mikebv

75mm? Looks more like 75cm sometimes.. The big difference to me looks like the support the Marshall gets from the ref. As he walks away the ref alerts him via the headphones they wear to go back should any rider pull away.. They then go back and make the rider toe the line. Maybe that would help you in your duty? Mind you, looking at some of the ridiculous,starts allowed by some refs I am amazed some of them would even be able to see you down at the start gate.

The HUGE difference is of course that he doesn't ride for three teams in the SAME league... Like British Speedway allows... In fact they allow riders to ride for EVERY team in the same league.. And Chris Harris, Scott Nicholls and Rory Schlein in particular seem to do their level best every year to achieve this feat. . Riders should be allowed to ride for as many teams globally and domestically as they want and can, if that is the only way they can make a living, however, it should simply be for ONE team only in each League.. Otherwise it means the Leagues themselves have no integrity, no credibility and ultimately therefore no relevance.. And if the Leagues have no relevance, why bother to attend? Poland and Sweden allows riders to domestically ride for more than one club but never in the same League. . Meaning their Leagues do have integrity, credibility and relevance.. They also have decent National media coverage, National companies sponsoring their clubs, and very decent fan bases.. (I wonder if those things are linked?) I would suggest that if they ran the British Speedway operating model they would have none of the three positive attributes above.. In fact, just like British Speedway... It's 2019, we live in a 24 hours non stop media age... What you could get away even 20 years ago, never mind 50, you now can't... Time to do it properly or not bother at all I would say, it's current operating model isn't fit for purpose now, and definitely isn't fit for the future...

You go where the money is Phil.. You cannot play poker when you are only holding one card.. And that is the 'hand' the BSPA has in the grand scheme of things. Exactly why therefore they should just cut adrift and do their own thing.. With whichever riders can commit to being at every event.. With all events planned on the nights each individual club feel they can attract the best crowds.. Arch Stanton in his reply to me is very much one of a reducing number. ie those who will still collude with promoters that what they are watching is 'real regardless of how contrived it is.. So try and run it with credibility on nights when people can/want to attend, before its tipping point for survival has been reached..

Just because some riders this season will have a Witches (borrowed) race jacket on, it wont mean they are your team.... So technically you are not watching Ipswich but an amalgam of any one available for one night only (if their average fits).. It can never lead to a successful sport in this modern day 24 hours, seven days a week, instant media driven era..... And if Poland ran such a ludicrous operating model, they too would run their Speedway in front of hundreds rather than tens of thousands.. With the inevitable lack of National media coverage and absence therefore of any Blue Chip company sponsorship..

Come on now.... It wouldn't be Speedway (in Britain), without some made up septet improved by bringing ringers in would it? You can get away with in British Speedway what you cannot do in my lads U16 Sunday Football League as they all need photo profiles to show they are registered players on the league website, which the ref checks before the game.. British Speedway.... Tee Hee... I wonder if they have ever considered doing 'fixed nights' for all the main European leagues to avoid such clashes? Seriously, if you are going to have clashes, like happens every year, and you end up running loads of contrived nonsense meetings, like happens every year, then you might as well do it at weekends when crowds would be bigger.. Especially now the Football season is virtually finished.. The SoN at BV showed what a Saturday night crowd was like versus running the same meeting on a Monday or a Thursday... You wouldn't have had a full house on either evening.. It's OK now for it all to be 'made up', the fans that are left expect nothing else, so do it when most of them can/will attend.. It doesn't really matter who wins..

I seem to recall a fair few times now that riders who are maybe struggling, or have reached the play offs with their teams, have often been quoted as saying that they are bringing an engine over from Poland.... That would suggest they know where their best kit is... And no one can really blame them... If I was self employed and could earn up to ten times more money fulfilling one contract than another, I know which job I would ensure got my most focus and best equipment...

Which is pretty much what every team gets when they sign the No1 rider in the league.. If he isn't there as 'already booked up' then you can have who you want to replace him, short of any of that nights opposition riders, or how recently you have used others. Track specialists galore to choose from.. And that is in itself an utter farce.... But that's what Speedway (in Britain) steadfastly allows and will never consider changing... And then wonders why stadiums are not packed with people colluding with it to take it seriously... Hope the electric gets fixed..

