Vince

Different attitude in those days I guess, used to work for Jim and he made no secret of the fact that there were riders who he had no problems riding really hard and even the odd one he would put down. Don't think he would have deliberately injured anybody but there were those I don't think he would have worried about if it ended that way. Tough old boy even in his 60's and racing just as hard at Rallycross.

Can't see why it should be, no computer games when I was a kid and we didn't even have a TV until after I started school and only just before I remember going to Speedway. Liked crashes as part of the sport then and still do, they add to the excitement. Speedway without crashes and danger would be half the sport that it is as far as I am concerned. I hate to see riders badly injured but the majority of crashes don't end that way. No need for stage managed crashes there are generally plenty of the real thing in Speedway. Before everybody shouts about how terrible that is I'll bet that Crashes and Cock Ups is the biggest selling Speedway DVD of the year and has been for a long time, so I'm not the only one. I am also delighted when somebody gets one of my own crashes on film so I can see it, even the ones that hurt!

Interesting parallel at a time when 'real' pubs are closing at a terrible rate while bars who have bought in sky and music often thrive!

Hip hop, pit cam, interviews throughout, fireworks all sounds dreadful to me so almost certainly accurate as to the sort of thing youngsters would want. Most of the rest I can live with and a couple of things I'd welcome. What's edm?

I firmly believe that if you want to attract the youngsters you have to completely change the image of the sport. Strangely although I am one who doesn't believe everything was better in the old days I do think their promotion was better. They used to promote Speedway as a daredevil sport, nowadays daredevil would change to extreme and the sport needs to be presented as mad, bad and dangerous. It's already plenty dangerous enough but people are too squeamish about crashes, nobody wants to see riders seriously hurt but crashes are an exciting part of the sport. Mad and bad needs some work. The sport has been sanitised in an attempt to appear more 'professional' to corporate sponsors who have hardly been attracted to part with their millions. Look to the sponsors of extreme sports and they are looking for people who do crazy things and act a bit crazy and Speedway would fit the bill perfectly if riders were allowed to be their natural selves. There are all sorts riding Speedway but they do have to be a bit nuts but the authorities are forcing them to behave like choir boys. The fans have to take a fair amount of the blame for this as I think the authorities have been dishing out fines for every little misdemeanour in order to give them what they appear to want. Every little incident or hint of aggression is met with disgust by many fans, the same ones who ask where all the characters have gone and remember Fred chasing Bill with a shovel after trying to kick the door off the refs box with great fondness! Speedway is an aggressive sport and many of the riders are naturally fairly aggressive, accept there will be flare ups and the odd punch thrown and look at how the crowd come alive when it happens. Mad? Tell everybody about the injuries riders get and how quickly they are racing again. For me this is the one thing people are amazed by if I try to explain about Speedway to them. I think that you need something to keep people entertained between races and while tracks are being graded. A cycle Speedway track on the infield I have always thought would be ideal and quite possibly some of those lads would then get into the motorised version. Certainly if you want youngsters you need better music and more lively presentation but there is the real risk that will alienate the current fans. There are literally thousands of kids under 16 riding off road motorcycles every weekend. A large proportion of those will hold race licences so why not get them involved by getting them in the pits now and again to warm bikes up and perhaps help with fuelling etc. They'll be a whole lot more aware and safer than many who already have pits access! Maybe some sort of loyalty card where every 10th visit merits an evening in the pits or the opportunity to watch from the infield. Watching from the infield is something every fan should have the opportunity to do at sometime, it's like a different sport where you can see just how hard the riders are working. Perhaps some lucky admission tickets every week could be a way to do that. BUT I am 54 years old and very likely have no clue what would get youngsters to Speedway, I would imagine the real way to know would be to start by asking them.

Could be a bargain on that average as capable of a lot more. If his dad is his mechanic he's worth points for the team every meeting too.

Have to say that I have had some serious clashes of opinion with SCB, mainly in the past and at times it has been pretty heated. However I have never at any time seen him as being one of a gang, just the opposite in fact. He is very opinionated and wouldn't care who held the opposite opinion he would argue with them.

