Aces51

Not really much of a penalty considering what is left of the season. A referee not knowing the rules is in my view something that should be dealt with as a serious issue. It is their job to know the rule book inside out. In this instance, we do not know if his mistake would have made any difference to the final score of that meeting. Fortunately, what we do know is that it wouldn't have affected the overall result. I would assume that he was able to put forward his case as part of the investigation and I don't see a problem in him being informed of the result in writing by way of an email.

Congratulations to Poole and commiserations to King's Lynn. In the end the injuries were too much to overcome for KL with the guests failing to match the likely scores of the riders they replaced. Morris was more than adequate cover for Kurtz but Poole did what was needed and came out on top. The racing in both legs was poor, it's a shame that the final couldn't provide a better advert for the sport.

Rosco? Surely not.

I understand that and realise it could and probably will be prepared as it was for the semi final and other TV meetings we have seen from KL. I want the Stars to win but a win with some brilliant racing would be so much better and might encourage more to attend next year. It's the win at all cost attitude that has played a significant part in the current perilous state of the sport. If tracks were prepared to provide the best racing teams would quickly learn the best racing lines and still have a home advantage but crowds would probably increase because of the better entertainment..

I just hope that is not yet another gate and go meeting. There are probably going to be more locals attending than usual and a big TV audience for a league meeting. This is one of the best opportunities we have to showcase the sport and attract new fans. The racing in the first leg will have done nothing to attract them so don't let this meeting confirm to them that speedway is a boring, follow the leader, sport. I'm not optimistic.

I have blamed Chapman and King's Lynn for deciding to use Ellis when they apparently knew he was going to guest for Poole in the second leg. Not against the rules but only because of the incompetence of those who failed to include the play offs in the rule preventing such an obvious farce in the KO Cup. However, that is only part of what happened. The SCB, BSPA and both teams belatedly but sensibly acknowledged the farce that had been created but then wrongly decided that the answer was to break the rules by allowing Morris to ride for Poole at King's Lynn. That was ridiculous when options within the rules were available to solve the problem. It has made the sport a laughing stock. It is for that decision that all involved are responsible and for which they are rightly being blamed.

At least it's stopped people talking about the mainly gate and go racing. All those involved bear a share of the blame, not just Poole.

Everybody involved in this debacle is to blame. The rules should be adhered to and could have been on this occasion in a way that would not have made UK speedway a laughing stock. It doesn't matter who put the proposal forward, someone involved should have had sufficient sense to see that it was bringing the sport into disrepute and made clear that it was unnecessary because the problem could be resolved within the existing rules.

After the poor racing last night it would be good to see something that might entice TV viewers and the casual fans to want to see more live speedway. I hope that King's Lynn manage to win because they deserve to because they finished top of the league and because of the poor hand fate dealt them with the injuries and the dubious refereeing last night. It certainly won't be easy but it's not impossible.

Every professional sport needs to be organised and run with integrity and credibility to be accepted as a sport that can be taken seriously. Speedway constantly shows that it has neither. Yesterday we had a situation where the Chairman of the BSPA was apparently prepared to go along with his team using a guest rider in the second leg of the most important team fixture of the season who had ridden for the opposition in the first leg. I can but hope that he realised the impact that would have on how silly that would make the sport look but that he was prepared to pay that price to give his team the best opportunity to win. I say that because the alternative would be that he didn't even realise the harm it would do to the sport at large. However, if he did put the interests of his club before the wider interests of the sport his position as Chairman is untenable and he should resign. The situation was then made worse when apparently, the SCB, the BSPA vice chairman and the promoters involved colluded to circumvent the rules, either by ignoring them or, amending them to allow a guest to be used in the second leg with an average above that allowed by those rules. There is no excuse for this slight of hand when other options within the rules were available to solve the problem. Why is it that the authorities do not seem to realise that their inability to draft a sensible rule book and then to apply those rules consistently and impartially is one of the major reasons why fans become disenchanted and stop attending, why the media don't take speedway seriously and why it is more difficult to attract and retain new fans. There are many problems with the sport which require money the promoters do not have but this is not one of them. Making sure that there is integrity and credibility in the way in which the sport is administered costs nothing. It requires only the will of those in charge to put aside their self interest and instead to look at the bigger picture.

King's Lynn were unlikely to be facing a 16 point deficit if the referee had made the correct decision in heat 12 and they then suffered further by Palm-Toft being unable to take his last ride. They now have more problems with Palm-Toft suffering a broken hand. Howarth on his last visit to King's Lynn, in the double header, managed only 12 from 12 rides. However, he wasn't riding at reserve, which may help. The is no doubt that losing both Palm-Toft and Iversen is a terrible blow to King's Lynn's chances. I can't see either guest matching their likely scores.

No it wasn't. The original proposal of Ellis riding for both teams was ridiculous but there were other sensible options that could be used within the existing rules. R/r, using a different guest who has an average that met the requirement of the rules or, Morris riding both legs for King's Lynn and Ellis for Poole. Those in charge either sanctioning that the rules are broken or making an amendment for one meeting, after everyone has had to comply with the existing rules all season, is farcical but unfortunately typical of the way the sport is run n the UK.

I agree with your last sentence. However, with the video evidence available his decision to exclude Palm-Toft is very difficult to justify. It was perfectly clear from the front view of the incident that Jakobsen collided with him and took his leg away, causing him to fall. We are all human and all make mistakes but he had time to view the video and to make a considered decision and somehow still got it wrong. Unfortunately, the consequences had a significant effect on the final result of the meeting and possibly, the result of the play off final.

