mikebv

Just got this weeks copy... Some great interviews with Ben Barker, Charles Wright and Armando Castagna... Ben suggesting we need one league with fewer riders per team so more rides per rider next season... Inside info? Woffy too has an indepth interview about his crash and convalescence... A consistently excellent publication which shines the sport in a professionally good light...

It was him who agreed the change wasn't it? Wasn't it done so Poland would let "their riders" ride over here? Which would then mean the thousands that still follow the sport, but either don't attend at all, or still do so but infrequently, would all flock back into the stadiums around the nation and only have to pay circa fifty quid per couple for the privilege.. ...!!

I cannot believe Speedway promoters would do that,..

And therein lies an issue with any UK kid that looks a modicum better than average... I have seen him and Rushen described as potential superstars... Let's see if they can beat average rising stars regularly first... At 16, the very top riders in the world were beating heat leaders in their respective top divisions, so let's not pile pressure on these lads should they show some ability higher than most of their UK peer group... Because, with all due respect, Dan Thompson apart, that group isn't the greatest standard, and Div 2 second string level will be an achievement for most of them....

From reading the comments... I take it the tide was out...?

Doubling up has caused a huge amount of damage... It started off controlled with two UK riders max per team.. Then, before we knew it, almost every member of each team had a minimum of two clubs.. Sam Masters a few years ago actually spent a couple of months being No1 in the averages of both leagues!!! Imagine trying to markef fhat? When riders rode for one team, and got injured, by the time their next meeting came around they often had enough time to get well, or, if not a guest was used if the rider was of a certain level.. Now, many riders of any level getting injured on a Monday could miss Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matches in Div 2... Meaning guest after guest, after guest to replace them.. Complete nonsense...

We cannot have just ONE team being plagued by injuries can we...?.. Not that they ever mention it.....

Good luck to Norick this Friday in the SGP2... Hopefully he is over his injury....

Maybe a six team league next year would be more competitive, resulting in more matches with some jeopardy and consequence? Six would appear to be the "sweet spot" for UK Speedway given the amount of riders who want to race here... An amalgam of Oxford and Brum this year would have delivered a sixth competitive team...

The price point is a major issue for the sport, and dissuades visits... Utopia is GP stars at £15 a pop, but that won't happen... However, it should given the TV money should have been used to subsidise the entrance fee... Ironically the top lads will bring a few extra in and maybe could be "cost neutral", or thereabouts, but it is the fully pro rest of the team that are not "cost neutral" as they bring hardly anyone extra in... You even have NDL lads with personalised sign written vans!!!??? If BZ turned up this weekend with £5k of gold handlebars, you can bet several riders would also want them, as with them, they could ride like him couldn't they? 🤪... Maybe Speedway should do something similar to what Rugby League and Non League Football do when the International matches are on, and do a "magic week" or maybe a fortnight so every track has a home meeting.. Well publicised, well planned, and every adult in for a tenner, with all 18 and under kids still in education in for free.. Get as many emails and mobile numbers as is possible to keep communicating with those who turn up and keep sending them offers out if they haven't attended again over the next week or two.. A bit of a reset, with the aim to impress the punters off and on the track..

The sport has to become semi pro over here... Like it mainly was in the 70's and 80's... Spending ridiculous amounts on equipment has to stop.. And it will if the money isn't getting paid to do it.. Too many FT pro's, spending far too much on kit, to try and win something with very little kudos, financial rewards, or credibility, is truly madness.. But not as mad as the promoters paying them enough to do it...

One of the key strengths is riders being in contention for four laps... As you say, that can be just racing closely for a point... If you build momentum for a couple of laps (what Kurtz and Bewley do brilliantly), you can make up some serious ground on an opponent, and be going quicker when you reach them... Scunthorpe, Redcar, Workington and Glasgow appear to be similar...

Then let the current operating model destroy the sport... Like it has done systematically for the past two decades... There will always be those "happy clappers" who still see the sport as bona fide from a team perspective, and pretend along with fhe promoters it means sometbing, but sadly, they are getting fewer year on year... The model simply doesn't work, and heads have been in sands far too long... And that means both the "happy clapper fans" as well as the promoters.. Edit. And why not "pay to play" for Speedway... MX does it and Stock Cars do it, and this helps provide the prize fund.. One of the major issues is that "journeymen" riders are trying to earn 12 months money in six months of work.. Far too many full time pro's for such a tiny sport and income to support.. These lads should be semi pro and earn their speedway money riding regularly through the season whilst having a job outside the sport.. If the sport went individual then they could do this as less time needed off work... Give 16 riders a grand guarantee, with some prize money on top, twice a week, for 26 weeks... I would think there would be quite a few takers..

