Star Lady

He's a wee bit on the elderly side for her Lioness ( sorry Steve :evil: ) but then her intended target was too ......but Mum was going to take over guardianship

Just got back after taking in the IOW meeting last night. Not a lot I can add to the comments above really. Horrendous crash, so pleased they both came out relatively unscathed, I thought for a while that it was going to be far far worse. I've just looked at the pics on Mike Patricks site and they don't convey half of the carnage that occured. If as looks likely Lukas is out for the rest of the season I can think of no more deserving candidate for a pemanent wild card for next years GP. The big question is why was there no air fence :?: , the prices were certainly high enough and I was told they were that high to pay for the air fence. It seems daft to me that the meeting that includes the most desperate riders( I don't mean that in a derogatory sense) and is obviously going to have a few crashes has no air fence. The atmosphere was great on Sunday, the Poles were amazing, how that guy wore that large black curly wig all afternoon in that heat baffles the heck out of me :? The meeting took ages to run but that was no fault of the organisers. The front rows of the stand were like a sauna. One complaint tho, we are always hearing from Mr Shovlar that Poole are the best at promoting, they did nothing for the fans on Sunday. Maybe they should have a word with the Workington promotion on how to entertain the crowd. One bouncy castle didn't exactly do a lot for the vast majority did it? Compare that to the Pairs, where we were treated to a Band, a soloist and a firework display and I think maybe Matt Ford needs to learn a thing or two from the Premier League. Good to meet up with so many of you again and a few new forum members too, I think the Steve Shovlar Appreciation Society is growing BTW Stranger and It Mas Wife my daughter was unsuccessful in her kidnap attempt :-(

I have no idea what contractual arrangements are made between riders and promoters or riders and BSI, but if the BSPA got their butts into gear and had the British fixture list out early enough, surely all EL riders could then have clauses in their contracts stating they would ride in all their clubs league fixtures. I seem to remember reading that GP riders have to sign BSI contracts early in the year so the fixture list would need to be out by January. Obviously it would mean the EL working the fixtures around the GP calendar (most of those dates are already known) but I thought that was what the BLC was for. I'm no great lover of the GP circus but I can see that there are enormous benefits to Speedway as a whole and if at all possible the GPs and the EL need to work together. To return to the original topic....I cannot at present see a squad system working, there are simply not enough riders about to allow it. The only way it could work at the moment is to continue doubling up/down and I'm not sure I would be in favour of that.

Precisely Mylor, tho I would dispute that THAT track was prepared with any rider in mind :-( . On the day the only team good enough were the Swedes and it matters not who had beaten them before or after. I'm no fan of the Swedes by the way, I can honestly say I would not go out of my way to watch any of them but on Saturday they all hit their very best form at the same time. I certainly did not condemn Team GB, they all rode their hearts out and no one can ask more.

yes Mylor but not when it mattered. On the day it mattered Team GB were simply not good enough. Sorry but that's a fact.

Lupus - excellent post. If pride in your country alone won matches David Norris would have won it on his own. The plain fact is we were not good enough, we were never gonna be good enough once Loram and Howe were injured. Middlo and the team did the best job they could, it simply wasn't good enough. If that makes me a moaner in some peoples eyes so be it, I prefer to think I'm a realist.

Well said Pirates Music. All the tracks have been poor but Vojens was atrocious. I think Floppy spoke for all the riders when he said whoever prepared it should be buried under it. Trouble is Sky and BSI like it like that ....more incidents in their eyes equal more crashes which is what they think the viewing public want to see. If you think I'm wrong ...take a look at the title sequence. Congratulations to all 25 riders for coping with the conditions in the way that they did and very well done to the Swedes who managed to defy all the odds/critics/injuries going and with 2 raw inexperienced youngsters.

Make that a minority of 2 then Gemini, I love Tatum when he corrects Millard, he would have made an excellent Head Master

Bob my post was not meant as an attack on Trick but on the authorities for allowing a rider who in an interview on Thursday admitted to feeling dizzy and unwell on a bike, obviously still suffering the after effects of a bad concussion, being allowed on track just 2 days later alongside 4 other riders when by Trick own statement he had been advised by doctors to rest for at least a week. Thankfully it seems the information was false.

If it's true that Trick is riding tomorrow and not Sunday it's farcical! He pulls out hours before the race-off feeling dizzy, but is fit to ride 2 days later but not 3 days later. I only hope he does not feel dizzy when on the track with 4 other riders. No offence to Trick who I'm sure has had a load of pressure put on him but this is ridiculous, either he is fit to ride in both meetings or is still suffering from concussion, in which case he is not fit.

I think that is a bit unfair on Lukas considering the terrible injuries he suffered not long ago.

