pandorum

Sad part is the season is nearly over and this will pretty much be completely forgotten once the new one starts. But of course by then we will have all the crackpot ideas from the winter BSPA on how to allow Poole to keep their top two to examine and anything positive Tai has brought will not amount to a hill of beans and the price hike and other insane ideas they come up with will even nullify that.

That is a very fair but sad point. Until Russia is involved in SGP either of the Laguta brothers is not as attractive to the series as Swedish riders even if both Russians are head and shoulders above the likes of Jonsson on current form.

Totally agree with the crazy person. The top 8 now known has thrown the SGP into a bit of a quandry as Zagar has thrown a spanner in the works. No Swede worth a pick (how we Brits know that feeling) but one will be picked so with Holder and Gollob that's ONE pick left. It's a no brainer really as greg Laguta has proved himself one of the most exciting riders of 2013 and the SGP would be INSANE if it did not hand it to him. Maybe Gollob won't be fit or will give it a miss but if not ditto Tomasz Gollob.

Made it look easy in a race where he may have been well tempted to be pretty careful. A truly deserving World Champion and he is English which is a nice bonus. Well done son.

Good luck to the kid for tonight. Could it be the biggest turnaround in speedway. Zero to Hero. Very few gave him a chance and many expected him to bomb like last time (I admit I did). Instead he has proved himself beyond probably even his own wildest expectations. Go young Wuffy and make all of us fellow Englishmen proud.

It's a fair point and I concede there are flaws and abuse whatever the system. The advantage of grading if you allow grades to stand for a reasonable period of time is in team stability. Also it opens up a sensible squad system as with the Danish model. Instead of trying to scrabble about trying to fiddle your team average as Poole did at Swindon with a plethora of engine failures simply have ABCD grades and a squad of riders. Each team has a set number of each per match. Replace a graded rider who is injured with the same grade or lower from your squad. Of course the difficulty comes in having enough riders for a squad system but other leagues seem to manage squads. Averages failed the sport decades ago as far as I can see. But as you say no system is perfect

It's time we dumped average based team building and embraced some kind of grading system that favours home grown talent and UK based foreign riders who commit to our leagues. Allow grading to last a set number of years and give teams some stability.

The meetings were entertaining because something was at stake but I have seen a lot better meetings than any of the four on show as I am sure most if not all here have. Decent meetings yes great meetings certainly not. The crowds were nothing special either but compared to the usual crowd speedway nowadays attracts seemed that way. The commentators assertion that the city of Birmingham had turned out in force was pretty laughable. Why Can't All Speedway Be Like This? Because it's a sport and ALL sport has good bad and indifference. Better tracks more balanced teams. The answer is obvious but the wherewithal to provide this is severly lacking. Speedway is a great sport but poorly promoted and lacking in financial support. Until it has a good look at itself in the mirror and sees itself for what it really is then there is little hope that 2014 will bring any great cheer. We need home grown talent but we have no real plan to bring on home grown talent. We waste most of the sports income on flying useless foreigners back and forwards and trying to entice the Greg Hancocks of the sport here when the money would be better spent on tracks, stadium facilities and training schools/leagues. Will 2014 be the start of a new era? Of course it won't. The EL will struggle on desperately trying to justify a league that collapsed years ago and we will see our league once more used as a training ground for the rest and a bolt hole for the likes of Hancock to be used as a fall back when the lucrative leagues dispense with their services. The sport is a shambles but the POs gloss over that and leave the sense that the league system has been some kind of success when it really has not. The PL and EL need to start working together for the good of the sport but are a bunch of petty minded fools who prefer to get one over on their rivals and in reality could not promote thier way out of a paper bag regardless of the 'massive' crowds the POs attract. Develop new structures to bring on new UK based talent, put money into stadia (where possible), produce better racing surfaces and work towards better balanced teams which would be condusive to good racing. Sort of thing people here, who are seen as the enemy by promoters, have been banging on about for years.

Exactly. That is the sport of speedway. Good meetings on bad tracks, bad meetings on good tracks. Of course the promoters could do more to improve the racing but with the number of factors that affect it the fault is not always down to the running of the track. EL has provided some great racing over the years as has PL. It needs everybody to work together. More so if SKY have dumped the sport as it's not likely any of these fantasy saviours are going to leap in to fill the breach. Speedway is badly run (if run at all) and has a poor product to offer up to TV. Other sports have recovered and so could speedway. There are lots of good ideas here on this forum. But sadly the powers that be seem to see the fans as the enemy. Until that changes I fear for the sport. Next season will be a pivotal one and the BSPA need to wake up and see that tweaking a few rules to help Poole ( )will not be enough. I said he had a point. That was the bit I thought was bonkers. But the kid is not as demeneted as he sometimes sounds

As TWK said you should take the time to actually read the posts before replying. Got to agree with him there as the PL does reasonably well as a seperate entity and though having it's own problems seems to be run well enough. Of course it could do with more homegrown riders and less imported tripe but it seems to me that the PL is the future of Brit speedway in more ways than the failed EL could ever be. We need to get back to the days when a league meant everybody plays everybody else home and away with weekend speedway (yes I know the PL does weekends) and less reliance on over priced foreign imports and letting go of the idea of having the so called top riders milking our system to support their Polish and GP ambitions. Let the EL idea go and start to rebuild speedway here using home grown talent and foreign riders who commit to our league.

