Chris116

Freeview needs to be the HD version to get channel 95 as I understand it. I can't get channel 95 sadly as I am in an area that doesn't seem to work, South West London being the middle of nowhere according to Freeview!

A dictionary is no use to someone who doesn't know how to spell the words! Need Santa to give out a Thesaurus or two maybe.

Your last five words may be partly the explanation!

I do not understand why the BSPA adjusted the league table immediately Rye House were closed but the averages they left until the end of the season! Surely all the changes should have been made upon Rye House being closed or did they forget the riders averages?

Today and some of the details have been posted on the BSPA website.

That looks like good news for the Eagles and I wish them all the best. Sadly it could have a bad effect on the National League which is worrying as that is where the next generation of riders learn their trade. For the good of British Speedway all three leagues need to be kept as strong as possible.

I would make it that the first 2 minutes ends and the new 2 minutes starts immediately. If the replacement is not ready at the end of that two minutes then the race runs with three riders and the rider who is now by himself goes off the handicap. Team managers won't take a chance on making that mistake as it would be an almost certain 5-1 against them. Harsh but it will concentrate the minds of managers and riders very quickly.

I think the rule should allow the team manager to either send out a reserve or have the excluded rider on a handicap. That seems to work well in the case of a tapes infringement.

The Rye House meetings were removed from the league table the day they were removed from the league. Why were the riders averages not treated in the same manner? If the meetings did not count in the league then surely they should not count in the averages either!

Surely if Sweden run on one of our protected days then it is the Swedish teams who will have riders missing?

It may not appear to be the most pressing issue BUT if used correctly and consistently then it will help with speeding up the running of meetings. There have been a lot of complaints about the delays in running meetings and this could help. Back in the 60's tracks had a large team of rankers who worked between every race but without causing any delay to the meeting. The tractor did one lap, sometimes two laps, between each race, again without causing any delay. The modern way of having very few rankers and the tractor(s) appearing every three or four races causes delays and makes for a less consistent track surface so needs to be looked at. Sometimes the old ways are the best!

All very quiet here and on the Monarchs web site! Any thoughts on the team for 2019?

That is the rule book as written by whoever thinks they can get away with it. Matt is just very good at reading between the lines!

Too many details leaves a lack of wiggle room later in the season when someone wants to pull a fast one!

The important word is "Promoter". Buster is "Owner" of three teams but not "Promoter" of three teams. I suspect that the original rule makers thought of Owner and Promoter as the same thing and the new idea of having the "Promoter" as a member of paid staff did not cross their minds!

The other teams in the league need to tell him that if he can't get riders then it up to him to change HIS fixtures and he can go to hell if he thinks he is going to do what he did last year.

I would say that many of us have concerns but if you look at what has happened in other sports then snooker is a good example of a near dictatorship working for the good of the sport. I agree that it could go wrong but I think we should give it a chance and try to be positive in the hope that it works out for the best. I write the above while very depressed that I have no easily accessible track to watch racing but hope that things will get better and recently lost tracks will reappear.

When BMR took over from Len Silver they started a number of improvements but it appears they ran out of money or enthusiasm before any of them were completed. If they had started one project and finished it before doing the next one the place would be in a much better state than it is. On the subject of paying riders, surely the bond should have been used by the BSPA to pay the riders or has it been used and a balance is still owed? If money is still owed then it is right that BMR are not allowed to promote speedway but it should not stop another promotion using the track or has the BSPA said that speedway cannot be run at the track until those outstanding bills have been paid.

I agree that Rye House is outside the M25 and TfL Travelcard areas but it was under £5 on the train for me from the boundary of Zone 6 and was an easy journey (District Line from Southfields to Edgware Road then Circle or H&C to Liverpool Street where I changed to Greater Anglia). I think the thing is that the loss of Rye House to bikes has made the recent loss of Wimbledon to cars even worse for me. I have followed both sports all my life although in the case of a clash the cars normally were my first choice (I missed the visit of Belle Vue to Rye House for what turned out to be the last meeting due to the Superstox being at Arlington that evening). The loss of Wimbledon gave me an added reason to go to Rye House as I just love oval racing, now I have neither and it looks like Perry Barr is going to be the easiest track to watch speedway at but will mean arriving home at 3am!

Opps, I had forgotten that. Means it is bikes or cars every Sunday which will work well for track preparation but rain offs could cause problems as the cars fixtures have been planned and advertised from February. The two sports will have to work together to ensure both sides are happy.

Perry Barr is a possibility although the 21.53 from Perry Barr with a change at B'ham New Street gets me back into Euston after 1am which with night buses being what they are will mean a 3am arrival home! Monmore Green would be more expensive and would also get me home around the same time. Going to have to do some careful thinking. Maybe have to be happy with one or two trips to each track during the year and hope I can get a lift to tracks like Kent and Arlington for a few meetings. Eight meetings at four different tracks would make for an interesting season and I could always add a trip to Isle of Wight for the Steam Railway and Speedway in one day for even more variety. Thanks for your suggestions. I have been spoilt for choice most of my life in London but that has ended and I have to get used to a new reality.

If I was a Sheffield Speedway fan I would be very concerned at running on Sundays as that will mean most meetings follow a Saturday evening Stock Car meeting and while I am a fan of both sports I do not think it good to have the bikes on a track that the cars have raced on under 24 hours earlier! Look at the problems they have had at both Mildenhall and Stoke in that respect. I suppose it is possible that the cars will only run on weekends that the bikes are not running a home meeting but that will take a fair amount of give and take by both sides which I can see being a potenial problem. The reason why both sports were so good at Coventry was that they always had plenty of time to prepare the track and in any case Brandon was a tarmac track with a few grains of shale on top for most car meetings.

Things may have changed but Arlington and Ipswich are around a mile away from a bus stop, that when I checked, did not have buses when the meetings finished! The only time I went to Foxhall Heath by train I landed up walking from the station to the track which took over an hour. When I did that I was about 25 and now I am 64 and have more sense (around the same time I walked from Ringwood to Matchams Park for a Stock Car meeting and vowed never to get caught out like that again, although these days I have to walk from Aldershot station to the Rushmore Arena which is nearly a half hour walk). A friend went to Kent last season and had to get a taxi to the track and then could not get a mobile phone signal to call for a taxi at the end of the meeting and had to walk which is nearly as bad as Foxhall Heath. I will have to check Perry Barr and Monmore Green out. Thanks for your comments, I may yet see some racing in 2019.

Yes, I know that but so depressed that I am getting upset about everything. Speedway and Stock Car racing have been my life and having retired they are no longer very easy to get to. Speedway due to a lack of tracks near London and Stock Cars due to being infested by Bangers that I hate. I really am going to have to consider getting a car but having not driven for fifteen years I am not sure it is a good idea. Totally depressed.

Thanks, I am depressed enough without being told it is my fault!