PHILIPRISING

STEVE is away in Argentina...

IT has a roof

Had heard that too. Was somewhat surprised given the time and effort that Cook and those behind the scenes take in looking after fans and the work put into his testimonial at Glasgow. Craig is a complex character and quite obviously can be his own worst enemy which is a shame because on his day he can be an invaluable asset.

APART from the money of course. We may never know the full story behind the divorce of Craig and CFS but previously it had seemed a perfect marriage.

IT is my understanding that coverage of all practice sessions at 2019 SGPs will be screened via YouTube... certainly both Nigel Pearson and Kelvin Tatum will be in attendance.

NORMALLY delayed coverage on Sky NZ ...

IF you ask any rider whether he wants to crash the answer would be no. Some of the most innocuous crashes turn out to be the worst. Having said that, I get the drift of your argument. It is often said of soccer players coming back from a bad injury that once they survive a tough tackle unscathed, psychologically it helps. But soccer tackles don't involve something as unpredictable and potentially dangerous as a speedway bike. And the surface of a speedway track is a great deal harder than grass.

THAT'S good news ... might take him a little longer to regain full confidence on smaller tracks where there is less room.

CORRECT me if I am wrong, but believe the third rider in the squad has to be under 21. Lambert was 21 earlier this month and is assured of a pick with Woffinden.

FROM the SGP website ... Torun boss Jacek Fratczak says Jack Holder didn’t suffer serious damage to his foot in a fall which forced him out of his side’s challenge match at home to Rybnik on Saturday. Holder was involved in a three-man pile-up with Rybnik duo Kacper Woryna and Sergey Logachev in heat 10 of Torun’s 53-37 victory. The Aussie and Logachev took no further part in the meeting and Holder returned to his base in Britain to recover. Fratczak played down the crash and is confident Holder will be back in action against Lodz this Thursday. He told Przeglad Sportowy: “Fortunately, the injury is not serious and the rider has returned on his own to Great Britain. “Now the most important thing is to care for the leg. Everything stays on schedule and Jack and the whole team will appear this Thursday against Lodz. This will be one of the last tests before the first match in the league.”

EASY run, all motorway, from Gdansk to Torun

AND to Speedway Star for many, many years. Sad news.

BY god, we are on the same page

BUT does that mean the conditions were the same for all the cars?

BUT in speedway, unlike F1, track conditions can vary from lap to lap.

ROB left about two years ago. Now has his own consultancy business and has recently been joined by Nicola Sands, former Media Manager at BSI.

PAUL Bellamy replaced Rob Armstrong (who initiated the purchase of the SGP/SWC commercial rights from John Postlethwaite) as Senior Vice President of motorsports at IMG when Rob left some time ago. Torben then took over as Managing Director of BSI Speedway. Paul remained as Torben's boss while holding the reins of the World Rallycross series.

SPECIAL feature on the 'Tiger' in Speedway Star next week...

GO where?

WHAT assets? Does that include riders?

IT is very easy to lay the blame at the door of Chapman or Godfrey alone. They are part of an organisation and do not have autonomy. Other promoters have an equal vote at the AGM or other meetings so what we have now is a collective decision not what either Chapman or Godfrey decided on their own.

I DOUBT whether there is a promoter who wouldn't tell you that individual meetings are financial suicide. Team racing is the lifeblood of speedway in the UK which is why all the efforts of those in the BSPA must focus on getting that right. But, no matter what people on here might think, there isn't an easy solution that will work an overnight miracle. My own view, for what it's worth, is that regular and continuity of fixtures, overhauling the averages system and adding to the entertainment value during a meeting would at least be a start.

OF course, a good track alone doesn't guarantee great racing. Ultimately that is down to the riders once they have been given a stage on which to perform.

BECAUSE riders feel that it helps them determine the performance of various bikes.

WHAT did you think of the racing?