Vince

1. His mother is British so that means he is as well, just because you don't like it doesn't make it any less true. 2. I don't know Kelvin or Chris but it sounds like British riders will be worse off without them around trying to help and that is the most likely outcome of people like yourself slagging them off. Tell me how many rides will the lads that even you agree are British will lose then. 3. One of the major problems in British Speedway is that people who do nothing to help but are very objectionable on internet forums make those who do actually do something for the sport give up, feeling that nobody is backing them. Like this thread, the critics are a minority but often a very vocal one and it must make the people who are trying to organise some Speedway for midlands lads wonder whether it is worthwhile.

Does anybody believe that if the answer is yes Robert72 will accept it and wait and see what happens? Or like me do you think he is just hoping for any reply that he can dispute and use in his continual attempts to put anybody off going to Leicester Speedway?

I don't think anyone is suggesting that at all, certainly I am not. That's why I said 'as things stand' when talking about NL opportunities bviously you need more interest in the sport all around in order to get more kids wanting to get on Speedway bikes. However that is a completely different argument to whether this lad might take a place that is desperately needed by somebody else.

I am all in favour of the NL being for British lads but if there is a British parent I can't see how he could possibly be denied a place - if his ability justifies it - he is British end of story. As things stand I believe the opportunities are there for youngsters of a suitable standard to break into the NL, it's the step(s) up from there that need sorting or possibly the places for middle average NL riders are where it starts to break down. I think a few years ago there would have been a valid point about there being too many of doubtful patriality in the league but I will put my tenner alongside Vog's if you can list more than 5 current riders.

Too true! How dare they put money into a Speedway track?

I have seen quite a lot of Robert practicing this year and the lad is definitly a special talent. However if it were down to me I would have him ride NL next year alongside whatever meetings he can get in Germany. It would seem very likely that he will only get beaten now and again in the NL but it will happen. It would also give him a lot more experience of different tracks and conditions in competitive circumstances, difficult to see how that can be bad thing until he is 16 and able to move up a league (or 2).

You really need to get over yourself and recognise that just because somebody holds a different opinion to you doesn't automatically make them wrong. I am not a Poole or especially a Holder fan, in fact Nicki P is probably my favourite rider but I never thought it was a clear cut decision and on review think the ref made the correct call. Clearly my opinion is not as important as yours (in your mind) but I'm pretty sure this forum is here so I can state it.

I hate that saying ever since I first heard it from an ACU official who had never sat on a bike in his life. It's crap when applied to most motorcycle racing and hardly applies to Speedway at all. If Holder had shut off everybody would have been down. I already said that I first thought Holder should have been excluded and seeing it again I still think he could have been but all 4 back was also a fair decision in the circumstances. In my opinion it was nowhere near clear cut and obvious who was at fault. The only reason to exclude Holder would have been that onto the run into the corner he could have predicted what was about to happen and the more I have seen it the more I tend to think my first opinion was wrong and the ref right.

I thought Holder should have gone (and I wanted him to be champ) but my son thought it was the correct decision. Difficult call and nowhere near as obvious as some on here are saying imo.

OK, I can't resist asking why you brought him to the UK instead of Denmark or whatever?

I think I get it perfectly well even if I don't agree with your obviously superior view! I didn't know that the Russians, Poles and Danes allowed 14 year old riders to compete in their adult leagues. Do the Danish youngsters even get to ride 500cc bikes at that age? I also disagree that young Mr Lambert is at the correct level, as far as I have seen I would consider him to be an exceptional talent at age 14 - for any nationality. Ideally he might need a higher level of competition but it is my opinion that putting him into adult leagues is not the way to do that. As for everyone else being below par - perhaps the continual criticism and lack of support for British youngsters by people like yourself is another reason they take longer to make the grade. Finally Robert Lambert is a young lad who needs time and people to get behind him. If topics in this vein keep appearing other people will be getting him a reputation for being full of himself that he doesn't deserve. The rules are in place, they might not be perfect, or even close but you can't start allowing exceptions (unless he signs for Poole of course )