Here we have a topic concerning the lack of characters within the sport and basically saying we need more off track excitement, punch ups, shouting at refs etc, which I do agree with fully. Meantime on the Isle of Wight thread a rider is being criticised for punching a wall in frustration which I would say is pretty normal for many wound up sportsman. Maybe this is why it seems like there are a lack of characters, riders today are criticised instantly for any and every slight misdemeanour by the fans and fined by the authorities.

I remember he constantly amazed me by getting drive off corners when other top riders struggled

The characters are out there but if they dare show any 'characterful' behaviour they will be fined a couple of weeks wages! Forget the double points rule, play offs etc, sanitising the sport is what is really killing it. Mad, bad and dangerous will always pull a crowd - family friendly won't.

Brilliant thing for Chris Harris to do, hopefully more British riders will do similar things as I believe help from the experienced riders is the main reason for the Aussies having so many youngsters making the grade.

16 year old Oliver Brindley who finished second by a hair in this years British Championship is currently in America after being invited to race at their Super Prestigio event in Las Vegas next weekend. As a warm up to this he competed Saturday and Sunday at Perris Raceway against some of Americas (and therefore the Worlds) best riders. On Saturday he won his heat race which qualified him directly to the main where he finished 5th. An outstanding result given that the race was won by the current Champion Jared Mees and the rider finishing directly behind Oliver was Sammy Halbert who was 4th overall in the American Championship. On the Sunday Oliver finished 3rd overall with Halbert winning and a couple of the top guys not racing but still plenty of big names in the field. So next time somebody writes on here that the standard of racing in the UK is poor and nothing like in America there is now evidence that is not true. There isn't the strength in depth the USA has but our best half dozen are all around Olivers standard. Oliver will be at Vegas next weekend then in Barcelona on December 12th along with a few other British riders to take on not only the best Flat track racers but some of the best MotoGP riders in Marquez's Super Prestigio event.

Must just be me that thinks nobody ever HAD to watch Speedway, sorry for being so thick. I always assumed that we ALL had a choice of what we spent our money on when it came to TV. I choose to spend mine on making sure I can watch Moto GP and Speedway GP while what is on Sky isn't worth paying extra for. That's a CHOICE as far as I'm concerned and one that is open to everybody!

You're not being forced to do anything other than prioritise your spending same as in every other area of life. By your logic I have been forced to not have holidays over the years because motorcycle racing is expensive.

Cancelled my complete Sky package a couple of months ago when they wouldn't offer me fibre optic broadband at the same price they would a new customer. Went to BT for phone, broadband and TV saved £20 a month and get BT Sport thrown in so I'm happy. Moto GP coverage is superb and if they offer the same professionalism for SGP then it can only be a good thing. For first time ever this year I hadn't subscribed to Sky Sports for the Speedway season as I have to watch recordings because of work and quite often was spending the money for 15 minutes viewing a week. In all honesty I've not missed the league all that much but I would certainly miss the GP's

He will rightly be proud of riding at the very highest level of the sport for x number of years. Something that every rider who hasn't quite made that level would love to be able to look back on. Certainly something that all those who never even had the balls to try shouldn't be trying to take away from him!

In so many ways I agree with HA, the one issue is that there's not a queue of young people with fresh ideas waiting to put their money in.

Seems like every committee that ever existed will have those in it or those administering it who will try to influence things far beyond what their official capacity should be. I doubt the BSPA are much different in that way to most sports. I don't for the life of me get the continual criticism of Speedway promoters there may well be a couple I wouldn't pee on if they were on fire but I still accept that it's their time and money that keeps the sport going. Far from making a fortune out of killing the sport they must generally be trying not to lose the one they made elsewhere keeping it afloat. I have my opinion on how things could be improved and there is no doubt that it is far too difficult for new promoters to get things changed but in many cases the 'old' promoters are the ones who have managed to survive while others went to the wall so perhaps they have a valid point. Then it gets into the ideas that having set race nights will be the saviour of the sport. Can't see how it'll bring the massive influx of new fans in myself, losing a couple of tracks to it would lower overall crowd levels in my opinion. Same with guests, riding abroad and so on, its just more of the tinkering that the BSPA gets accused of at this time every year. That tinkering can help slow the demise but none of it will ever make the sport popular with the general public again. The only way that can happen is with a complete overhaul that changes the image of the sport and then I suspect most of us would be complaining that it's not the sport we loved any more. My opinions are just that, not necessarily solutions and I could be wrong on some or all counts. Since its not my money at risk they are worth very little in the scheme of things! Perhaps that's worth remembering by all of us.

