MattB

Would have been fascinating to hear the great man's opinion on Bartek. I always felt he was quite dismissive of TR.

He's certainly matured quicker. I notice he's broken the record for the youngest rider to win 4 titles. Just by comparison. Greg Hancock 44 Hans Nielsen 35 Ivan Mauger 33 Barry Briggs 31 Tony Rickardsson 31 Ove Fundin 30 Bartosz Zmarzlik 28

Barring injury/someone stepping up/Zmarzlik's standards dropping you can certainly see him roaring past Mauger and Rickardsson, though they had tougher opposition.

We effectively did that after heat 9 on Monday! Asides that, this is yet another night where speedway blasts its own feet to smithereens. Clear to see the intention is to get to heat 10, with scant regard for the paying punters. It's a Semi-Final of a major competition, yet its got the atmosphere of a wake.

Rain will likely save us from a real shoeing tonight

Emil has been a breath of fresh air this year. Some exceptional performances on the track and a class act off it as well.

Not so sure "naming and shaming" the Express and Star is a clever move given how much coverage they've given us over the years and certainly since the eviction notice was served on us.

I've said for the last seven years that stopping BE building on Brandon will be the "easy" bit. Getting it back of their hands is going to be the toughest task, given they appear to have no intention whatsoever of selling it.

After last year they simply had to deliver this time and they certainly did. Vast improvement. One big disappointment for me was Dan Bewley not bothering to do a lap of honour after either of his two heat wins. Poor show

Sadly, though petitions are all well and good and I've happily signed it, it's the equivalent of shouting against thunder. Its money that's needed to fight off the developers, not signatures. Unless speedway in the UK starts standing up fir itself a little bit more, more clubs will follow Peterborough and Wolves into having to watch from the sidelines

Any club that does not own its own stadium has the same noose hanging over their head that we have and also Peterborough. If the owner of the site sells it for redevelopment or just decides they don't want you there anymore, you don't have a leg to stand on even if your a viable operation. Coventry and Cradley were viable, but that didn't stop the stadiums being taken from underneath them. Us, Peterborough, Poole, Birmingham and Edinburgh are all facing that problem and these are just the known clubs. I know of at least two others that face a real threat of having no home in the next 18 months.

I think the two complement each other and offer a different challenge. While the SWC is a team event in name, when the tapes go up every rider is an individual. The SON encourages team racing as you say.

Crikey the streets you spend time on must be policed strictly if you see people getting arrested for that

Tai will probably get a rocket from the authorities and get told not to do it again. Doubt he'll get anything more than that.

Must be a figment of my imagination that Workington and Oxford have reopened in last 18 months......

Just back from Manchester. Incredible meeting and a fantastic effort by all of our riders thought Zack Cook rode really well for just 3 points), but gutted we didn't hold on for the win. Missed opportunity

That's the spirit!

Wolves Speedway owners are in talks over a potential new home after the team was given notice to leave Monmore Green. Under-threat Wolves has been told its tenancy agreement will not be extended beyond the end of this year, leaving the riders homeless after nearly a century of racing at its historic home, in Sutherland Avenue, Wolverhampton, which it shares with greyhound racing. The club is remaining tight-lipped over the unnamed location, but team promoter Chris Van Straaten told the Express & Star: "There is a site which we are investigating, but it is the very early stages of consideration and we're unable to say any more at the moment. "We have had a lot of interest and have received a lot of help from MP Pat McFadden, councillors and others. We are working towards a site and we're quite confident about and hopefully it will come to fruition within the next few months."

Interesting comments from Liam Boylan, who is stadium director at Wembley about 38 minutes in. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6S3z3fS5i48Yh7FkluzsMH?si=7PuBUTlpTTK32qR3vBCGRg

Cradley had no trouble finding potential sites. They just had no support whatsoever from the very anti-sport Dudley Council. That's going to be key for us to keep on track after this year.

Nicki is never going to be the sort of rider who will just tootle round at the back and keep out of trouble. Only knows one way and that's all out and give it everything. No doubt he can still score well enough, but it seems he gets crocked everything he comes off now.

This is going to be the big test. Phil always comes across as somebody who doesn't suffer fools gladly. If he decides something needs changing and the promoters all close ranks again he won't stay in the job long. It's a a role so many of us have called for over a long period of time, but it will only work if everyone buys into it.

BRITISH Speedway will bring in a new one-minute warning in order to speed up re-runs following unsatisfactory starts this season. Any race which is stopped where there is no incident such as a rider falling will have the time allowance for the re-run halved from the normal two minutes to just one. SCB co-ordinator Neil Vatcher explained: “During the course of the close season the members of the BSP Ltd have been in consultation with the SCB regards regulation changes for the 2023 season, and one of the major points brought to the table was when there is an unsatisfactory start, and the race is stopped without any incident or accident. “As with any other time allowance for the start of the race, previously the riders were allowed two minutes to return back to the start after the race had been stopped. “The authorities were in agreement that where there has been no incident or accident, just an unsatisfactory start, there is no need to allow an extra two minutes for those riders to return to the start, and one minute would be sufficient. “Therefore, for the 2023 season in the scenario of an unsatisfactory start without any incident or accident, the riders will be required to return back to the start line within one minute.”

Dates have been given for the play offs finishing before the end of September. Perhaps the penny has finally dropped?

Rugby Council APPROVES Notice of Motion to explore options available to bring Brandon Stadium back into use, and any likely public advantages to the local and wider communities should this be achievable. We look forward to providing our input into the discussions to follow