E I Addio

Actually the name Somerset Rebels does have a closer link to a historic event than most Speedwáy team names. One of the most historic events in the county was the Pitchfork Rebellion which was brought to an end in 1685 at the Battle of Sedgemoor, not far from the site of the present track. So Rebels is an appropriate name for the team . I suppose technically they could wear a pitchfork on their Kevlars but that's a bit of a symbol of working class farm workers and peasants being anihilated by the Kings forces so personally I think the confederate flag is ideal as is synonymous with the spirit of rebellion. So it seems to me that the Confederate flag is an ideal emblem . It is appropriate for a team suitably called the rebels, it sums up the spirit of defiance that a Speedwáy team seems to embody, and it upsets the terminally upset-able who would be happier with an ISIS flag. Somehow I don't think the Kings Lynn Cheryl's or the Wolverhamton Adeles would work. The Poole Prostitutes sounds about right though.

I just love these old films on youtube. There are some terrific gems to be found. It's a bit before my time of going to grass tracks but I can't remember any near Gravesend. Having said that, there are, or at least have been some very strong motorcycle clubs in the general area so could possibly be a few miles from Gravesend. I loved watching the whole film though. Shame about the poor quality of the film, which made it difficult to identify the bikes. They don't seem to have been power sliding very much so I would say it was maybe a smallish club event without any particularly outstanding riders, back in the days when it wasn't taken too seriously and the idea was simply to have fun. Great piece of memorabilia.

That's Speedwáy fans for you. Woofy gives British Speedwáy a miss and the fans moan about it. Kenny Bjerre stays loyal to British Speedwáy and the fans moan about that as well.

One reason is that he can't be much worse than the variety of guests that turned up at Lakeside last season. Secondly, although he is perhaps not the man he once was he has always been a track specialist at Lakeside, with a long record of good service for the club, so will have the crowd behind him which makes all the difference to a rider, and thirdly he was brought in at 5 at Leicester which is a bit above him but as a second string, he should have the experience to get him through. I agree he probably won't pull up any trees away from home but Lakeside's immediate problem after last year is to start winning a few home matches, and Swid has proved himself capable of winning heat 15. In fact if my memory is not playing tricks on me he best AJ when he came with Leicester last year.

It depends on what is meant by "squad" . We have yet to find out but it COULD be something as simple as Ed Kennett and Rich Lawson sharing the same berth. That is nothing new . In the past we have seen D/u riders sharing a job, for example Phil Morris and Stuart Robson have shared a role at Lakeside as have Robbo and Kauko Neiminen. Jon Cook is not the most accurate person in the world when it comes to making quotes and it may be that he his referring to job sharing rather than squads in the normal sense of word. I suspect that is the case but I don't know. We'll have to see what else leaks out. It's not the sort of thing the BSPA normally make a formal announcement about.

Interesting that Swidders is said to be on a "bargain" average of 3.87 . Well, it's only a bargain if it means he squeezes in just under the points limit. If they have two or three points to spare anyway it's not a bargain. Does this mean the points limit has been reduced ? We shall have to wait and see but it will be interesting to see if Kenny Bjerre squeezes in anywhere now.

He said speedway is the only sport you get penalised for doing well. Thats not the case and it has been well canvassed on this forum that other sports have to adjust team strengths when they are successful particularly in the USA Secondly to say they are "torn apart" is typical of the exagerration that is now common place on thsi forum. Belle Vue have managed to keep pretty much the same line up as last year particularly in their top three, plus they have kept Fricke and added their own asset , Worral. Poole have lost Darcy thorugh injury, nothing to do with the points limit, they have kept Holder and Watt and added Hans who is arguably the best second heatleader in the country and would fit in plenty of teams as No1. They have lost North and added Buckowski. They have lost Magic who has apparently chosen not to ride in the UK for reasons unconnected with the points limit. That hardly adds up to being penalised. They are already favourites on paper in many peoples estimation.and without the points limit they would be even further ahead. Both Poole and Belle Vue have shown that by careful and astute planning the nucleus of a good team can be retained. The teams that have been most "torn apart" are Kings Lynn and Leicester. They lost Neils who chose to leave, apparently Posing who they seemingly don't want back, Bjerre who for whatever reason seems not to be going back, and Kerr because of changing their race night. None of that was anything to do with the points limit. Leicester have a massive hole where Doyle was but his departure has absolutely nothing to do with the points limit. Coventry lost Anderson who chose to leave for reasons of his own, nothing to do with the points limit, and they lost Kylmakorpi who also left of his own choice. When you stand back and look at the merry-go-round of riders the teams that are "penalised" and "torn apart" are those that punish themselves, the successful ones are those who are astute at managing team strength. In most professional team sports it is accepted that there has to be a balancing of team strengths to some degree in order to provide reasonably close competition. In many sports that balancing is done by leagues in which the weak teams go down and the strong ones come up.. Speedway unfortunately doesn't have that luxury so we have a points limit. Years ago we had the rider control committee but whatever method you use it means having some sort of leveller to retain spectator interest. No system is perfect but to talk in terms of teams being "penalised" and "torn apart" is a rampant exaggeration.

