1 valve

His UK clubs will take priority if they so wish.

Erik Riss looked very smooth and considering the company he was racing against on Saturday - fast. On his Facebook page there is a video of him nipping around a tight track equally well. all bodes well for the Lions having a rider who can and will improve his average during the season.

Yes such as. Barry (Sheen) John (Surtees) Mike (Hailwood) Nigel (Boocock) Ray (Wilson) Chris (Holder) Jason (Doyle/Crump) sponsors are attracted to "names" that are good performers far easily than to performers who are just names - Not sure Wayne Rooney would have made a living out of his name or looks unless he performed as he did on the pitch (OK being a Shrek look a like could have netted him a bob or two)

Is the track ready to go or work still needed?

And of course in reality the most points a team can gain in a double up v normal points is 3 i.e.an 8-1 v 5-1 and given that the facility is available only in 8 heats it hardly dominates proceedings. That said I would sooner see team mangers being allowed to have three Tactical substitutes with no doubling of points if their team is 6 or more points behind after all riders have had at least one ride up to and including heat 13. Riders being allowed only to be used once as a TS.

yes there is...they are not good enough. If teams were to be built on nationality more than available skill fans would soon start complaining. Feeder leagues and training programs is the answer to developing better UK riders as opposed to giving them jobs over better existing talent.

Same night as round two of the GP's...how will this effect attendance I wonder?

Ford has got it spot on. Nor sure the KL promotion dug their heels in over Chris Holder in the same way who I guess would have to live in Poland in order to get a work permit if UK speedway adopted Fords position. The Poles should not be allowed to dictate to all and sundry so well done to MF for showing the way it should be handled.

It would be good as you suggest. but I think more so for the fans of the Bees than the riders who will be fixed up with other clubs - I just hope the teams they put out will be competitive and the fans stay united in supporting their "on the road team" by turning up at the tracks otherwise the concept will soon wane and fade away

Have you managed to find some fresh dry shale?

yes the writing has been on the wall for some time now. This is why the changes for 2017 have been put into place as the sport begins to comes to terms with running within its means and doing awy with the service of riders it cant afford. It is a great pity but, speedway has been here before and has come back strong. Good housekeeping/prudent business is a start...Good weather during 2017 will be a great help too.

maybe you would have not been quite so pleased to see the back of SKY (who paid more into UK speedway than any other single source of sponsorship since they have been covering our sport) If there was not another TV company prepared to take over?

If I wanted to become a speedway promoter where could I find a stadium where there is an unused track waiting to be brought back to life? please don't say Coventry as that's a given - I interested to see if there any long forgotten ones still around like Oxford

How would you suggest they earn a living then? And if no fee was to be paid then who, (with the required knowledge & contacts) do you think would be prepared to achieve the desired results without payment?

How many of the tracks that have closed since 1990 are still in existence as a site where speedway could be reintroduced AKA Brandon as opposed to tracks that have been redeveloped AKA Hackney and are gone for good?

There are some very good people around who could do a great job in promoting speedway and creating real growth at the turnstyles etc. Some of them are already involved in the sport but unfortunately we have a few promoters and administrators remaining who are responsible for bringing speedway to this low point in the sports long history. Until those deadbeats go away together with their narrow vision and self interest, the good guys face an almost impossible task to turn speedway around. Maybe its about time some thinking was given to what type of revolution can be implemented to address the current evolutionary process which is driving the sport to its inevitable extinction?

I assume you are presuming the 2millon will pay for the acquisition of the stadium? if so to that you need to add at least another million for fees and making the stadium good to hold meetings. To ensure you protect your investment should the funding not achieve its target there needs to be set up an escrow account which would only release the capital raised as and when the target is met and it is ok to hand over cash as and when required. I take your post as a well meaning start - it will need a lot of coordinating to get it off the ground as well as ensuring the resource can be found to keep it going and steer the ship through muddy waters. Also you will need to ensure conflict with other interested parties is avoided or at least accommodated. Hope your initiative gains traction.

yes this is a very real possibility, However, when I was personally involved in a similar scenario - The point was made and accepted that the stadium and its use was established prior to the houses being built and therefore the complaints were not justified. The residents did get reduced rates and complimentary tickets as compensation.

Putting the issue of a new stadium to one side for a minute- although I do see the reason for concern - can somebody confirm that it will be possible to run the 2017 season on the old track and that what has happened at Coventry namely the track and stadium has been made unfit for purpose, is not the case for the Robins

There is no future in looking backwards. Ok so history tells us that any permutation or all of Sandu, Horton, investin, Investin in Brandon, Brandon estates, and Uncle Tom Cobley are the Villains who caused the closure of Brandon stadium and the withdrawal of Coventry Bees from the 2017 season. There is no turning back, what has happened has happened and there is no worthwhile recourse to be had. So now, the only thing to do is look forward, and plan for what is required i.e Buy Brandon and put it back into shape to stage speedway & Stox (maybe dogs) - No amount of protesting is going to bring Speedway back to Brandon under its current ownership so unless an investor can be found who wants to promote speedway there, this is likely to be dead in the water from the off. Stopping housing development in the short term will not bring back speedway - it will just leave a run down derelict site which eventually will be developed. Develop a new site for speedway/stox?/dogs? A long journey ahead but maybe whilst the iron is hot there is a chance with the local authorities to get something moving quicker than the experience of Leicester - but a promoter will have to be found and so too the money for the stadium. whatever the case maybe, all efforts should be centered on finding financial backing / backers to establish a future for Coventry speedway - the alternative is to just keep going around and around in circles looking for someone to blame...That ship has sailed, time to build a new one!

Horton still holds the license for promoting Coventry speedway which if he is not to be involved in the future of Coventry Speedway then the license will need to be acquired by those new folk brave enough to take it on. This will be one way he gets some if not all of his investment back

Has he changed his mind about giving the UK a miss in 2017?

This is obviously a very sad and emotional time for the fans of Coventry and supporters of speedway throughout the UK. However, it is highly unlikely that the BSPA set out to stab anybody associated with the Bees in the back. On the contrary the BSPA extended (soft) deadlines to the promotion to give them a chance to sort out their home fixtures which eventually they did, but as it turned out there was insufficient funding to guarantee a full season of fixtures once it became clear to the promotion that they would not be able to return to Brandon after 8 meetings and run the remainder of the season there. Therefore it made no sense for the promotion to lodge money with the BSPA nor for the BSPA to allow the Bees to start a season they would almost certainly not complete. Please don't take this in any way as thumbs up for the BSPA - just that in this instance they had no choice but to take this decision.

Technical regulations and doubling up are not the reasons behind Coventry's plight. That said I don't disagree that the cost base needs addressing and although rebranding does not address that particular issue it does allow for a fresh start and the points limit and acceptance that for nowUK speedway cannot afford to have many big (expensive) star riders does. This year is the first time for a long time the promoters appear to have grasped the concept that doing the same thing only brings the same results and given those results are not good results (a continually declining sport) something has had to change....2017 rules and rebranding? its a start but not the end of the changes, hopefully not even the end of the beginning and more changes will follow to build on a improving situation. A case of evolution rather than revolution.

It really is truly fantastic that after all these years of most of us knowing that the track can be improved, that at last it is actually going to be improved. Further, the right people are involved and the intention is that this time everything will be addressed wherever possible. Hope the weather stays good!