mikebv

Billy?

Excellent meeting again from Poland... Emil... And, a great ride from Tai to protect Kowalski... Polish Speedway... As we often say, if only we could run the UK version with the same level of competition and credibility...

But apart from that... Very similar...

Twice in 2 races... Kowalski to the rescue again...!!?

Great atmosphere now... A big two races coming up... An eight point lead (or more), for Torun would be interesting..

Woffy has delivered good numbers so far..

West Germany v Austria... 1982 World Cup Finals.. Cough! Cough!.. Move along now please, nothing to see here..

m + n = g u e s t....

KL reserves 19 paid 20 so far... Might be giving Simon a bell again come play off time...

They couldnt pronounce his name... Ta-ra-sen-ko.... Much easier..

Didn't that used to be in the rules? No Polish top league riders in Div 2...? I presume because they raced on Fridays and Sundays when Div 2 used to have lots of meetings.. So it made sense.. And they would have been too good in the main, so it made even more sense... Wouldn't be Speedway (UK), without someone challenging an unfit for purpose rule...

Is he light enough? Doesnt seem a big lad so maybe give him a go...

The riders who DU need the money and, having done it for many years now, will be used to it... One Big League maybe would offer enough meetings to cover how many they have now, but would all clubs want to run so many? If you are losing money running 12 matches, why run 24? As that would double your losses!! A corner self painted into, and not sure if they can ever get out of it... Unless of course they all compromise and agree that for the vast majority of riders, being fully pro is not possible given the numbers paying to watch it.. And the Promoters then have to accept that a lower (but affordable) standard could be the only option.. (Fans too)...

An integral part of the sport... Something to sell off and help pay the creditors with if a club goes bust... Don't think they do the cash bond anymore (?).. And an earner when loaning them out... How it works in a "self employed world", with riders belonging to teams in other countries as well, I cannot imagine...

I am on my way to beat the queue....

And Mark Lemon does have a history of not quite understanding the guest rider rules when booking his own, so possibly wouldn't have questioned it.... It shows how seriously UK Speedway should be taken when a rider can help his team rise off the bottom of the league on Monday, and then be planned in to help put his own team back to the bottom on Thursday... Just let the lad ride.

What is the maximum weight expected to be of any rider with ambition to win it?

Who has the most assets of the DU'ers? If its the Prem and they ask for big loan fees then that might force some teams up... "You want to use our riders, then you pay"... If its the Champ then they may hold the best cards so can dictate what happens...

I have heard Zmarzlik is retiring now this lad will be riding full time... "No point carrying on" said Bartek... Just let the kid ride and find his level... Seems to be a bit of jealousy on here around his signing... Surprise. Surprise...

Just let the lad ride... Be a much better meeting with him there....

Sadly. Even (just) a 30,000 crowd would smash what would be a normal week in the UK... With the ultimate irony being that many within that 30,000 being "close followers of the sport", rather than domestic regulars.. Just getting those fans into the stadiums every week, or even just once a month, would see significant growth for UK speedway... Its been a shame that the only event that gets reasonably significant mainstream coverage, is ridiculously seen by many as one of the main reasons responsible for UK Speedway struggling.. Cardiff has been a jewel in the UK Speedway crown.. Sadly. A crown left hidden away in the back of a cupboard, and not utilised anything like enough to grow the UK sport off the back of..

Therein lies the main problem though for many teams with landlords... 3000 crowds per meetings would knock out around £60k, meaning clubs could pay between five and ten grand a match.. Do that 20 times a season and I would suggest landlords would be much happier keeping the tenant... The saddest thing is that most clubs (in the Prem particularly), will have well over 3000 "followers" who live local to their tracks, but the way the sport has been ran over the past couple of decades in particular, has made many of them (very) infrequent visitors.. You only have to see the play off crowds to see the potential should those who run Speedway ever do if "properly" so fans could believe in it... .

You would have thought that with a TV meeting that some orchestrated protest would have been planned...

Woffy.....

Anyone asked him about KL last week? That "one off"...