BarracudaAce

To add a bit more context and comparison to another GP I'm attending this year. Block C Seats for the 2-night package at the NSS are £215. So, £107.50 for each GP. I was bought a ticket as a Christmas present for the Wroclaw GP on 30 August. It is Sektor V1 in the Main Grandstand at the Olympic Stadium. This is pretty much the equivalent position between the starting gate and the first bend. Face value of the Wroclaw ticket is 499PLN - almost exactly £100 depending on the exchange rate at the time of purchase. Their equivalent back straight tickets (and seated too) could be cheaper than those in the South Stand at the NSS, but from where my tickets are located at both venues it's not too much different.

Plymouth Argyle have just beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup today. Two of Argyle's mascots at the match were Ben Barker's sons Luke and Bradley. A day they'll never forget!!

And neither do we want a declared result after 10 heats (is that rule applicable to the Grand Final?) One of three forecasts I've just read has rain returning at 9.00pm, so we don't want any hanging about between races and a daft interval. Probably too much to hope for that though with Eurosport?

Absolutely. I started going over to Poland in 2008 to see Ekstraliga matches and went every year up to and including 2019. it was immediately obvious from our very first match at Zielona Gora that speedway was, as you say, just on a different planet there to the UK version. We've taken in several second-tier matches too through the years, and they've been excellent presentations too. As I posted a few posts back, I was at Wroclaw on Friday night after an unintended break away from Poland for 5 years, and, although I've seen just as good - and some better - racing at the NSS, the whole package of attending an Ekstraliga match is an experience to behold. Since getting home, I've watched the match back on TV and, unfortunately, you cannot really get a sense of what it's like to be there in the crowd and watch everything unfold in front of you. To anyone who hasn't been yet - and is physically and financially able to do so - I'd certainy urge them to give it a try.

After a hiatus of 5 years (due to first Covid and then a family illness) I have just returned from my first trip to Poland since 2019. Sat in the main stand of the Olympic Stadium, Wroclaw on Friday night, I realised just how much I had missed the ‘buzz’ of being at an Ekstraliga match!! It was a great experience, very tasty ‘kielbasa w bulce & piwo’ (sausage in a bun and beer) in the fan park pre-match, good racing to watch, a fabulous atmosphere and, overall, a superb way to spend my birthday night. I even had the pleasure of a chat with Dan Bewley whilst getting ready to board the outbound flight last Tuesday. Dan was heading for a practice session in Wroclaw on Wednesday, before heading back to the UK for the Aces match on Thursday, and then back again to Wroclaw for Friday. And, just to say thanks again to Racers and Royals for his advice on the Wroclaw ticketing arrangements when I messaged him a few months ago now. Now back to the NSS for the Aces v Oxford tomorrow night – hopefully some good racing to watch, but maybe not quite the same 13,675 noisy & partisan crowd!!

Max will come good, though he never really dominated at the NSS last season. He had a slow start to 2022 and, whilst he was at no. 1 early doors, we often saw a visitors 5-1 in heat 1.

Might be a bit late to let folks know, but I arrived at the South Stand Car Park and its full of caravans. There's no one here at the gate to let you know what to do, so I've come round to the St Peters School Car Park and been admitted here. Just a shame Belle Vue couldn't have emailed those of us that have bought South Stand parking to let us know in advance!!

As I mentioned a few posts earlier, Wolves are already coming to the NSS in the league on the Bank Holiday at the end of May. And Wolves' other league visit is in July, so maybe too late in the season for that to be swapped to a KO Cup match.

We've now got two consecutive home matches v. Wolves anyway - and both are Bank Holidays. Take your point re: the KO Cup match not being very attractive though. Have spoken to a chap today who bought 4 tickets for his family for Easter Monday. He's now not bothering with the KO Cup match but swapping those tickets for tickets for the league match on the next Bank Holiday.

Looking at the latest updates on a couple of other different weather apps, they now show light rain until 10.00am, turning to heavy rain from 10.00am onwards for the Gorton area of Manchester.

Well, I received a very prompt and informative reply from Martin at BSN in which he explained the situation with TV browsers, and how the old website did not work on many at all. They will take a look at the points I raised but he did say "Our biggest issue with TV browsers is making it work on so many different types." Martin also mentioned:- "However, we do have a nifty new feature on the new website. As you'll see, below the video is the results. For 2023 meetings, if you click the heat number it will fast forward to the exact point that race begins. This could help with your issue also. We have it set up on the meeting below for you to see it in action." https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk/watch/524e0bc1-1302-404f-9293-6f8809cd751d

