Tsunami

I agree with the 'dubious character' again, it would be reassuring to hear of some signings. In the past it is planned to release names over a period of time leading up to the Xmas Party, and I think that will happen again starting soon. Just think, you wouldn't start telling riders you are not required before you have other riders 'signed', that is unless the new payrates were going to be a problem.

Richie and Steve have/had a shared large van last year and presumably would like to keep together, as they only need three bikes instead of four if they ride for different teams. Steve has already said he wants to be back at Newcastle and I can imagine Newcastle wanting him. Richie has already tweeted some dubious character at Newcastle, that he wants to be back and, with a cap on top wages, other clubs should then not be able to outbid them. Would like to see Jason King back, assuming his broken arm heals this time after having to have it rebroken as it was not healing.

If we can't get back the rest of the team now that Mark is out, I would welcome Wethers. He had loads of problems, mainly electrical, and had just got them all sorted when George chose him as a guest for the runnin, and he didn't let us down, did he. He is a loyal rider who masters Brough usually and scores high away. On top of that, he is a good team man and, after settling in, would be my choice as a team captain.

Bit of Curry sauce on it, and a bag of chips and you would eat it Shadds.

Please NOOO.

amended

I'll ask you again Ian. If Sunderland Speedway open up again, would you walk away from the sport if TR's continued.

Was it not a case that Bellego rode enough meetings to get an average but was short for the number of meetings to be an asset. IMO Bellego is a Berwick asset now.

I've never been a fan of Pijper ever, as I though he lacked something and didn't deliver the goods on a regular basis. This year I saw a different tigerish and faster Theo who impressed everytime I saw him. Let's hop e he keeps that up this next year, and possibly gets himself some decent Kevlars.

Has there been a decision about accepting Leicester into the EL, as many posters seem to be making that assumption. I would be very surprised if it did happen.

Great news to hear that the Monarchs are coming to the tapes in 2013. Whilst this is great for next year, I just wondered what holds after that. I think in the earlier communications it did mention that the real problem is knowing the situation in 2014 and presumably a new venue. I hope this next year provides them with an alternative venue which is stable for many years to come.

I heard that other Aussies couldn't believe he got a WP in the first case, but not at liberty to say why.

Just ignore both of them TWK. Obviously nowt to fight with in the EL section at the mo, so they try to have a go at a subject they are not quite clued up on. Tssh, invasion of EL snobs.

David McCallum.

It's only a few years ago that GRT Media, Rerun Video's and Mike Bennett tried to combine together to produce a magazine programme for just the PL using their own footage which, if anybody buys their products, all are in great HD with excellent graphics for results. I think GoSpeed dictated the terms which were not acceptable but the exercise proved that there is quality imput into the footage and that would be the necessary base requirements to transmit to whoever would take the feed.

Already do. I attended the youth training day at Buxton last year, and the mentors for the riders were Havelock and Simon Stead.

Whilst I support your sentiments :- 1. the EL is superior to the PL in the 3 league structure 2. The sports you mention, you only see the best of those sports, not junior leagues or club events. In the case of Ice Hockey, we see their EL which, like Speedway, has about 10 teams and shares most of Speedway faults. I think only in Football do you have dedicated programmes in lower leagues such as the Championship League.

Whilst the DMU agreement has nominated Championship meetings only for the UK clubs to pay the riders airfares, SVEMO has a high top figure for the UK club to pay for any meeting within their agreement. A Swede is more expensive than a Dane. Once the upper limit in the SVEMO agreement has been reached, the rider is then responsible for his own fares.

WAS, but not now.

No, actually.

Unfortunately there is always gullible fans to believe it, and folks that want to start rumours. BTW What would your definition be for 'paying on time'.

Probably not true, but what the hell.

Interestingly , the present team has a combined average of 41.82. Rene is on 7.93 and therefore could be included if one existing rider above 7.25 is swapped. I don't think it will be as straight as that, but it is an interesting alternative. That's assuming no deductions and team total of 42.50 of course.

No. The idea of using a road engine with a gearbox that could not be removed, meant you were riding around with a big lump of heavy metal doing nothing, and with the 650 being on petrol there was no high energy explosion to get rapid acceleration. It was OK for riding around in a big curve but there would not have been cutbacks and slipping up the inside because you couldn't change direction that quickly. Talking about obsolete equipment, the riders had a similar dilemma when laydowns came on the scene about the same time. It was not too bad then because you could get a conversion kit to keep the engine running until you bought a proper factory made laydown engine.

Bollocks. It was Honda in 1998 and it was a total fiasco. 650cc engines with gearboxes, too heavy and not enough power, the riders did not like them and speedway would have been finished in a couple of years.