JamesHarris

You'll find he's occupied elsewhere today trying to win a World Championship

Sorry to go on again but the original posting has peed me off a little. We are a nation that pride ourselves on welcoming others but recently anything or anybody Russian is scum. Indeed we have seen in sport people refusing to shake hands with someone that is Russian. That is wrong. It's not just wrong it's racism. The sad thing is the same people who have jumped on the Ukraine bandwagon are the one's who preach the anti racism message but fail to see how racist they are themselves by suggesting that anyone who is Russian should be cancelled just because their nutjob of a leader invaded another country. Were all German's Nazis in the 1930's/40's? Do all Russians support Putin? Stop being such bloody racists you hypocrites!!

How those who probably denounce racism can be such racists themselves.

Well that is very interesting. I'm a Bluenose and I've not heard anything about this so if true it's very exciting indeed.

Always keep meaning to visit his grave at Foleshill cemetery. Always pass it on the way into Coventry. I have always found the story of Tom Farndon fascinating. It's fair to say he was the Bartosz Zmarzlik of his day and the amount of money he made in such a short space of time was incredible. At times he was riding 2 meetings a day and I worked it out once that he was raking in the equivalent £10,000 a day on some occasions!

To be honest that's the impression I get from it. I've been twice and must admit the atmosphere was amazing in the city centre itself but the actual racing was pants. I would compare it to the Monaco Grand Prix. Everyone knows the racing will be dull and decided by the first corner but people want to be a part of the atmosphere and the experience surrounding it.

Unpopular opinion time but I just don't get why people rave so much about Cardiff. Perhaps people are sucked in to the glitz and glamour of it? I watched the last 8 heats last night and from what I saw the races are pretty much decided by the first bend. I've never rated this track. I would love to see a Grand Prix at Belle Vue which in my opinion is a proper racing track but I would assume Cardiff generates a lot of income for the organisers.

Don't the local council own it?

Just wondering if anyone could help me with a question please? Which clubs in the UK actually own their own grounds? Off the top of my head I can think of Scunthorpe, Leicester and Redcar. Thanks

Szymon Wosniak is a 2024 Grand Prix Rider. Well done to him. Very talented rider. I think it's safe to say Doyle and Vaculik will make the top six cut so that will mean another new face to the series in Jan Kvech. Would have likes to have seen Luke Becker make the cut but his time will come.

Ok everyone is assuming Nick has been a naughty boy. I’m not defending him and it was very foolish of him to refuse the test but has anyone asked if he was on medication or even taking stuff for hay fever and perhaps panicked when he was picked for a random test? If that was so then maybe he could have been cut some slack but even so he could have contested the result if positive I suppose. If he had got something to hide then it’s his own doing I’m afraid. Such a shame really as he’s a nice lad and a good rider.

I would have to disagree a bit with you there. Unless you mean someone who has been involved in Motorsport in general. In the early 2000's there was a chap called Adam Crozier who for some unknown reason all the big companies were all over. He was a disaster at the FA then f*cked up the Post Office and then ITV hired him! So sometimes it doesn't pay to hire an outsider.

OK - for what it's worth my opinion on this matter. Speedway in the UK will see it's 100th season and beyond but it needs to change and change fast. Someone has mentioned on here that British Speedway needs a single dictator running the show. I actually agree. I understand a lot of people may not like the idea as such but you only have to look at Barry Hearn with Darts and Snooker and even Bernie Ecclestone with F1. One person running the show can work. Then again some can say Speedway GB as it stands is a dictatorship with a small inner circle calling the shots. However I firmly believe that this "inner circle" only have their own short term interests at heart and don't really have the mental capacity to see the bigger picture. In comparison to the BSPL one only has to look at the mess that is now England Rugby. They have run the English Premiership as a posh boys closed shop for years. They don't want the smaller teams anywhere near their patch and they think they know best. And guess what? Three well established clubs have gone "t*ts up in the last 2 years simply because the people who run this closed shop could not open their eyes. Moving forward. Teams need to be run as motorsports clubs rather than promotions. I saw this when I spent some time in Denmark. The clubs have public membership and have riders of all calibre on their books from 50cc kids to the Elite riders. These clubs run several teams in several leagues and held practice days in the week. For this to happen here in the UK though we would need all clubs to actually own their own tracks/stadiums such as Belle Vue, Scunthorpe, Redcar, etc. I think the same system operates in Germany but I'm sure Iris will correct me if I'm wrong. Based on the above system if we continue to run an Elite League it would need to be on a set race night that didn't interfere with Poland and Sweden. And finally - If you can't beat them join them. I've always been an advocate over the last few years on entering a British team into the Polish League. It would take a hell of a lot of money and would rely heavily on sponsorship but if the British team could be based at a track near to an international airport then maybe it could work. On the flip side of the coin a lot of British fans could have a few long weekends in Poland or Germany. TV exposure would also be a good way of bringing in businesses that do trade with Poland and visa versa. And Yes if I had Lord Sugars money I would have a pop at it

