HGould

You want West?... Neath Speedway (look it up) now thats west! St Austell (look it up) or Trelawny - west of west! If you really wanted to "go west west west" Ballymena - now that would be as far west as Speedway has been in the UK! On the topic of West - Michael West - (he's coming to a Championship Club sort of in the West !)

Well he does have a split personality...he could have a happy club, a middling club and an angry club...he could even ride for one and Guest for the other two at Plymouth

Brennan did well for us last season, he carried the Team on many occasions until Lindgren arrived. The way I look at it is this. Brennan is the only realistic prospect of a British rider breaking in to SGP full time in next 3-4 years realistically on the horizon. Whether he is good enough is open to question but he has to optimise his chances of doing so. Will he do that carrying a team at Birmingham knowing its 95% sure to close as the Stadium closes in a years time or being a third heat leader behind 2 experienced GP stars at Ipswich, where he could legitimatley stay for a number of years and step up the pecking order in time and learn from those around him, rather than carry them. He will have a solid UK base, is building his profile in Poland and also gaining valuable experience in Sweden. I'd actually argue that had he NOT gone to Ipswich, he'd have been better off riding CL at Poole than PL at Perry Barr in terms of his development in 2025. Thanks for all your efforts Tom, onwards and upwards young man!.

The worst example was in 2018 when Lakeside regularly had matches cancelled by the Management Committee as they were bottom of the pecking order and if they had raced scheduled Fixtures a certain Promoter could not get a Guest who had broken his leg very early in the season.

An interesting if inherently sad feature on ITN 6.30pm National News on Thursday night and repeated as part of the nationally screened Tonight programme on at 8.30pm across ITV Regions the same night. It included filming in The Pits Area and Seated Stand and some panoramic views of the excellent work done there. A very sad topic though about "drink spiking" and a feature about a local lad who it appears was involved in the Speedway whose parents are involved in a National Campaign to emphasise how dangerous and lethal it can be.... Sangita Lal the presenter mentioned the Speedway and there were some racing clips a few times.

Somewhere in Spain this week. Matt Ford asked if he could show the benefits of "cloud seeding" (to artificially order rain clouds at set pre designated times) procedure he proposes to keep the dust down at Poole but it went a bit ** up!

Plymouth may be playing an absolute blinder "Devil take the hindmost" (excuse the pun) Just got to wait for the 20 riders linked with Glasgow who don't make the Tigers chosen 7 and cherry pick the best 5 remaining for themselves

I guess they'd best give David Mason a bell to find out how they ran NDL on a weekday that probably just about broke even on the kind of rental they had to pay ARC. The question is would those 400-500 who turned up then turn up now or would they turn their nose up at it??.

He appears to have arrived in to adult Speedway with something of a reputation from the Youth ranks of being a bit of an "indian rubber man" e.g he falls off a lot but bounces very well. He's certainly got no fear from what I've seen and is frigteningly quick. He probably has the raw speed and talent to go a very very long way BUT to do that he'll need to stay fit and he'll need to learn race-craft and race-craft is not having the throttle on the end stop for 4 laps! I've read he has guidance from David Norris, a great rider and a fantastic charachter but again, I'm not always convinced great riders are the best mentors. How do you Coach someone who is a natural and a bit of a maverick is always a challenge in any Sport as you can't coach out what comes naturally without affecting that natural ability. A bit of a conundrum really. The one thing he can control though, and which should be taught him very quickly; is his behaviour respect and decorum OFF the track, as that will get him in to more bother potentially if he can't rein it in.

I'm going 55-35 here to Poole I think Lawson will be on his A game, Brennan will have actually put Poole first unlike the 1st Leg and actually arrive awake and up for it and the Cook brothers will be supercharged by one of those GP type engines they seem to be able to borrow from fellow Aussies when the chips are down!...I can see those 4 amassing north of 45 points. I think the remaining 3 can chip in 10 between them. Masters and Scotty will fight valiantly but I can't see them getting heat advantages in 13 and 15 this time under the relentless Poole top 4 pressure.

Sad but sadly inevitable. Hemmed in by the Stadium Owners to a Monday by BSPL to only being able to ride in PL on a Monday by Stadium future that no one can guarantee beyond next September it seems by 3 Football Clubs all attracting near full houses in PL / CL and astonishingly League 1 by a vibrant Test and County Cricket ground by an increasigly diverse populous the vast majority of which have no affinity with Speedway by a Sport with an aging support base whose aging to slow death is only beaten by the Conservative Party Cannot and won't fault the commitment and enthusiasm of the current Promotion or the one that preceded it, nor those who fought so hard to bring the Sport back to the City early this milenium.... Sadly I think this is the end, and Tolley and Co join the growing list who can at least say "better to have tried and failed, than not to have tried at all" at least we've had 3 seasons we may not have otherwise have had!

The NDL is really a couple of Clubs light. It cannot be allowed to die! The glaring geographical gap in general is in London and the South East. Is there no chance someone could use Iwade again, like Kent did in 2023?. Could be a "generic" South East labelled Club to attract supporters from those clubs who have closed in the past 10 years or so?? Surely they could make NDL work financially? I understand that Buxton is still operating as a Track, really Buxton was "everything that is positive about NDL at its peak" - with Stoke sadly gone as a venuw and Sheffield / Scunthorpe really too much of a composite to be viable long term, could someone not get Buxton up and running again. Mildenhall too is too good a venue to sit unused, could one of their former promoters not consider an NDL season in 2025??...

Try putting both arms in a jumper standing on one leg!

The risk of another bang on a clearly deeply concussed brain in the timescale since his massive crash the week before last massively massively overrides any possible reward of racing this week, next week, any time this season in my opinion. How many of the scribes on here (aside from the few ex-speedway riders or possible rugby / motor cycle typs sports competitiors, boxers ) have ever suffered from a concussion.??? I had a mild one playing Rugby in my teens, believe me, it's something I've never forgotten and the affects can be dormant and long term. He is a decent young man with the best days of his career ahead, far better for him to show up and spectate, take his deserved adulations as a team member and contributor to the respective ultimate trophy wins, and get himself off back home, some rest and relaxation and come back as recovered as he can be next season. I sincerely hope that is the outcome!

I think the one benefit from this addition of manchester is that it might at least provoke a bit of interest from the BBC in the days before and during the Event. They have become very Manchester centric and biased in their reporting since relocating to Salford. Hopefully for once Speedway can get some free publicity and a bit of a boost. Certainly the BSPL should be all over this possible angle / spike in awareness.