Leaderboard

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but after reading the last few posts and completing a full home season at Scunthorpe last year, I felt it was time to share a bit of perspective from a "new" local. I moved to Lincolnshire last year, and on paper, King’s Lynn is significantly closer to me. However, I decided to make Scunthorpe my go-to track, and I’ve based that decision purely on the quality of racing. Having previously lived in a village just down the road from Leicester, I’d actually stopped going there because, frankly, the racing was so poor. As a lifelong Coventry fan, I’ve seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It’s clear to anyone with eyes that things at the Eddie Wright Raceway are done on a very tight budget. The team for 2026 might not look like world-beaters on paper, and we might not be lifting silverware come October, but after last year, I’ve realised that isn't the most important thing. The racing last year was superb—genuinely entertaining from Heat 1 to 15. I was told by the regulars that it’s "usually even better,". I now consider myself an honorary Scorpion fan. To those who look at the "no-frills" nature of the place and judge it: believe me, if a track like Scunthorpe disappears, you will miss it when it’s gone. This sport needs places like the EWR that prioritise genuine track action over everything else. Regardless of where we finish in the league, I’m massively looking forward to the new season. Lets get behind the lads and hopefully spring a surprise or two.

I don't see the issue! more celebs doing this putting the sport in the spotlight and talking point is only good! They are trying something different, it could sink or swim but worth a try.

With all the doom and gloom on here over the Winter, am I the only one that can’t wait for the season to start? I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for the season to come round for many a season with the line ups in all leagues looking close and competitive. As some as the biggest fans of the sport, and therefore most likely to attract new supporters, can’t we all look at the positives rather than the negatives? Positives - Same number of tracks as last season. Yes ok so some some tracks have chosen not to run in as many leagues as last season (particularly national league) but in terms of actual tracks running, we are at exactly the same number as last year. We’ve lost Birmingham and Kent but gained the yet to be announced new prem team and Buxton - We still have a premiership Great news for Sheffield and Ipswich fans (sale almost completed) that are back at the tapes and with a high chance of a brand new team joining we are just 1 team down from last season and some top stars already back, Holder, Bewley, Douglas, Kurtz etc. - Bright young British stars I honestly think we have some of our most promising young riders coming through for years and if we don’t put too much pressure on them and they keep progressing as they have been then Cairns, Rushen and Scott could be the future Lambert, Bewley and Brennan - The fight goes on Despite all the negativity about the sport dying there are still passionate fans and businessmen out there fighting to bring back former tracks, Coventry, Peterborough, Rye House, Lakeside, Kent, Eastbourne, Swindon, Wolverhampton and no doubt more we don’t know about with rumours of 1 or 2 new locations too. I’m not wearing rose tinted glasses and pretending everything with the sport is perfect by any means but please put things into perspective and give some credit where it’s due, be grateful to the promoters and sponsors that put their hands into their pockets to keep the sport we love going and do everything we can to support it. If we give up then we’ll lose it forever. Enjoy the 2026 season everyone

Rumours.....talk to me! I can confirm that the rumours suggesting that Terry Tibbs has acquired the promotion rights at Ipswich Speedway to be just that rumours! Yes, Brother Louis Louis Louis and his assistant Richie Hawkeye did attend the offices of T Tibbs Motors (Chingford) Limited earlier this month to discuss a potential deal! I offered young Christopher a substantial sum of ready's, plus my 2017 Mazz-a-rati which was recently serviced and passed it's MOT with only one observation, the free use of Krystof Stojanowski's caravan which I purchased from The Isle of Wight in 2009 and free oil massage whenever he and Hawkeye wanted from my beautiful Swedish wife Greta! Brother Louis was obviously tempted as he asked to see my full business plan for the day to day running of the club, I advised him that Main Man Rogers would be installed as Head of Operations, where he would be assisted by the vastly experienced Jimmy Lynch as Director of Speedway and his protégé Big Blayne Scroggins would be Team Manager, I even offered Richie Hawkeye the opportunity to be Main Man Rogers' assistant so that he could learn all about how to run a club successfully! After much pondering and signs he was up for the deal, Brother Louis Louis Louis asked for a few days to think about things, during which time Stojanowski's caravan was moved from Busty C's holiday village in Norfolk to become the VIP lounge at Buxton! I think this news may have upset Brother Louis, as he sent Richie Hawkeye down to Chingford with a note declining my most generous proposal! I tickled Richie Hawkeye's chin, gave him a little wiggly woo, even offered him a free place on the next Main Man Rogers how to promote speedway seminar but he said Brother Louis mind was made up, it was no! So that's it from me, thank you goodnight, much love Terence!