Yep, that's why poor old Poole get torn apart every year and , why Belle Vue are nailed in for the wooden spoon after last years successful team have been "torn apart" What a load of old tosh.

Not necessarily. Lewis Blackbird was announced on 3rd Nov . At the time of the announcement it was also stated that it was dependent on Blackbird returning to racing, and Jon Cook also said there was a back up plan if Blackbird did not come back. We will probably never know if the back up plan involved Kerr or someone else but Lakeside had first pick so if their was any doubt about it they coukd have had someone like Howarth. We will never know all the ins and outs of what went on but the bottom line is that Chapman changed his race night without a back up plan, knowing that Kerr was going to Ippo, and gambled on NKI without a plan B when he knew the rider was very lukewarm about returning.

e One presumes that at the time the points limit was set, promoters with a reasonable degree of business acumen woukd have a pretty good idea of who was prepared to sign for them. It's obvious that Poole and Belle Vue had their ducks more or less in a row before the season ended. Wolves clearly had a good idea of who there spearhead would be well before the AGM leaving only minor placings to be filled. We have known since last July that AJ was coming back to Lakeside and at Lakeside's last meeting of the season certain riders were told there would be jobs for them in 2016 and they agreed to them. Swindon and Coventry seem to have had a fair idea of the basis of their sides. All of those clubs seem to be more or less in striking distance of the points limit. There are only two teams struggling at the moment and one wonders why they agreed to the points limit if they didn't have some idea who they wanted. Both were gambling on the return of riders who were known to be uncertain, but neither had a plan B. Neither seems to have put any serious feelers out before the AGM. Yes it would be wrong to go back and change it all now but like any organisation the BSPA is only as strong as its weakest links and if changing it all now is what it takes to stop the dithering promotions going under that , or something like it is what will happen. Doesn't bode well for Chapmans chairmanship of the BSPA.

The Stars have also signed the South Korean long track champion. When Rob Lyon was asked how negotiations for a second heatleader were going it's admitted " Oh it's Phu Kin-Ell"

It was previously agreed that both sides could use there D/u riders hence Lakeside also had both their d/u riders who should have shared the same berth and would not normally have been riding in the same match . Therefore Poole also "rolled over" in your words and agreed to that. To a normal person was a trade off to get a decent match on in unusual circumstances. Read what people were saying at the time about the match being a fitting tribute.

Only you could me so insensitive and dredge up something that happened in a highly charged emotional meeting three days after the Lakeside captain was fatally injured. It a very emotional meeting for obvious reasons . Both sides had various problems with their teams. The promotions for both sides agreed the important thing was to,put on a show for the crowd without bickering. Lakeside also fielded a technically illegal team that night using two riders who shared a d/u berth. Poole agreed to that, so by your terms of reference they rolled over and accepted it as well. The referee approved both line ups. The rider who took Masters rides failed to score in those rides as I recall so a protest would have made no difference anyway.Given the sensitivity of the occasion I would say practically every fan with a grain of decency would say the trade off between the two teams to put a decent match on was reasonable and sensible in the circumstances. Pity you don't see it that way.

The report also says there will be a rider announcement after the BSPA meeting on Tuesday. If you go on the website and click on 2016 Hammers there are photos of 7 riders, 6 have their names under the pictures but the other one doesn't . But he does have Richard Lawsons name on his bike ! It looks like they are sorting out fixtures with Glasgow before final confirmation. I think the fixture list is due out in a week or so time, which seems to tie in with the BSPA meeting, so that appears to be the hold up. If Rich is the final rider it should bring them to less than a point short of the points limit which is about as close as its realistically possible to get.

