Ozrik

Thanks for the heads up about the article. Good interview, should clarify a few things about the rider DW.

I agree. Holder is showing more commitment to the Elite League than their own world champ. And why is the league structured like that. There are not many other professional sports run on every day. What is the problem getting a more user friendly draw operating.

Australian riders have a long history of competing in England, and mostly their behaviour is exemplary. Mr Ward has made some mistakes and now the whole world has a comment. Stop carrying on like a bunch of football hooligans and let him get on with his job. I haven't seen the interview so i cant comment on that. Don't all good speedway riders have self belief, even English ones. Personally i would like to see him come back stronger than ever, and look forward to seeing him crowned world champion in Melbourne one day. That would justify the sacrifices; riders that live and work on the other side of the world have to make. Perhaps then the hostility will disappear.

WORLD CUP POINT SCORE EVENT ONE: EVENT TWO POLAND GB J Hampel T Woofinden Pz. Pawlicki C Harris SWEDEN USA A Jonsson G Hancock A Lindback G Manzares CZECH REP. AUSTRALIA V Milik J Doyle E Krcmar T Batchelor RUSSIA LATVIA A Laguta A Lebedevs R Gafurov K Puodzuks This is my entry for event one and two. Great idea - Playing for prestige.

Australia got two out of three through to the final series. Well done to Fricke and Kurtz. Should be some good racing in the finals, looks like a strong and even field.

Whats wrong with eight teams in EL. Seems to work in Poland, Sweden and Denmark. Those leagues run less league matches than UK. Maybe a reduced schedule would work in EL. Run more open meetings, get stronger riders involved that way.

You are spoilt, we get nothing here in Aussie, unless some kind soul puts it on you tube.

Excellent link, thanks for that.

Interesting line ups. Great to see young riders from France, Austria and Slovenia get a ride. Good for speedway. Good luck to them all. Especially Fricke, Kurtz and Holder.

Of course Woofinden should support his home league, in the same way that Pedersen finds time to ride in the Danish league. It is not in his own long term interest to snub the Elite League.

Darcy Ward's ban was to long, and it would be a travesty if that was to prevent him from having a chance at the wild card spot for the Aussie GP, or next years GP series for that matter. He is entertaining to watch.

The Sidecar Speedway World Title should be instigated again as there is strong International support for this event. The successful running of the Oceania series in Australia has demonstrated that international sidecar racing can be competitive and draw crowds. The World Final meet was well supported in Australia, and by Australian teams when it has been held in Europe. With continued international support and the developement of more international teams, the interest in this event should also grow. The major problem may be in maintaining the momentum that the Sidecar Grand Slam, and the Oceania Series have generated. Successfully capitalising on that to promote the World Title is logically the next step. As a spectator it would be great to see these events grow. I will, as i have done in the past, continue to attend. Unfortunately i have not been able to find any information about the current status of the Sidecar World Title.

Darren Trealor was on fire for the whole season and aside from winning every round of the Oceania Title, also won the Sidecar Grand Slam series and a couple of State titles as well. He can be considered unlucky not to win another Australian Sidecar Title, as his bike expired just 100 m short of the finish line. This allowed Justin Plaistead from Adelaide through to win his first Aussie Title. The international outfits that contested the Oceania Title are becoming more competitive, with the Cossar crew from the UK, the American Jones and The Kiwi Buchanan leading the charge. Other New Zealand crews like Humphrey and Gannon, also performed well. This made for some good racing and also added that unknown element that seeing international riders for the first time creates. These crews have proved they can mix it with Australia's best, and their commitment and professionalism adds to the excitement and spectacle of the series. The Oceania series is a great initiative and it would be fantastic to see it continue, as it is well supported by the spectators. Could the series further expand with the inclusion of a competitive South African crew, and how would the Dutch and German sidecar crews adapt to the 1000cc speedway machines?

Good meeting. Big improvement on last year. Track appeared to be better. Well done to the riders for handling the track. Quite a few empty seats though.

Had a similar experience. Female friends of mine, (first time speedway goers) made the same comments. You cant help mud, however in 2015 you think they could provide modern comfortable plumbing.

For the most part promoters do a good job in trying conditions. Health and safety of riders and spectators is always going to be a priority. Unlike football, speedway can not be run in the rain. It is the basic things that could be better managed. Making sure all equipment is provided and functioning, have all the staff needed (paid or not) etc. The least they could do is make sure they have replacements or alternatives in place in the event of malfunction. Limiting delays is important. If promoters dont care, why should the fans.

It seems speedway is losing its place in sports media reporting. There are internet sites, but that can be confusing, because other countries call different forms of motor sport speedway. Try typing in "speedway" online and see what comes up. You will be surprised. So how do we get newspapers back to speedway?

Watched it on delay. Not much speedway on TV here in Australia, but that meeting was a poor indictment on international speedway. Given the circumstances the riders did a great job. However for the organisers to allow something as incidental as the starting tape mechanism to interfere with the whole meeting, is really not good enough. On the bright side it certainly appears to have generated a lot of interest and publicity.

I agree. What is British speedway doing? Truth is Schlein and Lambert should not have been put in that position. Embarrassing for promoter, the riders and especially GB and British speedway.

I am Australian and have been a regular reader of this site for some time. I felt compelled to make a comment concerning this issue, so i have taken the plunge and become a member. Firstly, for the sake of the meeting Rory Schlein should be congratulated for filling the GB team role. He did it with fair commitment as well. Not only winning a race but scoring enough points for GB, to see them finish ahead of his native Australia in the final table. From afar i just cant understand British speedway authorities, who initially want nothing to do with the event. Then they accept an invitation to compete, and know one bothers to ensure just two riders turn up for GB. Even Germany managed a full team of three riders. Once again this can only serve to undermine the respect that British speedway should have on the international stage. Speedway wants a strong GB at international level. Come on GB stop shooting yourself in the foot.