I think a mix of both individual and team would be good. As someone has already pointed out the British system at the moment is solely focussed on an outdated two team format. This format obviously does work well in Poland and Sweden but am I right in suggesting they are run as motorsport clubs rather than a promotion? With it looking likely that there will be less teams operating here next year perhaps it is the time to run the league on a four team tournament format so you're having the best of both? I do remember back in the day we used to have a lot of prestigious individual open meetings. I'm not saying that if we had these again the promoters should be throwing money around to bring in the GP riders (they'd be broke within a month) but it would be a good way to include tourist riders or Scandinavians and Continentals looking to put themselves out there. Always generated interest amongst the punters when an unsigned Danish youngsters turned up for an open meeting.

Is it as popular as you are led to believe though? It's very easy to fill stands when you are giving away tickets or selling them for the same price as a McDonalds meal. I've nothing against women's football but the standard is poor. It is being rammed down our throats that it is the most popular sport in the world right now. If that was so you would see houses and pubs decked out in England flags for the women's world cup and so far I have only seen one.

Probably basing it on the idea of Dundalk racetrack in Ireland. Greyhound track inside a floodlight All-Weather horseracing venue. From an entertainment perspective it would make perfect business sense to combine the two at the same venue. Unfortunately is doesn't bode well for speedway unless they could fit a speedway track inside the greyhound track inside the racecourse but I don't know what the housing situation is around Dunstall Park.

Doesn't look like there's many people there or is that a standard attendance at Lynn?

Does anyone know what the track length is please? thanks

Not very often I agree with you on here but as you say the guy giving the interview has absolutely no idea about speedway when he says he want's a GP in November or December. But when there's money to be made who knows what Discovery Sports will do. I personally think the bikes are too fast now for indoor or in Wembley's case outdoor artificial tracks. The racing is not good. it's usually first out the traps wins. I've been a bid advocate for a GP at the new Belle Vue as the track always produces flat out good racing but what do I know.

This is only going to last 9 heats

What actually defines a Longtrack these days? I always assumed it was the 800 - 1000m tracks

And how many of us watch the links for the Polish streams on here??

You can watch it for free if you know where to look

I remember you running in the initial MDL. You were one of the genuine ones. Sadly it was the minority running under the Ghost team banner that let it down for everyone else. I do agree though that maybe they could be allowed to run again but under very strict criteria.

As controversial as it may sound I do think the BSPL were right to pull the plug on Ghost teams. I agree it has had a knock on effect with regards to the number of teams operating in the MDL but it did need to be done. I speak from experience with my involvement in the early days of the MDL. There were several ghost teams back then. Some were run by genuine enthusiast who wanted to provide a platform for youngsters whilst keeping alive a not too distant name from the past. Sadly though there was a small minority of ghost teams run by unsavoury ego obsessed muppets who were far more interested in using the best riders within the rules to fill their own trophy cabinets. It was very embarrassing for the league IMO when one of these teams got a 30-6 whitewash and boasted about it - all too easy when you fielded 4 NL standard riders against 4 juniors. That said a couple of MDL teams fielded by the established clubs were run by unsavoury characters as well.