Robert Lee

All of the above and an end to refs' obsession with "unsatisfactory starts". If a rider has better reactions than the rest and/or can get away with anticipating the start without breaking the tapes, why should he be penalised? The only starting offence should be breaking the tapes.

I can't remember how it worked (not because it was so long ago, but 'cos I'm at an age where I can recall what happened half a century ago, but not what I was doing yesterday, or what I was saying 2 minutes ago). Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was going to ask whether they got double points. If so, I'm all for it. As firm opponent of giving them double points just for riding a normal (un-handicapped) race, I say let them earn their double points. As for why "they" got rid of it, it's because they are the BSPA, and they wouldn't know a good rule if it jumped up and bit them.

Blimey! Fantastic photo collection - you should publish a book and make loadsamoney like Mike patrick.

According to the Coventry Telegraph report, Sandhu has sold the stadium. Quote from the 3rd para: "....existing track in Brandon........after it was sold by......Avtar Sandhu..". Could be a (nother) piece of sloppy journalism of course, or is there something else we haven't been told?

'Er indoors sent me up to the loft to put away the Christmas decorations (why do they need all that stuff?), which I accomplished without a visit to A & E this year. While up there I tripped over a box of programmes from the turn of the century. It reminded me that the good old days were not all that long ago. Big glossy programmes full of ads from local and national companies. Cov sponsored by big local Toyota dealer, then by Exide. Reasonable editorial in the programme. Second half every week with sidecars, veterans or juniors. And the team strength! Cov's 2001 top 4: Hancock, Hamill, Jonsson, Lee Richardson, with Billy Janniro a match-winning reserve. The memory is not what it was (and it was never anything to write home about), but I seem to remember you had to be there early to get a seat in the main stand. Some things never change though - Yorkie was on the mike, we seemed to make a habit of losing at home to Poole, and everyone was moaning about the use of guests and tac subs. Incidentally, in 2001 the directors were listed in the prog as Sanderson, L Ochiltree, M Ochiltree and W P Gilmour.

No, honestly, I don't know what went on, and I'm all agog. If you could just give me a couple of clues, preferably between 9.00 & 10.00 tomorrow, 'cos my wife will be out and I can give it my full attention without any sarcastic voices off (she's (rightly) not a fan of forums). Oops, she just caught me, and she said to mention that we used to have a great milkman called Steve, and we never got sour milk. How come she was on first name terms with the milkman? Never mind.

Blimey! A milk monitor! I never reached those heights in my somewhat patchy school career. I spent a lot of time in the highest office, but always on the wrong end of a piece of bamboo or a gym shoe. Happy days.

Tsunami likes this..........but evidently not enough to enlighten us. Is this yet another one of these stories that everyone knows except me?

Having read another dozen pages of the same old ideas, I am more than ever convinced that the real question is: "Why on earth would we want to attract a new young audience?". Just let speedway die a dignified death instead of trying to make it into something it's not. That's probably a biased view, 'cos I like it as it is (tactical rides excepted), and it'll probably outlast me! Happy new year to one and all.

Fair enough. The way he ran his business gave us the Bees' most successful run in years, and more investment into the stadium and the team than had been the case for decades. Just a pity that the BSPA reactionaries cheesed him off so much that he walked away.

None of this lends any weight to the 'Ochiltrees-were-forced-out' conspiracy theory. You say that the Ochiltrees sold a share to someone who sold it on to Sandhu. If it was a controlling share, they shouldn't have been surprised that the new partner wanted to have control. The Daytona plan was obviously a non-starter; the whole Brandon property plus half the village could probably fit into the infield at Daytona. I am not pro or anti either Sandhu or the Ochiltrees. The latter didn't owe anything to Coventry Speedway, rather the other way round. If M Ochiltree chose to cash in his family's investment, good luck to him. Without Sandhu, Cov Speedway would probably have disappeared years ago. The fact is that we have had an extra 8 or so years under Sandhu and subsequently Mick Horton. How many clubs have gone under in that time? If we get a new stadium, great. If we don't, well that's the state of Speedway in the 21st century, but the decline started under the previous ownership.

Only if someone has his head in the doorway at the time.

Just had a quick re-read of the relevant chapters. In fairness to Mal, he was abused by his own father, so it's not surprising he turned out the way he did.

C'mon Gemini, everyone knows what drifting is - it's what snow does on a windy day. This must be a plan to extend the season through the winter months.

If you have inside information and I am wrong, I stand corrected. However, I struggle to see how they could be forced out. They sold out - I don't think anyone is disputing that. For a sale to take place you need two things: A willing seller and a buyer with the wherewithal to pay. Sandhu bought the company and the assets and the previous owners took his money. No forcing involved.

There is a lot more insight in Alan Carter's biography. To quote from the synopsis on the cover: "He talks from the heart about the tragic death of his younger brother and the suicide of both his mother and elder brother.." You can never excuse what Kenny did, but Mal Carter had a lot to answer for.

"The Ochiltrees" you mention was actually just Martin by then. I'm guessing he didn't need much pushing, he was glad to take the money and get out. Probably saw the writing on the wall. I don't know if this forum was going at the time, but if it was slagging off the promotion at every opportunity as certain contributors do now, who can blame him. If I was on the receiving end of some of the libel that appears here, I'd tell you where to stick it.

Don't like to bring Kelvin into this, I wouldn't have ever classed him as dirty. However, I'm reminded of a "straight-on-at-the-first-turn" incident when he nearly took out Mark Loram at Brandon. And Loram was his team-mate! KT was at the back end of his career at that time, riding at reserve for Arena Essex if memory serves me right. Loram managed to stay on and finish last, and KT apologised in the pits afterwards. I didn't quite catch Mark's reply, but it seemed to be mostly words of one syllable.

That reminds me of one of the very few times Hans Nielsen got injured. He turned VERY late into the first bend with Billy Hamill outside him, with predictable result. Of course, we all blamed Billy. After all, it was a Cov-Cradley needle match, and Billy should have known Hans would do that if he made the gate......!!

I think N Pedersen is the only deliberately dirty rider I've seen. Many are guilty of bad judgement and over-riding, but it's rarely deliberate. Generally speaking, I think most of the top riders will be much harder on riders of equal ability than they would be on lesser riders, Nicki excepted. I seem to remember him being decked by his own junior team-mate Wayne Carter in the Brandon pits after one particularly nasty move. Off-topic slightly, Sudden Sam has cropped up on here. Was it my imagination, or did he have a habit of inexplicably falling off on the 3rd/4th bends all by himself? I've seen him do it more than once at both Brandon & Monmore.

I think they'd be exiting by the gates, possibly because they are not excited by the racing....

Me too. Having read some of the stuff on here, I'm beginning to think the question should be: "Why do we want to attract a new young audience?" !!!

One way to get more races would be to have two separate matches on the same bill, with alternating races. This would also help alleviate the problem of dwindling track numbers. For example, Cov & Leicester could share Leicester's venue, and they could ride against Wolves and KL respectively on the same night........ Just a thought.

No, but I am willing to learn and be corrected where necessary. By the way, that's not a grammatical mistake it's misuse of a word.

Interesting debate, but yet another 6 pages of same old, same old. I think those of us who still go to speedway really like it the way it is, with a few tweaks. Unfortunately, to get a new audience you need radical changes to the sport, and probably you'd then lose the existing fan base. Personally, I don't like crowds, so if speedway became too popular, I'd probably give it a miss anyway! It's all hypothetical anyway, as the dear old BSPA members are not going to do anything except plod along until the sport dies and they all retire.