mikebv

Very true Wofie, you make a good point... But on the plus side.... By going to Manchester (rather than Wolverhampton) at least the Lynn fans won't feel as if they have suddenly been transported back to the Seventies via a time machine when they see the locals and their surroundings...

Maybe been covered off. but I don't want to trawl through loads of comments.. Noticed that Sweden seem to have 'gate four' moved in from the fence.. I presume to keep the racing line down the home straight from effecting this gate... Seems to be a good idea... Why doesn't the U.K. do the same?

Sadly, another Mickey Mouse way of running the Sport which does it absolutely no favours.... That Riss has gone? Fine. This happens. If he had been injured he would be out anyway... However, it isn't right from a credibilty perspective that the Aces can then replace him on a 'horses for courses' basis.. In a 'proper sport' a team would need to replace their absent competitor by making a signing or replacing from their squad... As Speedway dosent use a squad system then the Aces should be made to sign a rider to represent them in all the remaining meetings. A rider on a same or lesser average... Why complicate things and render the competition a 'bit of a farce' by allowing the changing of teams on any given night depending on what track the next meeting is at..? Make a signing, and that's it...

Definitely in the Worlds Top Ten given he performs so consistently at the highest level... And has done so for a decent length of time.. Would bring something to the GP's no doubt..

I take it you are still referring to SCB specifically and not someone who just watches Speedway HR?

A glimmer of hope though never the less... At least one (and maybe more) can see that the current operating model isn't fit for purpose and must change... The very simple bottom line is this... The most important single thing the Sport needs is for the mainstream media to treat it as a bona fide sporting entity, worthy of the same column inches and air time they provide for those sports that are regarded as actually being ran with professionalism, integrity and credibility. Thus putting the Sport in the clear view of the many millions who currently seem completely oblivious to it and, at the same time, creating heroes and personalities for any curious observers to become acquainted with and possibly follow.. However..... Speedways current operating model in the UK will 100% ALWAYS prevent this from EVER happening. No news room of any degree of standing would bring to the masses a lead headline for example of "We'll show you later how Poole's Brady Kurtz tonight top scored for Belle Vue and helped them KO their Play Off rivals Swindon when he stepped in for The Aces No1 Craig Cook, who was elsewhere riding for Glasgow" It simply wouldn't be accepted.. Surely, given the huge lack of knowledge of the Sport out there, and the massive potential customer base to sell what is still a very marketable product, there must be an enormous opportunity for the Sport in the UK....? Should those who run it ever eventually wake up and work together to achieve it obviously...

Is this really a Promoter or someone off here? If they can see the 'bleedin' obvious' then why can't all the others? The ultimate irony of course is that the Competitions so many attempt to win by trying to put one over their rivals, are rendered absolutely worthless by their very actions of doing what they do... Rather than working together to build up Competitions to give them some kudos, they instead often work in splendid isolation, (or cliques), and find more and more imaganitive ways to discredit them... Couldn't make it up sometimes could you..?

But sadly team speedway is nothing of the sort in Britain anymore, hence I cannot see any successful future for it... TV coverage of Poland and Sweden only highlights even more the absurdity of what is constantly cobbled together over here, where septets are manufactured ad infintum from various other teams, and the coverage does the UK's version of 'Team Speedway' few favours.. There are those like yourself who are willing to 'collude' with Promoters to still see it as a bona fide 'team sport', and absolutely each to their own, however it is an every decreasing number who now see 'Team Speedway' in the UK as 'something real'.... Hopefully these people can stay around long enough to one day see it ran properly, and who knows, eventually see their loyalty and devotion rewarded... Whats not in dispute is that the raw material of the Sport is great.... It's just that the raw material isnt utilised well enough in Britain to ever give it a chance to be successful sadly..

And what you paid out had a significantly less impact to your wallets 'disposable income' than the current admission prices/ generic lifestyle costs..

