waytogo28

Craig claims to have discovered the "secret" of success in the GPs ( for him at least ). He needs to show us that he really can it do at that level tonight.

Sadly only those chappies you and I don't like or much agree with, can change the short-term future of speedway. Us on the terraces cannot do a thing except go on turning up and handing over our pennies. Or not.

Long time fiddling while Rome burned.

There won't be any "coming up" about it. It will be which teams want to cling together to survive in one medium-sized league. Several clubs will go out of business in the championship and the premiership at the end of this season. Or run at National League level. Without race night changes some just can't go on I feel sure.

Indeed! Memories overflow from the Blackbird Rd days, high up on the back straight. So why didn't David Helmsley build a track more like that? Had every opportunity to.

Sadly I have to agree with you there mostly, as neither of them have been able to really cut it - not that I regard them as crap ( except perhaps poor at world class level ) But as for Bomber's ridiculous point of view -delusional is about right on how much he is worth in the UK. He seems to believe he is worth about 250k profit here. Most of the doubling up - top riders - have never glanced at the terraces in the last 2 -3 years to see how many are now interested in watching them chase each other ( after the gating competition is over ). I agree with all the dangers of the job, but it has always been a choice they make to chase glory and fortune. At the moment hardly any rider is worth more than 75k profit / nett income ( inc. from both teams ) in the UK - based on the interest of the general public. If there are many more who agree with Bomber they have no chance of acquiring that lifestyle unless and until they crack Poland and Sweden and are "in demand" outside of the UK.

Lambert to do well on his full meeting debut but just miss out on a semi-final place. I dream of him winning it but that is the stuff of fantasy. Ride on Ruthless. ruthlessly!

I think that if speedway continues in any way, shape or form in 2025 it will be nothing like the present "business model". cityrebel summed it up when he said "At AtSwindon last night I handed over £20 inc prog, to stand in a dump of a stadium, to watch 15 processional races on a dust bowl of a track. It's not rocket science is it."- And I added that of the many, many thousands who have walked away over the last five years - would tell the same story of disillusionment. It rings true mostly for me. I know a proportion of elderly fans have passed away but not that many! The continuity of UK speedway is directly linked to the continuing decline of it. Until the promoters collectively realise that - if they haven't already - there is a possibility that there will be NO continuity at all. Instead of our 20 quids being wasted it's their many thousands of quids of investment being washed away.

And of the many, many thousands who have walked away over the last five years - would tell the same story of disillusionment. It rings true mostly for me. I know a proportion of elderly fans have passed away but not that many!

After the second bend, first lap, most of them are when not in front. "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" springs to mind.

The track preparation needs to be way better than those who went yesterday reported. Another own goal if the racing is poor because the track offers little to those who want to race at Swindon. If it always looks as if it is "first away wins" no newbies will be tempted to try a track visit near their own base. And even die-hards like myself will believe even more powerfully that the racing part of speedway racing is now a distant memory on most UK tracks.

YES! And please don't let it be under the control of BSPA / SCB.

Years ago based in Northampton the speedway world was my oyster and I very regularly rode my own road bike to Sheffield, White City, Kings Lynn, Rye House Oxford and Coventry as well as short-lived ones like Milton Keynes. I thought nothing of a 150-mile ride ( which I greatly enjoyed as well as the racing ). Now I live 3 miles from the King's Lynn track and can take it or leave it - not through ill health because I get a lift on the days I want to go. I like many, locally based fans am unimpressed with KLS over the past three years - coincidentally it seems since Buster has been miles away thinking of the whole sport ( even when physically at the track ) and - perhaps taking his eye off the ball at Saddlebow Rd. Not that he would agree with that!

Has to be part of the way forward.

That is likely to be the case from what little we really know. Houses V Track locations have never turned out well for various tracks over the years.

This could easily be the scenario which turns out to be an accurate prediction.

We had very much the same situation with KB the season before last ( at King's Lynn ) when if he did not gate he seemed to lose interest ( or confidence ) which resulted in a lot of disappointment on the terraces. As the season wore on he regularly failed to hold on to his scoring position even when he did gate. It looked as if the same kind of problem was developing at Leicester. The difference is that the KL promotion let him retain his team place throughout the season. The fans lost all enthusiasm for him. Mind you he moved on to Belle Vue and had a cracking season. Quite what is behind such slumps only he knows.

Sadly I believe that a UK Grand Prix event run at every track as often as possible with all riders scoring points ( that add up to prizes ) would likely attract more attention from the general public that does not show any interest in team speedway. This might well catch on - if marketed correctly and create the new fans that will be the only possible saviour of speedway in the UK If it can be saved. That kind of open NO team racing might sweep away 50 or even 70% of existing fans but be replaced by 250,000+ fans of the new style speedway sport in the UK. Us tired fans ( especially us older tired fans ) have become bored with what we see now ( and how it is run ) and this NO team speedway might catch on. Especially with simpler, cheaper bikes maybe 250cc. It would not be speedway as we know it but that is on the verge of extinction. You would end up with a top 100 ranking ( something as in golf which throws up a new winner to surprise us all ) And Yes! Riders should pay to enter, sharing those fees plus a %age of the gate money. New fans must be attracted as changing just the existing tracks or bikes and keeping everything as it is, is unlikely to work.

That has been the case for me less and less and less entertainment and overall VFM. What has kept me going to King's Lynn for the past five years has been to watch Robert Lambert. Seeing him develop from a 15 year old to 20 year old has been a wonderful racing experience. Much of the rest of it has been, for me, a sideshow.kind of support event. Cheers, Robert! Good luck at Cardiff.

I wonder what he puts The Great Fan Exodus down to then? If it were better than Poland, Sweden or anywhere else for that matter the terraces would be heaving! OR even as good as 50 years ago. It is not rose-tinted glasses that drew me back time and time again to tracks all over the country between 1965 ( when I really started travelling to away matches as a fan of speedway racing - not just my own team ) and 2000. After that, it was local matches only ( around East Anglia ). Once four matches in a day. The love affair is nearly over.

Do you think that it is now a collective policy by the BSPA NOT to respond, even to constructive feedback, from supporters? That is how our small group became so disillusioned when the local promotion failed to even say "Ta, thanks" to our joint constructive points, put forward three years ago. And that was in response to a request in the programme for fans to do just that - come up with ideas!

I think motivating supporters is an almost impossible task because we have had 20 years of total submission / acceptance of continuing to pay to see what the BSPA put on. Very few care enough to form some kind of Supporters Action Team because they realise that we have no power to put pressure on Promoters, collectively or individually. It is they who will decide on the destiny of the sport here and whether or not it reaches the Centenary in 2028. There will still be a few tracks racing amateur speedway matches and these will be staffed and organised by grassroots enthusiasts. Or, will speedway be just another lost sport...

I feel that that is the case. The BSPA will go on with their pointless changes within UK speedway until there are 2-300 fans at tracks ( or less ) and it is kept going by sponsors who also dream they are "running a major sport" when in fact merely a handful of the general public have an interest in it. Truly the emperor's new clothes syndrome at it's best.

No, it is not raining in Mallila at the moment.

They could and have made almost anything happen AND more to come re 2019. Will it be for the betterment of the UK sport? Interesting to see what the SS prints next week from the fans point of view. Let's hope they collected some of the feelings expressed on the BSF.