Humphrey Appleby

We shall see. Australia is pushing for something along those lines as part of any trade deal, but the UK doesn't want that which is why the trade talks are not going well. After all the fuss about '20 million Romanians coming to the UK', why would the same government want to allow '25 million Australians to come to the UK'? I have to say that I also don't see Australia agreeing to free-for-all from the UK either, even though it's largely irrelevant from a speedway perspective these days.

Odsal doesn't have an FIM track licence, and hasn't for years.

We're not living in the 1960s anymore. The MSA (now Motorsports UK) gave up the fight on this years ago on the grounds of restraint of trade. Both drivers and officials can participate in events not under their control without consequence to their own licensing.

Oh come now... there's suitable roofed stadiums in both of those countries. BSI simply can't leverage enough subsidies to use those venues, so can't make them pay.

A track licence is only applicable to the track where an event is run, and there are all sorts of requirements which will have undoubtedly become more stringent since the last time Bradford held an FIM licence. The track and facilities would also need to pass an inspection. From just a cursory glance, the lighting poles on the bends look like they may be too close to the track these days.

It’s the last year of BSI’s association with the SGP, so aren’t going to be motivated to put their hands in their pockets for the GPs where they’re carrying the financial risk. So it’s pretty obvious why Germany and Cardiff have been cancelled.

BSI were paid by the Welsh Tourist Board to hold the GP in Cardiff. That’s not going to happen in Manchester, Bradford or wherever, combined with far too much cost involved with all the COVID precautions and tests etc... and no guarantee of any crowds.

The SGP doesn't seem to be listed on the Principality Stadium website.

Why couldn't they hold the German GP behind closed doors then?

I'd think speedway would be very happy if it could actually fill its stadiums to 25% capacity.

Sure, but that didn't need a crystal ball.

I think even John Berry would have difficulties promoting the sport today, as even he acknowledged some years ago. He did say that he was fortunate to hit on the right location at the right time (although less so at Doncaster), but the sport still had a bigger profile and fanbase in 1969 compared to now.

British speedway probably has 20,000 - at most 30,000 - regular attendees. The Church of England has about 1 million in England, and something like 85 million worldwide. The Church of England has assets of about 9 billion, so nowhere near one of the richest institutions in the world. It also spends nearly 1 billion per year in running costs, and is heavily reliant on tourism generated by its 'showcase' cathedrals. I don't hold any candle for the CofE or religion in general, but as a social and cultural institution of importance, it ranks way above speedway.

I seem to remember seeing a study of racing drivers that showed their reactions were little or no better than the average person, and driving ability is more down to spatial awareness. Even though accidents amongst the 25 are probably more down to overconfidence and driving too fast, I think there is a significant element of needing to develop spatial awareness on the road which only comes with a few years of driving experience.

Of course, if only speedway had some investigative journalism...

Togliatti does sound that it could be in Italy...

Patents only last 20 years though, and I'd guess the GM design is now a fair bit older than that. Any subsequent improvements may be patentable, but I'm not sure that you could basically stop someone building a GM after all this time.

From the article, they don’t seem to be threatening legal action, and only issuing empty threats. So presumably the GM design is no longer patented (or never was) or the FGM one is sufficiently different.

I would imagine many if not most first class countries own their grounds, and are more likely to find sugar daddies if it really comes to the crunch. Neither of which speedway generally has.

The obvious question is how do the (English) promotions expect to pay back their loans, far less guarantee them? Most promotions would seem to have very few tangible assets, and given they live hand-to-mouth at the best of times, where is extra money coming for the repayments?

Putting aside the particular issue of the BSPA and Sky for a moment, I'm not sure it actually is that common for members and particularly directors (notwithstanding that the BSPA didn't have directors as such until recently) of non-profit associations to take commission on fund raising and commercial deals negotiated for the benefit of all members. It wouldn't be unreasonable to be compensated for the time involved in negotiations, or indeed even as one-off reward for finding and bringing in a substantial amount of money if that was offered before the process began, but in many circles it would be viewed as poor form if not an outright conflict-of-interest. Indeed, that's what ended-up bringing down the FIFA President and much of its Executive, and as well as the leadership of the IAAF amongst other sports bodies. Can only really think of F1 where a similar set-up existed whereby a team principal (Bernie Eccleston) took a cut of the money raised from commercial deals, but that probably lasted because revenue keep rising over many years. Perhaps with British speedway though, there was some sort of quid-pro-quo in the arrangements whereby Swindon would prop-up the Elite League to keep the necessary numbers.

I believe Tel was also once a shareholder in the Spar, although before the BSPA deal.

You could have said that was the case all along, but that hasn't prevented the country from being locked down under the guise of 'protecting the NHS' (which actually is a legitimate consideration). Whilst that philosophy remains and the government's scientific's advisors continue to predict doom, I don't see a lot changing until much later this year.

The reason that fully professional sports have been allowed to continue is partly because so much television money is at stake, and partly to keep the population 'entertained'. Fully professional squads also allow 'bubbles' to be formed and routine testing to be carried out, but that's not possible for semi-professional sports where the competitors have other jobs, and certainly not speedway where everyone travels independently to the track.

Yes, but if you try to run in 2021, who's going to invest in new kit or get their engines tuned for a half-a-season or one that might be cut short at a moment's notice? As with many other people in the entertainment and sporting industries who've had to find alternative employment, it may already be too late. No-one is going to be travelling to the UK to race whilst quarantining is mandatory for a minimum of 10 days, especially now with the threat of being forced to stay in a hotel and pay for it yourself. And that's even before we get to the random transport cancellations that makes it nearly impossible to plan anything. It's still unclear whether the vaccinations prevent further infections or indeed completely reduce the risk of the recipient contracting COVID. The UK government is saying one thing on one hand, and then on the other saying the lifting of all restrictions is not likely for another year (and they said that last year too).