Over the past 4 years I've had quite a few chats with Len about all sorts of things and not seen any signs at all of him 'losing the plot' He's an old feller now and pretty set in his ways but I have not had any problems getting on with him. While this forum is full of those who I am sure know more about the statistics and theory of the sport there is nobody that I can think of who could even get close to his practical knowledge of Speedway. I've been around too many years now but when he talks about anything Speedway whether that be tracks, riding or riders I listen because he knows a hell of a lot more than me.

It's been said before but make a 2 valve Jawa short stroke with light flywheels (which is what would happen) and it wouldn't be even slightly more reliable than what you have now.

Something that could be done that would improve safety is to have a secret ballot of riders when they have complained about track conditions. I have seen situations where riders have been put under pressure by their promoters/ managers to continue with a meeting and there's absolutely no point in asking Ms Vardy or the like to make a decision on whether a track is safe to ride. As for making more protective clothing compulsory I would really disagree. To my way of thinking all riders know the risks and are probably the best placed to decide what they need. You need rules about the minimum sensible requirements but the rest should be down to the people at risk to decide.

Racing is to be split into two meetings. All the Youth classes, Minibikes and Rookies will race in the morning with practice starting at 10.30 and racing following straight on. Pro, Restricted, Thunderbike and Vintage classes will practice at 1.30 and start racing immediately practice is finished. What else can you do for free on a Sunday afternoon that would be so much fun!! I'm No 95 and if you're not too embarrassed after seeing me ride then come and say Hi.

Have to say that I really dislike Graham Drury but in this case think the wrong person is getting the stick. The rule is there for good reason and it doesn't take a lot of effort to ask permission, Somerset must have been mad not to considering it was Drury's riders they wanted to use. Riders might be self employed but like most small companies they have to keep their main customers happy and I can also understand Birmingham not wanting them riding in friendlies at the moment. One meeting at this stage of the season isn't going to make a world of difference to their progress.

To look at this from another angle I have been racing motorcycles of one form or another for 40 years on and off and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it half so much if it wasn't dangerous. It is an inherent part of motorcycle sport and one that the competitors are aware of and talk to most of them and they are actually quite proud of past injuries. Having said that nobody wants to see people seriously hurt if it can be avoided so there are things that can and probably should be done but in my opinion if you get over obsessed with health and safety you could ruin what is an important part of the sport for the competitors. You only have to look at how society in general has become much more safety conscious while extreme sports have become more popular. Many young men in particular like danger and those are the lads that might come into Speedway. They are also the people who will come and watch a spectacular and dangerous sport if anyone ever tells them what it's like!

The final round of the Dirt track/ short track Championship takes place at Rye House on 13th September. Most of the Championships are still up for grabs with the gap between the top two in the Pro Class being a single point. Young Oliver Brindley currently leads Aidan Collins by a single point and with the British Champion also getting an automatic entry and their flights paid for the Super Prestigio event in Las Vegas you can be sure there will be no quarter asked or given. Also in the mix will be the Neave twins who aren't in the running to win the Championship after missing rounds to compete in Road Racing but will be out to prove that they are as fast as anybody. Current third place rider and star of the 'how low can you go' video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ryMrVl0gg many will have seen on Facebook or youtube Alan Birtwhistle will also be looking to end the season with a victory. The Pro class is getting more competitive every year and the racing is generally fierce with twelve riders on the track at a time. Other classes include Vintage, Thunderbike, mini bike, Restricted (intermediate) and Rookies. Rye House suits the bikes so the racing is good and spectating is free. I will post a schedule as soon as I know it.