Bruiser McHuge

i cannot see how going back to 13 heat matches would be the saviour of speedway...i used to like them but always remember wanting more when the match actually finished...it was just the format of the time, that's all..it wouldn't hold any relevance to newer fans today, As for second halves...well i certainly don't think the riders would be up for them with the extra use of engines, tyres etc ...they were quite good for seeing the first glimpse of youngsters , some of whom eventually made the actual team but again i think prople look back therough rose tinted glasses...more meaninful competitive races is surely the answer. AS for rider quality..i happen to think that worldwide there is much more strength in depth today than in the 70's...i think that the quality of rider would more than hold up against that era....you certainly cannot do a comparison on averages..back in the 70's there was the different race format, no nominated riders race, no shared gate positions,,it was a regular occurrence to see a heat leader have the same gate position in every race which is a hell of an advantage when compared to today....i think worldwide there is more quality than back then, more European strength......i think that too many of today's riders are too easily dismissed when compared to older riders and some of the old world finals were not the greatest standard of fields if you ever look back on them ... that is not to say the actual sport is better at league level now...it isn't ...the advantage the 70's had were far more teams so more variety..all the top riders of the day rode here so there was the anticipation of seeing certain riders visiting....that has definitely been lost over the years

in your opinion.....not everybody holds that view.....i think that they are perfectly ok, especially Pearson ...let's face it , some speedway races can be pretty dull and its not easy to make them sound half exciting..i cannot think that many would do a better job than Nigel Pearson...in my opinion.

is it Steve Brandon ?....Johnno is quite good actually..

i would agree with this....when i take my young lad to the park kids on these bikes are a huge menace and a huge danger...a park should be a safe haven to take kids and not a place for motorbikes , especially ridden by youngsters under the influence of drink or drugs...no excuse in my opinion and both my nephews are teenagers with off road bikes who go riding off road with their dad but would never dream of being loose in a park on them

i would say there is not one person on here or in speedway that doesn't admit Darcy Ward is a fantastic speedway rider..i would go as far to say as the best natural talent i have seen since Collins and Lee..and the only rider that i would go out of way to watch on TV or even go to see live...i would really be looking forward to seeing him in the GP's ( if i was able to watch them ! However you cannot defend him at times as an individual off the track however much you admire his skill on it....this is the latest of numerous incidents and he is not a kid...i do worry for the future of him unless he dramatically changes as he doesn't seem to learn. Maybe being in and round the GP set up will mature him...i certainly hope so as potentially there is no limit to what he could achieve although he does come across as an immature fool on TV regardless of the outside incidents. as for Neil Middleditch...i've met him a few times years ago and he seems a nice bloke but his comments are undefendable and certainly would not have been made up by a local paper for sure...he probably regretted saying them as soon as he had said them but the fact he said them in the first place is a disgrace really and an insult to a lot of youngsters today.

Eurosport looks so cheap in comparison to Sky...commentary usually done in a booth from the UK and not in the stadium....timings so off that when you put the channel on something else is normally showing that what is actually on the schedule....beggars can't be choosers i suppose but Eurosport is such a backwards step from Sky and all the moaners won't realise what thay are missing until it is not there

in football a player signs a 2 or 3 year contract with a club and becomes an employee of that club..as soon as that contract ends he is free to go anywhere he wants and the club cannot stop him. speedway riders are classed as self employed..they do a deal with a club and in my experience it is usually for the coming season concerned....i cannot see how this makes them as asset of a club for life...there will be riders out there who haven't ridden for ages who will still be a asset to somebody without even knowing it...surely this is not right...no rider signs a contract for life that's for sure.

he was a funny rider for sure was Finn Jensen....it cannot have been his bikes because he went on to be a top engine tuner didn't he....when he was hot he was very sharp from the gate and he put in some decent scores, but then a 000 meeting would arrive and he would barely score a point for weeks before it clicked again......a lot of riders are inconsistent, especially ones without big backing , but Finn Jensen was amazing really.

as a 16 year old Joe Screen took a lot of beating....i saw him practicing well before his 16th birthday and i saw his first race, which he won and claimed double figures...i remember him passing Ermolenko to win a race in one of his very early races....he should have been a world beater...instead he turned out to be a very good international rider, but not the real elite level that his 16 year old form suggested to me.

the 70's and 80's best of 3 home and away Golden Helmet monthly challenges were fantastic and really prestigious to hold...i know Peter Collins rates holding the Golden Helmet for a whole season as one of his best achievements..that's how prestigious it was at the time.. The challenges actually resulted in incresed attendances and riders were willing to travel, even if they were not actually involved in the following meeting...amazing really...it just wouldn't happen these days.. My memories are that i loved the Golden Helmet and really looked forward to the monthly challenges...i was lucky in that Peter Collins and later Chris Morton both held the Helmet for lengthy periods so i got to see plenty of challenges and there was something different about a Match Race, especially ones that riders took so seriously. i remember Dave Jessup coming to Hyde Road to challenge Peter Collins and having both races in the bag only to break down in both when well in front and losing 2-0....typical DJ !! I also remember Chris Morton going to Kings Lynn to race Jessup after winning the Hyde Road races...the local Piccadilly Radio actually sent a reporter to report live on the match races, even though Belle Vue were not in the following meeting..Morton won and i remember listening to it on the radio.....that's how big the thing was at the time Sadly those days have gone..it saddens me to see the number of stars no longer racing in Britain and those who are left would never travel to a meeting for 2 match races, and even if they did they would want a huge guarantee to do so.....so it will never come back and the after meeting race never had any impact for me...it was a pale shadow of the true Golden Helmet that i was brought up with.