Is it viable? I actually think it is... However not in its current guise, due to the lack of credibility in the way an inherently 'individual' Sport is shoe horned into an unfit for purpose 'team concept' (in the UK).. The NSS delivers great Speedway and plays out in front of around an average of I would say 1200 or so, twenty times a year, with a good several hundred 'fans' missing each week due to the League meetings only being qualifiers for an end of season cup comp, and with an often random selection of riders on view that may or may not be affiliated to your team... Charging £25 for me and my teenage lad is asking a lot to watch something so contrived I would suggest.. Yet charging £25 for us both say ten times a year to watch individual meetings of a 'decent standard' could be quite profitable if promoted well... Probably no 'superstars' due to Poland, but running at weekends could just maybe bring in 2500-3000 or so at the NSS for example. Thus giving a much improved perception of the Sport generally to the outsider/casual visitor.. Stock Car Promoters seem to do alright using this concept so maybe Speedway (in the UK) should follow it... It doesn't need to be the same Promoters at the same track either, maybe you could get some willing to Promote 'one off' meetings at a track which they hire, where they give it real marketing and promotion and possibly even invite several 'superstars' occasionally try and entice extra fans in? Utopia of course would be an operating model which Poland have, ie quality over quantity within a Team Framework, but that is simply not going to happen, therefore British Speedway needs to adapt and find a format that brings people in, many of whom know much about the Sport but have become dissilusioned with it.. Cardiff, each year, shows that the Sport can attract very good crowds.. The SWC at the NSS the other year showed the Sport can attract very good crowds... The Play Offs no doubt will show that the Sport can attract very good crowds... Maybe more entrepreneurs could attract very good crowds on a 'less is more' basis..? Could a decent troupe of any 16 from 60 or 70 graded riders going around the Country riding Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all picking up an average of say a grand a night, from a total minimum Prize Pot of say circa £20-25k, deliver decent crowds? Possibly running several meetings as part of a National Title? Something akin to BSB? 2500 adults at £15 would deliver a good return.... Team racing is definitely a busted flush (over here) as too much damage has been inflicted for it to ever gain back credibility for me, and whatever next seasons operating model will bring will again, no doubt, be not radical enough with yet more cobbled together, halfway house, unfit for purpose, variations on a theme... However, the actual Sport itself still possesses absolutely tremendous positive attributes from a spectating perspective.. It just needs to find a way to utilise them....

Did I say he did? Totally irrelevant response..

Let's also be fair though.. Tai cannot blame the ref for the other seven points he dropped in his other four rides.. No wins in his last two GP's would suggest he is off form at the key time of the Season..

Agreed, but the rules say 'ready to race', and none of them were, even Hancock (who was nearest), was thrutching with his goggles at 0.00...

No it wasn't. .. None of the riders were ready to race at 0.00... They should all have gone... 'Not being as ready as the other riders that are also not ready either' isnt a rule. ...

Just one of too many self inflicted reasons... Maybe eradicating them one by one could be something worth considering? (I laugh out loud as I type)...

Probably not illegal as the Terms and Conditions are made public so I would suggest 'buyer beware' could come into play.. However, in a Sport so desperate for a fan base, it is just another one of those 'ahhh, but this is Speedway' rules that are so loved by those who run the Sport, that don't in any way encourage you to attend... .

Were Workington allowed to ride on a Friday? .. What is going on?...

To follow a 'Team Sport' you need an emotional attachment to 'your' team... (British) Speedway doesn't recognise any importance in that... The 'Guest' system only underlines that lack of emotional attachment... No disrespect to any rider who takes the booking to earn a few extra quid (as pay rates can be 'lucrative' given the situation ) but all it does is reinforce the belief that, for the riders, each team they ride for is nothing more than a 'flag of convenience' to earn coin on any given night..... Brady Kurtz, as have many before him, could possibly have helped a team qualify for the Final, that may well end up preventing himself, his team mates, and his fans, celebrate a title triumph... His opportunity to earn a few quid came about because Craig Cook took up a place at Glasgow knowing he would more than likely clash with BV meetings thus impacting one of his teams either way.. If riders can do this then simply they either don't have any emotional attachment to the team they ride for or, just simply see the Competitions as not important enough to take seriously and treat them as a bona fide Championships like they would in Sweden and Poland... Either way, not easy to sell a Sport ran like that and expect those who you are selling it to to buy into it and follow it with emotional investment.. Cannot knock the riders for trying to earn a few extra quid, but the Sport in the UK won't stop the decline, never mind move forwards, by allowing such things to happen..

