Mr Snackette

Great idea! Let's do away with meetings that are likely to attract a half decent crowd. Let's face it speedway is so flush with funds, that it can easily afford to sacrifice the additional income on the altar of outdated thinking and antipathy!!!

Not I sir. As someone whose parents were not related, and I only have the four fingers and a thumb on each hand, I do not qualify to be a fully fledged Fen Tigers fan. In a similar fashion as I have not had a lobotomy, or indeed like Tom Jones, Loomer Road is unlikely to be a regular stamping ground. Pip pip!!!!!!!

A little harsh on the Stoke riders, but on balance fair.

As Chris Louis said at Foxhall on Thursday, some Stoke riders lacked professionalism. If they display the same degree of petulance and immaturity that they did last Sunday, it might just be the Fen Tigers weekend.

Yes it's a great pity that he places his Long track / Grass track commitments as his first priority, as I too would love to see him back. However with the number of weekends he would miss as result, really would make his signing impractical. Now if only we could operate a squad system!!!!

Riders based a distance from their home track is nothing unusual. Leigh Lanham travels from Ipswich to Newport.....Lol Hare used to travel Ipswich to Edinburgh and then Exeter........and there are countless others. As CS mentioned, he could always move, which I understand is part of the reason for seeking out Ipswich, as he does have some connections in East Anglia. I think more of a concern to Ipswich is if the Deadbeets join us in the PL next season, then he could be on his way to join them. Mind you if he did, he would soon become Norfolk 'n Good!!!!!!!

Another balanced, sophisticated, and profound contribution, from the master of cognitive analysis!!!! Of course his top half finish in The PLRC was probably no more than a fluke, and should rightly be discounted More importantly, young Masters win has seriously increased his stock value, and The Promotion may have dig pretty deep into their pockets to secure his services.

Racin Jason is really only saying what most of us of have heard from other sources. Whilst some may have enjoyed the NsEL experience (it takes all sorts!!!), financially it appears to have been a bit of a disaster. Without the inducement / bribe / sweetener / bung (delete as applicable), there would be some serious problems to be addressed. One thing you can say about the Chapmans, is that they are shrewd business people, and will not risk the shop for the sake of an egotistical whim.

I can well understand why you would want to the Panthers to go PL, as without doubt it has been the best move that Ipswich have made in years. Rumours are that there are at least four NSEL clubs looking to drop down next year, but I must confess I have not heard the name of Peterborough being included amongst them. Forget the mention of assets, as there is no such thing. Young Poole may be on the Peterborough retained list, but at the end of the day he, in common with any other rider, will ride at the track that provides the best deal. This was proved by the Pole Swiderski a few years back.

This constant self deprecation is becoming rather tiresome. The expression, bête noire is a phrase used in common English, and really does (in my opinion) accurately reflect your present antipathy towards Risager. When I come across a word or expression with which I'm unfamiliar, I look it up. It helps improve my vocabulary. We all have certain riders that we tend to have a certain antithesis towards, and there will be others who see things differently. However in the case of Risager, I think you need to accept that he is here to stay (rightly in my view), and move on.

Mm very sensible. Use a rider whose focus, by his own admission, is long track racing, who will as a result miss meetings, particularly at weekends. From your comments it would appear that Risager has become your bête noire. Pity you weren't at Rough Park over the weekend, where the boring, gating white liner, made another exciting pass around the outside!!

Great post Muppet.......keep taking the tablets!!!!! For the first year in I don't know how long Ipswich Speedway have made, rather than lost money. So I really can't see the attraction of moving back to a league were you are guaranteed to lose money. Indeed what a triumph the NsEL has been this year....legal wrangles, suspended Poles, non-appearing Russians, cheating silencer con artists.....et all!!!!! I am reliably informed that more people have been through the turnstiles at Foxhall than did so for the whole of 2010. So I don't know about those that have disappeared, maybe the odd (very odd) NsEL or nothing freak, but more than made up by those who have returned. Still, if some of the rumours are to be believed you may well get your wish of a Witches / Deadbeets derby next season!!!

Compared to previous GP venues in the UK, Cardiff is decent……. nothing more. Whilst the stadium facilities are fine, Cardiff is a rather depressing provincial city with little to commend it. Rugby League after two dreary events in Cardiff, had the good sense to move their Magic Weekend to Edinburgh. The move to Edinburgh has meant “that supporters can look forward to a bigger and better all round experience throughout their stay with the city offering a huge choice of accommodation, an incredibly wide selection of restaurants as well as a hugely expanded game-day entertainment programme in and around the stadium.”* Still with the meeting now starting at 5pm, at least those that want to, can be on the 8:25 pm to Paddington, and be “up West” in time for a chilled glass of Sancerre!!! Mind you the chances of a GP in London……………… virtually zero, which is a shame. In the words of Samuel Johnson: “…………when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” *taken from the Super League website

Not a bad meeting and very good value for money. Kc100 (around £3) for admision and programme. Mind you not sure how financially viable this all is, with the likes of Hancock and Ulamek programmed for 5 rides each plus a nominated ride. I wouldn't have thought there were any more than 500 there last night, and the majority of those appeared to be following Mseno. Interesting race format: 15 heats, 7 riders, 1 to 4 each have 5 programmed rides each. 5 & 6 are juniors with #5 programmed for 5 rides, and #6 just 1. #7 rider has no programmed rides but appears can substitute any of the 1 to 4 riders at any time. This was useful for Prague, as Davey Watt crashed in his first ride, took no further part, and consequently was replaced by Adrian Rymel for the rest of the meeting. What criteria is used for the #7 is unclear, I assume it is lowest average of riders 1 to 4, but perhaps someone in the know could enlighten us? As expected Hancock and Ulamek were a class apart, but young Matej Kus gave it a good go, and fully deserved his extra ride.

