PHILIPRISING

DON'T worry he will have done more laps than most come Saturday and after a lengthy spell at home in Aussie says he is fitter than he has been in a long time. Just got back to hotel from the track and all the riders are buzzing having seen Western Springs for the first time. All their bikes have been unpacked and reassembled ready for the first practice tomorrow. It's a lovely day here in Auckland and most are down by the harbour taking in the views and relaxing before getting down to business.

WE will get the full monty don't worry but ME don't have quite the same stuff down here as they do in Europe. The big rigs will be coming to a number of GPs and the SWC and the top man in the US is a big speedway fan and their plans are quite amazing. This will be massive for speedway ... trust me!

DON'T think there is any danger of Jason being rusty. He will certainly be less jet-lagged than any other rider of course. Pix of the track are a little deceptive. The material they have used is very light in colour and it certainly won't be slick. Of course, it will be a late afternoon meeting so if the weather stays as it is (sunny but not that hot, around 68 yesterday) the track will be watered frequently. Don't anticipate dust being a problem but the two practice sessions on Thursday and Friday will provide a better indication. of what might be needed. All the containers are now at the stadium, having cleared NZ customs without a hitch, ready to be unpacked by each team on Wednesday morning. There will be a media breakfast at the stadium at 10m on Thursday, with each team allocated their own table which will include members of the Press from NZ, Australia, Poland, Sweden and Denmark and a whole host of TV crews. And speedway as a whole and the SGP series in particular couldn't have a better ambassador than Greg Hancock who will also be giving a talk to around a dozen under 15 Kiwi youngsters on Friday about what it takes to become not just a speedway rider but the best in the world. It will start with a traditional Maori welcome and be followed by the first practice at 1pm local time. Friday's practice will start at 3pm. Media interest here is gathering pace, two riders will be taking part in radio broadcasts tomorrow, four are going on a boat trip round Auckland harbour with two TV stations. SORRY, previous effort got a little disjointed ... it's only 5.30am here in Auckland! DON'T think there is any danger of Jason being rusty. He will certainly be less jet-lagged than any other rider of course. Pix of the track are a little deceptive. The material they have used is very light in colour and it certainly won't be slick. Of course, it will be a late afternoon meeting so if the weather stays as it is (sunny but not that hot, around 68 yesterday) the track will be watered frequently. Don't anticipate dust being a problem but the two practice sessions on Thursday and Friday will provide a better indication. of what might be needed. All the containers are now at the stadium, having cleared NZ customs without a hitch, ready to be unpacked by each team on Wednesday morning. There will be a media breakfast at the stadium at 10m on Thursday, with each team allocated their own table which will include members of the Press from NZ, Australia, Poland, Sweden and Denmark and a whole host of TV crews. It will start with a traditional Maori welcome and be followed by the first practice at 1pm local time. Friday's practice will start at 3pm. Media interest here is gathering pace, two riders will be taking part in radio broadcasts tomorrow, four are going on a boat trip round Auckland harbour with two TV stations. And speedway as a whole and the SGP series in particular couldn't have a better ambassador than Greg Hancock who will also be giving a talk to around a dozen under 15 Kiwi youngsters on Friday about what it takes to become not just a speedway rider but the best in the world.

TRACK at Western Springs looks fantastic. Longer and wider than Ullevi with lots of banking. Greg Hancock arrived from LA this morning and said "this is awesome. If it rides as good as it looks the racing will be so fast and exciting." The stadium is still under going a massive make-over. Nearly 3,000 temporary grandstand seats on the home straight are in place, a new wooden fence has been erected round the whole circuit, a new air barrier is there, even a sophisticated starting gate that hopefully won't prove to be too good to be true. Almost 10,000 tickets have been sold and promoter Bill Buckley says he is amazed. "Our crowds don't normally buy in advance," he says. "They wait until they see what the weather will be like and then make a decision." The weather was fine and sunny today and should stay like that. With a decent turn-up crowd on Saturday the attendance could top 20,000. Fourteen more riders arrive tomorrow afternoon with Jason Crump completing the line-up on Wednesday. ONE for the old Plough Lane faithfuls ... met up with Bob Andrews at Western Springs today. Very chirpy and sprightly. His grandson could be one to start a revival of top class Kiwi riders. Watch out for him...

EARLY days yet ... Monster's involvement will really become apparent at Leszno. It is their European division that has become involved with speedway and where the money is coming from but Monster reps from NZ and Oz will be in Auckland next week and no doubt their American parents are keeping a watchful eye.

