g13webb

As the season moves into the 2nd half, the league has taken shape with certain teams chasing those play-off places. Belle Vue are right there in the mix and will undoubtedly fight to the end. Having started slowly, this team has a lot to offer with a top 5 equal to any in the league. also, with Worrall and Nielsen as draft riders their team are more than capable of beating all the others. Make no mistake the Stars will need to be firing on all cylinders to defeat this strong side. The last time they were at AFA , they only lost by 7 points, even though Zagar and Stead had off nights Which Zagar turns up could decide the result of this close encounter.....

I for one, thorough enjoyed the meeting last night. Sometimes when I read certain posts I question the reality these people live in. It appears that unless there are riders knocking five bells out of each other or 50 overtaking moves its a bad meeting. I suggest you wake up and actually see what is on show. I have been to many meetings and enjoy most of them. But my expectations are related to the sport itself. I enjoy the banter, I enjoy the smell, I enjoy the environment., I enjoy the excitement, I enjoy the competition, in fact I enjoy all the factors of the meeting. I enjoy it even when we lose, if the effort was there. Having ridden many bikes in a variety of sports, I appreciate the skill ALL these riders show. They don't have to come from the back just to satisfied some warp ideas of making it enjoyable. Kenneth Bjerre last night was exceptional. He has been called a 'Gating Tart' but that's an art in its self. Strange these people don't mention how fast and smooth he is when he gets to the front. . I have criticised him in the past not doing the business, but when he does well I 'm the first to say so.... and last night he rode very well. When I go to meeting, I'm under no pretence of what's on offer. I go knowing what I will enjoy. If there's a close meeting and plenty of overtaking, all well and good, but its not the be all and the end if its not. In my reckoning, last night was a good night out, one that I thoroughly enjoyed.... Cant wait till next one.....

Difficult to make any conclusions from last night. Yes we won, and won convincingly, but Wolves offered very little and were a shadow of the team they once were. Niels was majestic as ever, and cruised to a 5 ride Max. He was in a different league and won each race by the proverbial.. Kenneth was not far behind him and top scored with 16pts. Porsing and Max Fricke both rode well and won with incredible ease. Those 4, rode that well, that the absent Star performers weren't missed. Our 2 reserves had an iffy nights, in that they both fell and both scored decent points. Morris, seem to lose concentration, and fell when 2nd to Fricke on the final corner, and twice more got out of shape in other races, whose bikes gradually got slower. Kerr, He too battled the demons with slower machinery and was far from in dominate self. Hope his fall was as innocuous as it looked with no lasting injuries..... Wells, Thorssell, Blackbird and Freddie all battled hard for little reward. they were unfortunate to meet a team that were on a high..... Next week against Belle Vue will be a far stiffer test....... Hopefully Fricke don't ride as well as he did last night......

Just looking at the two tracks before the start of each match, highlighted the tremendous difference between the 2 events. And therefore would be very difficult to make comparisons between the two. ..... Brandon track was a quagmire before the start, and regardless of the cost of the tickets, the weather was such that it would not have induced anybody to venture outside, let alone to watch speedway. If it hadn't been for Sky, the Coventry match would have been called off by dinner....... The track was that bad.......... Regardless of the similar weather forecasts, the Abbey was completely different and offered dry evening and a perfect surface to race on . So trying to find some relevance of your argument is difficult.. There was so much more in Swindon's favour , Local rivalry, with neighbouring support, Return of the prodigal son, and the draw of a new signing, all these elements made Swindon match a far bigger draw. I can see the both sides of the argument about cheap tickets, but feel there is not definite right and wrong conclusion. Every club, and each match is different and should be looked independently. Its not about 'Greedy Promoters' any more, it's all about survival and what well makes a profit..... I think a lot of posters on here pluck figures out of thin air, without understanding the degrees of difficulty, putting on a meeting entails....... If it was that easy, we would have far more clubs than we do at present. There have been many that fallen by the wayside, so rather than pillar and question the ones that are left, lets get behind them instead.....

As much as I like to watch Fricke, he is no comparison to Lambert. Plus, when using a guest and RR the guest is doubly important, in that he will get/could get an extra ride....... The RR / Guest situation puts massive pressure on the remaining riders, especially when your top rider cant take one of them. Extra rides for KB, Porsing, Kerr or possibly Morris instead. The biggest issue here has to be Kenneth Bjerre. If he produces the form he's capable of, then no worries. But IF and a big IF, he performs similarly to that of late we could struggle. I know Wolves have struggled of late and are the team at the bottom of the league, but they always go well here at the AFA. Some of Freddie's past rides, have come from the top drawer. He's probably low on confidence at the moment but only a fool would write he off. The same can be said of PK; and Wells. Draft riders Blackbird and Bates are equal to most teams, so this won't be the one sided affair it was once thought to be........ Hope they the management give Niels the reception he deserves after winning the British SGP......

