Pinny

If Kurtz is retained for 2019, he cant start at 1 again

Hit the nail on the head, the Aussies are notorious for hating wet tracks. To see the names Parker and Crump espiecially is baffling, two great riders one obviously far better than the other but they hated wet tracks were amongst the first to complain. I remember Tim Stone soaking the track va Glasgow one year at Newport on a typical roasting , dusty Sunday afternoon and Parker was out on the track trying to stop him. Remember the PLRC at Sheffield also one year , the track was a bit rough and Parker and Scheiln were trying to get the meeting called off. Craig Watson, after he had suffered many serious injuries, hated wet tracks and would look a shadow of his normal self .

Yes I do think it could be kept quiet, the promoter could have said if you tell anyone your owed money you wont get a thing. stop being so naive . You make your old man look intelligent.

The usual people getting all up tight and defensive because something bad has been said about their beloved promotion. a few years ago in Aus , our boss wasnt paying us on time and was at least a week late every week. We turned up, worked half arsed, took long lunch breaks, done no ot and didnt have a care in the world till we were paid. And guess what? Speedway is a job and the signs are there something isnt right so who can blame fans for speculating? i remember years ago Hans Andersen wasnt getting paid at Peterborough under one of the Hortons and it reflected in his scoring, all the fans got up tight and said nope Colin Horton wouldnt rip riders off why would Hans not try and lose money? And we all know what happened there!!! the usual tools like spin king junior with their rose tinted specs on... wake up and smell the coffee! This isnt a team out of form, this is a club with big problems behind the scenes.

Top ten entertainers I have seen in the GPs, EL and PL, in no order: Frank Smart, Tomasz Gollob, Nicki Pedersen, Andreas Jonsson, Charlie Gjedde (Newport 2011-sublime), Chris Harris, Tony Rickardsson, NK Iversen, Ben Howe (Newport) and Antonio Lindback (his early EL days). Not sure on best riders but a certain top 4 of: Nicki Pedersen, Greg Hancock, Tony Rickardsson and Jason Crump.

Definately more to it , something shocking going on behind the scenes... are riders being paid???? Losing by 20 at home to a rubbish Newcastle side is quite frankly a joke.

And do you blame him? After the amount of emptyheads you get on Poole threads calling him out when they lose, he has every right to tbh! nice to see that Darren Cooks been rather quiet lately!

This Bates guy seems another new promoter to the sport who hasnt a clue how to dea with things, Bottom of the league in both leagues and multiple changes that havent worked. All season long fans of both Sheffield and Leicester have criticised him. At least its clear to see where Josh Bates gets his shocking attitude from.

Its not that their music isnt any good, I’m not really a fan but you dont want to be listening to outdated stuff like that at a speedway meeting. There is so much work to be done to even attempt to get it off its arse. Every single club would need to upgrade facilities, tracks, the bspa would need to completely re write the rulebook. One of the main things that would need stopping is doubling up. Forget how many riders are available... all clubs go to the AGM knowing doubling up/down is a thing of the past. Then you can figure out how many teams in each league. Guests can still be used from either league on half/double their respective league average. Riders must sign a contract stating they will be at events like ELRC/PLRC . If their not there , they get fined £5000. Fixed race nights clearly dont work in this country so get rid of that and go back to clubs preferred race nights. It was brought in to stop double uppers being missing but there is still riders missing all the time. Get rid of doubling up, you wont have clashes. People will disagree obviously but something needs doing. No having GP superstars dictating what goes on. If they dont like it, they can sod off back to Poland and Sweden. take the sports back to basics and invent a decent product for potential newcomers... they wont care if riders like Richard Lawson are number ones instead of Jason Doyle. I got hooked on the sport when it was a better product than it is now 20 years ago. Craig Watson was my home towns number one not Tony Rickardsson. Didnt stop me getting hooked on it straight away. I still think the sports fcuked in UK but something has to be tried rather than all these stupid pathetic things they try each year. also, what on earth is someone like Rob Godfrey doing anywhere near the top of the chairman standings. He only gets a few hundred through the gate every week, get someone in as chairman who is young, full of positive ideas , proven track record of good promoting.