Now this is where I have a problem with this 8% rule, the rule has been made up by the crook which we all know by rob godfrey. The BSPA statement literally says, “It is hoped that this will provide some assistance to riders who have taken time out of the sport, and who are now once again seeking team places.” Abilitt, hasn’t been away from the sport, he refused more than one team place last year at championship level cause he couldn’t be bothered travelling that far north, plus rode NDT with Kent last year. Yet qualifies for this silly rule. That’s not a rider that’s been lost or taken time out. No wonder everyone gets fed up with Speedway guys like Godfrey killing the sport for a selfish gain.

I used to watch the Colts for a tenner, with my then teenage lad, getting in for free... On a Friday night... With crowds of around 800... The racing was more than on a par with what was getting served up at top league level, and, for the two of us, was around £12 cheaper... Hence, we watched the Colts far more than the Aces... And, given most people in Manchester wouldn't have known their Matej Zagar from their Kyle Bickley, anyone new to the sport would have seen the racing for what it was... ie "the racing".. Personally instead of promoters clubbing together to put out a sixth team, they would be far better clubbing together and marketing a 14 team league with teams across the nation... At what level? "Reasonable"... As the audience they would be trying to attract probably won't know any of the competitors, so "big names" would mean absolutely nothing to them.. Time to "Rip it up and start again"...

The BSPL are clinging on to two tiers due to the excessive number of riders reliant on doubling up for their earnings. The riders are calling the shots. I don’t see how this sport can move on until the doubling up monster is tackled.

I’m sure your pint will be half full 😉

The harm is in how speedway presents itself In a time where we have seen all of the work that has gone on to make the sport look more professional and modern in its presentation on tv etc how do you sell that to potential sponsors and media partners if they then go on the associations official social media and see this. What large company would put their name to something as amateurish If we accept stuff like this as ok then we are accepting that speedway is now an amateur colloquial sport that will never be taken seriously.

So everyone knocking linda lusardi doing the draw really!! What harm is it,I guess you would all rather have Godfrey and vatcher doing it,that is why speedway struggles to move forward soon as anything different is tried all the old farts start moaning, get a grip ffs!

Just listened to Rob Godfrey in full... Fair play to the host who asked all the right questions (eventually 😉) and also to Godfrey for responding to them. That's all I'm going to say about it really as there was a lot of "there's a lot going on behind the scenes" which I've heard too many times before in this sport only for nothing to materialise. Not filled with confidence when Godfrey couldn't even remember the name of the former MP that has joined SFL and he kept referring to SFL as "them" when he's on the board! Like I've said before Godfrey does a fine job at Scunny but should be nowhere near the top table of Speedway in the UK.

You've got to laugh at Reid Battye's quote about Berwick...... “I’ve heard it’s a really big speedway town and it’s on the coast. I live near the beach in Australia so it’s probably the same – just a bit colder!” Me thinks he's in for a bit of a shock

https://www.savecoventryspeedway.com/_mobile/news.php?extend.4312.1

Exactly, why is there this obsession with the ‘top’ flight? The sport in this country has no credibility. The shrinking numbers that still follow the sport aren’t that bothered about which league their team compete in. Less than a handful of GP level riders is the only difference between the Premiership and Championship. The top tier is so attractive that it has got to the point where they literally are begging clubs to take part! This is not something you would include in your sales pitch when trying to attract new spectators/sponsors to the sport.

And right there is why I should not only be Buxton’s team manager but be the person in charge of the whole national league, as I said in an earlier post we never learn from our historical mistakes and so we are set to fail again

Their approach should be to get back down into the CL and back to running on a Saturday night.

Next weekend the 7-8th Feb is the classic off road show at the Telford international center, it’s a huge show with 1000s of bikers and family’s attending over the 2 days, the usual speedway suspects have stalls there, me, Jan staechmann,,Aiden and Les Collins (ride &Skid) Cov comp,Hagon shocks,Sid’s wheels, I think Buxton, belle vue supporters club and Workington are all represented there and you always get a good sprinkle of former riders, but where are the bspl or speedway futures again ???? It costs peanuts for a stand and as I’m sure the usual folk will say why bother? Well it’s not preaching to the converted for a start,,we need to set up a team that does all the shows no matter how big or small,,we have to get out there and go to the people, anyway hope to see you there

Coming next, the BSN Cup draw....

