1 valve

It is more probable that the ban would be for two years suspended for one. meaning he gets to ride next year but any other offense being committed would immediately trip the two year ban plus any additional punishment for the new offense. Remember he has allready been punished / serving the current ban so this may be taken into consideration also. Frankly I think a one year ban suspended for two years is more suitable.

I think there will be a number teams with the same problem..my suggestion is based on this scenario and actually makes it easier to operate. i.e. Swindon could ride every Thursday and then would ride again the following night. Some clubs do have availability of both nights and their flexibility would be used to accomodate those less fortunate. The key factor is that Elite league operates on the same two consecutive nights each week rather than all clubs having to alternate.

Have two consecutive race nights - Thursday & Friday and the two teams alternate on who rides on a Friday (yes I know rain offs will make it entirely impossible to achieve this 100% but it is the way to go. GP's? both race on Thursday.

One of the big problem British speedway causes foriegn based riders is the number of differing nights we have racing in the UK. meaning that they have to travel back and forwards in one week to complete two or more meetings. Given that Elite league clubs need to run a home meeting most weeks (rather than every other week) then it makes sense to have two consecutive nights rather than (say) Monday and Thursday. benefit being, less travel and rested riders. I know the devil is in the detail but frankly sometimes you have just got t work through the challenge to get to the right answer.

If the sport is to make progress clubs are going to have to become less precious about "their" race night recognise that maybe a bit of give and take would be better for all concerned. I dont think the one (same) race night a week for all clubs is going to get off the ground but I think two (consecutive) nights will.maybe not for 2015 but can see it in place for 2016. If either come to fruition then clearly "Friday is our race night" attitude is going to be a thing of the past. So for 2015 I suggest Leicester & Coventry should give alternating Thursday & Friday a go. Yes the devil is in the detail, but I think the writing is beginning to be written on the wall.

I just dont see that Elite will run on only one race night as this would limit home meetings to once every two weeks whch could be longer if meetings are rained off. The ecconomics of speedway mean clubs have to run for the most part on the basis of having a home meeting every week otherwise there is insufficient income. Hence why two backto back days are the way forward. My bet will be Thursday and Fridays become the race nights as this wil provide some race nights where a school day does not follow which will enable parents to bring their young ones along.

Friday night other than when there iss a GP then Thursday?

Doesn't matter about cost of living and average wages...promoters work on income from ticket sales and resultant outgoings 20,000 x £5 = £100,000 generated to pay costs including wages 2000 x £17 = £34,000 - -if we lucky to see 2000 at a Uk meeting = not so much cash coming in £100,000 / £17 = 5800 people - and if we cant attract 2000 not much chance of getting 5800 but if the right riders could be atracted would this bring in the crowds? Problem is...We do not have speedway stadiums in uk to attract the right level of crowds required (which circuits could comfortably accomodate 6000?) to compete with Poland or even Sweden. hence wages paid are lower. Chicken or egg anyone?

Better still, If after 10 heats a team is 10 or more points behind, half of the points scored by the leading teams top rider is transfered to the trailing team thereby guaranteeing an instant closing of the gap and removing the risk that the rider in the B&W helmet fails to win the heat. So a team leading by 10 with top guy scoring 9 would see their total reduced by 4.5 (rounded up to 5) and the losing team given 4.5 points rounded down to 4 (to be fair to the leading team) and thus now making the meeting a one point match...such excitement bound to get sky commentators go crazy with wows all over the place at such an instant fight back and no extra money for promoters to pay out.

Agree that there should only be one FT - Also the points limit should be raised to accomodate a better quality of rider otherwise we will still have sub standard 6 & 7 in comparison to the top 5 main body riders.

Yes agreed, but as this is a "rules" thing is it down to the promoters or the referees to instigate...and do they (the refs) have such meetings to address isues liek this?

what about Fridays..no school after that and as for saturdays being a good reason for larger crowds this is just not the case as "adults have more to do on staurdays (and I speak as a Lions supporter who would have been able to watch more meetings this season if they had been held on Wed/Thurs/Fridays...plus why is it such a problem if it is a school day the next day, unless of course we are talking about real young kids and lets also not forget that Speedway is held during the summer when the kids are on hols....no school at all for 6 weeks. Conclusion. no easy answer but there is more than one!

