Shale Searcher

Weatherwatcher, Even the less than mediocre Poles, Danes, Swedes, Ruskies, Martians want silly money... It's blooming ridiculous!! I know Saturday nights don't help, but it's all down to money, money, money and money.. UK crowds are not large enough to sustain the payments these damn riders want.. I don't think fixed race nights would actually help, squads are not the answer either.. The only thing that will help is a sudden, dramatic upsurge in crowds, say if they doubled to say an average of 2,800 to 3,000 that would help no end, but it has to be at that level in a sustained way.. Do you have to have a captain? If you do I would go with Walasek... Or if not actually needed I'd go without.

So no difference to Wosniak, Walasek, and possibly Ulamek?

Could do worse.... I've said already, a change of club, New track, new fans, might just be what KB needs to rekindle his hunger......?

If KB has read or been told of the of the damn right nasty stuff said about him on hear, I would be surprised if he was asked that he wouldn't turn round and said screw it....

Is Bjerre senior still clubless in the UK?

Why do the riders put up with it then?

Poland has been streets ahead with its tracks, stadia, following, and wages now for around 5 to 8 yrs now.. Rumours of riders not getting paid, tracks going bust and the fan base plummeting.... What needs to happen to tip it over the edge and suddenly create a high profile list of riders looking for British Elite League Clubs to earn their corn....?

Track surfaces need constant attention on race days. You're either trying to get moisture into the track to help it bind, to aid grip or you're constantly trying to dry the bloody thing out!! Alot of tracks don't have as much access to the track on race day as they should have, and track surfaces show that, with inconsistencies all over the place... And then on the odd day the weather is foul a few days before A meeting, with only a small amount of precipitation on race day, you sometimes get a blinder of a race track!!!

Does it matter?

Can a league in dire straights like our Elite League, afford to lavish that sort of rider, with gates averaging out at around 1,000 to 1,500 per meeting? And yes I know most fly in, ride, fly out again, but most self employed trades people have to provide there own van and tools.... If the Elite League had average gates around 3,000+ per meeting, it'd be a different kettle of fish, but it's not and most of the teams can't afford that sort of commitment to riders that probably won't do a full season, and I mean that, A full season...

Does anyone think it would be possible to make a speedway rider? I mean, take a 10 yr old kid and say this is what you are going to be when you grow up. Then basically isolate him, teach him about speedway, train him, school him, but like a jockey, (based on height and build) that has been done in the past, successfully I think... So by age 16 he is a speedway rider, probably not world beater standard, but technically astute, just needing experience...

All seems quiet on the rider front.

The reason I think it is set to high, is I think it was based on all riders of a heat Leader standard returning, and that is also why a list of 36 heat Leaders was drawn up and teams limited to three off that list, that would have given each team their numbers 1, 3 and 5. That would have left everyone else left available to get 2 second strings, and then pick 2 reserves, 1 with potential to move into the top 5, and one of a lesser standard to also improve, but remain protected for the whole season... But, that has not happened, and riders on the heat Leader list, have abstained from riding UK this season, which has left teams without 3 heat Leaders. I think if the points limit had been set say 1.5 points less, this situation might have been avoided. Or, the riders on the heat Leader list had been asked first before being put on the fictitious heat Leader list in the first place!! You try with the riders signed as heat Leaders already, and the ones left, if there are any (I doubt it) to distribute riders so each one of the eight Elite League have 3 heat Leaders each...... By the way, I really don't like any sort of rider control, it breaks up winning teams, riders end up at teams they don't really want to ride for, and it is generally bad for competition.. But, when a team sport is built in the way speedway teams are, and when there are not enough riders to fully staff 8 elite league teams with 3 heat Leader standard riders each, a certain level of rider control is required. I suppose they could have reduced the number of heat Leaders per team to two, and had a shorter list of say 20, and the 4 not picked would have gone into the 2nd string pool....... Or?

Larsen apparently (from A damn reliable source) wanted bikes, Van, workshop and a guaranteed £££££ to consider the UK.

I reckon it's probably 2 to 3 points to high, considering the riders available..?

Its always down to money, if he had a better offer here than Sweden or Poland he would have dropped one of them! If you think it's anything else, then we really are in bother..

What I heard was this was the deal he was after to race in the BEL this year!! Not Poland.. + he'd need workshop space, mechanic etc.. But, a min requirement to ride here must include say, 2 rolling chassis, 3 engines, Van, mechanic, workshop + other sundry bike/rolling chassis spares, etc, what do you think the outlay for that little lot is...?

Wouldn't be the worst choice... He is a class rider, had a couple of lean years, coupled with some serious crashes and injuries. A new club with an injury free spell could be just what he needs..

The only way that will happen is if you buy him a van and some bikes to go with it!!!! Rumour has it, that's part of the UK deal he's after.....

Who is a Newbie?

British speedway messed up big time in the late 1990's, they stopped training young Brits, well, didn't actively make a priority to get young blood into the sport at grass roots level. The main route to speedway was traditionally via Grasstrack racing, when that discipline of speedway floundered, it cut off the best route for lads to progress into speedway.. It became to easy to just pluck a Johnny foreigner from abroad, usually an unknown quantity, usually taking up reserve berths in the BEL, thus cutting off, severing the grasstrsck to BEL and the BPL were just as guilty if not worse, they would snap up all the BEL reserve Johnny foreigner cast offs!!!! Only now is the problem being addressed, but the grasstrsck route is now miniscule in size and therefore no longer the breeding ground of potential British speedway riders..

Lots of rumours/stories about who wants what money, half season, beginning of season, end of season, middle of season, home only, away only, big tracks, small tracks, without bikes, new bikes please, any bikes please....etc etc etc... At the end of the day, if you wanted say Nicki Pedersen, and you could afford 5k per meeting, you'd probably get him..... But its not realistic in the UK whilst speedway only attracts 1000 to 2500 paying spectators and the sport has no lucrative sponsorships. If the money is right, they'll come here to ride...! In my opinion.

Would there stranglehold actually hold up if it were tested in court?

I have been led to believe PK is asking silly money as well, why do you think nobody else has employed him yet this season coming...I'm not sure I agree with all this guaranteed payments, speedway is and always should be points based earnings... It's got to take the edge off your performance, even just a little bit.. knowing you're gonna get a fat wad if you score 12 or 0!!!