i think over the past 2 or 3 years Nicki has known he was not a realistic title contender so hasn't overreacted in situations like he used to...i think he knows that this season he is a genuine contender and every point is vital again for him...so the ruthless riding is back which will result in falls for him and/or his opponents and a genuine overreaction when he is excluded.even when the exclusion is perfectly justified He does make for good TV though , even though he does come across as a bit of a prat !

yes..i definitely remember visiting number 1's coming to Hyde Road and taking the same gate in every race...some had five gate 1's....some had five gate 4's depending on their preference....it would certainly help with getting a higher average that's for sure....although you did feel for the second string who never had a decent gate choice all night !

it does, cheers....jogs a lot of memories for me..and it's amazing the number of tracks there were and how many are no longer with us a lot of good riders as well

i started watching speedway in 1978..i can remember it well but i have very vague memories of what teams made up the then Britsh League and the National League in 1978...i wasn't very old !! can anybody remember what teams were in the 2 leagues in 1978 and who the number 1 rider was in each of those teams ?........cheers

Clayton Isbel did ride some meetings for Newcastle in 1983 and would have been number 7 for sure.. He did ride a lot of second halves at Hyde Road in 1983 and we were quite friendly with him at the time.he did show potential around Hyde Road, as a lot of Claremont racers did and he was due to ride for the Aces in a meeting but i think it was rained off. He did continue to ride in Perth for a while but then gave up i believe.

i don't know about Exeter..but i started seeing speedway in 1978 and watched at Hyde Road and Jessup was twice the rider around there than Kennett was...i never ever regarded Kennett as any threat to Collins and Morton round Hyde Road and he never seemed to have the pace at all....whereas, especially for 3 or 4 years Jessup was a major threat..obviously from the gate but he took some picking off ..in fact he was the first rider i ever saw beat Peter Collins at Hyde Road..and i had been going a few weeks i think Jessup was never a great rider but he was a great gater and very fast whereby i never actually saw Kennett pull up any trees, although he was obviously a better rider than i ever saw in the flesh..although i did see him ride at Milton Keynes against Bradford once and look pretty good for a 40 plus rider !

i was brought up on the one day World Final and personally attended 8 of them in England and Europe...and i loved every one of them...but i could see it's gloss and appeal going down year on year...crowds were falling , the media coverage was almost non existent and the whole aura of winning a World Final seemed to grow lesser each year i thought...Havvy winning was hardly seen in the same light as PC winning his title..times were changing...not the riders fault but i think change was needed. As an outsider now looking in i would say that the GP's have brought a much more professional look to the sport..it has made the riders look far more professional and the whole scene looks good and much more appealing to potential sponsors. You cannot go and compare to World Finals in the 60's and 70's ..those days will never return and certainly wouldn't return if a one off World Final was brought back So the GP's have been good i would say...not perfect , but a big step forward from where speedway was heading..it's just a shame that the Polish League situation has put a spanner in the works and i don't think that that is good for the series and could cause problems ahead if those rules continue.

excellent new rule change i think...will make the rounds and especially the race off much more competitive..and the hosts should always be there, like football world cups and euros etc.....very positive move i think

the Poles have really caused a stir with there new ruling haven't they ... i don't have a problem with riders treating riding as a business and trying to earn as much as possible...it isn't a long career and they need to earn what they can whilst available. I think it is a sad day though when a domestic league can severely weaken what should be the very pinnacle of the sport...the GP's have done an awful lot to try and modernise the sport and give it a new image at top level...the old World Final was dying, despite what people say, and the GP's have always come across as very professional on the TV and made the sport look very good. Darcy Ward is probably the most exciting talent i have seen for years...i would have gone out of way to see him in the GP's and the GP's should have the best talent available...the fact that it won't because of a domestic league is a sad day i think and also a worrying one for the future

as a visitor to Hyde Road i would rate Carter as the best English rider i saw there consistently...so fast and ruthless and his races with Collins and Morton were anticipated for ages..although i would say Collins was slightly past his best when Carter was at his peak..i would have liked to see them clash at Hyde Road with Collins at his very peak. Overall away from Halifax and Hyde Road at World international level he would have to rank a bit lower down because he never made a World Final rostrum due to various problems and injuries, so he would be behind Peter Collins, Lee, Simmons, Jessup and achievements wise behind Havelock and Loram although potentially he could have been third behind Collins and Lee from all the English riders i have seen and the best 16 year old Brits i have seen were Lee and Joe Screen...i thought Screen was immense at that age and didn't achieve what he might have done

without any doubt those 4 will be the wildcards if not in the top 8...100% i would say

one of my early memories i can remember from speedway was Steve Gresham having a fight on the centre green at Belle Vue after a race....cannot remember why or who with but that fight sticks with me...thought it was pretty good as a kid !!

Tormod Langli was Norwegian...i remember him breaking his arm hang gliding...scary it was all those years ago..it only seems like yesterday..amazing

Bridger well out of order attacking Barker on Twitter and tweeting Scott Nicholls to have a go at Barker as well most people seemed to pick the 5 riders that eventually were picked and Barker really seems to have matured and greatly improved this year...he deserves his chance Bridger should get his head down and force himself into future squads on results ..something Barker seems to have done...this has done him no favours at all

the tennis player Nikolai Davydenko only just managed to get to Wimbledon this year as he had massive visa problems..he had to wait around in Germany for over a week and only just made his first round match....and he's a big name ex Tour Finals winner......the visa situation for Russians is a joke