THE DEAN MACHINE

This has been pointed out many times not least of all by Keith hewen even though he was talking about riad racing but the same applies, back in the day Olsen briggs mauger Collins etc they are far superior equipment to the rest of the competitors so they always had an unfair advantage, that is not true today nobody in the field has anything better than anyone else so it’s harder to win a world championship today than it’s ever been even if you think the field itself is weaker

Clearly a lot more tickets were sold than seats tonight, there were hundreds of fans standing at the back of the seats and to the annoyance of the seated in the isles too and the seats were fulll, enjoyed the GP anyway good atmosphere in the stadium, taxi back to the hotel was interesting, driver spoke Russian and polish but no English and wasn’t sure of the way and was asking me the way (well I think that’s what he was saying) and the car was making some strange noises and engine management light and air bag lights were flashing on the dash and at one point opened the door at some traffic lights and I thought he was getting out, on to Gorzow tomorrow

Well done to every rider who pinned it on the fence tonight, not sure why they prepared the track like that tonight but roll on vojens if nothing else the fight for the world championship is on

Not very often you see team riding in a GP

They watering the track to get them prepared for the inevitable wet night in vojens

I did wonder this myself

Fricke needs a new manager, rides the fence all night, gate four the best and picks gate one

They playing a song in the stadium and everyone is singing along, I’ve never heard it before, quite catchy though, now they singing along to a dance remix of sweet Caroline, only in Poland

As long as I live I will never take part in a Mexican wave

Zmarzlik just pure class

Kvech silencer was so loud then

I’m on the countryman’s side, zmarzlik is imo the greatest rider ever lived and I want to see him break the record for most ever world champion, I want to see janowski do well because it’s sad to see him not enjoying his racing at the moment and for my bank balance as I’ve had a little flutter on him,hope Brady takes it to last round to make it interesting but apart from Doyle not fused about Aussies, hope bewley does well too

Been to ZG before but never on first and second bend, the noise and atmosphere is amazing,Wrocław tonight and then on to Gorzow tomorrow then long drive home then on to Isle of Wight Tuesday to ride in the upright championship, life of the international jet setter lol

We stood on first bend at zielona gora tonight, what a night, amazing experience, when the fans started bouncing you could feel the stadium moving

Doesn’t suprise me, my mum used to work at monmore green and she told me one of the stadium managers hated speedway and it’s fans and would tell anyone who would listen to him but he left years before the speedway was kicked out, having read a lot of comments about greyhounds lately it sounds like their fans don’t care for our sport at all

I’m not sure it was different way back when it’s just the perception of it felt different but nowadays with social media we see a lot more of riders lives

Matt ford was/is a damn good promoter who knows how to exploit the rules but that’s not the problem,the problem is he is part of the group who make and enforce the rules, marking you’re own homework comes to mind

Actually it’s not rare, the rider circle is a very close community, yes there is the exceptions but on the whole they do respect each other and on the whole are all mates, you always want to beat each other especially your own fellow countrymen but it’s just racing, away from the track you find some even socialise together or train together and airports tend to be a bit of a gathering place for the international riders, at the end of the day they all share the same mechanics, tuners, flight organisers, sponsors and ultimately are all in the same game so yes respect is definitely there, I always respected everyone I was on a track with even the ones I didn’t like and it’s pretty much the same for all riders

I firmly believe that Birmingham’s track has been poor this year because every Monday it has been baked by the hot weather, last Monday the racing was better and the outside line worked a bit better, why ? Because it rained half way through the meeting, not a lot but enough to keep the moisture in the surface, last night it was baked again and racing was poor, nothing wrong with the shape either but it does have an adverse camber from half way out on corners

Obviously time has moved on a few years and things are more expensive but I was told yesterday a rider was asking for a substantial guarantee and nearly 3 times the point money I was getting in the premier league to race in the amateur meetings on the Isle of Wight this year but this is nothing new, I just didn’t think it had decended down to amateur level, they didn’t pay it by the way

But you haven’t offered examples of how to reduce the costs for riders promoters and fans, saying standardising engines isn’t really a workable solution which is a common theme and what does that even mean ? there are things that can be done to reduce costs to engines but there is no will to do it, I (blowing my own trumpet here ) have suggested more than most in the sport about ways to reduce bike costs but nobody listens and I also get stick for it from the current clique in the sport which is fine,I speak to tuners, riders,ex riders and put my thoughts to them, some agree some don’t but nothing changes, bigger ex riders than me know you face a brick wall to get change and don’t bother .promoters just cutting the wages again isn’t going to wash,there has to be a trade off, we have all been saying it for years but nobody ever really comes up with a workable solution, me included

While all your points are valid, they are under the current system of running the sport, which doesn’t work anymore,if things were to change within the current financial structure of the sport and from what I believe they are changing (I hope they are )then the changes needed may work, I understand it’s not going to be popular and I can see some kicking and screaming but what’s the alternative? The alternative is the end and that suits nobody, I had a long chat with someone at Birmingham last night (not connected to Bham)about finances and although I sort of already knew but it was quite staggering to hear just how far from the point which imo we should be operating at we have gone as a sport and it goes right from top to bottom and it’s unsustainable

As I always remember Buxton on a Sunday afternoon 😂 https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Drx3Jhkod/?mibextid=wwXIfr

next year it has to be one big league and teams run on what ever day they want, reduced admission to less than £20,maybe 6 man teams, I don’t know how we make all the above work as I understand all the complications that come with it but this has to be the starting point, the sport is at an all time low and on the point of extinction, there is an appetite for speedway but the sport and its potential fan base seem to be worlds apart at the moment

To be honest I don’t understand why stoke never run out of Buxton, most of the Buxton fans were stoke ones