Trotter65

Just watched the meeting now on tape...what a shocker of a meeting..Gate and go....good job for the fast forward button..I was able to watch it in 10 minutes ...10 minutes of my life I'll never get back though !!

Nielsen was a great team rider..especially in his Oxford days when he was probably at his very best in that era, I think the best rider I've seen over a range of tracks I think....Ermolenko in his Wolves peak was a great team rider though , especially at Monmore where he covered every bit of track behind his partner at times ..Gundersen was the best rider I saw around Hyde Road I think and Nielsen the best overall..

I'd have Ermolenko ahead of Hancock any day..more talent in his little finger and the greatest team rider I've ever seen....all the other names are fine most entertaining trio are probably Loram,Gustafsson and Screen

The picture in SD on 422 on Sky is poor compared to HD channels though..better than nothing I suppose but you cannot compare an SD channel to an HD channel for picture quality.

I haven't watched much of this yet but I started watching in the 70's and I certainly think you can look back with rose tinted glasses...sure league racing back then was in a different level to now due to more teams, regular matches and settled teams... But this was highlights and not live so of course it's packaged well with no delays etc..if it was live it would have the same delays as today.. and it does have the crowd with helps..but to say the starts were better back then with less messing about ?....I remember starts taking an age with tape pushing all over the place and basic cheating going on..they are actually quicker on the start line getting underway now with starts 100 % fairer than back then.....and I've watched old videos from meetings I was at and a lot of racing was underwhelming to say the least...and I watched every week at Hyde Road in the 70's ..speedway racing will never get the crowds on this video again but I certainly think it looks more professional now than ever and the racing when a track is good is probably better than back then on the whole.. I still like to look back at these though but I'm on that say sport moves forward and progresses in all sports...GP's can equal this racing wise

I think Simmo's van had an automatic cut out that stopped it making it to Belle Vue ..either that or he got a nose bleed coming that far north !

Is Woffinden the best ever British rider ?..as a relative old timer I would say no but then it's impossible to compare pre GP era to the GP era The GP's have been one of the best things for top level speedway in my opinion as the old World Finals were definitely coming to the end compared to the 70's and change was needed.....but Woffinden has won GP's from scoring 8 , 9 or 10 in the 20 heats which would never win a one off meeting...and if he'd ridden like in the GP a couple of weeks ago in say the Inter Continental Final then he wouldn't have even qualified for the World Final that year so the margins for error were much less back then..one bad race or one fall or engine failure and you wouldn't win a world title....now you can have plenty of those and still win the Title..so that's why it's impossible to say Woffinden is better than Collins for instance..purely judging world titles cannot prove that Having said that , the best rider in the world in any era is the best at that time and Woffinden is the best now and would have been one of the best back in any era but with probably less world titles due to the smaller margin for error back then

It was a terrible GP..it was a terrible decision to exclude Woffinden...as it turned out I don't think it mattered in the meeting as he wasn't riding or gating well enough to have got much from that race...but the decision was purely made to keep Zmarzlik in with a shout for Torun..very suspicious if you ask me But regardless of that it was a terrible meeting and I doubt many casual fan or no diehard made it to the end...I taped it and ended up watching the starts and fast forwarding races..that's how good it was !

I thought that when they said they were going to fixed nights it was so some big names could ride here...then they alter the 8 point rule which further limited big names riding here ..if some of the bigger names were here then I'd venture out to see them I think....but the promoters obviously don't want them and can't afford them so to me it's a weak league with few clubs and no interest to me....plus I still don't know when teams are riding..it's all a mess and heading for a bigger mess all the time... I'll stick to T20 cricket now...most matches a pound for my 13 year old some a fiver for me or £12 sometimes..big names and great entertainment..each year gets better than the previous one...I wish I could say that about speedway

Having seen how wet the track was earlier I thought the meeting was OK..I thought it was a good advert for the sport with a big full stadium and a great atmosphere...the racing wasn't fantastic but to be honest i started watching in the 70's and speedway racing is often poor ..this wasn't poor....this was a good advert as speedway goes

