7gsZ997L3lRLjq88-3dC9FrmjOXUmSA_aem_zCZroNQR6mnfslwGmKVJlg