PHILIPRISING

TIME for NKI to challenge the whole asset farce.

NO, but the new 'owners' who are not short of a bob or two, didn't expect to. They have a long term plan and for this year it was to get the business, which includes the stadium as well as the speedway, on an even keel and in 2018 try to make more use of the NSS and to attract some financial backing. They have a lot of business contacts in Manchester. I actually had a long chat with Adrian Smith, who is in charge of the day-to-day business, this week and he seemed confident of the future for the Aces. He also reiterated that they would welcome Peter Collins with open arms should he decide to visit.

THE piece with David Gordon was to highlight the fact that MCC still refuse to answer questions about the early debacle at the NSS which ultimately led to DG and Chris Morton being shoved out of the door. In my opinion, for what it is worth, they deserve that at least. If you were involved in a car crash that wasn't your fault and those responsible refused to admit liability, would you not want to pursue it? Gordon has never suggested that he and Chris were faultless, far from it, but the fact remains that without them there wouldn't be the NSS and probably not the Belle Vue Aces either. We can only speculate on how things would have panned out had the opening meeting been the huge success we all hoped for and thankfully the current regime have put the stadium on a sound footing but that doesn't alter the facts which include the appalling mistakes made by the construction company which have yet to be fully acknowledged.

RUMOURS suggest there is but nothing concrete so far.

PERSONALLY think that a combination of riders like Iversen and Vaculik racing here allied to settled teams, regular fixtures, no golden double and fewer guests would certainly be a recipe for improved attendances.

WOULD love to have the answer but presume they are waiting for FIM ratification. Shouldn't be long now.

PROBABLY neither but must wait and see.

SURELY 20 grand is better than nothing plus there is always the opportunity to glean additional revenue by working hard to bring sponsors on board on the back of TV coverage.

THINK their position is pretty much fixed and doubt whether anything would persuade them to actually pay along then lines of the previous Sky deal. Doubt whether more SGP riders would make a difference. But obviously they (and us) would like to see settled teams, less guests, etc. Cannot answer for BT obviously but know the production guys well and think they accept that guests can be a necessary evil in domestic speedway but not on the scale of 2016. They sort of got out of jail with the p/r meetings but doubt whether they would be bothered iif scrapped. Don't think the Joker in the SWC vexes them as much as it does us. The longer a meeting remains competitive the better from a TV perspective. Don't think it.is just a case of filling a Monday night. Speedway on TV is a good product most of the time. And it fits their motorcycle racing portfolio but they won't throw money at it. Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here.

I WOULD imagine race-nights, strength of teams, what riders are racing in the UK, lower admission prices for TV meetings, etc. Hopefully scrapping the golden double. Just conjecture on my part. I have written here before that I would expect the best the BSPA can expect is for BT to cover production and to pay a match fee, probably around £10,000.

IS that a transfer fee or signing on. If a rider is out of contract how can there be a transfer fee?

ANOTHER reason why 'assets' and therefore loans need to be scrapped. Interesting reading the Polish transfers thread on the international section. Riders whose contracts have expired simply negotiate new deals and move elsewhere or not. Seems to work very well and in both Poland and Sweden most of the team line-ups for 2018 are already known. Unlike you know where...

WITH regard to BT and the 2018 season, agree with flagrant that they will want to see what is on offer (league structure, race days, teams, etc) before making a decision.

RIGHT on both counts. Promoter at Exeter and ciopromoter at Peterborough for a while. Also has a very distinguished journalistic career and one-time Sports Editor of the Daily Star.

NOT just practice but some income as well.

BECAUSE of all the restrictions being placed on riders in the top flight

AND having to pay for the guys who work for them...

I'M told Greg won't race in the UK

THINK that is premature

AT the behest of Pavel Ondrasik who, unlike his father, saw what needed to be done. Without his authority nothing would have happened.

EXCELLENT meeting and a sell-out crowd there this year. Young Ondrasik has made great improvements to the track. But they have always relied on support from the city which undoubtedly benefits from the influx of speedway fans although they are still only a drop in the ocean compared with all the other tourists. Would be a big lose as it is a very popular place to visit.

DOES Holta not qualify as a Pole ... rode for them in SWC?

LATEST we heard that talks (or arguments) were on-going. In fact it isn't the PZM that is calling the shots but the clubs themselves.

MARTIN is a class act on and off the track. No doubt he will shine in what is, after all, the weakest of the three major domestic leagues, trailing Poland and Sweden. Iversen has signed for Torun where he will join Chris Holder, World Champion Jason Doyle and Rune Holta among others.

IVERSEN'S big announcement is that he has signed for Torun in Poland. Will that rule him out of UK?