Tsunami

Quite agree about Jesper. I signed him as a heatleader, when he had only been an enthusiastic second string, but he turned out to be a diamond. He turned out to be a class act and gave Sean Wilson a good run one year in the PLRC at Sheffield, when he came in 2nd. Remember Sean also knocked him off at the 4's at Peterbrough one year after he had beaten him. Sneaked up alongside him, grabbed his cutoff and knocked him off. Plenty of witnesses and video, so he was fined and given a suspended ban which triggered off another one later on. Didn't like foreigners Sean. He had rides for us when he started from grasstracking, and went to Bradford. Dropped down and went to Reading in the PL and was the top rider in the league getting max's everywhere. I am sure he came off, and got hit by another rider, hence his arm injuries. Perhaps a Stoke supporter could expend on that.

He got badly injured, tendon damage in his arm I believe. He was out for a long time, tried a comeback with Stoke, but it was obviously his riding days were over. He was a plumber, so I would imagine that he is that now.

Jesper lives in Bedlington, Northumberland and is the Leading Technicial for Pearson Engineering Company in Walker, Newcastle. Does not go to speedway very often now. He didn't attend much when he was injured, as he doesn't really like watching it, he only wanted to ride it.

Surprisingly the weather was pretty decent on Sunday. Only the odd specs of sleet mid afternoon, when we were packing up anyway. If the forecasters had got it right, we would have been home before 11 after a 10 start. 10 new posts and 15 more to go. Some new fence netting to replace, and stacks of kickboards pre-cut and just waiting to be lavishly painted on both sides. If you are up for it, and want to help out to get all the work done, come on Sunday for a 10am start. Refreshments provided all day of course. See you then.

As I have said in an earlier post, this will only be an issue for GP type riders who a, can afford it and b, think it will make a definate difference. To the regular PL and NL rider it will be the rider that makes the difference, not the titanium.

Might do.

What you doing being up at that time of night.

With the music played over the Tannoy during meetings, it doesn't really matter if it is old 60/70's or current hit parade. In both cases it is going to turn someone off. It needs to be upbeat and appropriate to who is riding and the racing that night. At Newcastle, although I think there is too much old stuff for our meetings, Lawrence H has the knack of putting something appropriate on, especially when something unusual has taken place. Sometimes fans don't notice it, and miss the relevance of it and that includes me at times. The daughta's usually tell me after the meeting, so the change in music is noticed. Even other sports like Ice Hockey have standard music for incidents on the ice, and it's often old stuff such as Blur and that is mid 90's.

To be fair. If someone told me that a certain driver would give me an extra 30 yards, I would probably buy it.

They are credited with being in charge of motor sports, and speedway is controlled by the BSPA acting under the auspices of the ACU with the SCB. They are the organisation that is deemed to be running motor sports, and who the government for example would consult with regarding motor sport matters. They may have an involvement with the issue of work permits, but that may have changed now, I'm not sure. In which case they would surely know the legal situation, having been riders and associated with the sport for so many years. I am aware of possible involvement of two prominent posters on this thread, hence why I have not contributed before now.

Yes, and with some that is the main reason.

I agree, riders think they have to be on the latest rocket ship, especially is someone else can be twisted to pay for it. In many cases it is fashionable and doesn't make a deal of difference to that rider. Psychologically yes.

I agree that has been the practice in the past, but that has now changed. In the past I have known riders who assess what they need to maintain their standards, and that is the only deal they will do. When asked, I have had the reply that they didn't know whether they were expensive or cheap in relation to their teammates, but that is just bluffing as most riders know most of others deals.

I understood that they can use Titanium, and several riders have already commented against it's introduction since the decision. It is said to increase the costs but surely riders at all levels don't have to use Titanium, just stick with the standard constructions materials and let riders in the GP's make their own decisions about using it.

Agreed, and if it is not, the sport of speedway is the loser, and those with businesses/ money within the sport will have no say but maybe their businesses will be tainted by the action of others. Or sensible concern for their sport/business.

What would happen though if MacDonalds were the only affiliated organisation for serving burgers in this country. It's not an open market, for many reasons.

Do you honesty think that promotions don't do these things already. You may not know about them, but as someone who does them, I can assure you most tracks do it.

Just a reminder. If you can help out at Brough this Sunday, starting at 10.00am, it would be greatly appreciated. Warm and old clothes, and don't need to bring any tools or brushes, etc.

Presumably they are riding 'black' with no British Championships, or being allowed to ride abroad in any sanctioned event.

Got a fair bit done on last Sunday. Removed 25 fence posts, and did a lot of preplanning for the future Sundays. Need more than those who did turn up to get through the work before the Practice days. Intend to put groups together to look after different tasks. If you have some time on Sundays come for 10am in warm and old clothes. We need the help.

The unfortunate situation is, if folks don't renew SKY subscriptions for the summer because of the lack of GP cover, the viewing figures for the EL matches on a Monday will also be down. If that is significant, then we also lose SKY and it's payments, but will those 'supporters' who only watch SKY, and NOT contributing anything to British Speedway, will they return to the stadiums to get their speedway fix. Can't see the likes of oldace or Moxey returning, but we can expect more moaning of course.

It's always a nice story that, but does anybody really believe it. People play golf, but I think it is way out of date and not particularly relevant these days.

It's that time of year again to get the track facilities up to scratch for the new season. Lots of work to the kickboards, fencing and numerous posts, as well as a refurb of the pits roof. It all starts at 10.00am this Sunday, and anybody who can spare the time, should come with warm but old clothing.There are a variety of jobs to do, and there will always be a job that you can do. Work will go on as long as it is light, and even if it rains, the work can continue in the pits bays. It will take all the weeks leading up to Practice day to get everything done, so why not join the track maintenance team. The more the merrier and the sooner that it all gets done. Don't need to bring brushes or tools, everything is provided. See you then, if not this Sunday how about next Sunday. Many Thanks.

Seem to remember a couple of years ago, Godfrey Spargo of Trelawny, and recently Plymouth, was advocating heat wraps used in American stock motors, after the complaints of excess heat with the new silencers. Never got off the ground, but these new shields are just a refinement of those ones, albeit in a solid form. If the new silencers are approved, that would see cooler silencers and heat shields could be optional to the rider.

How sad.