GeneralMelchett

In the old days which for me is the late 80s we often did Arena on Thursday or Saturday ( when they switched ) and Hackney on a Friday / we could have done Rye H on the Sunday I suppose for the Hatrick - only ever went once however.

Always loved the 16 lapper and 12 Lappers at Ipswich / Arena of course a lot of individual meetings used to be qualifiers as well like world championship rounds and the Grand Slam etc so there desire was always there for riders to go for it!

I dont watch the GPs in full now, I tend to watch either the shorter highlight version. I much prefer the SWC and team events - even Pairs events I used to like. Individuals can be good for a one of meeting like the NLRC / PLRC etc. I always enjoyed attending Cardiff - but haven't been since Tai came second to Bartosz, and I must admit i feel no need to go again

For me i do i have a fair few tracks about 1 hr to 90 minutes away but they have diminished in options tho - but Scunthorpe, Peterborough, Wolves, Belle Vue, Leicester and Sheffield are all within 90 minutes approx my my house. I suspect Birmingham too. Stoke closed - I made a couple of trips there in the mid 2000s and really enjoyed both. Coventry was probably also about 90 minutes as well, Long Eaton was probably even closer but they have been goen for some time. Of course (sadly) Wolves will join them after this year!

The other thing about those Coventry ones I attended was the riders really wanted to win it or qualify so the racing was often frantic

ah right - that's pre my time. Yes we used to holiday on the Welsh / Shropshire borders for a few years (late 80s) and we had a pick of meetings to attend Wolves, Cradley H - there wasnt a night where there wasnt a meeting on somewhere

A few weeks back I had a free weekend, wife was away visiting her father down in Devon, the was 0 meetings on a Saturday for whatever reason, I think Redcar were running on the Friday but I didn't fancy driving up there on a Friday after work and there was also no meeting on the Sunday within a reasonable drive.

Is that when they were running at the old Belle Vue as in Kirkmanshulme Lane? If so yes busy, but not on the Coventry level.

As a young new to speedway fan my old man took me up to Ipswich to see the England or was it GB test match V's Denmark (1988) - absolutely loved it as I got to see Tatum Wigg Donkey, Morton, Cross, Havelock and Silver V's Nielsen, Gundersen, Jan O Pedersen, Ravn and co - as a NL fan we never got to see these riders usually. The place was packed and GB won 47-43. I do prefer team events - the old Autumn triangles and 4TT qualifiers / events always got decent crowds in as it packed 2-3 teams into a night so the away attendance was always bigger. When I moved to Sheffield I did usually attended the PLRC which again was always pretty packed out and run on a Sunday. In the old days the NLRC was at Coventry on a saturday night which we attended a couple of times. One of the biggest mistakes in my view was the downgrading of the British Final to a weekday slot. I loved the 2 or 3 I attended in the late 80s, always on a Sunday with a packed out Brandon. On the team front bank holiday double meetings were always a draw. Lunchtime up at Ipswich - back down to Arena in the evening, the crowds at Foxhall in the lunchtime meeting would always be about 3000+ and often 2000+ at Arena in the evening.

I must admit sometimes its better the devil you know.... I do feel Ellis was out of form, particularly at Peterborough the other day, but Kerr was potential a trump card at reserve - I am sceptical for sure about this. Holder (C) has been away from UK racing a while I am not convinced slotting back into the playoffs will work (yes he has a few league meetings to get back to speed) - but there is no doubting his pedigree so l will be an interested onlooker.

For once I hope this turns out not to be complete BS!!

I'd probably want the Witches to sneak in, but the old romantic in me kind of will root for Wolves if they don't! It was noted last night when they were interviewing Chris VS that Wolves are always very loyal to their riders and often stick with the same line up / riders!

same for me - accept others points but for me league racing is where it is, I have never really been a fan of individual meetings. On another note whilst the score was a bit one sided there was some good racing / overtaking last night, heat 10 probably the best heat for some time. In my view Wolves (hopefully temporary) and Monmore will be a sad loss.

Good to see Laguta bossing Emil isn’t it !!

Slightly a side topic here but working life is full of people who are either unfit for or no good at the job they do!

Am gonna stick up for Laguta a bit here - his first two rides were fine, his 2nd behind Emil completely understandable given Emil broke the track record. In his second ride he'd worked his way from last to 2nd and was trying to pass Danny King (I think from memory) when he fell - so far all seemed fine. His final two rides well he poodled about at the back before pulling up and then didn't appear for his final ride, no idea what happened but that's the story of that night! To say he wasnt trying (as some were who were not there probably) is untrue, certainly for his first two rides! Anyhoo onto the meeting itself - i rather suspect this will be close on the night but Witches will get through on aggregate!

Just to give my two pennies in here - any sports star in any sport will be as frustrated as hell if they feel they are not fulfilling their true potential, that also goes for people playing amateur sport up and down the land!

Oh I am sorry to read that - yes that may well be the cause then, thats the other thing we never know what might affect form, particularly in the short term!

There is nothing wrong with saying x is riding poorly, out of form etc etc , its when it moves to personal abuse and slagging a rider off . Moving on - one thing i have noticed is Sedgman seems 'off the boil' right now also - at Owlerton in June he was dynamite scoring 10 or 11 he seems to be going through a rough patch as well. I still think the Lions will just sneak the final spot but heck you guys are making hard work of it!

This!!

Well I did expect a home win - we all owe sheffield an apology

I don't know what you mean that was the erm best 0-0 draw ever until the start whistle went! Well the teams are named for tomorrows match!

Most business people I know wont allow a few whiners on a forum to even detract from the mission of running a business, in fact they probably dont have the time to even read it - because you know running a business takes up a lot of your time - however the Sheffield side for saturday is 'rumoured' to not be very strong - but lets see shall we when the line ups are announced!

Shame really - Cook rode for Ipswich in 2021 after lockdown - I saw him score a full max one week and 14 the next in summer 2021. To give him his due in 3 of his 4 rides last night he would have been up Vs Doyley or Emil and then both in heat 13

Until this week when both Peterborough and Kings Lynn showed a sudden improvement in their form, I had Leicester winning both. to my mind its a stright fight between Leicester and Ipswich for the final spot. I still think Leicester will get through just by a point or two