Have you had any response from BSN re: your TV issue? I can watch the content on my Samsung TV, but have lost ‘full control’ of the stream since the ‘new’ website was launched - and I’ve just emailed BSN asking if these are known issues and can be rectified. On the ‘old’ BSN website I could watch on both my PC and Samsung smart TV with ‘full control’ of the stream. As I’m often unable to watch the matches ‘live’, I was watching them ‘on demand’ a few days later. This meant I could ‘fast forward’ between races if I was short of time and ‘rewind’ to watch races/incidents over again. And, if I couldn’t finish watching the match in one viewing, I’d make a note of where I was up to and then I could go back (usually the next day) and ‘fast forward’ to start watching again at the point I’d reached the day before. As I said, I could do this on both my PC and Samsung TV and, obviously, I much preferred watching on my TV. With the ‘new’ / relaunched website, though, I can only do this on my PC. I have no control over the stream whilst watching on the Samsung TV. I only found this out as I started to watch a match I’d not seen before the other night, and had reached heat 5 when the ‘phone rang. Rather than hit ‘pause’ I exited the stream. Going back into BSN after the ‘phone call, I found I couldn’t ‘fast forward’ the stream to heat 5 and was faced with watching the first 1 hour and 10 minutes all over again!! So I started the stream for 5 minutes or so and then tried to ‘rewind’ to listen again to something one of the presenters had said – but I found I couldn’t. I then went to check my PC and found I could indeed move to start the stream at 1 hour 10 mins and watched the rest of the match. In all honesty, though, if I knew I was going to have this problem when trying to watch on the TV, I might well not have renewed. I'm hoping, therefore, that BSN will reply offering a way of restoring watching on the TV to how it was on the ‘old’ website.

I'm just on the Bolton side of the Bolton/Salford councils border, and today we've had our first mail delivery since 13th December - including FIVE editions of the Speedway Star!! 3 Dec; 10 Dec; 17 Dec; 24 Dec and 31 Dec. Plenty of reading to catch up on now.

Agree completely

........ and also a balcony at the other end of the Grandstand on the entry to turn 1.

Indeed. Just been messaging a friend who is less than a half mile up the road from me. It was dry and the sun was trying to break through with me, but bouncing down with rain at his place.

Thank you for the full explanation. My obvious 'misunderstanding' came after discussing it with someone involved in the day-to-day running of a speedway club. (Not Belle Vue!!) I'll have to email him your reply!!

So here's an example of the reader interpreting something different from what the writer meant - speedway regulations anyone? When saying 'no facility was granted' I was referring to the quote I'd included of a Daniel Smith post re: Jake Allen's 28-day contract not being granted facility status. I wasn't referring to R/R.

So, I presume here that if no facility was granted, and Jake decided he didn't want to ride for Belle Vue after his 28-day contract expired, then the Aces would just be left with Rider Replacement as their only option. I'm thinking that they couldn't use the No.8, as he is only able to be used to cover the absence of the Rising Star?

Are we sure? If it is, then two clubs will have an extra two fixtures in their schedule as opposed to the other four. Four clubs will have 20 League & 4 League Cup fixtures, and the other two will have 20 League & 6 League Cup fixtures. 25% of 24 matches = 6 matches, and 25% of 26 matches = 6.50 matches. Surely, even our governing body, wouldn't base something on all clubs not having the same number of matches and, also, ending up with a non-whole number as the 25% figure. If they have then will they ‘round up’ or ‘round down’ the 6.50 – if the former then four clubs will be able to change their line-ups after six matches and the other two will have to wait until seven matches are ridden. So, if League Cup fixtures are counting towards the 25% as Daniel Smith suggests above, Belle Vue couldn't sign Matej Zagar until after six completed matches, four of which have already been ridden. So, they couldn't use him for Peterborough (H) on 2 May and Ipswich (a) on 5 May. He could then be brought into the team starting with Peterborough (a) on 9 May.

That seems to be the exact crux of the matter, given the differing views of how this particular regulation is being interpreted on this forum. As another poster has said, though, it is only the SGB Premiership Ruling Authoritites' interpretation that counts and how they want to enforce it. If Matej Zagar's signing is permitted then we'll know a few on here have interpreted it differently from the Ruling Authorities.

I couldn't agree with you more on your last comment, but it is being weakened for 3 clubs (yes, only 3 clubs - but that is 50% of the league) and they would have had to release a rider(s) without the retirees and Dan's situation. The point I was making was the fact that one rider to lose his job because of team building limits could well have been a reserve (if Bjarne had not been retiring and Peterborough chosen to replace him than someone else) and just seems plain daft to me.

And that just about sums up British Speedway!! Never mind the fact that Bjarne Pedersen himself is retiring anyway and the Peterborough 2021 team was built in a very specific way. The team building points limit is raised, yet one team is still set to replace one of the season-ending reserves with a lower averaged rider!! Not their No.1, but a reserve for heaven's sake!!

There's probably someone sat at a desk at British Speedway HQ that has read this, and right now is thinking 'Now that's a cracking idea, why didn't I think of it?'

My local weather app currently shows any rain in rhe Gorton area clearing by around 1.00pm and not returning until around 9.00pm. I'm actually 10 miles away from Belle Vue, it rained here earlier but the sun is trying to peak through the clouds now. Not too successfully though.