TheWatcher

Very true re Scunthorpe but do they live stream their meetings? This deserved a mention for that initiative alone.

Seems a shame that the British Speedway Official Website has totally ignored this meeting, both beforehand and afterwards. The result from some meeting in Australia is on there, but sadly not this one. Thought the idea of that website was to support and help promote British speedway?

Each rider's current average should be beside his name on the declared team line-ups in each league on the British Speedway Official Website. How difficult would that be to do? Or is it a big secret?

Booing is now frowned upon by the woke presenters and announcers up and down the country. There is one particular track where you are actually actively encouraged to applaud the away riders, which gets a lukewarm response by and large, especially when they have just stuffed in a 5-1.

The NSS seems to be a National Stadium in name only. What is going on there in terms of training the next generation, as was supposedly one of the aims of the original promotion? There was also a lot of talk of speedway apprenticeships, like the Poultec initiative. But there is nothing (even before Covid obviously). The biggest missed opportunity at the NSS was the lack of an incorporated training track within the development, which could have been located in the area beyond the third and fourth bends.

Even better, now Stoke has gone, why not Saturdays like in the old days at Hyde Road?

Regarding Buxton, does anyone know if other people have asked about running a team there since it closed? Or is it a case of the Moss family or nothing?

According to the prog I have, Morton replaced Kosta in Ht 9. Kosta finished last in Ht 12.

But wouldn't it have been nice, and the correct way to do it, for the BSPL to have explained the process to us, the fans, instead of it coming out via a question on this forum?

You raise an interesting point. But why would Peterborough get to pick their rider ahead of Belle Vue? Or is there something about the selection process we have not been told?

What is the point of the Colts if both Bickley and Palin, both crowd favourites at the NSS I believe, get overlooked for an outsider at the first opportunity to promote one of them into the first team?

Thanks, should be much more, as usual.

Started watching the link provided yesterday but couldn't really make out the riders from that angle and distance so gave up after a few races. However, there is now a different link on Youtube filmed from the first bend, and it is much easier to ID the riders on that. All the races from day two are on it, including that fantastic run-off which would be talked about for years had it been the decider for the shale world speedway title! Both Kononov and Dmitry had 'so nearly' claims. Kononov was world champ until the last bend, while Dmitry would have made it a three-man run-off had he settled for third in the final (although he may have lost it rather than recklessly going for it). Looking at the history of the ice world championship, it will be 20 years next year since a non-Russian was the winner and it was back in 2009 that a non-Russian finished on the podium (Zorn, third). The difference in class between the top four and the rest at the weekend suggests that isn't going to change any time soon, especially with other Russians not too far behind the leading men. A couple of quick questions for those in the know, and apologies if they have been asked before...what sort of money do the ice guys earn and do any/most have other 'day' jobs, bearing in mind the ice season is so short? Anyway, links below which I found useful. I found it best watching the meeting in conjunction with the results, as then you know which riders are in each race. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZcRa3jbrAU https://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/451/wk-ijsspeedway-finale-2-togliatti.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Ice_Speedway_World_Championship

Didn't Bickley become a Belle Vue asset a couple of years ago? With his record and progress for the Colts as well, wouldn't it make sense to make him the 'rising star'?

That's a very fair point. The last tweet on the official website was in October... https://bellevue-speedway.com/

There was an article in Speedway Star in the early 70s about Ivan running training schools in New Zealand during the UK winter. He said the first thing the novices were taught was how to lay it down safely.

About 10 years ago I was lucky enough to watch a meeting from the ref's box at a current British track. I say 'lucky' as it was a foul night in October with a perishing, unforgiving wind straight from the Arctic! I can't remember if the windows in the box opened, but given the weather they stayed firmly closed that night. Anyway, anyone who has watched speedway through glass knows it gives a slightly distorted view, and even though I have average eyesight (and therefore much better than most refs if the old joke is true, ha!) I simply could not identify the riders on the back straight. All the helmet colours looked the same. And if there had been an incident going into the third bend, I simply wouldn't have had a clue who was at fault as the view was that poor. I have no idea if it is still like that there, but instant replays would have been the only way I could have made a decision that night had I been the ref. As we see every week with VAR in football, though, even with the aid of technology there are still some mind-boggling verdicts. What that night did do was help me understand the difficulties speedway refs have in making the right call on a split-second incident which could involve two or more riders 100 yards or so away on a dimly-lit track.

Neil Coddington.

Yes, I saw that, it was on a couple of days ago. The episode first aired in April 1979, so the race was probably from 77 or 78. I thought it looked like Peterborough.

No idea who the main commentator was but he was determined not to let the incidental racing get in the way of his knockabout chat and laughs with his mates Darcy Ward and Jaimon Lidsey! Half the time I had no idea who was in the race as that seemed to be a minor and irrelevant detail. And four hours to run a meeting...? On the plus side, it was free to watch!

Excellent, thanks. Look forward to that in the new year.

Heat 39...oh dear, more controversy with another 'make it up as you go along' decision. These brave guys deserve fairer reffing than that. Horrible crash early on and Khomitsevich also seemed to hit the same rut and that incident could have been a lot worse. Thought the production people had nodded off after the third round of heats but fortunately normal service resumed for the later races. Do we know if finals 3 and 4 will be on Youtube?

Thanks for the info.

Is it the same time tomorrow, do you know? Sad to hear about the behind the scenes skulduggery by those with a vested interest. I'll just ignore the politics though, and enjoy the racing.

Smashing, thanks for the explanation.