1 valve

Or so we thought. Now looks like being 1st v 3rd & 2nd v 4th ? Of course this may not happen if the “powers in charge”decide the two remaining fixtures are not held so saving face.

It already is a shale track and has been for a number years as the promoters wanted to get the European drivers to attend major meetings and they very much prefer/insist racing on shale. From what I understand the move proved to be worthwhile.

You are correct, he was and he doesn’t. As it is today, UK speedway is already teetering on oblivion being well short of any concise growth plan as promoters focus on self serving survival, which as things stand will ultimately be the death knell for UK professional speedway. Being mindful of the existing structure of the sports governing bodies from the FIM down, the last thing needed is to have separate groups of promoters in collectively further working against each other and the greater good of the sport. Truth of the matter is. There are too few riders available for the number of promotions. Most of the stadiums in use are outdated and provide poor spectator facilities. There is an over dependence on doubling up to keep promotions active. The guest system is overused. The sporting media by and large steer wide of covering speedway because of its self serving and contrived organisation. The current crop of promoters do not have the wherewithal to steer the sport to better times, only to tread water until they eventually “go under” Fans think a few changes (if any) are all that is required whereas a great number of factors impact on one another to make the solution complicated and in itself is the very reason why promoters do not wish to bite the bullet and so things remain the same.

Except they didnt all ride in the top league at the same time and thus remained a minority

Uh oh - let’s hope we don’t see the return of “ the best of commercial interest”

Correct.

Yes

Uh? He’s in Sweden

Actually, back in the day (70's 80's when there were many tracks and support was large and healthy) The majority of teams had mid-week race nights with only a small minority racing on Saturday and no major clubs rode on Sundays. By doing this all clubs were able to hold a meeting each week and if race nights clashed they went to their nominated alternative race night. Example, Leicester's race night was Tuesday with the alternative being Friday (might have been Thursday). However as Lions were the only Tuesday club the alternative was rarely used. Also worth noting that the age profile was also very mixed with many school kids attending either with or without parents many who actually had to use public transport to get to the meetings.

Correct. And it needs to start with the promoters -

Spot on.

Sad to say but both fans and promoters alike appear to share a common opinion which is; "We know the running of speedway overall in the UK is not good enough and things need to change, which is ok so long as its not my track that has to change". Of course you may agree or disagree with the above, Try this simple "fun" test to see where you fit in short term Club (first) thinking v long term wellbeing of the sport by either "agreeing" or "disagreeing" with the following statements. 1. I would not oppose a change to the current race night for my clubs home meetings 2. I'm happy for fixed race nights to be limited to two per week in the UK for team fixtures 3. A rider with an average greater than five in the Premier league at the start of the season cannot ride for a championship club. 4. My club could hold weekly meetings on at least 5 different nights of the majority of weeks during the season. If you can agree to all five of the above statements then you and your club are definitely a part of the answer to speedway UK problems. The more statements you disagree with, the more you and your club will continue to be the cause of the problem.

errr. Not at all. Plenty of commentary on the Prem thread regarding what's not right and frankly some well meaning suggestions regrding change and the way forward.

The issue with five man teams is that it limits capacity for growth. i.e. it accommodates current riders and club but no facility for future riders over and above those created by natural wastage. A more strategic way forward would be to reduce the number of promotions providing "top flight" team racing via a Super League with other promotions running individual meetings with riders from the SL featured and development type team meetings accommodating riders (say) below 4 points from the SL alongside rising semi pro/amateur's. This approach would create opportunity for riders to develop and indeed expansion of the SL if and only when sufficient number and capability of riders and promoters become available.

Its no myth. Its math. I was replying to the suggestion that doubling up should be limited to one rider per team. If that were the case then using this years rider availability/line ups circa 32/35 additional riders would be required.

Insufficient number of riders at a similar capable (safe) level for this to be possible. Currently average is circa 3 double ups per team.

Interesting to see the venue is titled Manchester Belle Vue Sports Village and Belle Vue Leisure Centre . Guess only speedway folk know the place by its sub title NSS which is not good for attracting new customers.

For that to have been a possibility then Tigers will need to have finished 2nd (at least) in the regular season whereas there is a favorable chance they will finish third behind Leicester. whatever the case, I presume you are thinking play offs should be scrapped in favour of the team who finished top of the league at the end of the regular season, risk being declared champions by losing in a one off tie (over two legs) v the team who finished second?

To be clear. Doyle doesn’t have a choice where he rides as he is contracted to a Swedish team who have race night priority.

This is all good stuff and basically correct re riders/skill & availability. However, trying to make one league with sufficient number of teams to race over six nights simply won’t work on a number of levels the most notable being a disparity in skill level unquestionably creating an unacceptable level of dangerous racing - & frankly not particularly entertaining. To get nearer to what one Super League could look like, re run your model based on fixed race nights “as is” and there should be sufficient riders to have 8 teams competing which would include current GP level riders. With no doubling up, the remaining tracks could run semi-pro leagues and individual meetings to include riders from the Super League. But let’s be honest about this. Unfortunately the vast majority of the current promotions have too much self interest at the very root of their thinking which negates any possibility of significant change in the way UK speedway is structured. This unfortunately means we can have as many thoughts & Ideas on what would be best for the sport, but sadly they will remain just “thoughts & ideas.

To be accurate. As it stands today, no Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) has been placed on Brandon Stadium, but campaigners have urged Rugby Borough Council to pursue one or adopt similar supporting actions to regain control of the site from the owner, Brandon Estates

Very much depends on how the final league positions turn out, but looks likely to be Witches & aces finishing first and fourth with Lions & Tigers finishing 2nd & 3rd although in which order is harder to call. Given the above, for the semi final, I'll go with Witches beating Aces simply because the aces have proven to be vulnerable on the road with the worst away record of the top four teams whilst the Witches have clearly the best away record so far. The second semi final is more difficult to call, but I am going for a Tigers win on the basis that the two late changes to the tigers line up appear to have worked in making the team stronger whilst the Lions (unbeaten by Tigers this year) have the big question of Luke Becker's availability or RR/guest affecting their choice of line up...this tie much closer to call. So a Tigers v Witches final, with Ipswich coming out on top.

Very reasonable and understanding. According to the fixtures (if I have read them correctly) Beckers Polish team do not have a match until the 24th, so there’s no chance of him competing again prior to the next Leicester fixture. Of course, in the meantime, Luke could fail to recover his fitness adequately in time for the Lions v Witches fixture meaning appropriate medical paperwork is issued making him unavailable for the Lions on Monday.

It may well be a great race track. But is the business that owns it making a profit from running meetings on it? This is a genuine question that I don’t know the answer to. if it is making a profit then that shuts up R87. if not, then that brings into question if having “ the second best track in the UK” actually matters along with what is required to make such a venue viable.

Good point. Hopefully the Physio works and has he is based in Poland he gets some useful practice prior to his next meeting.