old bob at herne bay

Just needs an air fence, some track lights and a starting gate.

Aha Hackney Hawk, not so keen on attending speedway anymore .... not so much a supporter of Kent rather a very occasional attendee. tbh I haven't the patience to sit around (even in Kent's palacial surroundings) watching the seemingly never ending delays to racing. The last meeting I attended was at Kent in 2019, with frequent delays and ended before heat 15 due to the "curfew" restriction, and I haven't been back since.

Yes this mandatory advance ticket booking is going to make it impossible for last minute decisions on attending due to weather. Not sure how late in the day you will be able to book online tickets ... but if the cut off is days before the meeting this will deter some folks from booking tickets. Like blueherb777, I have been bitten once too often to even consider travelling with a dodgy weather forecast. A shower of rain nowadays and meetings are OFF.

If only half the stadium is open - this will reduce the maximum crowd capacity , and pro rata reduce the maximum crowd permitted under the 50% of the max capacity rule under the Covid 19 rules for sporting events. You have to have the whole blinking stadium open to allow for social distancing , not just huddle them all together !

Might have been intended as a gag....... but seems appropriate for an Aerospace sponsor. Nice one. :-) :-) Might spoil the grass :-)

Thought I read he was taking a job at Peterborough ? Unless Saddlebow has moved to Alwalton ?

Just to add to the "fromafar" post .... my last regular attendance was at Lakeside as a social habit with a small group of regular attendees. All had been supporting speedway for 50 years plus. Has to be said that what turned out to be the last season at Lakeside the endless delays to the meetings, the petty antics of riders on the start line made watching 15 heats of speedway a test of endurance on the cold and draughty grass/mud banks in the Spartan facilities at Lakeside. For the first time in over 50 years I found myself leaving the track before the end of the meeting. I knew then it was time to hang up my programme board/ gas rattle. It's so much more comfortable watching the delays and hold ups from your sofa with a beer , and you can record it all and fast forward 50% of the stuff with practice starts/gardening and air fence repairs. Will I go back again? Maybe only for selected meetings to see Jason Crump. I will put up with the delays and gardening to see him one more time.

In the free world of the United Kingdom, I would like to think that people have a choice when or not to drive their vehicle. Age certainly isn't the only issue as to whether you should be driving at night. By all means introduce a compulsory eyesght test for ALL drivers periodically , rather than the present honesty system, but a blanket ban based on age alone is surely not justified. (and probably illegal under "human rights" legislation !!)

Swindon..... didn't they used to race at the stadium at Blunsdon ??

Did you mean the STANDARD of speedway has deteriorated :-) Supporter of New Cross, West Ham, Wimbledon, Hackney, Crayford, Canterbury, Arena Essex, Rye House speedway clubs. What's there to whinge about ??

Agree ... very poorly worded and insensitive post by "@SpeedwayGB" An unnecessary post IMO.

Think I am old enough to say I have seen more Speedway clubs than "Rosco" Rossiter fold than have ever been rebuilt/ relocated. However he is entitled to his optimism, based i assume on hope that the developers adhare to their planning permission. Looking at the most recent examples ... Rye House. Allegedly the new owners have violated their planning permission by demolishing the speedway track. Required to submit new planning application. Will speedway track ever re appear ?? Lakeside. Allegedly Local Council have stipulated to developers that land must be alloted for a new sporting facility within the Thurrock area to replace the Lakesde motorsport arena. Who what when this new land will be developed ........open to suggestions

Agree with others on here that Eastbourne's Promotion do seem to be proactive in informing the public how they see speedway taking place at their track in 2021. There's no rocket science involved, just plain common sense and communicating with the public to assure them that their health and safey is being taken seriously and managed. Most other clubs appear to be sitting on the air fence and waiting for ........... ?

East End Fan , I have some sympathy with my local club ..... but I do think they have failed to sharpen their pencils in respect of trimming costs of the 2021 National League operation. Additionally, there are NO senior concessions on the prices. No doubt thay pay a significant rent for the well appointed stadium at Sittingbourne, but they surely have a reduced riders wage bill than that of 2019, given the standard of riders under the new 35 point limit. I was always told that riders wages were the major cost of operating a speedway club. They have pitched their CL offering at a competitive price with some attractive team members in a side who must command high wages. I am left to assume they are paying the NL team members much more than other clubs.They need to deliver attractive entertainment to provide value for money if they are to survive beyond 2021 IMO.