Tai has one advantage. He is not mental Well did not expect that on Nicki's home track. Well done Martin a worthy winner. The SEC has been a success this year and plenty for Eurosport to build on. Enjoyed the 3 rounds I have seen. Sad that injury has spoilt the finale but Martin is champ and nobody can take that away from him as he deserved his victory.

Nasty crash. Hope Hans is OK. As I bet do Swindon.

Still caused him to move over. Bunching! We have all seen it hundreds of time. I want Greg or Martin to end up champion but still think it was harsh on Pedersen. I am old school and don't like refs excluding riders when they can let them stay in the race. I prefer to see riders I don't like get beaten on the track. Just funny that way Karpov has been good which was nice to see

I don't even like Nicki that much so how have I got Pedersen rose-tinted glasses. It just robbed people of a good heat and was hardly anything up to the usual Nicki standard I want Laguta to win.

Cpme on that was harsh Ironic and amusing yes but very harsh. All 4 back would have been the call 99 out of 100 times.

Why has Freddie Lindgren got a point to prove? Nicholls is decent but Day is an idiot.

I doubt Woffy will be best pleased with that imbicile Day or Eurosport. Makes Tai look a right arce after he went to so much trouble to put the record straight.

Another fair point you are on a roll kid Hoping Laguta has a good meeting. Nicki looks favourite and will take some stopping. Hope all riders still standing at the end as this injury lark has spoilt a good season in both SWC/SGP and SEC.

The kid made a fair point. OK he did not make it politely but he doesn't deserve that. He does actually come out with some sensible posts on surprisingly more occasions than most here (including me) would imagine and has shown on more than one occasion that he is not as daft as he sounds. A very fair point Crazy person Also wasted on flying in foreign riders who are not up to scratch and the obvious knock on effects that has on domestic riders wanting more money. It's a vicious cycle.

Where exactly is it 'well documented'? The Bible perhaps? Which is akin to saying it's well documented that James Bond existed because he appears in a series of books. It actually is not documented at all other than in very loose 'interpretations' from so called religious texts by people who wanted to promote a religion and there is no evidence at all that anyone like the Jesus you relate to existed in the most reliable evidence from the day. That of the Roman Empire. For example there is no record of such an execution nor such a cencus as it was not the practice in Roman censuses to require people to return to their ancestral homes. Which was an essential element of the whole Myth as the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill the so called prophecy the whole thing was based on. People called Jesus existed as it was a common name but the rest But of course why let facts interfere with your religious beliefs So basically 'no it isn't' is my very knowledgable reply to your assertion And yes Torun are a disgrace and should be crucified for that You have one great country over there mate. 21 states and 5686 miles by train tends to give you a pretty good idea of the place. From the top of the Empire State, Arlington Cemetery, Chicago, through the Rockies, Alcatraz, Sunset Strip to The Alamo. One Hell of a journey. Enjoyed it so much I am gonna go to Seattle in May and do another long rail trip along a different route.

Well as long as the VIP food is acceptable all seems well with speedway.

Well Gollob does have the advantage of having actually existed but still disgraceful by Torun. I was too tired to watch it after seeing the 3rd place PO so passed and now seeing this I am glad I was knackered. Torun deserve everything they get for that.

A bit tired but am tuning in. Not a lot happening yet but hopefully it will improve. Tarnow looking the better outfit today but Czesto may well nick it. Not much to race for 3rd place other than bragging rights. Pity Emil is not there as I had Czesto down for the title

Enjoyed the meeting as well as someone who is suffering from the after effects of heat stroke and jet lag can. Tai showed acres of courage in continuing. The crash was his fault and out of character after he had said he was not going to take any daft chances. He was a lucky lad. Sadly Tomas was not so fortunate and we may have seen the last of a legend in speedway. Hope not and the guy recovers completely. But that is speedway and if it was true about Mrs Pedersen and her tweet she must not watch Nicki much. I was watching in Polish so don't know what he was whining about after he got excluded for demolishing the tapes Some good racing neverthless and NKI a worthy victor. But it was all about young Woffinden. A brave speedway rider just like his dad. Those that say he has been lucky must have an odd idea of what luck is. The kid has been riding in pain since after Cardiff and now has to overcome the pain barrier in 2 weeks to seal the deal. Of course he is not the first and won't be the last to go for glory with a broken something or other. But credit where it's due this kid has earned his right to be there in 2 weeks with a chance of being World Champion. Forget about Chris, or Darcy, or Emil this lad has gone about his business like a real world championship contender and deserves all he gets come the end of the Torun meet. I have supported Emil for years now and was hoping he would do it this year. I said Wuffy did not deserve a place as no Brit was good enough. Boy was I wrong there. If he makes it then it will be a great English sporting acheivement. Will it receive any recognition? Probably not. But those of us that know who he is should surely acknowledge it. Even those of us that didn't think he should be there. Well done last night kid and best of luck in 2 weeks time. I will be rooting for you.

I would like to see the return of the grreen helmet as I think that is the reason the crowds have dropped these last few years. And yes you may indeed detect sarcasm. It's just when I see rule change in speedway by public vote I fall over laughing.