Midland Red

Blackbird Road for me was the best track for racing Like others I miss Custom House, Hyde Road, Plough Lane Always enjoyed Owlerton too

Great post Omissions : England - Nigel Boocock, Ray Wilson (both ahead of Martin Ashby?) Australia - Jack Biggs ROW - Sverre Harrfeldt Sweden - Gote Nordin

I seem to remember a few years ago reading an article locally regarding "the forthcoming autobiography of Johnny Reason" Does anyone know if this was ever published ?

Brandonapolis Friday March 16th is the name of this topic !

My wish for this event ? 16 riders 20 heats Top scorer wins None of this "finish 6th, make a semi-final, end up qualifying for the final and winning that one race" Not bothered about black leathers, or JAPs, or anything else from the past Just this ! That's all

Ken McKinlay and Ron Mountford

If not Wembley, what about Twickenham ?

Why are your comments not suffixed "in my opinion" as well, then?

1. Glad you like the avatar 2. I did not make the claim (alarmist?) above there being 5 wildcards, it was generally being mentioned at that point in time that it appeared that several riders were not going to accept their places or invitations to take part in 2012 - I only passed in on for discussion since the future of SGP seemed rather cloudy at that moment 3. I have elsewhere made my views clear about GPs and how there could have been a GP series alongside a World Championship - but I accept we're too far past that point now - and no, I hadn't actually seen your post on it 4. At least you admitted that discussion had moved off topic - maybe I was tardy in questioning that but I don't find it bizarre, the forum was missing for some time and I had not visited it as much as I do during the speedway season! 5. What I do find bizarre is the fact that Poland seem to have so many GPs in a season, and that the UK can only stage one 6. The point about how British Speedway benefits from the GPs was a discussion which took place within the forum and whilst I take your point about why the GPs are staged, I fail to see how we benefit from them (as others were repeatedly stating) - I remain to be convinced 7. Please can you clarify if 15 riders have now been confirmed - I hope they have and that the series is not in tatters Cheers Did I say it was "my property" ? I do not understand your comment At the time of opening this thread, it seemed that there were questions over rider availability for 2012, and the question of 5 wildcards had been raised So it did seem that, at that point in time, the GP series looked as it was in tatters If there are now 15 riders confirmed, and all venues booked, and finances in place, and Tony Millard is banned from them, then I will accept that it is not in tatters Having not kept in touch with the progress of the thread, when I found it had gone very much off topic, I raised that point Cheers

I opened this thread for discussion on the state of SGP I see no reference to that subject over the last however-many pages Any mods care to comment ?

SGP in tatters ?

Sorry ! Are you saying F1 is "interesting" ?

Perhaps the inference was that they couldn't even get 16 riders for next year's GPs 11 starters and scrape around to find five "wildcards" for each round If that's the case, I suggest it's "in tatters"

Isn't there a separate forum for GP discussion ?

So what's the benefit of GPs to us in the UK ? ? ? ?

So what about the "2011 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland II" ? "World Champion" already decided before the meeting !

So who is the best rider of the night at a GP ? The winner of the last race of the night is the "winner" of the GP But is he the best rider of night, or the rider who scores the most points (see Chris Harris, Croatia, 2011) ?

Sorry Mr Rising, but 1 if you cannot equate the benefits, can you at least identify them ? 2 do you really believe there are MANY attracted to the sport because of the GP ? Don't misunderstand me, I enjoy watching the GPs (at Cardiff and on TV) but in their present guise they are surely no longer worthy of creating a World Champion - a GP Champion, maybe - but with the 8 automatic qualifiers (from previous year's position), up to (by the look of things) 5 wildcards, the geographical disparity in the share-out of GP venues (how many in Poland???) surely they can only create a GP Champion, and there should be a World Championship Final as well

You are assuming that the effect on local gates is positive - perhaps it is negative as armchair viewers stay away from the local tracks, particularly bearing in mind the changes necessary to the regular pattern of race-nights to accommodate GPs (practice and event)

Perhaps Mr Rising's publication benefits from increased sales after each GP round ! However, I doubt that that is the real reason for his support of the GP series But clearly there are factions outside of the sport who gain from the GP series and I do not see as a supporter of i) speedway and ii) my local team what success the GP series has brought to either Please tell me as I handover my cash at the turnstile and programme kiosk at my local track how the GP series benefits i) the club and ii) me

Sorry? What "success" has the GP series brought to speedway in England, Scotland and Wales? 30-40,000 crowds at the Millenium Stadium have not benefitted speedway in the Principality The other rounds of the series have seriously disrupted the domestic programme in the UK and probably taken away from the British paying public a number of "the better" riders who might otherwise have ridden over here in our league No, sorry, I don't buy this "GP series good for (British) speedway" at all

So, up to 5 wildcards per GP ! Riders prefer lucrative league bookings over GPs Time to isolate the GP from the World Championship, and bring back a proper, one-off, World Championship event each season No reason why we can't have a World Champion alongside the GP Champion - is there ?

It's his only hope, as the past has passed him by

My thoughts? That Eastbourne looked like a proper speedway track, not the trick track that it has become, where everything occurs on the 1st/2nd turn

Wasn't there a "Joey Westwood" who secondhalfed at Coventry in the 60s ?