If one attempts to distance one’s self from the rather moronic comments as to whether one sportsman is worth any more than another, Mr Gollob's income from on track earnings in Sweden and Poland is nothing short of incredible. Let’s assume that he earned £400,000 from sundry individual and play off meetings in both Poland and Sweden, of which there were about a dozen meetings. In the two leagues he scored 251 points last season, which by my calculation equates to £2,500 per point. If these figures are right, is it any surprise that the bulk of Swedish and Polish clubs are in financial difficulties?

According to the official FIFA World Cup site the match for third place kicks off at 7:30pm UK time. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/kostage.html

Great news. Was there in 2005..... for a rain off!!! So would love to see some racing action. Mind you it's an ill wind................, as there was a bar owner in Nassjo who couldn't believe his luck when around 70 Brits descended on his establoishment for the evening!!!

In Scott's case no one. A couple (maybe three) years ago I was at Riga airport to pick up the TP group for the transfer to Daugavpils. Scott arrived on the inbound London flight, and I fully expected him to be picked up by one of his entourage. To my surprise he joined the queue at Hertz to hire himself a vehicle. Now anyone who has been to Latvia knows that the road to Daugavpils is not the best in the world, a three to four hour journey on roads with potholes the size and depth of the bunkers at St Andrews. This was Scott's first GP back after injuring his collar bone, and as luck would have it the erstwhile Mr Easter stepped up and offered to chauffer him to the track. This is when Scott had the likes of Ham Racing and Havelock working in his corner. They together with mechanics were all in attendance at the GP, yet no one to get the rider from airport to track.

The problem for speedway on TV, is not audience numbers but the make up of the audience itself. Sports such as cricket, rugby union, golf , eventing attract a far greater proportion of the higher socio economic groups. These are vital in generating advertising revenue, which is the major driver in Sky's business model. All the sports listed above have significant numbers of viewers in the A, B, C1 classification, whereas speedway ( admittedly my information now being a few years out of date) has traditionally had a much higher percentage of C2, D, and Es. This type of audience which traditionally has a much lower net disposable income, is far less attractive to advertisers and thereby the advertising slots during speedway broadcasts are less easy to fill, not attracting the premium that other sports can generate.

The rail timetable for June 2009, is usually released mid February. However it is interesting to note that the last train to London in the last week of February is 9pm (20:59) arriving in Paddington at five past eleven. Jump into a cab from station round to Langhams. Get Bernard to have a bottle of Chateau La Fete Rothschild on ice, and settle down for a nice relaxed evening. Wembley? Who needs it?!!!!

Very enjoyable meeting. The Travel Plus group had a great time and were made to feel so very welcome by all concerned. Indeed the same could also be said of our visits to Industry Hills (last Wednesday) and Perris on Sunday. It appears that in this country the Promoters have grasped the basic concept than pleasing the fans is the number one priority, and the whole presentation is run with that in mind. A few UK promoters could indeed learn a few leasons on on to promote and stage a meeting. Having stayed in LA, the group have now moved on from Vegas (mostly with cash intact) and have spent the day sampling the amazing delights of Death Valley. Yosemite beckons tomorrow, before our final meeting on Friday at Auburn. Somehow Foxhall on a Thursday really doesn't seem that attractive now!!!

Having done the journey on several occasions I estimated the journey at "around 60 km". According to both the RAC and Via Michelin the journey is actually 54.5 km. Clearly I must take time to be a little more accurate when helping people in future!!! Or more likely I won't bother.

Actually Krsko is about 60 Km from Zagreb. The train thing is possible (I haven't done it myself), but would agree that hiring a car is by far the best option. Met a couple who did do it by train. They caught one around 1.30, and involved changing at Dobova, got to Krsko around 3.30. The stadium is, I'm told some 3 km from the rail station, and the taxis are not plentiful. Whilst getting there wasn't an issue, getting back again was, as the last train left around 10 o’clock. In the end the couple ended up blagging a room in Krsko for the night, and travelled back on the Sunday. Admittedly this was a couple of years ago so things may have changed, but I would certainly be exploring the hire car option ahead of travelling by train.

I cetainly did. I can send you the empty bottle if you like?!!!

Well I for one enjoyed the Aussie Champs, as did most of the TP group. I thought Gillman provided the best racing, Sydney the best venue. Many thanks to BFD in his role as official "Tour Interpreter", and for those that are interested pictures from the tour are posted on the TP website. Taken from there is a snap of a reformed ZZ Top taking in the action at Gillman : http://www.travelplusontour.fotopic.net/p47588568.html