Good on the management team he's young and could be an unpolished gem. I always prefer when management take a chance on a youngster who might be a future quality rider rather than someone whos best days were a decade ago and have no improvement left in them.

Like you say no way should Ablitt should be given a reduction. Same should apply to Garrity given the reason he was lost to the sport. The sport is becoming a laughing stock and cannot be taken seriously anymore,certainly not going to attract many newcomers.

Perhaps the Godfreys' ambition is to run the Scunthorpe speedway to a sensible budget, and provide entertainment (and home wins) for many seasons to come?

Oxford - Weakest reserves in the league but best top 5 (sounds familiar 🤔), think they'll be very strong at the start of the season and will be able to hold the top spot though might not be as strong playoff time as I think the reserves will hold them back over 2 legs. Hopetully Erik stays well this season as he'll be scoring big points. Poole - Potentially the strongest reserve pair by the end of the season (though think they'll end up being better away than at home) and a very good 1 and 5. Gilkes just back from a big injury so might be a bit slow at the start but think he'll grow into a very important rider for the Pirates. Kerr and Bowes are inconsistent which could hurt against stronger teams. Glasgow - All depends on how Mario and Kevin do, if they do well (6+ average) Glasgow could dominate but if they are just staying around their 5 point average or lower the team could just struggle to get any momentum. Otherwise probably the most solid team of the 9, Bomber, Howarth and Flint make a very good top 3 and Hodder and Hagon should be a strong pair. Plymouth - As long as Klima rides most meetings I think Plymouth have a great chance this year, lots of experience and will always have the strongest reserve. Really want to see Plymouth do well. Workington - Team relies on Cook in my opinion, if he doesn't disappear the team has a good chance at the league, JJ I think will only get better from last year and Batch is a good rider to have at 3 or 5, if Cook does disappear though I don't think the team can cover him and they'll struggle. Think Tate will come back to form this year and Jakobsen will be interesting to watch. Edinburgh - Solid looking team but I feel Paco, Kye and Sedgeman can disappear at points in the season which could hold them back. Will be interesting to see if Dan can keep up his improvement and see how he does at number 1. Loftus is also an exciting prospect. Berwick - Quite like the look of the team but everytime I predict them doing well the riders all end up in an ambulance by the end of May it seems. Kildemand, Palovaara and Morris make a strong top 3. Redcar - Not convinced by this team, if Ace keeps up last years form they have the strongest reserve pair for the early season (though think Poole's pair will overtake them) and a good number 1 but not convinced there is much improvement in the 2-5. Not enough power in the middle will make it difficult to claw back if they go down early but also will be difficult to build a lead. Scunthorpe - Strong number 1 and I rate Harrison, apart from that nothing much going for them. Maybe they can make some changes when Picko gets an average but who is out there to bring in? Think the 1-3 can be in any order and 4-8 is incredibly close so should be a very entertaining year. Think the favorites all have different strengths so will be interesting to see over 2 legs who'll come out on top.

Can’t see a long line of people wanting to have his job! Putting his money on the line year in year out. Yes the teams might not always be the best but at least he’s there giving it a good go. Let’s be honest speedway still exists in Scunthorpe because of him

I think I need a pint of what you're drinking!

Lynn finish bottom most years

Speedway club ignores correspondence from speedway fan offering help... surely not 😂

I genuinely had no idea who she was before reading this thread so can't comment on that side except that it would be interesting to know how they came to the decision to choose her for it. It just looks so amateur though. Cameo is to wish people happy birthday or see who's dumb enough to say hello to Mike Hunt, not for what should be a serious competition in a professional sport. You even have the final two sides picked out at the same time! Getting 'a name' to do the draw is a solid idea but surely there were better ways of going about it. As an example TNT commentator Darren Fletcher has some history with the sport, could he have been asked and maybe got someone like Ally McCoist to help out, if I remember correctly he's mentioned Glasgow on his radio show in the last year or so.

They didn’t want to splash the cash He was £35 😂

‘ Dropping the minimum level to 2.00 is a big worry with the heat leader calibre being drafted in as i can see riders getting lapped not through falls just lackof speed and thats a worry. ‘ The league is becoming as big a mess as the premiership , bringing in championship 2nd strings , some of which have been around for years, and expecting new 16 year olds in their first season to mix it with them with just 5 home matches to get dialled in to any sort of home advantage is just ridiculous. Its not what this division should be doing.

