Fortythirtyeight

Who? Hope your not talking about short cut G.T.?

How can something be sorted if there isn't qualified/ experienced people to sort it? There is no ' training scheme ' for the skill of track preparation. The few good ones still around are constantly bombarded with calls begging them to sort a track out somewhere in the country, usually for a pittance of a fee , and they are getting on in age doing a very physical job. The Wolverhampton curator, Terry , does Wolves, Redcar and up until a week ago Birmingham. He has been asked to 'sort out' Stoke, Isle of Wight, Glasgow and a few others over this season already by the SCB and promoters and he is just one man relying on the track concerned to provide him with the machinery and the shale to do the job right. It has taken him years to learn his trade ,mainly from Doc Bridgett, but there is no apprentice scheme so when he retires who takes up the role? The powers that be can't sort out the rule book never mind the tracks.

What modern track curators? Their average age must be 60 plus! Only one you could consider as being young is Jonathan Swales at much slated Newcastle ( the track shape is not his fault ) My nearest track tell me they are still getting their shale from the same source they have used for the last five years and never had an issue with supply . It's more a case of transport costs of the shale than the article and knowing how to lay it once you have it. Too many tracks lack a proper, time experienced track man who actually knows how to lay, repair and prepare a track rather than just grade it and water it. its a ' black art' and a dying one at that.

They make no secret of the break even crowd figure and have quoted it many times. Their wage bill alone is three times that of other clubs ( Mr.Cook does not come cheap ) and their have often stated they will not go on forever suffering losses. They have invested heavily and good on them for doing so but 1200 is still losing them money. They are very approachable gentleman so you can ask them yourself . P.S. Scotland is a very nice place, I live nearby and drive into it most days.

Then you live in cloud cuckoo land with the advertising they do, the investment they have made ( all good ) and the over the top wages they pay ( compared to every other track in their division ).

At the last count there are less than 20 GTR engines in the country and only 4 being used in competitive racing by just two Riders ( NL riders ). Mr.Godfrey has actually given engines away to juniors as no one will buy them and last I heard the BSPA were trying to get their money back ( good luck with that). I think the NICE 2v experiment has potential but I still don't think the muppets on the top table have the numption to get their £300,000 back and go in a completely different direction.

Some people on here really are dillusional if they think the BSPA/SCB (who licence the tracks ) are going to allow a rival engine company to hold a series of race meetings on their tracks when they have a ' contract ' ( however idiotic it is ) with GTR . Unless of course there's something in it for them.

You really are showing yourself up now.

As above statement , unfortunately the connection is not working

For someone who claims to be a speedway ' fan' you don't seem to know much about your own team never mind the sport itself? As for " stating a fact, IMHO"??? then its not a fact is it?.... It's an opinion , a silly one at that.

I wasn't slagging the lad off, anyone who gets on a speedway bike should not be slagged off by us ' terrace Warriors '. I was simply pointing out half his points were gifted, end of.

There's no new TV deal being offered by BT or Sky. The BSPA are seeking ways of possibly ' streaming ' matches or possibly having a ' highlights ' programme as part of a combined Motor Sports programme on one of the minor subscription channels but it's early days and current viewing figures are about one third of the Sky days so don't think any major station will be cueing for speedway.

I always thought the idea was to score as many points as possible in every race.

Scored in reserves race, a gift for his other race, don't get carried away but glad for the lad that he will actually get paid enough to cover his travel costs for a change.

Yes, good promoting, but Glasgow are sill losing money every week. They openly admit to needing 2,500 each week to break even and are currently getting around 1200 paying customers with ' promotions ' ( free or massively discounted tickets ) bringing in around 2-300. They won't put up with this forever.

Good meeting with no fickle fans attending despite the fact that not one drop of rain fell anywhere near the track. Forecast rain in Newcastle tomorrow so you not going? Support your son, support your team! Brummies strengthened by two ex Bears were decent opposition and kept it interesting . whilst the racing was good that mascot Bear dancing with the kids from Chernobyl was amazing, worth the entrance fee alone. Cant wait for my next visit to Redcar, always produces good racing despite the forecasts.

There's no rain forecast for the evening, only the afternoon, which will not put this match in doubt. The weekend forecast is good which is why I WILL be travelling to the meeting and spending the weekend in the area ( Whitby ). It rained at Birmingham on Wednesday , which was not forecast, didn't affect the meeting. why are fans so fickle ?

Not the worst track in the league by a stretch but when an Edinburgh rider says he needs a Grasstrack bike to get round it you know it's not smooth. Bates, like a lot of younger riders, simply lacks Trackcraft.

There's a difference from ' being out of control' and struggling to keep the bike where you want it. Perhaps before making such comments you might want to try riding a Speedway bike around Armadale's current bumpy surface.

Terry has left the post at Birmingham due to needing to reduce his workload as he's busy at Wolverhampton and Redcar so found it too much trying to fit Birmingham in as well. He isn't in the greatest of health but is still one of the best Trackman in the country which is why the SCB keep calling on his services to sort out ' troublesome ' track surfaces.

Unlike Newcastle both riders left on good terms ( not sacked via text ) and are still on friendly terms with the management. Wouldn't be surprised if either of them became a Bear again for the evening.

Crowds of 1200??? 90% of current clubs cant get anywhere near that now so how are they to double or even treble there crowds with a diluted product? Two clubs are currently up for sale and rumours of another two/ three by the end of the season so 16 clubs looks a struggle. whilst I welcome any ideas to save the sport simple facts need to be faced. Current crowds are around half of that figure in the championship and short of 1,000 at most Premiership clubs. Costs have to be cut by reducing wages, increasing major sponsorship for the whole of the sport as there is no title sponsor at present and by standardising the bikes being used that are now too powerful and too expensive to maintain.

Unfortunately the dogs feelings don't come into it but money does. Dog racing on Asian TV is massive and brings the G.R.A. massive amounts, lack of a crowd at the stadiums is not an issue. Stock cars don't get a look in but I know it makes the few who host these meetings more money than any speedway meeting will.

"How about 3 Regional Divisions of 7 teams each (I'm assuming no more closures and 3 or 4NL clubs stepping up!)" Massive assumption. There will be less teams next season ( already two up for sale ) and which NL clubs do you think will want to step up? Your pay rates are pie in the sky, only two clubs in the country pay that sort of rate to riders in the championship. One Division it will be, regional league just doesn't work due to the logistics of where riders live. Most are midland based so they will a reluctance to ride in a northern bias division when they can base themselves nearer home when receiving less points money.

Quite right. An example of when his phone might ring... How about when a rider fails a drugs test, an ' excuse ' is made by the host club to cover him leaving ( say a family issue) and a phone call is made to get the R/R facility to cover his absence which is not allowed by the rule book and the ref points this out but the nod was given by the on call member ( I use that term provocatively ) and another rule is broken as it was ' for the benefit of the sport ' and perhaps the on call member has direct links to the rider? On call members usually get called by promoters not ' in their gang' ( non management ) over interpretation of a rule ( being broken ) and of course then get a completely unbiased opinion in response ( really?) I recall a number of such instances at a certain 'Midlands' track over the last few seasons but that promoter was hounded out so it won't happen again obviously.