NO he doesn't ... think Coca Cola took over the distribution in Sweden. Still has a sponsorship, as do Chris Holder and Antonio Lindback along with Tomasz Gollob.

WORTH a look ... http://speedwaygp.com/news/article/1140/auckland-bound GETTING all the riders' equipment to New Zealand presented a huge challenge and the original plan was for wooden containers that would form each rider's pit bay at the event. But they have evolved since then, metal has replaced wood and the design has changed many times. But, as the photo shows, the final product is proving perfect for the task and the whole process will prove invaluable in the months and tears ahead as and when the series goes further afield.

THIS is the second time we have agreed recently. I am getting seriously worried!

THE Sky commentator team (Nigel Pearson and Chris Louis) will be working from London but the world feed, which I believe is what will be heard in Oz, includes Steve Johnston.

SWAPA died many years ago. Wouldn't manage enough to fill a phone box these days. THE feeling is probably mutual and a shame really as Meridian obviously put a lot into speedway.

SO that's where the shale went!

YOU can bring a horse to water ... Just because the BBC show little or nothing about the SGP series doesn't mean they don't receive information. Look at the sgp website. It is superb both in its design and content. Compare that with the BSPA website. You still seem to be suggesting that it is the responsibility of BSI to promote British speedway. It isn't. But I know, from my own experience and knowledge of national newspapers in the UK that - unlike 30 years ago - they have little or no interest in motorcycle racing in general and speedway in particular. Compare that with Poland where if Gollob sneezes it's headline news. Coverage in Denmark has fallen away a little but, rest assured, if a Dane starts winning again they will rapidly come back on board. Sweden isn't anywhere near as bad as the UK. How many local papers outside of Manchester, Swindon and Poole (Bournemouth) show much interest in their local speedway clubs? In 1979 there were 39 members of SWAPA - the Speedway Writers' and Photographers' Association - on a charter aircraft to the World Final in Poland. Journalists like Graham Baker (Daily Mirror), Dave Lanning (Sun), Keir Radnedge (Daily Mail), Peter Oakes (Daily Star) and myself (Daily Express) had to file speedway stories EVERY day. Locally there were the likes of Richard Frost (MEN), Rob Bishop (Birmingham), Tom Johnson (Wolverhampton), Gordon Sampson (Halifax) and many more who had acres of space to fill on a regular basis. Mike Patrick and John Hipkiss supplied photos to a whole host of newspapers. Now? Virtually nothing. No British newspapers send reporters to any GP outside if the UK. Speedway coverage doesn't sell newspapers, pure and simple, and Sports Desks these days are very different in attitude than they were in the 1980s. When I also covered speedway for the News of the World the then Sports Editor (Bill Bateson, a Fleet Street legend) treated speedway no differently to soccer. He judged each story on its merit, even providing a whole page to Gary Havelock's victory at Wroclaw in 1992 even though there was a full programme of league football that day. Ken Lawrence at the Daily Express was of the same ilk. It's a different ball game (literally) these days. Lack of British success, guest riders, and the general malaise of speedway have all helped contribute to its lack of coverage but the fact remains that these days motorcycle sport simply isn't fashionable. Certainly the BSPA could do more to bang their own drum but it still might be to no avail. And without Sky speedway would disappear off the radar altogether. All of which is why I don't accept that having a SGP at Wembley would automatically attract huge media coverage. It wouldn't.

EXACTLY!

I FULLY respect your right to view the SGP concept as an aberration and 'not fit for purpose' but that shouldn't colour your judgement about the manner in which BSI conduct their business, the high quality work they produce and the meticulous manner in which they approach and organise the actual staging of each Grand Prix.

BUT speedway, unlike MotoGP, Superbikes and MX, hasn't had the finances to overcome the logistical problems which have been a major obstacle but will be less so in the future. I am quite aware that the Balkans, etc, are not individual countries but, as with F1 in the early days when Eccelstone brilliantly trumped up global viewing figures to enhance the product's potential and perceived value to sponsors, it is not the breakdown that matters in the final analysis, rather the total numbers. And, of course, every little bit of TV income helps. I am afraid you have little or no idea of the workings of BSI or the manner in which they go about their business. I have worked in this industry all my life and they have some very talented people encouraged by a company (IMG) that have very high standards. Your continual carping at them just belittles your own arguments. Unlike you I happen to believe that the stronger the SGP series becomes and the wider its audience either live or on TV the better the prospects for speedway as a whole but it is up to the respective countries to build upon and grasp that success rather than just expect the number of bums on seats to magically increase. I don't ever envisage the day when GP riders will not compete in domestic leagues. That will remain their bread and butter and speedway riders enjoy it. No matter what the financial rewards, 12 meetings a year, or even 15, would hardly satisfy their appetites for actual racing which is, after all, what they love. This is yet another aspect in which speedway is so very different to MotoGP, Superbikes and even F1.