Brady Kurtz recently helped Belle Vue to put Swindon out of the Play Offs when he top scored for Belle Vue at Swindon... Brady Kurtz rides for Poole... Who, could get beaten in the Play Off Final by Belle Vue... He replaced Craig Cook that night the Belle Vue No1, as he was riding for Glasgow, a team he joined just a few weeks earlier.. Last year's Promotion/Relegation Play Off took place with two teams who shared several riders throughout the season.... Effectively it meant that these riders had rode so badly that they had put one of their teams in the postion of losing their top league spot, whilst at the same time, riding so well that they had also put one of their teams in the position of possible promotion... On that night they had the opportunity to either relegate or promote themselves... Speedway In Decline? Cannot think why.... When such nonsense is allowed to take place (and is part of the fundamental operating model as happily agreed each year by those who run it), then even any amount of 'Heat 13's at the NSS' will make the Sport more popular. .

A very true observation... And also a very sad indictment of the Sport in general... It wil be interesting to see the crowd at the NSS for the play offs... Many have said that Mondays and Wednesday are not good night's to have Speedway at Belle Vue yet I have a feeling that Monday September the 24th will find over a thousand or so non regular fans who all of a sudden realise (magically) that they can actually get to the NSS that night...

Gustrow for me is an example of what can be done with a 'smallish' footprint... Maybe tracks over here that are quite long in the straights with narrow entrances and exits to the bends could take the white lines in a bit and make themselves wider and more circular...? Wouldn't need any more space.... Possibly drainage an issue? The more time spent going sideways definitely improves the racing as track craft comes more into play, rather than a straight line drag race down the track followed by then throwing the bike into the apex on the inside of the turn, and sliding it up to the fence on the exit of the next turn. Then fire back down the straight again, repeat ad infinitum.. Wide circular tracks suit the modern bikes... Can they adapt the current ones to meet that requirement?

Probably not, however. .. If that standard of racing was the only game in town and they were not called 'Colts' but 'The Belle Vue Aces' then I reckon a crowd of circa 800-900 could be attracted on a Friday/Saturday night at those prices... As is obvious though, no crowd at all will turn up for any standard of racing, if they don't know of the Sports existence, like so many it would appear dont...

And one of the main issues for the decline is as you describe... The impact of the GP's... Instead of moving around fixtures to accommodate all and sundry British Speedway should have just set it's stall out and worked within clear parameters. If certain riders couldnt be there on the best days to attract a following then others would.... You only have to see the racing from Poland and Sweden now being beamed free weekly into UK homes to see how hopeless it is to try and compete with these Countries.. But instead of accepting this, as always with British Speedway, it will try and appease, fudge and cobble together something on a continous ad hoc basis, rather than clearly stand for something, and be clear with its own identity and where it is heading... Last Friday evening the BV Colts and Kent delivered fantastic racing, all for just £10 and kids in for free.. It's just a shame the Sport overall in Britain cannot ever deliver credible competitions, on the best days to attract maximum crowds, as the actual nuts and bolts of the racing is often very worth watching...

Or even Saturday afternoons.. Plenty of Saturdays in the Summer without any Football... Due to the lack of credibility of the Leagues, many say they now just watch the sport as an 'entertainment', rather than take the Competitions seriously, therefore running the 'entertainment' at weekends when most have their 'leisure time' must surely deliver better attendances..? It is clear that the Sport doesn't attract many 'new fans', so running on days that can facilitate attendance by more of those who actually do know about it has to be an idea worth pursuing I would suggest..

I think in the 3rd Tier 'sharing riders' amongst teams in the same league should be seen as acceptable as it should really be about track time with a 'cursory nod' to there being some tangible reward at the end of the Season by way of a Trophy... Something akin to kids Sunday League Football where, at its youngest age groups, the competition takes second place to the amount of 'game time' it's competitors get.. Winning is good, and gives an attainment standard, but development of the individual is the key success measure that is followed... When you go into a 'Pro League' though, that is when it should follow the 'proper sporting ethos' that is universally recognised around the globe... (And as Sweden and Poland show, it is quite possible to be achieved)...