There will be possibly method in this madness.. We obviously don't know if Adam Ellis is riding in Denmark tomorrow, (but he might as well now!) However.. When (if?) Adam Ellis rides for Brum, will it mean any clashes previously booked pre him signing will be covered by a facility? If so, given his average virtually EVERY rider in the Championship will be able to guest for him on a horses for courses/ringer basis.. Obviously I don't understand the rules so may be wrong (but then again who does?)... It is 2.20pm on a Tuesday when I type so it might have changed anyway by the time I send this.. I presume the Brum promotion would be aware of any possible clashes before offering him a contract? Otherwise why sign someone who will possibly already be elsewhere at times, unless some tactical advantage? Pity they don't have a back up generator... That could have ran out of diesel...

You don't actually need to interpret it as, for once, its unusually very clear... No facility can be allowed for Ellis.... However, you could get a thick black marker and cover up rule 16.5.2.2 on page 44, (or even rip page 44 out?) and pretend (for that night), that it doesn't exist, and 'in the interests of Speedway' make up something ad hoc and contrived, and then see if enough punters collude with you in pretending that Speedway (in Britain) is a proper sport and attend.. Lift up the carpet, brush under it, and move on to the next made up nonsense.. There's nothing to see here, move along please..

But if the other two clubs are getting around 3000 or so between them I would imagine he wouldn't be too unhappy... With three clubs to run, circa 3600 each week in total at all three would be around 'average' for British Speedway I would think.. If two of the three are 'successful' in so much that they are play off possibilities then that would probably offset the worst one, and with only seven teams at least two of them shouldn't ever be too far away from the top four to render the season over too soon.. And of course plenty of local derbies, whereby even if just one of three teams are in play off contention, their home crowds will be reasonable and they may go away in greater numbers to their local rivals than they would if riding against a team further afield.. Running all three as a collective makes perfect sense... Within that there will be winners and losers.. I suppose which side of that situation you are on will go a long way to determine what you think of him..

Given the way Promoters commit 'Hari Kiri' by devaluing their own competitions through the ludicrous sharing of riders, the entertainment factor is pretty much what so many still follow the sport for... The Comps themselves are not worthy of pulling anyone in so the on track spectacle has to be the thing which does it... Amazingly some promoters still seem to put 'winning at home regardless of entertainment value' at the top of their priority list.. Sheffield used to be a great track to watch at, a shame it seems to have lost its way..

And many meetings are actually planned on dates knowing riders will be missing and replacements/track specialists ringers, brought in from other teams... I am sure Jason will have had a very plausible reason for not managing to get to Armadale (again)...

All meetings should just adopt the Polish system.. On the Polish thread it was said all front wheels have to be 10cm away from the tapes.. And watching the racing out there, it is very strictly policed by the start marshall and ref.. No room for rollers, or 'twitching' as the tapes will be touched... Very rarely see a restart for tapes issues in Poland..

Took my 15 year old lad and it cost £22.50 for the pair of us.. Fantastic value for money... Thought the racing was very good with several excellent races Just watched it on the box and the coverage didn't do it any justice, dreadful directorship.... Wrong cameras were time and time again being used, missing lots of the action... Wouldn't have thought he/she is familiar with Speedway looking at the way they missed so much by doing close ups of single riders 20 yards in front.. As for the catering? On the South Stand there was one lad serving behind the bar which led to long, long queues, and they ran out of lager with about six heats left... "We've only got cider!" Was the shout... It helped keep the queues down.... There must have a couple of thousand tickets sold for the South Stand, and this was known, so not great planning I would think.. A Premiership meeting would have cost us £25 and for £2.50 less we got to see Woffy blast round giving a masterclass in speed and control... Not a bad night at all, looking forward now to the World U21 Final to get my next Speedway fix.. Lets hope for another sensibly priced event and another good crowd (but more lager)!...

And all to try and win a competition that by the very fact that such a meeting is allowed to take place, renders it absolutely worthless... An truly amazing business plan..

