Shale Searcher

Assuming the track/stadia get the go ahead, would it be such a chore to ride at Leicester for part of the 2017 season? Better than not riding, and just waiting for the stadium?

What do squad riders do when left out of the team? By choice, or not?

I'm up there tomorrow, fetching a load of pipe, and then on with installing the new drains on 3 & 4 with Steve C... The forecast for today, Sat and Sun has changed this week more times than I'd like to count..!! Decent for tomorrow, not so brilliant Sunday, but could get away with mostly a dryish day!

Deano, Councils have loads of dosh, stashed away in banks, apparently for the day of the apocalypse, WW3, or some other disaster contingency.. ridiculous amounts.. Just not for the benefit of the local people!! Shouldn't be allowed.

And that sums British Speedway up completely... Waiting on a "big hitter" to decide if he can fit us in... Well, that's it, isn't it.. fit us in, fly in, ride, fly out. No interaction with fans, no loyalty to club/area/fans, will not be available for any supporters club events, and if he gets a broken fingernail, he'll cry off sick for his UK club meetings. Is that what we really want?? well, probably not, but other options are bleak, and there's no UK based riders good enough, that want to race UK speedway either!!

Flagrag, is there no chance of Peter Karlsson? Or Kenneth Bjerre? As I don't really see anyone else out there that could fit the bill... I know round peg, round hole, but when desperate, a round peg will fit most other shaped holes with a bit of a bash with a hammer......!!

Hi Phil, I was just saying from the drone views to me, it looks like very short straights and wide, but definately sharp bends.. it may be because the kerbs seem to only be dead straight for a very short length compared to the length of the bends, again, it could be an optical sort of illusion.. If its not an illusion it would be a very fast circuit, riders never being straight-on for more than 7 or 8 yards, and not really having to scrub speed off because of that. I'm not saying it's going to be craps, or anything, it should produce some really good racing.. Do you think it will be finished (track and safety measures) for first night? I would expect some ancillary work would still be ongoing, specially at the "building site" end... Please note, I am not criticising this project in any way....

The shape looks a bit Peterboroesque, the whole track is a left handed slow bend...

Also................................. If riders end up with fixture clashes all over the oche, it defeats the point in riding for two teams, as they'll miss a fixture whilst riding for one of the two teams!!!!!

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..