mikebv

WE NEEDED GUEST RIDERS!!! When will fans realise over here in the UK that there isnt an alternative... ? Forget what Poland do... They make it up as they go along by treating it like a proper team sport you can emotionally invest your time and money in... You cannot run a Speedway league without having loads of riders available to cherry pick from, meaning you are able to bring them in as ringers as and when you need them.. It is a fundamental reason as to why the sport is so hugely successful in the UK... Some people will never grasp this..

A wise move...? In charge of their own destiny... And not having their brand getting negatively impacted by the BSPL's brand reputation.. Maybe more should join them?

That's what happens usually each year.. I know it probably doesnt appear like that but the AGM should just ratify what has already been agreed prior to it being held.. And then, whilst there, the odd spanner gets thrown into the works...

Let's be honest, most of us know that winning any of the leagues or cups counts for very little from a kudos, publicity or financial reward angle.. So the best thing to do is just enjoy watching Doyle, Emil, Fricke, Holder, and Dan.. True World Class talent.. Tobi M too is always worth paying to see too, as is Brady Kurtz.. Add in the likes of Bomber and Wright and you can see some cracking action around the country... Whichever team wins, don't worry about it, and just enjoy it, hopefully seeing 15 heats of decent entertainment.. Something I am sure will be "cobbled together" for next season which will be very similar, and not much different, to all the other seasons that have been "cobbled together" to deliver some racing.. Speedway in the UK still has a decent following when done well eg The PCMM at the NSS, and all the FIM events generate decent crowds over here.. Which shows there is still a fair old desire to watch it when delivered with some credibility and reward... UK Speedway will continue to do what UK Speedway does so well.. Which is to make things up as they go along to deliver an evening of racing under the most tenuous team concept imaginable.. It's all they can do, and all we will have.. So just go along and watch the racing (which is as good as anything else I have seen in over 50 years of following the sport), without bothering about the outcome..

It needs a six month, five year plan...

They could get on the track and draw another inside line on the bends to confuse the riders... Oh hang on.. That's a policy not a protest isnt it..?

Did the Peterborough riders get told that they had to ride BETWEEN the white lines?

Speedway could "build up its players"... It just decides to not do so... Instead it comes up with "a family sport", and "bring a friend" nonsense... More bang for your buck these days is needed I am afraid to say... Speedway in the UK doesn't even have a marketing company pushing its name out there.. Instead, each track does its own thing which is often led by well meaning amateurs, but hugely wide of hitting the fit for purpose mark... One track a season has closed on average for the past decade.. Coventry, Swindon, Rye House, Lakeside, Newcastle, Eastbourne, Buxton, Workington, Stoke, Somerset and Kent. The IOW "got out" and will no doubt be glad they did, and now Wolves and Peterborough look like going the same way as so many before... With Poole looking like it faces some challenges as the Greyhound Companies pull up the drawbridges, and Edinburgh looking for land elsewhere after being informed of future closure... Indeed, if it wasnt for Mcr Council and Messrs Gordon and Morton then BV would also be no more.. And Birmingham seem to be on the brink each season over the past few years.. Oxford, Iwade and "New Worky" offer some light at the end of a very dark and long tunnel but you do fear for the sport in the UK.. Phil Morris has his work cut out, that is for sure... I thought post Covid it was a real opportunity for radical change given so long a time had passed, meaning that those in charge had that time to come up with innovative ideas, and completely relaunch the sport to an audience desperate for action again.. What an opportunity to entice the tens of thousands back who have deserted the sport over the last two decades off the back of 12 months of no Speedway.. Instead. We had the same old, same old, and ended up with the same old, same old issues... You do the same thing each time, then unsurprisingly, you get the same result... Who knew that happens?

Nice to see a guest get nil. RR with any other riders taking the missing No1 rides up to seven races max each would give far more credibility.. NKI and Hans could have taken the No1's four rides and still rode Ht 15... Surely better?

Jenny just fine (if needed)....

The way it should have been (at least) ten years ago... Sadly many who could have been saved by having such an operating model have gone by the way side during that time... As soon as the Sky money went, so did the GP stars.. That was the time to "go it alone"... Instead we had "Let's fudge our way along and cobble something together each night"... "The punters will be fine with it"....