Adult Admission £18 for Championship and £15 for NDL

From Flemming's website (courtesy of Google Translate The Dane Flemming Graversen, currently one of the most sought-after tuners in the speedway scene, is now coming onto the market with an in-house design: a DOHC cylinder head for the short-stroke GM engine. The aim of this new design was to achieve a higher torque in the lower speed range in order to improve the acceleration after the start. Therefore, the maximum speed is only 11,000 rpm. but an increase in performance between 2 and 3 hp compared to the series was achieved. The camshafts are driven by 2 chains, whereby the chain coming from the crankshaft drives the inlet camshaft and a second chain then branches off to the exhaust camshaft. The camshafts are mounted on one side in needle bearings and on the other side in ball bearings, which keeps friction losses low. By using light metal materials with very low weight and machining with the latest CNC milling technology, the weight of the The complete engine, as offered by Graversen, weighs 27.2 kg, only about 1.2 kg more than the production GM. As is usual with four-valve engines, the spark plug is placed exactly in the middle of the combustion chamber. The inlet valves have a plate diameter of 34 mm and a shaft diameter of 5 mm. The plate diameter of the outlet valves is 33 mm and the shaft diameter is also 5 mm. The valves face the combustion chamber at an angle of 22 °. So he has built a completely different cylinder head (double overhead camshaft ) completely changing the characteristics of the original GM, but re uses the the GM "bottom end" ? Lots of tuners have done his in the past ... adding new top ends to existing bottom ends. So don't see an issue. Sounds like GM need to step up and offer thier own dohc motor ?

Worrying times for speedway riders who have opted to ride in Poland. I just cannot see how riders can realistically expect to race in both Poland and another country's speedway league (be it UK Sweden or Denmark ) with the limited options for travel around Europe at the moment. Fewer flights and long delays and lots of health checks on entry and exit. I guess most will go for the money and stay in Poland, rather than stay in the UK. ..... or woudl you stay in teh UK for less money but lower risk of COVID? ??

Philip, Just want to say one satisfied customer with the new delivery service down here in Herne Bay. As always a good read this week... and full marks to all involved with the Speedway Star for keeping the stories, interviews and features going throughout the past 12 months.

So your point I think was that the standard of the CL is now so high ( since the days of the jolly swagman in 1949) that all but a very few riders have to go through the development leagues to make it. I could name many since those distant days! , but let’s look at the here and now. Still don’t agree with your opinion, looking at the 2021 line ups in the CL . Is it of a higher standard now than 10 years ago? Does weakening the NL help ? Other than cutting promoters costs ? Think anyone worth their salt in the speedway world can see the most likely candidates for top UK speedway riders. They would have been snapped up regardless of any new BSPL imposed points limits. Points limits will not make any difference, aside from closing one club, and likely a few more NL sides will disappear at the end of 2021.

*JJ said "Nowadays, the standard is so high that except for a minute number of hyper-talented riders" If that were true , they won't reach Championship standard by the BSPL weakening the standard of the NDL .... shouldnt they be improving the standard of the NDL whilst still offering opportunites to novices in reserve slots at NDL level? Every season you keep on capping points limits at less than 42 points per side reduces the standard. 35 points is purely and simply just a cost saving measure. The system being used in 2021 is to throw in all the novices we can muster in on a " 3 point average" , at the expense of previous middle order riders who are much better but haven't become or don't want to be sooperstars. To cope with the restrictive points limit we employ "comeback " riders from a few seasons ago (or even longer) on assessed averages, and call them number ones.

Good luck to the Isle of Wight PROMOTION team. There surely must be enough out of work UK based riders (thanks to the "rising stars" scheme )who don't give a tuppenny damn about the BSPL,who would be interested in riding for an IoW team in a series of invitation events. Expect loads of BS from the promoters at the BSPL threatening all sorts of action to prevent this entertainment taking place.

Lets remember Kent Royals are EFFECTIVELY a stand alone NL club, as they cannot run the majority of their fixtures as double headers tacked onto their CL meetings as is being done at other clubs. With the vast reduction in standard of riders in 2021, the entertainment value has to be there ...even in the plush surroundings of Central Park, folks will rapidly get disillusioned if 15 heats cannot be completed before the curfew. Will be interesting to see come the end of 2021 just how many NL clubs continue into 2022 ..........to continue the BSPL experiment of the 3 point novice rider scheme.

Agree with "East End Fan" 100%. Most of the GB stars I have had the pleasure to watch didnt need complicated rules to achieve stardom. They were good from day one. Didnt need an NDL to get them a 3 pointer slot or a Rising Star scheme. Turned up at a traingin track , then invited for a second half ride, beat the team reserve and away they went. Most of the 3 pointers being thrust into the "National" league should be learning their trade on a training track or after meeting practice before the public are asked to pay to watch them. The ones that are good enough to race competively for 4 laps without falling off every corner should then be put into a team to entertain the paying public. oops sorry I forgot BSPL are not here to entertain the public ........ not in their mission statement ......having been culpable in closing down two tracks in the past few seasons. Rye House killed off by having to race midweek (Ironically that didnt stop the SGP sooperstars leaving GB speedway )and now IoW have been killed off. So even fewer speeday fans left to support all their great initiatives. Cue ... promoters whingeing about lack of support for their NDL teams and blaming the public for not supporting young riders.

"Pottering Around" Pleased to hear it wasn't just me. Thought I was going mad ... got up this morning at 7am and my Star was on the passage floor - no wrapper no address label the delivery man must be psychic .... ;-) Remarkable ... first time it has arrived on the Thursday for many many months :-) As long as its pushed through my letterbox .... I am happy :-)

Always rated James Wright..... hope he can resurrrect his career.