Halifaxtiger

There speaks a man who wasn't there. Being wise in hindsight admittedly, but I doubt if there is a single one of the 3,000 or so who attended who felt cheated. You're right but I am wondering how much Cook (or anyone else) thinks he should have been paid for 2 rides and 1 point. Rory Schlein has more of a case. Personally, I really couldn't care less what the track was like with racing of that quality. It was amazing. Blows a bit of a hole in the home advantage argument, that. It occurs to me that Peterborough could have named Holder in their team and left Lambert at reserve, Lambert then just taking Holder's rides. The result would have been exactly the same.

Workington did it, disastrously, the other week. 45 minutes for three heats. Heat 10 at 90 minutes so they decided to take an interval, pushing the meeting over 2 hours. One race then they had a sun break. Thing is some delays can't be helped (and that does possibly include sun breaks). But if that is the case, everything possible must be done to make sure there are no others. People go to speedway to watch speedway, not to stand around getting cold, bored and frustrated.

I suspect a fair few riders would be happy with £200 a point. The stewarding isn't quite as bad as that or as it used to be, and Peterborough wouldn't be as much fun if it started raining. Having said that, after what we saw yesterday why would anyone want to move it from EOES anyway ? You probably didn't notice that Peterborough only had 4 riders out yesterday. Effectively, Holder was in the team and his rides were covered by the reserve.

You have a bizarre concept of cheating because I don't think I have ever heard of someone being accused of it where they have substantially weakened their chance of success. Not for the first time, we agree and I suspect that those pointing fingers about how long it took weren't even there. I loathe unnecessary delay and rant about it constantly but there simply wasn't any today. It was hot and windy so there was a lot of track work, but it was vital that that was undertaken. Nor did it seem drawn out at any time at all. Probably because some of the racing - particularly in the final - was just superb. I might be a neutral, but I'd accept the home advantage that Peterborough have every time to see something quite as good as that.

Ok, so Cook, Worrall and Bewley have home advantage. They'll all be competing against each other (although its unlikely Bewley will ride), and its 1 per team. Much better than all 4 in one team not competing against each other. I'm with Buxton Tiger and I fail to see why it can't be a Saturday night. Surely having it in a superb stadium with a fantastic track that is as neutral as possible is the best that can be hoped for ?

I really didn't notice the difference when they did ride so it can't have been that bad.

Either that or you are going deaf, Gem

Thanks only to the brilliant Dan Bewley, there will be a lot worse. His contribution turned a true and complete disaster into something just about worth watching.

He is a championship No 1 and there isn't much of a difference. Thing is, though, he was utterly pathetic and I hope he was heavily fined. With the Grand Monarch in charge, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. That score really doesn't go anywhere near justifying just how important he was to this meeting. He fought for every point and his brilliant passing moves turned a ruin of a match into something almost worth watching. Star of the show by miles. Thomas and Lambert weren't interested, Garrity was worse and we had to put with Peter York and his inane drivel, for heavens sake. One interesting point : McGregor apparently refused permission for a sun break which caused several toys to be thrown out in the pits.

The chap at the car park entrance said that the speedway is off tonight but they have put on a circus instead......

I think we have been living with them from March. Its rare indeed you see a meeting without them.

Looking at the Met Office forecast, there areonly light showers in the morning and a 30-40% of late showers early evening. XC weather (which is usually more accurate) has no rain at all. I suppose they could do a King's Lynn and say that the weather has been bad and the forecast is poor when it hasn't and isn't.

I was at STMP and I'd describe the track as very poor rather than unfit. Massive crowd that night, the only time I have ever watched speedway from the 3rd bend there. Speaking of opening nights, I was at Barrow in 1985. KO Cup 2nd leg v Exeter. The facilities were spartan to say the least and the pits had apparently blown away in a high wind during the preceding week. It was absolutely freezing and the first few heats took ages. Then the lights went out. This was traced to the generator which had failed, but it was fine because the tractor could be used. Someone ran across the centre green, jumped on the tractor and proceeded to drive it away only for it stop. Cue man with petrol can. Tractor on its way, lights on, ragged cheer. One race later, huge bang, lights out, meeting abandoned. It might be bizarre, but its a meeting I'll never forget and one that I don't remember with anger, regret or disappointment.

The problem is most people don't just go to speedway for the sport itself but to actually see their team. I think its an acknowledged fact that in most cases if a track closes those who attended simply drift away from the sport rather than going elsewhere. If its not your team - in other words it is packed with guests - it will almost certainly put people off going, especially those travelling. I support the guest system, but in recent seasons it has become nothing less than ridiculous with meetings without them becoming almost non existent in the top two divisions. In most sports, winning counts hugely for a paying spectator. Such is the passion for the team that watching them lose is so depressing it is better not to go. In my experience, this applies to speedway more than most. No, televised meetings aren't better than live ones. The only thing is if a meeting is crap if you are at home you can just turn it off.

