Vince

I can see where you're coming from but personally I like the idea that success at Speedway comes from dedication and that is visible when it comes to fitness. It's always taken dedication but the fans can't see hours spent in the workshop or travelling but they can see if you can't be bothered to keep fit and if you don't you are giving something away to those who do.

I'm sure myself and Sam would fit it in if we could and suspect you could make a full line in the right areas

They give you a tablet, I was there bloody ages waiting for my Ipad but it never arrived.

We would have to run day licences too as we are affiliated to the MCF, or get club membership and ACU licences for those who intended doing more meetings I guess.

I would like to do a couple but in all honesty it probably wouldn't be a regular thing and we wouldn't be competitive against MX tyres and brakes in a MX class on the grass. Best thing might be to contact Anthony Brown on the DTRA website here and get him to ask for some feedback from the members. I feel sure that a meeting in the midlands with a flat track only class would attract a few.

I think Speedway should be asking Monster Joe the best way to publicise the sport, no matter what your opinion of him he's done a great job of getting youngsters drinking crap!!

Perhaps MCC are in dispute with the contractor that may require legal action to resolve and that is why they want to keep things in house at the moment. In fairness if the statement at the time had said "for some reason as the temperature dropped turn 3 reacted differently to the rest of the track for some unknown reason" the promotion would have been ridiculed and accused of making excuses.

A lap so 2 to 4 seconds a race!!

Go to a NL meeting expecting two teams of wobblers and you'll be delighted. What you'll see is some very decent Speedway riders lapping between 1/2 and 1 second slower than the stars!. They make more mistakes for sure but because of that I often find there is more passing. Watching the GP stars is terrific as they rarely go wrong but NL is just as good in a different way.

Not really, more like modern oils work over a larger temperature range, provide better lubrication and don't gel like 'R' if left, especially when the engines rev so much higher than they used to.

I'd disagree in that we live more than an hours drive from our nearest track and I know several people locally who only watch Speedway on TV. I'd completely disagree about it being boring, of course sometimes it is but especially with the GP's you get some fantastic racing on the TV and the sport is made for it with it's short races. For me the only harm the TV does is when you see how empty the stadiums are it reflects badly, I think the BSPA should look at £1 entry for Sky matches. I know this has been proven not to increase crowds afterwards but for me it would be sensible use of the TV as an advertising medium and full crowds on TV would help the sponsorship chase.

Any idea why the rev limiter has taken so long? Surely that was the logical first step all along, they started testing a long time ago and it seemed like the riders who tried it liked it then the idea seemed to disappear. I've always liked the idea as I think it's simple, relatively cheap and easy to police. Very little lost by anybody if the idea didn't work but it seems to have been bypassed for a far more expensive and complicated alternative.

I think Greg Hancock is a very decent bloke. In 2003 my lad had been on a Speedway bike twice and I had got him a ride after the meeting at Oxford. Just before he went out Greg Hancock came over and explained he had a carb he wanted to test and ASKED a 14 year old kid if he would mind if he went out the same time as him. Then said to Sam, just you go where you want and I'll either slow down or go around you. Since that time I have seen second half races and meetings cancelled because a rider wants to test something more than once and I'm sure that if Greg had asked they would have stopped Sam riding so he could test but he was a real gent about the whole thing and even came over and chatted about his riding with the lad. As an aside Sam wasn't into Speedway as a spectator and came in saying "that blokes quick isn't he" as he had no idea who he was

16 nights x 12000 = 192000 for the year which wouldn't be close to Speedways annual crowds. The point that you can't compare something that runs weekly throughout the country with something that happens once or twice a year locally is very important in my opinion. I can go and watch a good standard of darts (probably equal to PL Speedway) in my local for free and most certainly won't get trampled in the rush to find a viewing point.

Sounds logical but as always there are issues once you claim to represent what the majority want: I've no real argument with most of what you say but just pointing out the difficulties of assuming you know what the majority want let alone finding ways of achieving it. I would say that the majority of people I know would like to do away with the play off system but any sane promoter would immediately point to the fact that it produces the biggest crowds of the season as proof of it's popularity. It's difficult to argue with their point even if you are sure it's not what the majority want in your own mind.

It's impossible to get a consensus of fans opinions on here with about 30 people on a thread let alone find something that all fans want.

