Wee Eck

Steve Worrall retired, Danny King new number one

I agree 100% with that. I had a long gap in my speedway watching and in that time, the sport had become fully professional. I recall an interview with a very young rider, only just NDL standard who said “I can’t wait until I’m making a living from the sport” and thought then he had his priorities right. Name me another sport that guarantees every participant who earns money as soon as they get into a league. More specifically, name me a motor sport that pays riders to learn their trade. Then name me another business that pays its “employees” more than they earn for their employer. It’s like paying a brickie £30,000 a year to build a wall that’s only worth £20,000. But we can all talk about the negatives but what’s the solution? Has the appointment of a CEO in the premiership brought in new supporters, new sponsors, a new TV deal? What will Harry be able to do? I have no answers, just frustration

It would negatively impact the current top league whose supporters are used to seeing the top riders. BV already struggle to attract a decent crowd even with Bewley and Kurtz, what would it be like without them? Also, with only one league, those riders that currently double up, which seems to be the majority, will look for an increase in points money to cover the reduced number of meetings which would then impact the Championship teams. Even if there were still 16 teams like this year (which there won’t be) then total league meetings would drop from 40 to 30

I stand corrected and thank you for the information. But still think he’ll struggle riding at number one

If the rumour that CL teams will only be permitted one rider with an average, after reduction, over 8 points, then once more it seems the weaker teams want to drag the stronger ones down to their level. What sort of sport expects to flourish if it continues to lower standards whilst no doubt increasing prices? And, again if the rumour is true, this means that Dan Thompson will become some team’s number one. Now, Dan has had a great year and, gave the GB under 21 SON team something to be pleased with in an otherwise disappointing night when he scored 23 out of GB’s total of 26, but is making him a number one in a new team, inevitably a poorer team than this year, going to spur him on or slow him down. I’m sure someone will be able to find the split between his home and away scores but my gut feeling is there will have been a big difference when he was away from Glasgow.

Name names. Most seem to be on here and all are deservedly congratulating Redcar. Poole once again have provided their league with the team to beat and this forum melts down when it happens. Only Redcar and Glasgow produced similarly strong team and surely that has to be the way forward for speedway in this country. The constant dumbing down hasn’t worked so time to look to the best instead of trying to lower everyone to the worst.

Magic?

I think if you found the source of the rumour, you’d realise how it came about.

https://legalref.judiciary.hk/lrs/common/ju/ju_frame.jsp?DIS=160551

These look like the sort of tassels Jack Sparrow would wear

Adam Ellis?

Has Glasgow now taken over the “best track in Britain” mantle from Belle Vue? Both prepared by Andy Meredith, both fast and smooth but Glasgow provides closer racing IMO

The anti-Poole rhetoric on here is as predictable as it is disappointing. The Poole management put together a team, and a track, designed to provide their loyal supporters with a winning team, but not just at home but away. I first went to Poole maybe 25 years ago and thought the racing was largely processional then but realised that, as long as it was Poole riders leading the procession, then the home support was happy. Matt Ford has a winning mentality and that shows through with both team and business success. His only year of losses was when he was forced to run on Thursdays and he found the resolution to that. He has proved he is not afraid to run in the top league. And often win it, so the decision to drop a league was sensible not cowardly. For too long, British speedway has supported the weakest teams and where has that got us? Dwindling crowds, fewer tracks and increased prices. The sport needs more teams like Poole who will improve the product not keep reducing what’s on offer. Which brings us to Glasgow, the only other team in the league who sees the sport from a business perspective. Their route has been to improve the customer experience by investing in the stadium, the team, the track. They must have the lowest average age of supporter though there’s still plenty of room for the long term fan. With the number of children attending, I’d guess the average age is closer to 40 rather than 60+ at many tracks. And that approach is paying off with the team consistently towards the top in performance. And, in my view, if you had to rank what is important to a regular supporter, then performance beats racing. I don’t support those that say they only want to see good racing - not if it means your team is regularly beaten you don’t! You only need to look at the crowd levels this year at tracks perceived as providing good racing but who’ve regularly lost at home. From a neutral’s perspective, these are the two teams that deserve to be admired, maybe even envied rather than being attacked. Both provide a product their supporters want and both see dividends through the turnstiles. If only there were more like them

Are there no transponders at Poole? Three unchecked rollers from King…..so far

A bit like that overnight sensation Brady Kurtz? Stumbled on a special engine? Or maybe you have him down as a genuine generational talent? (For the record, Brady’s also using an AshTek engine. Or maybe it’s several?)

Don’t worry, it’s only the voices in his head that give him these tips

What were the Edinburgh Riders and Management doing to miss that? With riders, mechanics and management, there must have been at least 20 people who missed something happening in plain sight. How did those pesky Glaswegians hide it from them all?

Thanks.

Is there a way to watch this or have I missed a post?

Dan is in SON2

There will be good reasons……

Do PZM not recognise this when there are no Polish riders?

Don’t spoil a good rant by the anti-Poole non speedway attending troll with the truth. You’ll turn him into Glug Glug Glug rather than Bob Bob Bob as he sinks below the waters of Herne Bay

Joe Screen seems to be getting nostalgic these days so how about him?

December 31st then. At least top league does which is why Sheffield are planning to race on Wednesday