Kent v Mildenhall 04/05/14. In 750 or so meetings since 2004, still the worst I have seen anywhere.

Slightly bigger than normal but well down on last week I thought. If it counts for anything, I went because of how good it was last week. Daresay I'm not alone.

Another very entertaining meeting, highlight heat 14 for me but there were several other cracking races. Bjerre imperious. Never looked like getting beaten. Fricke just behind him. Tungate superb after a blob first time. Bewley gets better and better - a third or last is now disappointing. Poole tried hard - especially Andersen - but they were up against a very good team. Surprised at the criticism of Starke - did anyone really expect him to beat one of the Aces top 4 ? Star of the show ? Chase the Ace. The presentation at Belle Vue is better than anywhere else .

I thought McGregor had a mixed meeting rather than a bad one and it was Glasgow that were on the end of the poor decisions. Harris and Jorgensen deserved to be put off 15 metres as both were warned. Heat 3 should have been re run - you don't have to have a faller for thete to be first bend bunching. In heat 9, Perry hit the tapes first, not Summers. Having said that, this was a cracker of a meeting that had the lot and really proved you don't necessarily need passing to see brilliant races. One final point : I am no fan of stewards but the chap on the back straight by the bar did a superb job when things got a little heated. Straight in and calmed things down immediately

Sat outside the track and its bright sunshine.

All weather updates much appreciated. Group of lads coming up from Plymouth.

Very much a case of each to his own, but I think he is one of the best in the game.

Stupid rules kicked in ? Speedway has had a points limit for nearly 40 years, closer to 50 if you count rider control. Many other sports now have a salary cap which, in effect, does exactly the same thing. No doubt your friends would be happy if we did away with it and one team signed a side far stronger than all the others.

​​I'd be very surprised if the Colts don't at least break even and Cradley don't do badly, either. Doesn't bother me, Ian. Been around for 50 years or more in one form or another. Have to say, though, ​I don't miss them at NL meetings. People complain about unnecessary delay yet most tracks have a 15 minute one half way through the meeting. Never met someone who likes intervals but have met an awful lot that don't. Why annoy fans unnecessarily ? Cheating (and this is average fixing, bent decisions etc at the heart of the sport) simply brings speedway into disrepute, destroys its credibility and makes people walk away. We need independent adjudication to stop interested parties making crooked rulings, not independent control. Crap tracks are a blight on the sport. Some can produce speedway that is rarely poor, usually decent and often pretty good. Why can't they all ? I still remain unconvinced that every effort is put into ensuring that fans get their money's worth of entertainment. There was nothing wrong with one or two riders doubling up - indeed, its been around for decades. Its all got completely out of hand, to the extent that a 7 rider full complement is a rarity and that's just not on. My good friend Tigerite - certainly one of the most passionate speedway fans I know - highlights this as a reason for his enthusiasm draining away, and he's anything but alone. Insert programmes are a rip off. Some (Scunthorpe, Plymouth, Somerset) charge half price for an inferior product and that is fair enough. Others (Redcar recently) charge you full price for a programme that isn't even the team that is riding that night and then say it is a way to make up revenue. That's taking the proverbial Michael out of each and every one that attends a meeting and buys one. I could add poor presentation. On Monday at Belle Vue, Neil Drummond, Hayley Bromley & Chase the Ace did a fantastic job. Some are simply dreadful.

I think it is indiscreet rather than unprofessional and it is not likely to make the situation any better. You simply can't have a situation where meetings are called off because the track isn't perfect because you will be postponing probably about half your fixtures. Weather conditions are such that you just can't do that every week. While I would maintain that some riders should think about whether they should be riding at all if they are reluctant to do so on anything that is even remotely second grade, promoters bear a responsibility to ensure that they track is as good as it can be - and that responsibility is to riders and fans alike. The shambles of the other week is at least down in part to an awful track surface that required a significant amount of remedial work during the meeting. Chapman might be going on about the potential repercussions of sponsorship if riders refuse to ride but even if they did if the track was terrible the damage would be almost as great.

Bewley was fantastic but for me Tungate was the star of the show. Until heat 15 he never put a foot wrong and it didn't seem to matter whether he gated or not. I think Bewley would have won their races together without Tungate's help but I am pretty sure the youngster would have appreciated it.