IMO before any of the other suggestions are even thought about, speedway has to get the basics right. That has to mean an independent governing body or at the very least an independent administrator. There has to be someone of the stature of Tony Steele (just an example), knowledgeable but fair and totally independent of ALL clubs who could take on the role. Failing that the BSPA must employ someone completely independent of any ties to any club to oversee the rules, regulations and any appeal or use of special dispensation. Do that and 90% of the gripes and grumbles would disappear, there would be no shouts of bias, and "it's only because your promoter is on the Man Committee that you got Special Dispensation. I know most of these comments are made in Speedway circles but we do not live in a vacuum, the media must pick up on them and it does not do the sport any favours. (I'm not advocating that we fans stop protesting). The present situation is ridiculous and, without wishing to prejudice the current legal case, is like Billy Janiero's buddy sitting in judgement on Billy or one of the girls mothers sitting in judgement on him and everyone can see the injustice and stupidity of that situation surely.

I would love to answer your question but as I can't understand it on this occasion I shall have to pass.

It's just been reported on the Yahoo list that Tony Rickardsson has pulled out of tonights meeting, he apparently is still feeling dizzy following his crash a week ago. He is replaced by Peter Ljung. I wonder if the fact that there are 5 riders in a race had any bearing on the decision :?:

I really cannot see the point in all this hassle. Yes Norris rode brilliantly, and riding for his country obviously meant the world to him. Well done to him and the rest of the team BUT the fact is we are in the race-off exactly the same position as we would have been had Harris and Stead ridden. They had no one to beat but the Aussies. Next year Harris and Stead may well be picked for the team and will come in with no experience of the competition at all, so IMO this year is an opportunity missed. If after Saturday, Team GB have medals I will willingly eat humble pie Who's in charge of the cooking? :roll:

Gollobs motorcycling skills have always been amazing but I never had him down as a master tactitian . Excellent stuff, the highlight of the World Cup for me so far

It might help some of the "best" riders to join in if BSI actually "paid" some decent expenses out. They seem happy to take the plaudits but don't want to part with the dosh.

I have nothing but admiration for anyone that can learn a language other than their native tongue, after 5 years my French teacher had a nervous breakdown (truthfully tho I don't think I was the sole cause ) but I found ERs post extremely amusing. Just a shame she couldn't have signified the speed of their speech as well

It's obviously not what YOU KNOW but who YOU KNOW

Excellent idea. Maybe it would be easier in the first instance to start with tracks that have access at all times as no one knows how long putting on and off the covers would take and storage of the covers has to be taken into consideration. IMO it would probably be easier if tracks with solid fences were used at first as they could take the weight of covers fixed to the top more than the flimsier mesh fences. The concept if it works could them be fine tuned to cover the tracks that have the less permanent fences which may require something akin to cricket covers raised higher on the outside of the track. Further on from this maybe some thought could be given to some kind of guttering/drain (covered by metal grids) inside the white line that the covers would drain into so large puddles do not appear just on the white line of tracks, this obviously would only be put in when work is being done anyway to avoid excess expense. It would cost a fair amount in the first instance but surely tracks could share the covers to some extent. e.g. Lynn ride Weds, the covers could be taken to Peteborough for use on Thursday and Friday. Wolves and Coventry could share, Belle Vue and Stoke etc.

Was this the meeting that had a thunderstorm included in the price? I remember being at Wembley for some international when a massive sheet of lightening lit up the sky just as the Brits crossed the line but never being a great one for stats I can't be sure if this is the one. I do remember Bettsy and Simmo being there tho. I also remember being at Wembley seated on the start of the home straight when a bomb scare was announced. The seating was that tight that each row had to stand in unison to be able to check under the seats as requested.

My vote would go to Stekkers too for the reasons given above. I always find Chris Louis informative, clear and concise and altho I'm not the greatest of his fans, Kelvin Tatum does have some good meetings, he is one of the few to actually try to correct Millard. At the risk of upsetting a few people my biggest dislike is Sam Ermolenko he tries so hard to sit on the fence and not actually venture an opinion it's painful to watch.

If riders renaged on their contracts it would

Looking at it from a slightly different angle, maybe riders (especially GP riders) should have a clause in their contract that they will ride in a minimum number of meetings. A proportion of their "salary" could be lodged in a central fund and not paid out until they have managed that minimum number of meetings. Missing meetings because of injury would have to be authorised by a BSPA approved doctor, based in the UK. How many times have riders missed league encounters but still been fit enough to ride in individual meetings of various kinds. Riders are all too keen to take the financial help from promoters in terms of fares to the UK, rent, vans etc and they need to give in return.

Like Chris Brown I think this competition could well have some merit but only if the rules are set out at the start to provide both EL and PL clubs with reasonably equal chances and more importantly those rules must be stuck to. Unfortunately the whole comp has been brought into disrepute this season with the constant dispensations and bias towards some EL clubs. I know I'm not the only fan who treats the whole Bloody Loopy Cup with contempt for this reason.