I have seen Robert practicing a few times this year and he is a very, very good rider wih a lot of potential, he is also a kid. In my opinion whether he is good enough to compete against adults has very little to do with whether he should be at his age, especially in the PL or EL. What do riders who have to compete against him do? rough him up into the first bend and take the flack for being hard on him - after all 'he is only a kid' would be the cry the first time somebody put him into the fence. Alternatively they could take it easy on him and get hammered by their own fans for not being hard enough. There is also the possiblity that being in the adult leagues at his age could result in problems and injuries that kill his passion for the sport. He can practice, he can compete in the U16 Championship and probably win it without breaking sweat, he can then take part in the NL when he is 15 where he will get to race against some experienced riders and he will do very well in my opinion. That might not be stiff competition for him but at 14 & 15 years old it is experience and then when he is 16 and has matured a bit he will be allowed to take on the worlds best if he is good enough. The final problem is that if you make a new rule to allow him to upgrade to adult racing early what happens when Joe Bloggs wants to do the same and he is nearly as good as Robert then Fred Smith wants to upgrade because he is nearly as good as Joe?

Sorry to go off subject but I wanted to mention the actual track at Leicester Only time I have been there was a few weeks ago and for flattrack not Speedway. I thought that the track is an unusual shape with the bends too tight for the straights (or the straights too long for the bends!) however the problem when I saw it was that the surface wasn't binding together to produce grip. This is something I have noticed elsewhere, especially with new tracks, presumably in the 'good old days' all the oil being dumped on the surface quickly stuck everything together nicely but things take a lot longer with only water doing the job. The surface appeared very 'marbly' as though it could do with more fines to pack it down, however that may well not be the case as there might have been plenty of fines packed underneath. Maybe working with the surface could produce an improvement more quickly and less expensively than changing the shape although changing the shape would be the ideal. Too much grip though and it could be a nightmare I should think so it's a very fine line. Then again maybe they have already tried everything they can with the surface and I am talking nonsense!

On one hand we have a couple of newspaper reports, on the other a forum member who has discussed the exact situation with the event Promoter. Why are people forming their opinion on newspaper reports coupled with a bit of guesswork?

Personally think transponders would be bad for Speedway. It wouldn't be long before people were asking for the figures to be made available to the public and I have a feeling that the speeds advertised and those proven by transponders at various points of the track might be a bit different. Could be one of those cases where what is believed or accepted is more impressive than the reality and all for the sake of something that happens extremely rarely.

People are claiming there is less talent around than in the past, I really believe the opposite to be true and think there is a huge depth of talent out there. The gulf between the top few and the rest is so wide because over a GP series experience of tracks and set up's is far more important than for a one off final. Same reason older riders are at the forefront I believe, after all it would be quite possible for Sayfutdinov or Lindback for example to pull of a win at a winner takes all World Final. If there is lack of ability spread through the ranks how is it possible for a sub 5 point PL rider to be all but on the pace at a GP? I don't believe it's because the GP riders are less talented than their forebears rather that the standard in modern Speedway is extremely high throughout the leagues. The likes of Briggs and Mauger would be at the top in any era but I honestly believe that if you take a step back to the 'average' rider the standard today is vastly improved

I would say that Lindback, Sayfutdinov, Holder, Ward easily have the potential to fill the void left by Crump etc. There will also be others along in the next few years able to challenge for honours, no need for doom and gloom about top quality riders for the future in my opinion. Lindgren qualified for the semi finals and was on the pace and Bjerre broke down twice so not sure quite why their future should be in doubt already.

I am sure that The Victor had a Speedway story running for a while in the mid to late 60's, it was the comic I got weekly for many years and I can remember the story being there but nothing about it. I still think that having heroes who were normal people without super powers was good for our generation. Of course WW2 wasn't so far away for us as we all knew many people who had been involved so there were plenty of genuine heroes to go round. The cover story of the Victor was always a truth based story from the war usually about the winner of a VC and looking back I believe they managed to convey the heroism without over glorifying war. Even if it did glorify war that has to be better than the current obsession with 'celebrities' many of whom have achieved nothing other than imbibing drugs and alcohol in massive quantities. I am far from being one to believe everything about the past was better but certainly this is one of those things I would like to see returned to older values.