Footy and darts are primarily winter sports - so little clash with summer speedway and Sky have more than one channel.

Two nights per week - Thusdays & Fridays. Sky to cover speedway on Thursdays covers all the bases.

He was refiring to the point that Mondays is Sky night for speedway - without considering that Thursday would be an equally attractive alternative to Mondays and assuming sky would insist on Monday night racing...but that is not the case, they only want a fixed night for scheduling purposes and one that doesnt clash with more popular sports to some degree.

Thursday or Friday to allow all tracks to run meetings on a weekly basis rather than home or away per week. Also this should provide flexability for those tracks not promoter owned or where speedway is not the priority. Like it or not EL Speedway cannot exist if there is only one home meeting every two weeks.

Not wednesday as this would allow riders to rest and be fresh for the UK on Thursday rather than wednesday which would mean sat, sun, mon, tues wed, thurs with UK having tired riders on show.

The answer is Elite league race nights on Thursday & Friday - no PL on those days. When there is a GP on the Saturday no meetings on Friday for EL. I could take longer to explain why this is the best answer for all concerned but if you think through the probems and recognise the solutions that could be established then EL will go from strength to strenghth.

Ok so we have all known for a long time that DH holds the view that BP is a technical track to ride and provides great entertaining racing. So no new news there. However does anybody on this forum know of anyone else who agrees with him on either point? Be it a rider, track curator, fan or escaped lunatic? Given that he is the promoter I wouldn't expect anything else other than positive statements in order to appeal to new customers. But in saying that Leicester is a better track for racing and entertainment than KL I'm afraid to say he well off the mark, and always will be untill something is done about the overall dimesions of his beloved version of the M25, with all vehicles following one another except for the occasional accident causing delays.

I think you are spot on - If he came out and said he needed cash and or vounteers I think the problem could be solved as most of the cost would be labour related and we know there would be plenty of volunteers.

So Jim, if nightshift had said "they still turn up when there is a meeting at BP" you would have been in agrement with his post? The other points you make are conjecture on your part. I belive the promotion is making money, the business plan includes the building of a perminent stand (planning now approved) and yes the sport in Leicester goes from strength to strength which is something we should applaud given the sad state of some clubs (which I hope improve) rather than slam! Oh and by the way..I think the straights are too long for the bends and the track shape should be ammended when it is possible to do so. This will provide better racing although not such an increase in passes as some people would like to believe just more in line with what is seen at some tracks

If the stadiums are avaialble (dogs on Thursdays?) Thursday & Friday should work. Saturday would present problems due to GP's and Polish clubs insisting on their riders being avaialble for practice - which unless the EL clubs match the pay on offer (not something they should do given the financial situation of UK speedway) we should accept the riders will need to be in Poland.

A great list of suggestions - the two nights together make for a lot of sense so too elite league taking preference on riders. If thought through this will be the basis for developing the future of the sport in yhe UK top to bottom..now it will take some guts from those that influence such matters to get on with the planning now and not wait until the close season. Cant see why they would need to change their race night..however they would not be able to call on riders linked to EL clubs.

I like the idea of the same race night for all teams, but as this would mean a home meeting every two weeks instead of every week would it be possible to have two race nights a week which would alternate between home and away i.e. Monday & Thursday? I am sure the devil is in the detail but maybe it could work for the EL without cutting across PL?

Ok, so it appaears Tai didn't break any rules and thus was not cheating although I am surprised no such rule covering excesive gardening exists. So like it or not the other riders could have done the same, but chose not too. However, If they had been on track, then the ref would have put them on two minutes which would have restricted the possibility of them and Tai continuing to garden. All Tai did was take advantage of the time delay between restarts to improve his chances. Not sure if now the world champ has shown the way, it will lead to riders rushing out with their bucket and spades betwen heats, but hopefully following an unsatisfactory start some will head straight to the start line instead of the pits which hopefully will speed things up. Well done Tai on keeping your head and knowing the rules - and no I am not a Wolves fan, but I do love Britain having a World Champion!