Swedish crowds are far higher than UK crowds... not sure what their like when televised but seen the average crowds for each top flight club a few weeks ago and their a lot better than the UK crowds.

Name some of the biggest rivalries between opposing riders that you have seen during your time following the sport. ill start it off with Anders Henriksson and Carl Stonehewer. Wasnt at Sheffield the night Stonehewer chased Anders with a shovel, but seen them at Newport many times. Anders was usually the only Wasp who could beat Stoney around Newport, Watson rarely did and he was our superstar number 1. I remember Stonehewer losing to Henriksson in one meeting fair and square and causing a right scene at the pit gate. Henriksson then took Stoney off at Reading during his spell with Reading which resulted in a centre green brawl. Sure there will be bigger rivalries, but in my time watching the sport, that was the biggest involving a Wasps rider. Anders had Stonehewers number and he hated it!

Its doomed. I cannot see how there can ever be a way back now. 9/10 tracks dont even get 1000 through the gates anymore. Think speedway is just not in with the times anymore, the fans who did attend have just got fed up with the constant watering down of the product, riders missing every week, rubbish race surfaces half the time, irregular home meetings, same teams visiting on the bounce, ancient presentation and music, pretty poor spectating facilities .... why would any new fans want to turn up every week taking that lot into account ? I remember as a 9 year old first going to Newport, there was a meeting every week. And that was just Premier League level. The Mavericks were on every other Saturday in the Conference league. Youd rarely see a rider missing, and if they were it was for a genuine reason. None of this injured for one team and then suddenly fit again the next night for their other team. The sport is absolutely on its arse in the UK, and its hard to see any way out at all. can you imagine attending your first meeting. One team has r/r , a national league guest at number one and a guest. The other also has r/r and guests . Your stood around on a cold winter night watching tractors going around listening to Wham or Duran Duran. Why the hell would you ever want to go back?

Didnt Ferjan have recurring arm or leg injury? I think it was rumoured he had comitted suicide but later confirmed it was a blood clot or something similar

Very sad news. A good rider on his day, crazy how you can go from scoring 11 points one day to deciding to take your own life the next. must be the 4th or 5th Pole to do so within the last 15 years? RIP.

Has to be Rob Lambert for me.

No it wont at all. Any team that signs Iversen next year on his 2018 average is in no way similar to Woffys signing. Stop talking garbage.

I thought a certain rider got injured before the meeting unloading a van and therefore didnt have to take the test but then again maybe thats wide of the mark too.

Think at the time it was mentioned as being Travis Mcgowan. Dont think he actually got tested though, something to do with his back, his bike and a van?!

I thought Bird had been on cocaine at Cardiff or something like that? i think it was Smart and Lobb who were on the amphets but could be wrong.

Nonense, if he doesnt want to ride at Poole he wont no matter who owns his contract. So no, it is not up to Poole at all. he has been superb this season for Somerset, why would he want to go back to Poole anyway?

I reckon he will make the top 8 now though anyway.

There maybe more to it than Bjerres form but seems silly at this stage of the season.

Iversen, if fully fit, is a welcome addition to the grand prix series as proved . Hes more than capable of mixing it with the top 8. lindback if hes in the mood also, trouble with him he doesnt seem to be in the mood a lot of the time.

Kasper Andersen and Mountain for Bjerre and Lawlor? Jesus christ. Bjerres probably their best home rider, why the hell would they get rid of him and replace him with Andersen who will struggle to average 4.50?! Madness. they seem to of lost the plot at Sheffield!

Your last paragraph is a contradiction... Pedersen all action last night and won the thing. if hes capable of nights like that still, he should still be in the series. If hes still mixing around the top 8 at the end and requires a wild card, then taking into account his Swedish and Polish league form, where he tops the averages, and his recent GP form, he deserves to have another wild card regardless of how many he has previously had.