THERE is no need to increase the number of GPs in Europe. But some of those presently staging one may drop out and others come in. Australia and the USA are very much on the horizon. IMG's involvement in motorsport events is relatively new but is growing significantly. Countries showing the GP series in 2012: Australia, Balkans, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Middle East, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia and Baltics, Singapore, Slovakia and Sweden. Also Africa Supersport which includes South Africa and many others. Eurosport and in South America Fox America. I simply don't accept that domestic speedway in Australia, Denmark, Sweden or Poland has been subsumed by the SGP or that the problems of British speedway can be laid at their door rather than Rugby. The only way that the SGP can grow and prosper - and I do accept and understand that many people in the UK don't see that as being a good thing - is for a company like BSI/IMG with the vision, professionalism, and willingness to speculate to accumulate being at the helm. Of course they do so for sound commercial reasons and to make a profit on their not inconsiderable outlay. I don't have any problem with that at all and still believe that the real issue is what the FIM do for speedway as a whole and with the income they glean not just from BSI/IMG but also licence and inscription fees that swell their coffers. QUITE obviously, Humphrey, the logistical problems and expense of freighting around 300 kilos of freight per rider around the world, let alone 15 riders and 45 mechanics, have proved a major obstacle but the New Zealand GP will show how it can be done and will unquestionably open a few doors in the future.

SO you are just talking about the Sky viewing figures in the UK. But the SGP is an international event, shown either live, delayed or through a highlights package to many, many millions. It is far too easy to see the SGP just through the eyes of British observers rather than the bigger picture. Sure, the British GP as an event is the jewel in the crown but, for example, Poland, Sweden and Denmark are all sending their own commentary teams to New Zealand. And the World feed, which will include Steve Johnston on site, will go to a host of countries including Australia.

SPOKE to Ole Olsen, who has been at the Marketa recently, on Monday and he confirms they have dug up the inside the track on bends 1/2 and 3/4 and are laying a new surface, all of which should provide more than one racing line and greatly enhance the circa hit for the SGP in May.

WHERE is your evidence that TV audiences have dropped? Lack of new faces is hardly the fault of BSI but, hopefully with a new tranche of talent beginning to emerge that will change in the not too distant future. There are still many young riders with genuine world title aspirations although, sadly, in the UK we can only hope that Tai Woffinden's challenge gets back on the rails. Elsewhere, and especially in Australia, Denmark, Poland and Sweden there are many ready to step into the void that will inevitably be left by Hancock, Gollob and probably Crump in the not to distant future. The higher profile that the championship attains, and the Monster Energy deal can only enhance that, the more likely it is that young riders will want to take part and if that can include the USA, with Hamill and Hancock at the helm, then so much the better. What is still lacking is a coherent youth policy in Britain. As for a reduced SGP series ... it won't happen. There is a queue of prospective stadiums lining up to stage a GP, inside and outside of Europe.

BUT there is which is one reason why your argument has as many holes as a sieve. For example: a young Aussie could have come through the rounds back home this winter, go through the various stages in Europe this year and finish in the top three at the GP Challenge and, bingo, he is in the championship chase next year. It is possible, just as it has always been.

SKY definitely carrying it live at 4am on the morning of Saturday, March 31 in the UK

SHORT answer is no unless you can get an internet stream from somewhere.

GOOD spot ...

I AGREE that Billy Hamill is doing a great job. Was really trying to point out that Monster Energy are keen to help youngsters in California. Would be great to see Billy and Greg working in tandem again.

ANDY ... you are right about difficulty getting Californian kids to swap but Greg told me that Penhall's boys have grown tired of mx and have been sliding a speedway bike. Not saying it will be a career changing move for them but there might be some who see it that way. Also there are many kids riding mx in Britain who might actually see speedway as a better career financially. As you obviously know, (no pun intended!) can getting pretty hot and steamy in Orlando in July. How about a little further north east in March?