Cockney Rebel

Gate positions have always been important to the riders but it's only since the more in depth Sky coverage that it's been brought tothe notice of many fans. I remember a match between Hackney and West Ham sometime in the late sixties I think when Olle Nygren got the hump with his partner in one race because he came out on track and settled into the inside gate position Olle wnated him to move to gate three, as he explained later "The only way we were going to beat Barry Thomas was for me to be inside him at the first turn I couldn't do that from gate three."

To clarify this, are you saying that the finalists are racing for 25, 22, 20 and 18 points and any points scored in reaching the final are not counted? If so I quite like that idea. I've always thought it a bit odd that the winner of a GP can actually score less than someone who finished 4th

Agree with a lot of that Humphrey. I would also add that some posts on here say "my mates/neighbours etc watch the SGP on sky and enjoy it" but what about the vast majority of people who don't have SKY? If the SGPs have created that much more interest in the sport why aren't the BBC/ITV/Channel4 and5 beating down the door of BSI/IMG demanding that they be allowed to show them. The terrestrial Channels don't even mention the results or even mention when a new world champ is crowned. When any of these channels give the result on a Saturday oreven Sunday then I will say the SGPs have done there job.

I'm not sure of the relevance of your question but my nearest track now is Sheffield about 35miles. Unfortunately due to ill health I have onley attended 1 meeting there in the two years I have lived here. My previous team Rye House was about 40 miles from where I lived but both Lakeside and Ipswich were nearer. My question re the number of meetings was not meant to be a dig or sarcastic. More trying to get an insight as to why most Aussies it seems prefer individual meetings to team events. As you must know most tracks in this country run about 30 meetings a year. 30 individual meeting a year would drive me mad but eight or nine I could live with if there was no alternative. I guess it the size of the countries that dictates things. I would hate to think what a local derby would be down there. Also with so few meetings compared to this country how the hell do you produce so many good young riders.

It’s not really a matter of what you or I prefer but the facts are there are more league meetings throughout Europe, where most of the speedway takes place, than there is individual meetings. The GPs attract big crowds because they are the best in the world but there are only 11 of them if you increased the number people would most likely get bored with seeing, effectively, the same meeting 20 or 30times a year. If you used riders outside the top twenty or so people wouldn’t watch because the meetings would have no meaning. The more GPs we get the more they affect the leagues and if the leagues cease to be I’m afraid so will speedway. League racing must be protected as it is the life blood of the sport, it is where the riders hone their skills and hopefully go on to become world class. The FIM seems only to be concerned with individual racing, all other types of bike racing are individual after all, and seem unaware or uncaring about the effects on domestic speedway. IMG/BSI are in it to make profit, don’t blame them for that, but they also don’t give two hoots for the domestic leagues. Therefore it is up to the National federations be it PZM, SVEMO or the BSPA to make a stand. Incidentally I also think this confusion over whether speedway is an individual sport or a team sport is a large factor in why the mainstream media doesn’t take it seriously, but that’s for another topic perhaps. Just out of curiosity BFD roughly how many meetings does each venue down under hold each year?

Speedway is first and foremost a TEAM sport. Without the leagues there would be no Speedway. This is unlike any other motor sport so to compare it to Motocross, MotoGP, Superbikes or any form of motor racing is wrong. The riders earn their living racing in the leagues, they are not paid by Honda, Kawasaki, Ferrari or whoever, to race once a fortnight and spend the rest of the time developing the car or bike for the manufacturer, if they don’t race they don’t get paid. So the leagues must come first. The FIM and some supporters think that Speedway could be run along those lines but it can’t happen. With some riders opting out of the GPs it’s obvious that something is wrong. The GPs have grown to such an extent that they are now impacting the leagues. We have Poland limiting GP riders forcing some to make a choice between a regular pay packet or a chance to be World Champion. My fear is that as the GPs grow only the riders with big sponsors or wealthy parents will be able to compete in them leaving other, possibly more talented, riders to race solely in the leagues, effectively having two separate sports World Championship Speedway and League Speedway. If this happens how, will the GP riders stay race fit? Most riders say you need to race regularly to stay sharp, racing once a fortnight isn’t the answer. Also how will the league riders break into the World Championship if they think it’s going to cost too much and they can’t recoup their outlay by racing in the league? You will have riders racing two or three times a week in the leagues and riders riding once a fortnight in the GPs over the course of a season or two the better riders would surely be the league riders and that would surely damage the status of the World Championship. I have been a Speedway follower for forty eight years and have to say I much preferred the old one off system to decide the world champion, 40,000 people at Cardiff cannot compare to 90,000 at Wembley and knowing the Champion will be crowned that night and not a couple of months down the line, but am realistic enough to realise those days are gone and the GPs are here to stay. When they were first introduced there were six GPs a year, no riders pulled out or complained about the cost and they had minimal effect on the leagues why can’t we go back to that?

As Mick says the "red Button" Sky Sports 4 6 o'clock

If the change of name was to garner more publicity and interest it's certainly worked, I don't remember 15 pages on a Raiders or Cobras topic. Up the Awks and Rockets

Most clubs admit to making a loss last year whereas, I believe Uncle Len said he made a small profit on most meetings, correct me if I'm wrong on this, how much profit we don't know. If by lowering addmission prices he mad a loss how would that make sense if he doesn't think enough extra people will come through the turnstyles to make up for the reduced admission price maybe it's a gamble he's not prepared to take. On the subject of concessions I am disabled and holder of a Blue Badge I always used to pay full price a until one day the young ladyon thegate at the time started dancing about if front of the car I asked what she was looking for and showed her my badge after that I was only chargced the same entrance fee as a child. A great help as I was unemployed. After that the only time I was charged full price was at Chris Neath's testimonial and I was offered the reduced price but as it was all for Chris I paid the full whack. So if you are disabled or have a disabled person in your party it might be worth inquiring I know it's not advertised but just ask.

Blimey! Either you have an exceptional memory or a well organised archive. I can't even find the programme for the one Sheffield meeting I went to last year. I do have a vague memory of that competition but only after reading your post. I must admit I am surprised by the amount of Hackney hatred shown by some posters. I supported the Hawks from 1963 and the Rockets from 1974 and I knew many supporters at Hackney who supported Rye House as well. I know the KESTRELS gave the Rockets a bit of battering in the late eighties but that's in the past I find it bizzare that some supporters won't support the the riders who represented the Cobras last year just because this year they'll be called the Hawks!!?? Baffling! It's not really a Hackney team it's just a name. And beforeanyone threatens to beat me to a pulp for shouting for the Hawks AND the Rockets. I won't be attending any meetings at Rye next year as I am now exiled in the midlands, Sadly.

You're confusing the Kestrels and the Hawks. The Rockets never rode against the Hawks other than inter-league challenges. Len Silver ran the Hawks and the Rockets. Terry Rusell and Dave Pavitt ran the Kestrels after Len had pulled out. I would imagine there are a few Hawks fans who now class Rye as their team but your first love never dies. Hawks forever! Kestrels just filled the void.

And this time when the Hawks whup you not to go crying to the BSPA demanding a rerun coz your best rider was off visiting his sick aunt or something and you weren't allowed a replacement. Older Heathens will remember when Bruce Penhall went missing. Good luck with your fight for a permanent home. Only went to Dudley Wood once back in the nineties. wasn't a great match as Ipswich turned up woefully weak and the Heathen Ommered em. Good crowd though and not a bad stadium as speedway tracks go.