Let's look at the chronology. Lewis Blackbird must have signed the forms they all have to sign before going on the EDR list. He must have at least been keeping his options open. He was announced as Lakeside's reserve soon after the AGM together with Rob Mear. The Lakeside announcement said it was subject to him deciding to ride and they were hopeful he would ride. They also said they had a back up plan if he decided not to ride. Its inconceivable that he would have been announced or that Lakeside would say they were hopeful he would ride if he had said he was definitely not riding, or if he had withdrawn his name from the EDR list. If he had said he was definatey not riding the back up plan, Plan B would have been plan A We don't know what the back up plan was or whether it involved Lewis Kerr but Lakeside side moved to sign Kerr as soon as he withdrew from KL. We will never know all the details but clearly nBlackbird was not formally retired when the list was produced and it beggars belief that Lakeside would have signed him and let Adam Ellis go as a consequence, if they knew he wasn't going to ride.

A bit late to start doing the picks again I think. Kevlars in club colours will have been ordered at £800 a go, sponsorship deals set up with local sponsors and the fixture list is well on the way, amongst other things It would cause too much disruption to do the picks again (although worth it if Kyle Newman somehow finished up at Leicester instead of Poole!)

Is there any factual reason to think Barker is in the frame or is this all rumour at the moment?

Whatever one chooses to believe or not believe about the reasons for the track changes, the good news has to be that this investment wouldn't be made unless the promotion and sponsors were confident of a long term future for the track. Despite the clouds of doom hanging over the sport there is money invested at Leicester , a new stadium at Belle Vue , progress (apparently) at Swindon, big money going in from the new promotion at Glasgow, a new promotion taking over at Rye House, a well funded private team sponsoring Lewis Kerr, are just a few signs the some believe there is life in the old sport yet and are prepared to put their money where there mouth is. That doesn't mean the future is rosy, far from in fact, but it does suggest the sport is not yet on its death rattle, as the doom and gloom merchants who pollute the forum would have us believe.

Very difficult to disagree with any of that.

A lovely nostalgic post. I think your upbringing was not a lot different to mine. From the earliest age I can remember it was motorbikes. Even the bedtime stories my Dad told me as a toddler seemed to involve Speedwáy and Speedwáy riders. I think you are right about th e occasion, and I do belive seeing top riders every few weeks on TV in the GP's since Sky came along has taken away some of the awe that surrounded them. When you only saw top stars maybe once or twice a year it gave them an extra charisma. Not the same when they are on TV all the time. I still enjoy the racing though. It's not better, not worse, just different now. I

Whilst that is a valid point I think it has to be said that the overall standard of the lower order riders is much better these days. Briggo was the first rider to realise the importance of fitness. He was the first to realise that there was more to it than time on the bike. Ivan Mauger wasn't the first to realise the importance of being methodical and professional but he took it to a new level. Those were the qualities that years ago set riders like Briggs and Mauger apart from the rest, but they set the standard for others to copy. These days most reasonable middle order riders are far fitter and far better prepared than they used to be and I think that closes the gap between the heatleaders and second strings/ reserves. My memory tells me you are right but memories are not reliable and nostalgia ain't what it used to be. Like most things in life we only remember the highlights and forget the dull bits. If we had a time machine and went back we might be disappointed. Having said that I would give anything to go back just once to experience those halcyon days at West Ham and Hackney . You don't know what you've got till its gone !

Spot on with regard to the material. The received wisdom seems to be that the material used at KL is the type to favour stock cars these days, because that's where the bulk of the income comes from. Do any locals have first hand knowledge of this ? I also think your first paragraph is spot on. Good meetings usually have to do with the occasion, the weather, and compatibility of the teams, rather than the shape of the track. The trouble is that Speedwáy is run on such tight financial margins these days that it's not always possible to spend the sort of money that provides a perfect race track.

The first post on this thread suggested that we all try to be nice to each other until the season starts again. Instead of being suspicious and talking about new input why don't you just try to be nice to Captain Pugwash ? It won't hurt you. The thread was ambling along quite nicely until you and Ray Stadia came on trying to stir things up. If you can't say something nice about the Cap'n say nothing. Make yourself a nice cup of tea, settle down , and move on. There's a good chap.

I read somewhere ( I think it was in Classic Speedwáy) that in Ivan Maugers farewell meeting at Belle Vue which was run in November the rode with full length mudguards over the rear wheel and had no visibility problems with spray. Can anyone gem ember or comment on that ?

AJ Holder Hans Ellis Mear Freddie