I'm thinking Sam Fox and best pairs very apt.

This is symptomatic of the state British Speedway is in. The advertising budget stretched to a cameo video and a paper bag with some scraps of paper in it. Getting a celebrity to host the draw. Great idea. Where's the celebrity? Not knocking Linda Lusardi but she just isn't the person to be promoting Speedway in 2026. Within Cameo's ranks there are more famous people. But a Cameo video itself is tinpot to the max. To make it work and to draw new eyes you have to collaborate with someone who has a social media following. They need to post it on their socials so that their audience sees it and may be intrigued. Not stick a Cameo video of them on your own social media reaching the same people who already follow you. Funnily enough there is a high profile celebrity who now has skin in the game and a solid social media following. Harry Redknapp. Considering he is invested in the sport I'm sure he'd have done it for free. It would have reached a bigger audience and any benefit from it helps the sport and Harry's investment in the same breath.

Surely they could have got Harry Redknapp to do it, given his long association with paper bags.

Page 3 Birds, talk to me! When Ryan Guest visited T Tibbs Motors Limited showroom in Chingford last week, I wondered why he was flicking through my little black book! The crafty little bugger obviously lifted Lindi's number and called her, hours later ding dang dong deal done and Lindi's on video with her hands all over Robbie's balls! Talking of video's I can confirm Lindi has also struck a deal with Main Man Rogers to appear on his Only Fans site, where she will be scantily clad and posing in his VIP Caravan at Buxton Raceway! I can confirm that Main Man Rogers acquired Krystof Stojanowski's caravan that for many years was parked in the IOW car park before Busty C purchased it along with a bunch of log cabins! Thank you, good night and much love Terence

Whatever your view on him he certainly had Speedway in his blood and did much good at a number of clubs Thoughts and best wishes to his family and friends

Summary of Premiership news items in Speedway Star, dated 28 May 2026; BSPL say Ipswich now 99.9% likely to be coming to the tapes this season, as the takeover still has one niggling matter to resolve. No riders announced yet, apart from Edwards BSPL say Northampton now 97.6% likely to be coming to the tapes this season. Still hoping to complete a deal with an as yet un-named investor with £200k sitting in his bank. No riders announced yet. Rumours they could begin the season by staging home matches at Wembley as someone at BSPL remembered there used to be a track there a few years ago. Belle Vue, Kings Lynn, Leicester and Sheffield have already gone ahead and raced many of their scheduled matches against each other, the last fixtures being listed for the last week of June. No season tickets have been available yet, but hopefully they will be for their remaining matches, which will all be against Ipswich and Northampton alternately. Ipswich v Northampton matches will all be staged during the final week of the season, whenever that is. The big meeting of all current promoters and owners, to plan for the 2027 season and scheduled for June 6th, has been cancelled. Premiership owners and promoters are currently too busy flogging dead horses, and there have been no responses from any in the Championship, apart from the Scunthorpe representative who queried the need to look so far ahead. A BSPL spokesperson said that the meeting will now "probably be held sometime in October, or whenever the current season is over and done with". Bartoz Zmarzlik has been confirmed as World Champion for 2026, after already accumulating sufficient points from the 18 "sprint races" during the GP events staged so far. Interviewed, he said he was "very happy"

He may have refused a team spot because what was on offer was very poor. Riders shouldn't be penalised for refusing poor deals.

He turned down offers before the season started though.Cant have it both ways surely.Introducing rules that can be manipulated as usual.

It difficult to comprehend that the majority of speedway run at a loss most seasons.Whoever bankrolls these Clubs eventually bail out one way or another. This insistence to keep a Premier League will eventually fail .IMO.

Things like this just confirm the desperate state that the top level speedway in this country has become. One league is only a matter of time away. Call it championship, premiership, whatever. But then how the hell can you make a profit when all you’ve got is four other competitors to compete with.

I'm sure Connor Mountain is thinking like that, he got dropped for Zischke the previous year when averaging above 4.00!

Welcome aboard fella! The club you never want to join and the one you hope beyond hope you will be able to rescind membership to at some time in the future Unfortunately after originally only accepting a temporary paper membership certificate for it I have just renewed with a fully laminated version

I think most people think, that what they did was harmless enough but was entirely symbolic of the thinking that runs Speedway in this country and it was all summed up in one short video.