Is this another of those endless injury deceases we attract each year. We always suffer from the fact of that no adequate replacements are available. Losing Both Lambert and Malik could have been catastrophic had we been riding against stiffer opposition, as it is we could probably scrape a narrow win..... Next time we might not be so lucky.....

The only person stopping, Darcy (the rider), being World champion, is the person himself........ He has shown he is more than capable of beating anyone on the track, but he has to beat his rival off the track........ Taking a leaf out of Holder's or Woffy's behaviour book, wouldn't do him any harm at all........

Probably Sir Matt has told him not to risk it. hoping that it might create a few problems. Milik form in the SEC was a bit of a mystery. In that, his first 2 rides were impressive, and his other 3 were so disappointing. I was of the impression, once you're a racer, you're always a racer, so was surprised to see such lack of interest in those other rides.....

Don't go a lot on Darcy the person, but Darcy the rider is what speedway should be all about. Just the mention of his name and the Crowds come flocking back. The commentators go all hero worshipping, and the competition becomes alive again. Not the best of nights as far as the sport goes with too many falls and delays. The track conditions, caught a lot out. Got the impression Poole didn't like having their nosed pushed out of joint, and were jealous of the attention Darcy got. The last word is reserved for Darcy. The way he resisted the move from Magic, in heat 11 was unbelievable. Nonchalantly, he straightened up and applied more throttle to disappear into the distance. The art of a true craftsman......... Brilliant....

What is it about some, they show no respect and have scant regard for what was without doubt the best era our sport has ever known. At a time when Britain ruled the roost in speedway terms, Belle Vue, was the top club that was always thereabouts for years, We're not talking about a time when we have only a few clubs and even less riders, we're talking about a time when we had twice as many teams, and when the sport's popularity was second only to football. Crowd of thousands (not like the few hundred of today) flocked to see all the matches. Riders from all over the world came and competed for the opportunity just to ride for our teams. Wouldn't it be great if it was like that today... With comments like the above, shows your disrespect to the sport, the people and the clubs. If it wasn't for teams like Belle Vue we wouldn't have a sport left to support. History is important, whatever walk of life your are from. and the sooner you realise that, the better person you will become...........

I believe your glossing over the ideas as they are at the moment. The truth being there is very little to choose between the standards of the two leagues and that the majority of riders ride in both divisions anyway. We are making decisions base on a few top riders who race over here. It is not right the sport is held to ransom on the pretence a few more might come back. We need to smell the coffee....... We need to take stock of where the sport is, address the problems and make it again affordable to prosper. By running one league we could set our own levels. and controls the teams to an equal standard instead of the one sided competition. We cant compete with the earnings from abroad so why bother. Why should we be dictated as to when we can run our own meeting, wouldn't it be nice to have meetings at the weekend when the gates are bound to be better. When we have our own house in order, probably we would be more attractive and other riders would want to be involved.... Its so easy to bury your head in the sand and do nothing.... But that way, nothing is ever achieved......

My comment wasn't base on one result only, it was from a culmination of all their results for the past few weeks. and also in didn't relate as such, Just because you lost by 30 you would automatically drop a division. The comment was based on the thought that other clubs, who had struggled in the BEL with team strength, results, support and finance and seen it better to drop a division to survive. I wasn't being detrimental or facetious in any way , more about being realistic... I honestly believe the amalgamation of the Elite and Premier league is emanate and hopefully will signal the start of the revival of the sport in this country..... The difference between the leagues has diminished, and now it solely relates to about dozen world class riders...

Sidney, I'm like you in that I always prepared to forgive and forget... .... When you are individuals like you and me, if we do wrong, it is only ourselves and family who are affected. When someone like Darcy does wrong he is letting down Millions, (Thousands anyway) He enjoys a life far better than we could imagine, so when someone is prepared to forego all that for something so menial, you have to question his sanity.,, He has lets people down so many times, you wonder does he keep deserving all these chances. I wonder if your view would differ, had he been riding for someone else..... I sincerely hope Darcy has learnt from the error of his ways and goes on from here, to become the Champion his talents warrant, Then I will say WELL DONE Son!!! But I'm not holding my breath.......

Depends on who you want to be judged by. Of cause people do wrongs, but its the degrees of wrongness and the ability to learn from them mistakes is what's important. His respect for others.... Thankfully, I was brought up to know right from wrong. I was taught about, Honour, Dignity, Presence, Integrity to name just a few. 'You reap what you sow' was another part of life that was so important. But the most important aspect was RESPECT. Respect for other people, Respect for peoples position, Respect for competition, Respect for fans and their loyalty. in fact, respect for everything in life...... only when you do that, will he get the respect from others that his achievements warrant. Regardless of his talent on a bike, until he shows that respect, he deserves all the bad comments he gets.....

