PHILIPRISING

I DON'T have an answer to that. Much might depend on the weather on the day. However, I am firmly in favour of British speedway having TV exposure given the number of opportunities it provides for the promoters either individually or more preferably as a unit. Whether they avail themselves of it is a different matter.

THE negotiations for a new TV contract were led by Belle Vue promoter Adrian Smith, who will shortly feature in an interview with Speedway Star about how the new deal came about and was concluded. All sorts of rumours abound, including a staging fee of £10,000, with the rest of the total sum going into a BSPA 'pot' to be distributed. Who will handle the actual production on behalf of Eurosport (Discovery) has yet to be determined to the best my knowledge although one heavyweight contender has withdrawn

IF I could bring you a copy I would ... My sincere apologies about the problems you are having acquiring Speedway Star. The best I can do is this: email me your name and address and one will be posted to you on Monday phil@pinegen.co.uk Philip Rising

YES... our distribution company (the same as we used prior to changing printers (in fact Bourne is far nearer their depot than was Cardiff) have admitted to several problems, especially Hemel Hempstead which handles a large area. This is as frustrating for us as you and totally out of our control but we suffer the consequences. I can only apologise, for what it's worth. This is the latest from them: As advised there has been a problem with the supply to the Hemel Hempstead wholesale branch so all stores supplied by them would be late on-sale. Logistics have confirmed copies have now been received at Hemel and are going out to retail asap. But that's a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. We have also had some problems with mailed subscriptions. Once again, this is an issue that baffles us. SS is now actually printed earlier (Tuesday evening) than was previously the case and is one of many magazines collected in bulk by Royal Mail from Warners in Bourne earlier than was the case from Surbiton on a Wednesday morning. Although late deliveries are relatively isolated cases they are nonetheless frustrating. Off to put my head in a bucket of cold water ...

WE are on different wavelengths.

WOFFY and Zmarzlik are not the draw cards in Copenhagen that Gundersen and Nielsen would have been. Melbourne would have benefitted massively from Adams and Crump. Similarly Rickardsson in Stockholm. That is my point.

NO doubt we would all like to see SGPs in Auckland, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Stockholm, etc but the fact is that these venues are simply not viable. Imagine if Tony Rickardsson, Erik Gundersen, Hans Nielsen, Jason Crump, Leigh Adams and their ilk were still riding. Bums on seats would not be an issue. Poland have overcome the loss of Tomasz Gollob not least because speedway in northern Poland at least is so high profile. Whether it is BSI/IMG or Discovery/Eurosport who are the custodians of the World Championship going forward run 2022, new venues will remain a problem.

WOULD probably subscribe to the view that if it "ain't broke, then don't fix it" as far as the SGP is concerned. Never had a problem with the winner of a particular round not necessarily being the highest scorer. Each SGP is its own event. The accumulation of points is what determines the World Champion. As far as the SON is concerned, understand why the FIM wanted to broaden the number of participating countries in the finals stages, an incentive for young riders in the lesser nations to ride on the top stage. My real beef is with the name ... just call it the Speedway World Cup.

HOW much

And just as dangerous!

YOU are living in the past... what's a Lightroom?

DO we? The paper is different because SS is now printed on web offset machines rather than sheet fed.

FREDDIE is on record as saying that he will only ride in Poland in 2020 and that he feels this is his best chance of concentrating all his efforts on winning the World Championship. Woffinden is doing the same. As is Emil. Others, like Doyle, like to ride as often as possible.

What about Chris Holder? Talks about riding in the UK again and presumably that won't be Poole.

HE says he wants to concentrate all his efforts on winning the World Championship and that means racing in just one league.

Freddie ... if you talking Lindgren he isn't even racing in Sweden next year.

BUT racing doesn't take place on a piece of paper or calculator

GOOD point (no pun intended)...

SWEDEN are struggling but no matter what GP riders don't need to race here. Not everyone is like Jason Doyle who would probably race every night of the week if he could. There are plenty of other good riders who might be tempted to come to the UK .

NOT as I see it ... for 2020 the limit is the figure attained by Swindon this year. They can keep that team but, if they wish to change it, cannot exceed it.

AVERAGES are just numbers on a piece of paper. This isn't a computer game. Riders are human beings, averages go up and down. And if a team like Peterborough are 10 points adrift of the limit trying to sign one rider to fit that void isn't sensible, practical or even necessary. Their team building options increase not decrease and can enable them to work within a budget. At the very least the notion of being able to keep a team from one season to another should be elementary.

ALSO, it doesn't have a roof.

DISCOVERY (Eurosport) will out-source the production of their coverage ... as did BT this year. Steve Saint did a terrific job especially considering the budget with which he had to work. He wanted to produce a highlights show that all BT had to do was provide air time but it never came to tuition. Other sports production companies will no doubt throw their hats into the ring. These will be the people putting the package together on behalf of Discovery. Flagrag would know far more than me about all that is involved with providing the live coverage of speedway ... outside broadcast units, satellites, rigging, cameras and cameramen, sound engineers plus of course the commentators, presenter, etc.

WOULD be nice if it was studio based with guests including riders, promoters, etc.

FROM what I hear a magazine-style highlights programme is being discussed and would be a great addition to the actual TV coverage