In your opinion maybe but read your own posts and you might discover just a hint of bias :-) In my opinion it just means it takes far more good races to become World Champion, machinery problems and track knowledge are much less likely to provide a World Champion who is not the best rider in the World that year. They aren't qualifying for anything and every single race counts directly toward their eventual finishing position which is nothing like qualifiers. Something that was clearly not the case under the old system. As for the corruption it is less likely to be effective with the increased number of races. Hancock looked back just after making a mistake, no idea what went through his mind and nor do you. However I have been told by a one day World finalist about his being asked to do a favour for another rider and there are several cases written about in autobiographies so it's your guesswork based on very little against documented accounts by those who were there.

In general I don't think the 'British Public at large' has any idea Speedway still exists let alone who rides in the Gp's. I only know one person who watches the GP's but wouldn't be considered a Speedway fan anyway and he would have no idea how the riders got their place in there and care even less. As far as he knows he is watching the best Speedway riders in the world, same as Moto GP which is generally accepted as being the best riders - and not one of them qualified! I can't think of a single person who hasn't been included in the GP's who had a realistic chance at a championship, at least not under the much fairer GP system

In my opinion not as flawed as a system that can deprive the best rider in the World a championship because of one minor breakdown or one poor start. That can, and did, happen with the old system. The one thing the GP's need to do imo is pay very good rates so that every rider in the world can afford to be there and attempts to qualify. As things are riders can't afford to compete at what is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport because it might well cost them to be there while they can make a profit at their 'day' job. I believe the GP series is one of the best things that ave ever happened in Speedway. Of course it could be imprved but I see it as a huge improvement over the one day finals (of which I attended several, fantastic occassions but 5 or 6 minutes racing shouldn't produce a World Champion)

The problem could be solved by not allowing foreign riders to drop below their assesssed averages and not allowing loan fees for British reserves. That way teams will only use foreign riders with potential to improve and we will see an end of foreign 4 point riders being over here for years. Perhaps not allowing loan fees will encourage promoters to let young British riders have enough time to find their feet. Other things that would help would be only to allow British riders to become club assets after a full season of being in the team ( would have to be some provision for matches missed through injury) Reserve's only allowed to replace other riders when withdrawn through injury. That would avoid the need to have a super strong reserve as a potential match winner. Track time, a way has to be found to get the kids the time they need to improve.

I haven't read all the posts on this topic so may well repeat what others have said. Personally I have no idea whether Eddie has cheated or not but feel it is worth waiting for the whole story before calling for him to be hung drawn and quartered. It is possible that he has admitted using an illegal silencer without cheating. If, for instance he had re-welded a damaged pipe he would be guilty of using a modified silencer but not of changing it to enhance performance. Until it is properly inspected we can't know. It seems to me very likely that the sound the bikes make would have changed from the start of the year as riders have learned how to set bikes up better to work with the new silencer. A couple of teeth on the back sprocket alone can make a bike sound completely different. It suprises me that some Coventry fans are so quick to call for his head without the facts being known. This is the lad who put his entire season and wages at risk out of loyalty to your club, I would have thought he at least deserved a few days grace while the investigation takes place.

Who is going to pay for all this shale and equipment? I's not like there are 1000's coming through the gate every week.

Richard and Jayne provide third tier racing season after season in what must be the most difficult location in the country. They do their very best with what they have available, sometimes the track is not very good but nobody can put that down to lack of effort by the promotion. If, as has been suggested, the base has broken up it is not going to be something that can be fixed mid season. I would also suggest that the weather we have had recently with alternating rain and hot spells with a bit of wind thrown for good measure in must affect Buxton's exposed location far more than the majority of tracks. Give the pair of them a break, nobody puts more effort into grass roots Speedway than they do.