Chris Brown

Had a text from the old boy tonight to say he wasn't pissed when he fell and he is having an operation on Wednesday, his arthuritis and brittle bones clearly not helped Hope it all goes well for Bryn and we see him up and about real soon

Fair enough, thought the comment was a bit strange if meant the other way

Sounds like the saddest part really is a lad who is in hospital Not sure how anyone could think anything was sadder than that. Sounds like Bridger was a clown but lets not suggest that is more of a concern that a young lad in hospital

Twice this year I might add The idea of yet another wild card is ridiculous. He has ridden is 6 GP series and finished 9th, 13th, 14th, 6th, 11th and 12th so after getting a freebie in for 2007 has qualfied only once previously and been given 5 handouts, time for someone else Nothing against him but 5 wild card picks is at least 3 too many for one rider

3000 at Coventry. Geez where have they all come from. Crowds were dire there in recent years weren't they Must the brilliant entrepreneurship of Mick Horton !!

Its known that SKY do not like empty stadiums. I recall a few years ago when I had a season ticket for Harlequins RL, it was SKY that insisted that everyone was housed in the stand opposite the camera so it at least made the stadium look a bit fuller Not sure I agree with the previous point about the likes of Wolves/Belle Vue/Eastbourne. Speedway is more than just open throttle you know

A agree, Nicholls has decided he doesn't want to represent GB anymore so not even sure why is part of the discussion A few years ago Woffinden came in and struggled but certainly learned from it and look what is happening now. Look to the future rather than the riders that are sadly the past

Ales Dryml has suffered a suspected broken left collarbone in his crash in the European Speedway Round in Russia on Saturday. He is having an Xray on Monday and then an operation on Tuesday. He travelled back to his home yesterday evening Still a bad injury but could have been so much worse Brother Lukas has an appointment at the same hospital also tomorrow to have his shoulder checked

I agree I am fed up of people moaning about the Eurosport commentary team. The alternative is of course maybe these meetings not being televised They are new to it so cut them some slack. IMO they are so much better than Pearson and Tatum. The new bloke is that, new to the sport. Pearson and Tatum talk utter garbage and have been around the sport for decades and should know better

I find it bizarre that speedway fans think that what riders are paid in sponsorship, points money or frankly anything else to do with their personal finances is any of their business I buy the Speedway Star but as a customer I do not see it as my business to know what Philip Rising is paid, can't think of any reason why I would to know either to be honest

My first sight of Robert Lambert and all I can say is WOW!!! Mightily impressive and beaten only when outgated by Steve Boxall in Heat 15

I am not Middleditch fan but to be fair he has no tools to play with, why not ? Because the EL clubs (his more than most) do naff all to help British riders and this will mean we will struggle for years, its been coming but nothing is done I know many will say its about their clubs and therefore don't care but then why come on and complain when the National team struggle. Can't have it both ways I see tonight both Swindon and Peterborough official Twitter accounts posting praising their riders for their contribution in the meeting tonight. Sadly they are celebrating the fact this put Team GB out of the competition. Maybe this sums up British Speedway when BRITISH clubs are more interested in their Australian and US riders than the fact hat GB has gone out of the competition. You would hope British fans would want to see the overseas riders in their clubs fail miserably in the World Team Cup Have I got that wrong ?

Grates with me to see Nicholls commentating on the damn thing when he should stop behaving like a child and ride in the event Just my view and I am sure he has his reasons even though I don't agree with them

While I agree with this in principle the decision last night says that its OK for riders to just keep going when there is no gap to pass. This is also a dangerous precedent for me. Emil should have shut off IMO, he had the chance and chose not to

You are forgetting the Czech's being in the European Pairs with a Slovenian in their team as well You are not wrong but surely that doesn't make it right ?

Isn't it ridiculous that where riders have to go through a number of qualifying rounds to get to that point that a rider who has potentially already failed is put back in just because of the country the meeting is in. At the end of the day most fans are only interested in the riders from their club rather than than their country. Why not put another Poole rider in it, I suspect that would have a bigger impact on the crowd Whichever way its ridiculous

Presenters too I suspect !!!

You know what I mean, its all the more impressive that the IOW team are so young A really good setup they have over there, an enjoyable day all round

Just back from a real Men v Boys encounter. Stoke were spirited of that there is no doubt and never gave up with the IOW are a class apart. Ellis was stunning, Perry also and Darryl Ritchings is a vastly improved rider. Also thought Ben Hopwood were carrying a lot less timber which clearly made a difference. May be I could learn from him !!! So a very impressive IOW performance, boosted by RR being the only Maximum rider tonight.

Sods law I had Freddie at 25/1 and KK at 40:1. Win only though

Clearly you need to ask Emil because apparently he must think its great Alternatively ask Freddie Lingdren why on a perfect track he stupidly fell off on his own Sadly there are people who think BSI are beyond criticism but I agree with you entirely, its completely and utterly indefensible but looks like some influential people are defending it

Sorry but when 38,500 people pay around £60 each to attend a high class event then there is no excuse and quite simply the track HAS to be right. So BSI will walk away with their £2m+ gate receipts and rely on our top Speedway reporters to tell us that it was OK because the winner had no complaints. It is totally unacceptable for the organisers to prepare such a poor track and to be honest its even worse for apologists for them to try and defend it. This is a big bucks business and people are expected to pay top dollar for this crap. Its not defendable and still these people slowly destroy our beloved sport and the Editor of only speedway publication defends it Philip, I admire your loyalty to the money men in the sport but you can't defend that, people have paid £2m+ in admission charges and more than that in hotels, transport etc etc and these people are frankly taking the p**s. You defending them is I suspect not what people want to hear Just an opinion of someone who has fallen out of love with this sport and can see many more going the same way if we think that crap is acceptable Lets hope the organisers listen to likes of yourself. Maybe we need to shout it out BEEN FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS AND WON'T BE GOING AGAIN Still not sure they give a toss about your money anyway

Fair point. You surely rent a stadium of that size for a set number of days, arguing as some have that there is been nothing there for 2 weeks so there has been time is only relevant if you are renting it for 2 weeks. Any sensible business would only rent for the minimum time needed Having said that its clear there has been a grave error made which has seemingly almost seen the worst possible circumstances and while I understand why BSI have said nothing, they would have been made to look extremely stupid and incompetent has there been an issue and the meeting had to be cancelled whether be this morning or later in the day Anyway, seems its going to be OK, I guess 5pm will tell us that so lets hope it goes ahead and importantly is entertaining for the people paying £60/£70 each on average for tickets. For that money there can be NO excuse for poor track prep regardless of any external influence Let wait and see

So were it not for the pesky speedway forums they would have managed to cover up their incompetence and nobody would be any the wiser. Having said that, I am really pleased for the people in and on their way to Cardiff. Lets hope they have a good day and these people who some will have you believe act in the best interests of our sport can get away with fleecing everyone again. Just an opinion

Philip, I am encouraged to hear the BSI recognise that it sits with them. What is disappointing is that on their Twitter feed and on their website you would never know there is a problem. The only info is coming from you and the riders. For me that is a disgrace, its not for you to have to report what is going on. In fact at 11pm last night their Twitter feed was going on about whether everyone was excited. A bit of honesty would not go amiss, rather than treating the poor people who are paying a small fortune for their weekend being treated like fools and leaving press to tell people what is happening. The fact that you say you are going at 8am and will report back, do they not have a media outlet ?