John Leslie

I think this is a rather silly and negative thread. Of course Robert will be allowed to ride in the NL once he turns 15. He will be eligible to ride in PL once he turns 16 regardless of whether he's British, British on a German licence, A German on a British licence, or whatever. It's only relatively recently that 15 year olds have been allowed to race in a league, but waiting until 16 for competitive racing did Peter Craven, Peter Collins, Malcolm Simmons, Michael Lee, Chris Morton, Gary Havelock, Mark Loram, etc etc no harm. Maybe the Germans are happy to let 14 year old boys race against 30 year old men, but imagine the Health & Safety outcry if there was a serious injury caused in a crash between a fully grown man and a 14 year old boy who is not yet fully physically developed.

I went to Marco Pierre White's London Steakhouse last weekend. Whilst his steak was very tasty, I was disappointed that he wasn't providing any Speedway racing for me to watch between courses. Obviously I didn't raise this issue face-to-face with Marco at the time, I waited a few days until I was a safe distance of around 100 miles away and wrote on his website. Marco replied saying that his main trade was in fine dining and he didn't really feel the need to provide Speedway as there were numerous Speedway promoters in the country already doing this. He had the cheek to suggest that if i used my common sense I could possibly go and watch a speedway match and find a local eatery either before or after the match. I've written back on his website and told him that this isn't good enough as I can get both Speedway and fine dining at Monmore Green stadium, and I won't be returning to Marco Pierre White's until he brings things up to Wolverhampton standards.

Have the NL rules changed this year regarding guests? I know up to last year it was guests only for a missing No.1 How have Stoke been allowed to use a guest for a missing lower order rider?

That's good to know. You were obviously confused. I said I would be happy if the couple were financially ruined. I didn't suggest they be "put to death". Have another read and your confusion may be cleared.

In what weird world of yours does "financially ruined" equal "put to death"? I've told you a million times stop exaggerating.

Agreed. The only cretins here are those who moved in next door to a Motorsports stadium that had been operating for over 30 years and tried to use bullyboy NIMBYism and a frivilous court action to destroy a local amenity. If they're financially ruined and never able to do such a thing again, then I'll drink to that.

This doesn't make sense! If today is April 1st, then the New Zealand Grand Prix has already been and gone...

Spot on. If you want to race in the BSPA leagues, then you contribute to the running costs by way of the fees. That's the plain and simple facts. Anything else is a smokescreen. The BSPA were very generous to the new Mildenhall promotion last season by allowing them to start their season first and pay their fees later (unlike every other club who had to pay on time). Having been given that generous concession it's disgusting that Mildenhall are abusing the generosity by still not paying up 12 months late. And claiming that the BSPA want Mildenhall to pay twice what every other club is paying is a downright lie. Wonder if Mildenhall have also told HMRC that they won't be paying their VAT bill because they want to spend the money on something else?

Cameron Heeps isn't British.....Now do you get the comparison with helping "British" industry? similarly, you join the BSPA leagues, you pay the BSPA fees Mildenhall agree they were allowed to defer the fee. Defer means to put back temporarily, Doesn't mean "not pay, and still be arguing about not paying when the following year's fees come round" Because it costs money to administer the sport and all teams share the cost equally within their league. Sadly one team wants to welsh on their share fees are always payable immediately, and all teams paid except one, who were given time to pay. Sadly they still haven't paid and are still bellyaching All other teams paid their fees. Only one is bellyaching. I take it you're new to the sport. Have a word with people who've been around more than one year and they'll tell you how Buxton and Scunthorpe have been the prime movers in developing talent at CL/NL level. They've done it on a shoestring without the benefit of the large crowds Mildenhall enjoy, and without dodging their fees.

You seem to have got it spot on. But don't try and explain it to the poster above you. He'll never grasp it

I'm not sure all this "we want to run an academy" is relevant. I'm sure Buxton and Scunthorpe would like to run a bigger academy, much better than they already provide. However it seems Buxton and Scunthorpe pay their fees and obligations first and then run their academy's with anything that's left in the pot. Why should Buxton/Scunthorpe and all the other teams suffer by having to subsidise Mildenhall's fees? I'd like to buy a Rolls Royce....boost the British car industry. So should the government waive my road tax? Should all other motorists pay a bit to subsidise my purchase? I'll pay them back next year....or maybe next year I'll whinge again, and want to push it back to the following year, even though I've got a nicer car than everyone else.

So when Chris Louis says the BSPA want him to pay twice what every other club is paying, what he really means is that the BSPA want him to catch up on last years fees (which everyone else, except him, has already paid) as well as this year's (which again everyone else has to pay). In actual fact that would mean Mildenhall are paying LESS than everyone else since they've had a 12-month interest free loan on their fees. If the small clubs like Buxton, and those with low NL crowds due to being a secondary team (Scunthorpe, Belle Vue, Rye House, King's Lynn) can pay their fees on time, why can't a stand-alone club with big crowds like Mildenhall do the same?

I think I may start a campaign to get KKS re-instated. He's the funniest poster we've ever had on here. I had to get a new keyboard after I spat my tea all over the old when when I read KKS's famous "engage my onions" post. And who can forget "I'd like Kenneth Bjerre to come to my bedroom to talk speedway" Since i presume "Tom Bollards" is a ficticious person, i think it would be a great new identity for KKS.

According to the October averages on the BSPA site Ben Reade is in the Stoke 1-7. Since Nobes was brought in on transfer deadline date, how come Stoke are allowed to make another change on 1st October, 2 weeks after the rules say no further changes can be made? One rule for one and a different rule for the others?

Felton was a training track started up by Will Hunter and Ken Marshall (who is still involved at Berwick). It ran from the late 70s well into the 80s. It was on land belonging to Eshott Aerodrome. I think you can see the shape of the track here just below the runways (If I've got the right place).

Why does the NL have to have a Sep 11 cut-off? It's not televised. Seems stupid to cram so many meetings into such a short time and then leave a whole 7 weeks for play-offs which are a maximum of 2 home and 2 away matches.

I always buy them on the day. Either from the stadium ticket office at face value, or off a tout outside the ticket office at a knockdown price.

Would have thought this was the glamour tie of the NL...The big names of Belle Vue and the Dudley/Cradley Heathens. Maybe the BSPA would have been better working towards this as a cup final rather than a cup first round match? Reckon Dudley are the NL favourites, so they should be looking to progress through this one.

Go on then, what's wrong with the teams listed in the NL table? They look OK to me

Indeed. Let's say Bomber would be worth £25k in a transfer. How much are Coventry receiving in loan payments? £3k? £4k? Instead put that £25k in the bank and see how much interest you accrue from March to October...£300? £400? Hmmm...poor Coventry eh?

Bob Harrison Stanley "Acorn" Dobson Syd Plevin

Like him actually being a Slovenian?

I would say that 62.3 in heat 12 was faster

No it isn't. It's measured on a racing line 1 metre out from the kerb.

In the Belle Vue NL record by Jason Garrity on 23rd Mar '11 you've transposed the figures and put 63.2 instead of 62.3