I cant see them doing any better when then travel to Lynn next week. Must be challenging Lakeside now, for the mantel of ' Worse Travellers' Sure is a bad sign for Speedway when a Wolves team perform so inadequately. Teams are suppose to be relatively equal with competition in every race. Winning 60-30is doesn't do anyone any favours. At this rate, I can see more teams following the direction of the Panthers into the Premier League.

Sounds more like desperation to me. If he had any dedication at all, this @hit would never have happened.

Sidney, Our sport wants all the help it can get, and the interest Darcy generates has to be good. Rightly or wrongly, I always give people the benefit of doubt, and I like to see people do well. Darcy Ward is an immensely talented rider, who has constantly abused the faith and belief people have put in him. He has had more brushes with authorities than most, but still fails to grasp the responsibility that goes with the job he does. If he has learnt from his failures and is prepared to behave sensibly, then yes, I will enjoy watching him and cheer him on, as he progresses to the champion, we all feel he can be. ......... If he's not prepared to do that, then I far as I'm concerned, he can sod off now...... The ball is very much in his court...........

The only good thing about this fixation of Darcy Ward, it creates a lot of added interest to the sport. And that has to be good....... Just shows, what bad shape our sport is in.

Quite simple really. Firstly, Have a big Committee ( they say, safety in numbers) and Secondly, Committee Members cant make decisions on their own riders.. Making it a lot fairer..

Because of the way the averages has been systematically destroyed over the years, they don't serve any purpose now. They are purely fictitious figures, used when its suits. Once they were related to a riders ability, but not now. They serve no rightful purpose... Instead, Why not grade each rider at the start of each year. A committee is set up to access their ability, base on various information, Results, Improvement, Injuries, Competition etc...etc... Graded riders LH1= 5pts; LH2=4pts; HL3 =3pts; 2nd=2pts and FTR = 1pt. ................ Teams to have total 8 riders, but team strength = max 20 pts per meeting............ Got to be fairer than it is now..........

Why is it in most SGP, the tracks, at the start of each Grand Prix are usually all 'gate and go' and 'one track only' exercise. It appears the track doesn't become racable until its had a few races run. The track at Cardiff was the best I'd seen, but we had to wait until the last batch of rides before the excitement started......and the gates weren't the most important factor... Forgive me for being too obvious, but surely running a few races, as additional practise, prior to the start of the meeting would benefit everybody concerned. Benefits: 1) It would bed the track in allowing it to become racable from the start of the meeting, 2) It would provide pre-meeting entertainment for the punters, 3) It would give riders a better insight to the state of the track, enabling the right setup from the start.. 4) It would minimise the preference of gate selection, allowing a fairer distribution of points 5) It would make a better 'value for money' package of watching more races for the same cost... 6) Minimal cost to the promoters. Benefits all round........,

What is it with people in this country, we always look for the negatives. Christ it weren't that bad. I've seen far worse. Sky do try to bring the sport to the viewers, and they have no control of what goes on in the races, so no one can blame them. The track is not ideal, but they at least have one. I'm sure there are many clubs, who have closed down, would like to be in Berwick's situation. Ok, last night, fortunes were against the Bandits from the start, but praise to the Panthers for their determination to win.... and win well. Just hope Lamberts is OK following a nasty looking accident.

I can understand your logic with what you say, and your conclusion would make perfect sense. As a retired Project Manager, it was always my aim to eliminate problems. be them large or small. When something like this happens on a meeting of this scale, someone has to take the responsibility to fix it. Because all gates should be reasonably equal. it was paramount this problem be eradicated. Yes, the track held up well and deserved all the praised it received. But surely the gate issue must have shown itself up when the pre-meeting practice took place. This is the part I can't understand. If what you say about the levels of the start area, then why not do the remedy work to bring all levels equal. If the out lanes are being compacted because of the riding line, then supply the start marshals with rakes. Issues need to be alleviated. Doing nothing is never acceptable...... Failing that, and thinking out of the box, then why not position the start line at a small angle ( Similar to Athletics), bring the inside say 5 or 6ft further back. It may not be ideal, but it would have been far better than doing nothing. At least it would have given everyone an even chance of getting to the semi's Who knows, Cookie may have reached the semi's had the gates been fair. As if was, riders like Holder, Woffy, and Pedersen received a massive helping hand by having 2 rides from the inside gate. Probably had Cookie received the same privilege as them , he might have made it too......

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the plans and schedule for the EDR's were laid down so everybody knew the score. Instead of which, it appears the BSPA make it up as they go along........... Unfortunately, half thought out ideas, are not the recipe for success.....

We had the top 16 riders in the world on show, but even the best gaters couldn't make gate 4 work. Never seen such gate biasness before, and as I previously said, it took the shine off the meeting. Never before has such importance been put on the gate selection order for the semi and final. Just so pleased the meeting wasn't determined by that advantage. NKI, proving a worthy winner, coming from gate 3. .