BV would have agreed as they are the away team and therefore minimal impact to their business... You very rarely see a team run at home missing key riders do you? It always seems to be the away team who arrive with a missing 'No1', wonder why? The reality is this.. Leicester will see it as a much better opportunity to win so will want the meeting to take place.. Belle Vue will see it as having no impact to their business so will want the meeting to take place as it ticks another fixture off.. Fitting fixtures in with so many shared riders must be a nightmare so the plan will be to run them if 'most' are there I would think as getting 'all' of them available, particularly as the season progresses and teams make changes, simply logistically won't be possible.. Let's be honest though, it doesn't really matter does it? Winning the Premiership has zero kudos, therefore winning the NL doesn't matter one jot either.. Speedway now is simply geared up to give lads the chance to justify their outlay on machinery, riding in as many meetings as possible to try and earn as much as they can.. The 14 on show are pretty much interchangeable on any given night due to various circumstances.. Promoters have long since stopped worrying about the credibility of what's often on offer, so no point expecting anything else but what we have now I would suggest..

I believe 'the mighty Poland' are next year going to run their meetings not at weekends but instead on Monday and Thursdays using random septets and sharing riders around the teams if any of them get injured, or are needed elsewhere riding for their other teams.. They are even considering running in the early afternoon as well as evenings, which will then enable No1 riders to ride for two different teams on the same day... They have seen the huge success this operating model can deliver over here and decided to copy it.. Before confirming, they are just awaiting the feedback as to their plans from the various National blue chip companies who bank roll the teams, and the mainstream National audio, visual and written media who provide it with wall to wall coverage... I am sure it will be a foregone conclusion as to their opinion..

He even walks back and makes them move forwards due to the ref telling him that someone has rolled away when his back was turned.. Would be a very simple addition to British Speedway, however, would they be happy to adopt something so successful from another country? After all, British Speedway is the best isn't it? What could it possibly learn from elsewhere?

As always, some 'tasty matches'.. Got myself a 'firestick' for the season and have watched every match so far.. WOW! How Speedway truly could be is the over riding impression.. Can't do British Speedway much good I would think though with so many UK fans now having access to what's on offer in Poland.. Must confess, I haven't attended anywhere so far this year, but will be there at the SON on Saturday.. As an aside. It was interesting how many starting issues there were at Swindon the other night, yet in Poland there seems to be total compliance to the rules. With the Start Marshall even ensuring all are arrow straight with no rider allowed to be pointing at an angle.. Something to learn over here? Anyhow, many thanks R and R for all your updates, much appreciated..

And maybe one of them is actually called Bradley and it was a spelling mistake.?

Interesting to see yesterday that both Poole and Swindon's number one riders are both called Brady Kurtz... I wonder if there are any other examples of riders with the same name riding for two different teams... Quite amazing coincidence...

Well said... Nice to see someone with some common sense.. You do have to laugh at some of the content on each teams threads by fans bemoaning why their team is 'poor'... Every year the SS does a bumper edition where you read absolute garbage from promoters of tracks saying things like "we have picked a team who can all increase their averages' or 'he has shown glimpses in the past of the level of rider we think he can be'... All absolute nonsense... Riders run similar averages year in year out because, guess what? That is their level... Several will be four and five point men the whole of their careers.. Always were, are now, and always will be... To expect them to do any better is folly, especially as they ride against pretty much the same riders every season who are doing exactly the same thing to their averages (ie pretty much standing still).. If you have ridden for five years or so then usually that is pretty much as good as you will get.. After ten years or so then there is usually a tipping point where you go backwards.. "Let's bring Woffy and Bartosz in"...

It's an individual sport shoe horned into a team concept.. How many teams does Max ride for? Is it four? No surprise then if these lads don't follow any other scores than their own.. Given the level of pressure and focus by riding in Poland, where 'team racing' is done 'properly' and actually means something given its profile, then I dont think its too much of a surprise if when out of that environment, riders can relax more and just take meetings ride by ride, and then tot up their earnings when the meeting is over. .

Certainly a great business decision to run all the tracks so close geographically.. Especially in a League of just seven... As it means at least two of them will, you would think, be there or there abouts for the play off places, even if all his teams are in fifth, sixth and seventh all season.. Which should maintain interest in the 'local derbies'.. And with the Aces as one of the seven teams, it looks like it could well be fourth, fifth and sixth...!.

Sign Craig Cook.... Even if only temporary... Or let any of the six Swindon riders take all his rides up to a maximum of seven rides for any of them.. Eg Batchelor and Musielak could take two each and still ride Heat 15.. Thats what other sports would do... As would the same sport in Poland and Sweden..