Aces51

The agreement with the FIM is that we have priority on Monday and Thursday and Denmark has priority on Wednesday. The fact that the BSPA decide to run on Wednesday, Swindon excepted, doesn't change that agreement. Denmark still has priority on a Wednesday and we have it on Thursday.

The parking permits don't cover this meeting or the British Final as they are FIM and BSPA events. In any event, I don't know if the car park on the 3rd and 4th bends will be open as I don't know how they are arranging the standing area on those bends. Might I suggest a call to the stadium is the best way to find out.

After the criticism yesterday it's good to see that Rob Painter from GB Speedway Team took the time and trouble to travel up to Cumbria today to see Craig Cook. That's the proper and professional way to deal with things.

Thank you for the explanation. Apologies, I get it now it just never occurred to me that there are people in Wolverhampton with a sense of humour. Although I suppose it does help if you have to live there.

I don't know for sure but like OveFundinFan I can't imagine that the £19 will include the car park fee. It's also worth remembering that the £19 includes an advance booking discount. We'll have a better idea how entertaining the format is after seeing the first semi final on Saturday. Who knows, if it's a good meeting it may attract more to attend on Tuesday.

I've followed the sport since the mid 50's and I prefer team suits. They present a more professional image and a team identity. It's not by any means the most important issue facing speedway now but if you were starting afresh and intending to present a modern image team suits would be a part of it.

Thank you. That clarifies that the position is not as simple as the calendar suggests. Interesting that the Swedish second division has priority, after our PL, on Thursday, after our PL but it seems that our CL has no priority at all. Probably, because of the problems of the multi race nights but nonetheless they cannot claim priority on any night.

I'd just edited my post above to say the same.

And that the three Polish league have priority on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Effectively we have agreed to accept the crumbs. I certainly hadn't realised that the agreement gives whichever country has priority on a day priority for all of its "professional" leagues over all of the professional leagues in other countries. That leaves those Championship teams who have no choice but to race on nights other than Monday or Thursday in a potentially calamitous position.

I watch NL racing and agree that those mentioned are outstanding prospects and the future could look bright for GB. I hope that they all eventually go to clubs who will take the time and make the effort to help them develop their talent and not just have their heads turned by the best financial offers. Plenty of time to think about money when they have reached a good standard. You are also correct about Dan Bewley not being as advanced as Kemp at his age because Dan didn't have his first ride on a speedway bike until he was 16 and his first competitive race until 2016. It will be brilliant if some of the others could match Dan and get to the level he has currently reached in their third season.

It will certainly be a significant contributory factor but the event seems not to have captured the imagination of fans or the public and holding it on a Tuesday at 7pm doesn't help either. If it is price alone then the minimum £19 standing area will probably be proportionately fuller than other parts of the stadium.

I think the post was intended to be funny. At least I hope it was. However, there's no doubt that Craven, Collins and Morton all progressed from novices to world class at Belle Vue and during the late 60's and early 70's Dent Oliver produced a stream of very good riders. Many Poole fans may remember Eric Broadbelt. World Class riders obviously have to possess the talent, it's the advice and guidance they receive at whichever team they are attached to that can help that talent develop to its potential.

He was apparently suffering from exhaustion and dehydration for the reasons I have explained. The Belle Vue website referred to it as fatigue. On that basis I can't see any reason whatsoever to think that he wouldn't be 100% recovered long before the SON meeting.

If you're referring to the events on Monday it was nothing to do with pulling out without notice. What happened was that Craig's flight from Prague was delayed. Determined to get to the NSS for the 12 noon start on Monday he drove into Germany to catch a flight to Stansted, where his van had been left following the meeting at Somerset. He landed and then drove to Manchester, arriving about an hour or so before start time. He had no sleep but took his first ride and then took ill in the pits. He was seen by the paramedic and was apparently suffering from exhaustion and dehydration and withdrew from the meeting. I suspect that most of us wouldn't even have contemplated going to work after such a journey.

It was madness. Even if Cook had a doctor's note for 7 days it obviously didn't cover the meeting, which would mean we couldn't replace him. So why limit your chances by sacking Cook and leaving us with a 2 man team when Lambert as a reserve can be used at any time. You do have to wonder about Rosco.

Cook did well for Rybnik and in winning the GP qualifier so they are obviously getting somewhere with his engines. Cook said nothing wrong on social media. He was letting fans know what had happened and was very magnanimous about it. It did but Rossiter got the wrong end of the stick and then without clarifying the situation sacked Cook by text. As I said, you don't do that because you are under an impression you make sure you have the facts.

Roscoe's needs to get his act together. He was under the impression that Cook had a doctor's note for 7 days which ruled him out until Monday, so we concerned about Tuesday. You don't sack someone by text because your under the impression and concerned, you find out exactly what the position is before making yourself look foolish. At least Craig dealt with the text in a professional manner, wishing whatever was best for GB.

I think most tracks have a rostrum or could easily knock one up as for the rest your mentioned items surely BSI could run to two sets, might be cheaper than transporting them. However, I bow to your greater knowledge of the logistics involved in these matters. As far as the rain off problem is concerned, if the first meeting is rained off the second meeting could be postponed to its rain off date, just as might happen if the Friday meeting in the SWC or SON is rained off.

There are other car parks which fans use but are not supposed to, like the huge cinema car park very close to the stadium. However, unless there is a last minute surge for tickets, I'm not expecting there to be a big crowd so I don't think the Speedway car parks will be full. If you want to be sure I would get there at least an hour before start time. I'm not sure what equipment needs to be transferred but I suspect that most of the personnel could travel if it was held on the following day. It is low key. Belle Vue keep plugging it on social media but I've seen little else to publicise it. As I mentioned before, nobody outside of speedway regulars would know from the name that it is a World Championship event. I shall be there and I am expecting some brilliant racing but it seems to have caused very little excitement even locally and 7pm on a Tuesday is hardly the best time to be holding it. Some are complaining about the ticket costs for the grandstand which are relatively expensive but the cheapest standing is £19 which is similar to the normal entrance fee.

I agree. Speedway of Nations means nothing unless you are a speedway follower and even then only if you've read an article which explains what it is. To attract non speedway fans and those who don't attend regularly it would have been far more likely to get people interested if the title made clear that this is a World Championship competition. Nothing at all wrong with reverting to Speedway World Best Pairs. Why it is then being run on a Tuesday in the UK is another mystery. I understand that TV coverage is important but why not have both semi finals on a Saturday, one early afternoon and the other in the evening or, one Saturday and the other on Sunday.

And there wasn't a hint of sarcasm or criticism in your "Oh poor thing" comment about Cook?

So where are the similarities. Cook didn't take a break he made extraordinary efforts to get back to ride for his club, managed to do so and took his first ride but was then taken ill due to the efforts he had made.

Remind me of the circumstances in 2014.

Have a look on Google Maps for the NSS. There is parking at Saint Peter's School, which is on Kirkmanshulme Lane just beyond the junction with Pink Bank Lane and another car park in Pink Bank Lane, which is close to the entrance to the South Stand. Both cost £3.

So far as I know, he had left his van at Stansted when he flew out after the meeting at Somerset. His flight from Prague was delayed so he had to drive into Germany to catch a flight which landed at Stansted in the early hours of the morning and then drive to Manchester for the meeting at 12 noon. He had no sleep and after taking his first ride felt ill and was apparently exhausted and dehydrated. He would probably have had time to recover and been ok if it has been an evening meeting.