But apart from all of the above?

BSB does "more than OK" using UK riders with a few aspiring overseas riders who for many, see BSB as a stepping stone to WSB and MotoGP... If this type of model was the only Speedway on offer, I would suggest crowds would attend.. As you suggest, throw in some support classes to ensure a conveyer belt of talent coming through as the top names organically moved on to Poland, and the sport would continue.. Just like BSB does when their riders move on to the higher level racing.. It must cost circa £30k to lay out for two home and away meetings in the top tier, so use all, or some, of that, to put out some decent prize money and see if 1500 or so at @£20 will attend, and 10 sponsors will pay £500 for "a VIP night out" on nights that the entertainment industry is most successful... There will always be some who say "team speedway only for me" but, in its current guise, it isn't really that anway is it? These people have to actually collude with promoters in pretending it is a bona fide team sport.. Ten meetings minimum at each track, regular racing each fortnight, changing riders each meeting, all publicised well locally in the two weeks between meetings, with decent prize money, and ran on the best night for that customer base, and you could have some continuation of the sport.. If this was the only ticket in town, the sport would continue... On its current glide path it won't...

The UK lads currently challenging BZ wouldn't be at that level if they rode in the UK only... Their kit wouldn't be of the same level for one, as the Polish money massively helps that... And, no disrespect, but beating Championship HL's and SS's each meeting wouldn't move them upwards into the standard required to compete with the best... Their constant exposure to riding against the best in Poland has elevated their own levels... As for making riders pay back signing on fees if they get injured riding abroad...? That is fair for me, given the size of the contracts these lads get .. If I am paying someone £25k a week and they tell me they want to work elsewhere too, for around a tenth of that, I would reserve the right to put some caveats in play... Without my money, their earnings would be around just 20% of what they do get, therefore my investment needs protection... Polish teams cannot just pluck a similar top level rider out of thin air, from another team, like you can over here, therefore one of these lads missing has a huge financial impact should that team get relegated or miss out on the play offs.. Hence, quite naturally, they want them to reduce all extra risks.. And Poland pay for rehabilitation even if "their riders" get injured riding elsewhere... Rehabilitation that benefits the riders UK team too... I often read that Poland and the GP's are massively responsible for the ongoing demise of UK Speedway.. The biggest issues lie much, much, closer to home...

Riders seem to only ride on licence over here from their Polish clubs... They are "their riders" who they allow to work elsewhere with clear constraints... Let's be honest, bringing some of the "top stars" back hasn't taken the sport, as a whole, forward has it?... But, instead, it has caused a more expensive, more unbalanced, and a very uncompetitive league... When "will they be fhere, won't they be there?", becomes such an ongoing, regular discussion point, it is probably time to do something about it..

Injuries..... A lot of it about I believe...

They don't muck about in Poland do they with "their" riders... Could be a big issue for KL....

The same team got 54 last week... On a much tighter track...

This hasn't aged too well....

How very dare you.... Ouch is a lot less subtle... Makes me laugh though... Some Ippo fans do seem to bite easily... Not your good self though, fair play... Anyone mentioned injuries yet? The Aces have zero chance of the bonus I would think.. Personally if I was an Ipswich fan I would be a little worried with the "engine room". No injuries there, and all good riders, but they do appear a bit of a weak link when the pressure is on and they don't get Heat Leader and Reserve scoring protection.. Leicester definitely would fancy going head to head with Witches in the play offs, especially if they can keep RR second in the averages...

The Ipswich "NHS" Witches, must be very disappointed by that result. A severely depleted Aces, yet no rider stepped up to support Emil... The racing wasn't great, as some Witches fans have alluded to, however, like was said last week at Foxhall by the Witches fans... You can only beat what is in front of you, and if the other team are poor then the racing suffers... Nice to see Lidsey step up (again) when needed.. Three off Norick's rides was around three to four less than his usual scoring around the NSS, but the Witches couldn't take advantage.. I have a sneaky feeling Leicester could be the team to beat if the Witches horrendous injury list doesn't get sorted...

He will say any victory would need Lazarus like powers of recovery from the Witches riders...

But you are not taking into consideration the huge injury problems Ipswich have......