Maybe dropping averages to bring Bartek in...?

Matej will be impressed when he rides then... A big fan of the track last year wasnt he? Will it be "Taxi for Zagar" like it was for Nicki?

Ice Hockey seem to do "ok" with 8 teams in the league.. With crowd levels most Speedway clubs in the UK would suggest are "bumper".. Altrincham Ice Rink host Manchester Storm and over 2000 attend most matches.. And they are at the lower end of the crowd scale domestically... Dont know if they have lower divisions though in Ice Hockey, but what they do is push the top level that they have in the UK.. Speedway will carry on in some form in the UK... But for crying out loud, someone stop the nonsense operating model it runs with, someone bring some credibility and integrity to what it offers up, someone market the sport professionally and collectively and someone take charge of cost controls and set limits... Do that, and it may have chance... Don't do that, and the current situation which has been delivered by steadfastly not doing any of the above, will sadly continue to work its way to an inevitable conclusion.. Sadly, all that could have been written 20 years ago, and just like then, it will be completely ignored by those seeing more importance in wondering which ringer to get in as a guest this Satirday somewhere ..

Four team tournaments... Like Denmark used to do... Or three team tournaments with six riders each... Or Best Pairs with three riders per team with seven teams each night in attendance Or... Or... Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank... Monkey Tennis!!!!!!!

There is no dount that if every track had just 5,000 (out of sometimes millions of people on their doorstep), and took circa £100,000 a match, 20 times a season, then they could pay a couple of hundred grand to the landlords per season which I am sure would be seen as something worthwhile to continue by said landlords.. The reality is that collectively the custodians have simply not been fit for purpose in putting the sport first before any self interest, and have never marketed the sport in any way shape or form professionally enough. Instead they have seen standing in a foyer of a supermarket with a table, or leaflet dropping car windscreens in car parks, as "promotion".. Yet they have spent literally tens of millions on riders over the past couple of decades in particular... And all to have what we have today... Mind boggling.. Best wishes to Wolves fans.. Who is next?

Ricky Kling?

Indeed it was..

Choosing to use Div One HL's (and plenty of them), in the 2nd Tier has no doubt bumped up the costs of the 2nd tier teams, hence Newcastle struggled to compete at an affordable level... With other teams getting propped up significantly by well meaning fans/promoters, with very deep pockets.. By targeting your most loyal customers for a significant increase you undoubtedly are running a high risk strategy... You only have to look around the stadiums to see the highest age demographic of followers and these people will have, in the vast majority of cases, been followers for decades.. Hopefully the right thing to do for their business...

At the very highest level it is, £29 to watch a GP is terrific value for money.. Not sure the same can be said about the lower tiers of the sport domestically when weighed up against that.. The top tier racing costs circa £20 to stand for a concession, and you get you see GP riders, so to charge similar for the 2nd tier is taking a risk I would say..

The 2nd Tier has caused issues for itself by running teams full of Div 1 HL's and SS's for the past few years. (They even had at one stage last season the Div 1 Number One rider in the averages topping their own averages too).. Even at a "reduced rate" v their top league money, teams will still be more costly to run than the standard team level from say a decade ago.. The added issue this year is that more top names have come back to the top league which you can only think will reduce the earning potential in Div 1 of several established double uppers, so I would imagine they will want a good deal in Div 2 to help offset that, and with a "weaker" Div 2, they could score more points than in previous years.. And once the Pandora's box of the majority of riders double upping and downing was opened you cannot suddenly shut it.. When you set your price position for what you sell, solely based on covering the costs of your operating model, rather than what your customers are willing to pay for your goods, then it usually doesnt end well..

But apart from that?

Undoubtedly... But it is straight line speed he mainly passes people by... I get weight to power ratio is involved and getting the power down on the track is key, however, he has such speed advantage in a "drag race" that it is quite ridiculous at times...

Zmarzlik has such an incredible burst of speed over 80m or so... He must be goingt least 20mph faster than any other rider some races down the straights as he passes his opponents... How does he get that speed out of essentially a similar power output unit that they all use?

But what a bend!!!!