Going back years here but when my brother in law rode he was given a little book with all banned substances on plus a list of various things that are in everyday medicines that could be banned and advised to check with the doctor with this list before taking anything.... No idea what happens now but there were always open rumours back then about certain riders and I assume it may still be the same

When I was a kid the pre meeting parade was a highlight for me...and the line up of bikes and riders at the tapes being introduced....it's a chance to see the riders and not just as faceless individuals.. It's important for fans to identify riders and to identify them as riders for their team...riders today are seen as guns for hire...riding because it's convenient for them to be at a club but with no affinity to it all...changing rules and points limits don't help but it all creates a lack of bond between riders and fans at club level...don't get too attached because they'll be off next season.. It needs to get back to being a proper team sport..the riders are your team..they are your riders with a proper bond between the two...it's far from that at the moment ..plus when I was young Saturday night at 7 was speedway....I'm only a casual follower now but I don't have a clue when meetings at home are scheduled any more..

Nielsen was never dull..a great rider and a fantastic team rider...Gundersen was my favourite rider and to me was fantastic to watch around Hyde Road..his wide lines were like nothing I'd seen including Collins and Morton..and Jan O was possibly the best passer I've seen... I must admit I thought Jepsen Jensen looked pretty exciting in the World Pairs though..

One thing I noticed about Lambert is that he used to look a bit weighty for a rider but now he looks lean..he looks very fast and stylish and his build now is perfect...he has every chance of being a big star

Great stuff..even my wife says she wants to go to see a meeting at Belle Vue now...she's checking the calendar now !

Of course Lambert was left out of the race regardless of who was programmed..Lambert had ridden well in Manchester..he rode the first race and was competitive against the Swedes and beat Lindback...so he was replaced for sure....I'm a Cook fan but at that moment it was a huge error and just Rosco trying to look clever and it backfired...

Went to the shay lots of times following Belle Vue in the 70's and 80's and can't say I enjoyed many visits there...you got absolutely showered with Shale on the bends..much more than anywhere else...the loose grey stuff they used...the racing was fast but I cannot remember much passing there in my visits although Peter Collins was invincible there for a long time... I used to go regularly away locally to see Belle Vue back then and loved Sheffield, Cradley and Coventry but The Shay was never a favourite track for me

Race suits do look professional..but I'm definitely for individual race suits...fans from when I was young liked to support certain riders and the riders were known by their own colours and you got to know those colours and things for each individual riders and made riders stand out more and be more individual....after all its an individual sport masquerading as a team sport really and in team suits all riders look the same which to me isn't a great look

How do people know that TV has stopped people attending ?...I actually went to some meetings last year because I saw the NSS on TV and it made me go...I'd not been to a live meeting for years....sure I didn't go every week but that's circumstances...without TV I'd never have gone at all.....how do people know others haven't done the same....how do they do that crowds wouldn't have dwindled even more without TV....they wete dwinding before TV anyway...certainly less people would actually know about the product if it wasn't on TV... It's easy to blame TV for speedway's problems but that just papering over massive cracks...a sport needs TV and without it even less people will know anything about it and even less people will show up..

If promoters actually promoted the sport properly in their local areas then the TV coverage could be a huge promotional tool going forward...for every person lost they should gain 2....if there is no promotion and no TV then nobody is going to even know about league speedway and it's future is far bleaker ..TV is a must..

Well i think Jason Doyle deserves a lot of praise for riding in the meeting...Most World champions wouldn't go near any meeting unless they were receiving a nice appearance fee ...let's face it he's not short of meetings....so to do this one deserves praise....he doesn't have to And it is different to other riders doing it...his appearance will definitely put more on the gate, get more publicity and make more money..which after all is the aim so I cannot see why anybody would raise any negatives

It's a very unappetising league and product this year...doesn't really make me want to make the effort to go every week I'm afraid

Yes they use these bats instead of the traditional rubber bats.... It's a Matchroom event created and promoted by them...Barry Hearn knows how to promote and get events on TV...what would speedway do for a figure like that..