Sort of I guess but Speedway changed pretty quickly into something nearer what we see today. What I do think is interesting is that I thought the first time I saw the F2 Speedway bikes that they were ridden very much like an old JAP or 2V Jawa which is the Speedway that many seem to feel was better than today (me not included). Yet some of the same people have seen and denounced F2 which just goes to show you can't please hardly any of the people at the same time!!

I think about 2005 Pete Boast started running meetings in the UK.

93 is Tom Woolley I believe, 71 is Glyn Pocklington, 20 is Darren Trapmore, 18 not certain but I think Mark Richardson, 1 is Aidan Collins. Old photo taken before I started in 2012 not sure of the track.

I've said many times that I am one of the very few who much prefers individual meetings. However I am not immune to the attractions of team Speedway and do feel that having local riders especially in teams year on year would benefit attendances. I can see that a free for all team building scenario could lead to teams who never had a chance of winning shortly going bust so don't believe you can do away with averages for team building. You could give an average discount for riders to be retained year on year though and perhaps another for local riders or more importantly those who have been given training opportunities from early in their careers by that club. A short practice session before the start of meetings would help lessen the disadvantage of the away team as well.

It's a good point and I wouldn't disagree. The same things apply to the majority of sport though, it is just that I used motorsport because I know about the situation it is in. By and large spectator attendance at any sport has decreased (Football excepted I assume) over the decades as the entertainment options have increased.

I think it's the case that the majority of motorsport has a lot less spectators than in previous decades. Events that are held infrequently, Gp's, Superbikes, F1 etc, can pull big crowds but your regular lower order racing more often takes place in front of one man and his dog. British Superbikes has done brilliantly well to promote itself and provides a great day out that is well attended but only happens once a month or so. It also has a ready made audience because they are riding bikes that people can go and buy and identify with. It also consistently provides excellent racing in the top class where the bikes are very restricted with regard to traction control and on board computerisation. Club Road Racing is nowadays a participant sport that would love a Speedway crowd though. Even British MX Championship rounds attract 10% of their heyday crowds and a club meeting is watched by family and friends these days. MX as a participant sport thrives though with big entries at local club level and more riders attending some practice tracks each week than there are Speedway riders in the UK. As already pointed out Grasstrack has far fewer meetings and apart from the biggest events draws poor crowds. Flat Track continues to thrive as a participant sport and does OK for media coverage and attracts some good names for sponsorship but so far as spectators go the one man sometimes leaves his dog at home. Supermoto, which was once expected to become a major attraction has almost disappeared despite having fed some good riders into the British Superbike scene and running a British Championship. In comparison Speedway has actually done OK for a sport that is generally held weekly I feel. It has survived and had little bursts of popularity along the way. I think that it still does a great many things right and some of the stuff that long term spectators complain about is unavoidable such as guest riders. There are many things I think could be done better, particularly in the way the sport is advertised to non fans but its not my money at risk. I think that those with a real interest in motorcycle sport these days tend to buy a bike and race themselves, the majority might go to a meeting if the have a friend riding but with 7 day working and so many alternative things to do with their time the majority of live sport will continue to struggle to match past attendances apart from brief spells in the limelight.

A bit of conspiracy theory that I would say rings true: www.sideburnmagazine.com/single-post/2016/12/22/Superprestigio-Conspiracy-Theories

You'd have to going the seals are more likely to be a paint or something rather than a wire! Lifetime ban from the pits if caught would stop any tampering I would think. Not convinced it's the way forward but at least they are trying to do something.

As posted by the Dirt Track Riders Association: Featuring different venues, varied formats, challenging tracks and lots of very competitive riders, 2017 promises to be a fantastic year for UK Flat track Racing. Series sponsors Maxxis Tyres have renewed and increased their valuable support for 2017,along with many other welcome sponsors. Maxxis Flat Track Nationals will be the largest Flat Track series that the UK has ever seen and this thrilling and inspiring race series continues to go from strength to strength. April 9th Rye House May 13th & 14th Peterborough (as part of the Motor Cycle News Festival) June 10th & 11th Greenfields Lincs. Day one on oval day two on TT course. July 7th Kings Lynn (Friday with Sideburns Dirt Quake event on the Saturday) August 12 & 13th Ammanford, Wales 1/2 mile. September 3rd Eastbourne. Personal addition: Will have to confirm but I believe only two events, the MCN Festival and Kings Lynn will have an entry fee but otherwise spectators have been free.