Clearly as we all know something went badly wrong & Louis decided he could no longer run a profitable business within whatever the BSPL were wanting to do. We know that because both he & Richie had been talking about putting together a team to retain the title. Then came the bombshell that he was selling Doyle came out on twitter & said that the had their backs. No one can really blame Louis for getting out if the future direction meant it wasn’t viable for him. No one on here would have done anything differently. Louis ran a very professional outfit not something that happens very often in speedway. Just look at the shambles of the championship cup draw. Yes if the sale doesn’t happen & Louis doesn't have a change of heart I’ll lose my local track. However I still back his decision looking at the bigger picture the direction of the sport I am happy to take the memories. I’ve followed Ipswich since the 80s, however if it’s the end I have the memories of the great sides & the last 3 years have been a blast. I wonder how many of the people who are saying Louis should carry on regardless would be willing to risk their own financial security to keep a business going in an environment that is only heading one way.

And there it is the true demographic of all the moaning sexist bigots that bang on about the need for changes in British speedway.

They decided to go for an 80's page three girl on Cameo when they could have been forward thinking and gone with somebody younger and far more relevant to today's youth. James Buckley (Jay from The Inbetweeners) likes his sports and has recently got interested, and now involved, in British Ice Hockey. His podcast that he does with his wife now sponsors Chelmsford Chieftains who have reported an increase in attendances due to his involvement. What better way to try and promote the sport than getting him involved? Get him to do the draw, promote the sport and invite him to some meetings, with no better publicity than him talking about it on his podcast?! We need to be targeting the younger market FFS. Whoever signed off on Linda Lusardi wants firing. Talk about living in the past.

Last season between the NDL/NDT there were 50 "league" meetings. This year with only the NDL there will be 30. That drop off is alarming. Particularly when we should be trying harder than ever to establish some strong foundations for the sport here. The following quote from the press release looks to me like no more than lip service too. So we have some tracks running a full third tier campaign and others who can just get away with the ambiguous "Second Half Open Invitation". Of course there are differing restrictions at certain tracks but there has to be more than the odd second half. It should be mandatory for professional tracks to run at least two NDL level meetings during the season. The benefit of doing this over a second half would be the riders and their team (generally parents at this level) would know they're guaranteed a ride weather permitting rather than the always in the balance chances they have to take by turning up for a second half. If the tracks lose money on these meetings it's not ideal but it is an investment in their riders of the future, without whom there won't be anyone to help them make money in the long run. Furthermore I'd like to think when the riders coming through reach "professional" standard they'd choose to race for a club that actually put some effort in to the third tier rather than one that did the bare minimum but can throw more money at them. We all know that's wishful thinking though. As with everything in British Speedway there is too much ambiguity. There should be hard and fast rules in place with consequences for those who don't toe the line. The top riders don't want to be here. We need to focus on developing more riders domestically, instead we've almost halved the meetings available to them. Pretty pathetic really.

Couple of interesting points said by Godfrey, sport England are there to help - not true don’t want anything to do with speedway and the bspl and speedway futures are here to help any track get up and running - not true don’t reply and when they finally do no help at all (individuals with the sport are helpful)and speedway futures were asked by cradley for a supporting letter signed by Redknapp to help with their dealings with the council- didnt even get a reply and as I stated on an earlier podcast that the consultants that are working with cradley to find a track said they couldn’t believe that cradley had got so far without the help of the governing body whatsoever, that statement alone speaks volumes

It wasn't that busy til you landed here Tommy Ten Posts.

It would be fantastic to have a team from Northampton in the league (40/45 minute drive from Alwalton), however, I hope those in charge of Speedway ensure they have a good team that can compete, in fact it is essential. No new team/club in the top flight can be allowed to be making up numbers as Birmingham were and to a slightly lesser extent Oxford were. Teams need to be equally balanced and yes I know there is a points limit, but we all know that never really makes teams equal. I really hope Northampton happens for the future of Speedway in this country.

Can’t praise BSN enough; they’re almost single-handedly keeping the sport in the UK visible and accessible. I hadn’t attended Ashfield for many years until I heard about BSN and tuned in. Two years later, I’m a track regular again; all because of BSN. As such, I cannot get on-board with any criticism of them. I’ve been a season pass holder for two years now and I think they’re adapting to each venue and improving the product every year. I don’t think you can ask for any more. They’re good people too. They’re authentic. I think Ian and Greg (Brennan and Blair, if I recall) are great.