That's you opinion and recollection about a very limited number of meetings. My recollection is that the top 4, Fundin, Moore, Craven and Briggs often beat each other. Also, I can't believe that Craven, who was supreme at Hyde Road, which was similar in size and shape to the continental tracks, would not have adapted to them if he raced there regularly. If you want to look at the facts and compare performances of those top 4 riders in the UK during the years 1955 - 1963, rather than just those meetings involving Wimbledon then in order of averages during those years; Fundin finished first on 4 occasions and second on 2 occasions, Moore finished first on 3 occasions and second on 1, but didn't race in 1957 Craven finished first on 1 occasion and second on 5 and Briggs finished first on 1 occasion and second on 1. Not a lot between them, Fundin being the best overall and Briggs having significantly fewer seasons in the top 2 than the others.

You're comparing apples and pears. Craven had very little experience of riding in Sweden. In the 50's and 60's speedway revolved around the UK and British riders rarely rode abroad, apart from winter trips to South Africa and Australia. Tai has literally grown up, in terms of his career, racing in Poland and Sweden. I'm not sure about the point your trying to make in your later comments about Craven in the 1956 season. Tai was world champion in 2013, his UK average in 2014 was 7.03.

Morris is 6.91.

That's much better than Ellis riding for each team. At least it doesn't now look as if those in charge are completely devoid of any understanding of the effect their actions have on the credibility of the sport but it has taken the reaction from fans to force their hand. The good thing is that those not familiar with the rule book, the media and casual viewers and supporters, won't realise that they have broken the rules to do it. That hardly shows those involved in this debacle in a good light.

The fact it is allowed within the rules is no excuse whatsoever for bringing the sport into disrepute. They could prevent it happening by for once using the, "in the best interests of the sport" rule, usually used to allow the bending the rules. The third rule that needs to be changed is to allow riders with genuine season ending injuries to be replaced after the deadline for team changes. However, it would have to be drafted in such a way as to require medical evidence from 2 doctors and include that the team concerned would have any points scored by the replacement deducted if the injured rider rode again anywhere in the world before the end of the UK season or, at least before the play offs were over.

Speedway in the UK has this remarkable ability to shoot itself in the foot far too often. Anybody can see what a farce this is and how it further destroys the credibility of the sport. Both promotions, the BSPA and the SCB need to find a solution that doesn't make the sport and the play offs look ridiculous. It's not difficult, as many have suggested r/r, whilst not ideal, at least avoids it being a pantomime. This is yet another example of those responsible putting the interests of club before the interests of the sport at large. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I don't know which videos you've been watching but that certainly wasn't how Peter normally rode. Peter could ride the outside if necessary but he predominantly rode the white line or the inside half of the track on the bends. In the 50's and 60's the normal style was to stand up through the bends. Peter's style was more akin to the modern sit down style moving on the bike and using his body to keep the bike as upright as possible to gain grip. He rarely put his foot down. That is why he was known as the Wizard of balance. There were riders, just as there are today, who would on occasion cut under an opponent by going faster into the bends, head for the apex and then get their wheels in line to make a longer straight but it wasn't a common tactic used by Craven. I am not one of those who think that the racing of yesteryear was better than now but I don't think the mainly poor quality, black and white films of that era do justice to the quality of the racing. Videos of any era can be too clinical because you miss out on the atmosphere, emotion and drama when watching years later at home. However, if by pedestrian you mean slower, it was but that was down to the bikes and the tracks. Having said that Peter's track record at Hyde Road of 69.8 stood for about 10 years, eventually broken by Ivan Mauger, if I remember correctly.

Tai was brilliant and a deserved winner. He is without doubt the best rider of the current era and I think he will add to his 3 titles but you really can't compare him with riders of different eras. I have seen the best since the mid 50's and there is no way you can realistically say how someone like Fundin would fare today on completely different machinery, different racing surfaces and against different opposition. I would say that Mauger is the best I have seen. Not only because of his 6 titles but because of the way he dominated the sport week in and week out both domestically and at international level for so many years but it's an opinion not a fact. The is no-one today who dominates as he did but that doesn't guarantee that he would have shone so brightly with the changes that have occurred since he retired. I think he would but the truth is nobody knows for certain. It's the same in reverse. We don't know with certainty how Tai would have done in the 50/60's when riders had more or less the same standard equipment, tracks were deeper and the best in the world rode in the UK on the many and varied tracks that were different shapes and sizes. I think he would have done well but good enough to match the like of Fundin, Briggs, Craven and Moore, I don't know and neither does anyone else.

The challenge should be the the deciding factor. Riders already in the GP can enter the challenge and some do. It seems ridiculous that there is a qualifying system, which is fair to all but then a committee decides for political and commercial reasons not only who gets the wild cards but the reserve places as well. We need the top 8, possibly 10, plus whoever qualifies from the challenge.

The are some who have returned at the NSS. Only a few of the many who had been regulars at Hyde Road but gave up with the poorer racing at the dog track. The trouble is many of those stopped going in 1988/89 and that makes it difficult considering their likely age, health and having got out of the habit so long ago plus, of course, those no longer with us.

It goes against everything we knew to be true but the proof is there. Look at King's Lynn, look at the NSS for the World Cup Final. Friday night grippy, fast but processional racing, Saturday slick, brilliant exciting entertainment with lots of passing. Diferrent bikes, different eras.

It will depend on track size and shape. It didn't matter what you did with the Belle Vue dog track, better preparation improved the racing but it was never of the standard of Hyde Road or the NSS. It was a trick or technical, if you prefer that description, track where most passing was down to home rider knowledge and rider mistakes. However, it now seems that grippy tracks provide processional racing and it is the slick tracks that provide exciting racing.