KK62

Sorry Steve but your a bit off with this one and have your stat averages/rules mixed up. Spencer is a slow burner but likes the Redcar track having attended many practice sessions and a few Amatuer meets , he also has a major sponsor here in Ged Rathbone so a definite NDL team place is a serious possibility and it makes it even more attractive if he’s to be the Bears no. 7 and before you ask…..no I don't know the team ….but theres some hilarious guesses on here !

No.

So if heat 13 is a cracker you definitely don’t want to repeat it ! so replace it with a two man race ? You think a promoter wants to save a few quid but actually lose it because fans don’t want a reduction in proper four rider races and even more will turn their backs on the sport.

Can’t find enough riders to make Amateur meetings worth running and even struggling to find volunteers to help run them . The sport is at an all time low with not enough investment in the future , with either hire bike days or proper structured training days . Edinburgh are trying but there’s not much else at the moment, there will be a major void in kids coming through in the next few seasons. Allowing 5 point NDL riders to compete against novices in the NJL last season hasn’t helped .

The 4 TT days at Redcar were always great days but probably never to be repeated events due to the low number of riders these day, plus the expense of running a stand alone meeting like the 4 TT since the SCB withdrew any financial support and the clubs had to fully fund the meetings themselves. I do wonder how many teams might enter the NJL next season as only Edinburgh have a number of local kids coming through to fully field a team.

Only need 8 ish or more to make it work as a second half event.

Not sure what Steve has got ‘ factually slightly wrong ‘ but the essence of the discussion is that there are riders, 125 & 250 , available but you are saying they won’t travel mid week, which is understandable but does seriously limit their options when it comes to riding. The MDL has struggled since the nomad teams were kicked out, another brilliant SCB interference, and it seems won’t include 125’s for reasons known only to themselves. The NJL never had an issue even though they had three Friday night tracks but attitudes are different now and riders would rather ‘practice’ at a home track than ‘race’ at an away track. The NJL will struggle to field meaningful teams in 2025 and I have suggested in the past that perhaps it’s time to look at a ‘ GP Style ‘ individual meetings, for each class, held perhaps twice at each competing track to give all riders meaningful racing and riders can chose which rounds to ride in but must compete at least once at each track. Just a thought….

The NJL has lost its way since the Swales controlled days. Too many individuals looking for team glory rather than the interest of the juniors, rules changed to suit one club and recently incompetent leadership from the ‘co-ordinator’ leading to the loss of stalwart managers at clubs. Now there is a shortage of kids coming through to fill the existing teams with more and more amateur meetings being cancelled for just that reason. Lets hope the NJL can be revived back to pre SCB interference days.

Rumours that there will be another northern NDL team , to fill up the clubs fixture list, but as previously said…where are the extra riders to come from ? Teams struggled last season to fill the spots with a number of juniors thrown in just to make the numbers up on occasions. No one can guess what gems the top table will / already have come up with as the ridiculously named ‘rising star’ programme has already been ‘arranged’ and rider signings already announced so they already know what they are going to do with the top two divisions. The sport desperately needs a proper NDL system with many more fixtures than last season where riders can develop over time , not just ride every four weeks and hope we unearth a large crop of British youngsters, not just the odd one . They said they were going to have all sorts of opportunities for NDL standard riders last season, three individual meetings doesn't bare that out to me. The sport is dying from the bottom up because of the way its being run, lets hope a miracle happens and they get the mess sorted out.

Same as the males, 16 and 500cc.

So now there is only 4 entrants for a national championship and only two of those are British. What happened to the 25 plus ladies who attended the Belle Vue training school event aimed at getting more female participation?

It appears you are posting just to get attention, as stated, there aren't any ‘ dangerous ‘ riders. Occasionally a rider makes a mistake , rides too hard or simply gets it wrong, …..thats it!

Riders do not get paid points money in these events, payment is on the pairs finishing position.

Quite right. I can’t understand squabbles about rules as they are written in pencil, change daily depending on who's asking what and all then dependant on who shouts the loudest. Its become a weekly joke in the pits when the team managers can’t agree, then the ref refers it to a higher level who makes a decision but then changes it for the next club that asks. Berwick on Saturday was a fine example then at Leicester a rider got excluded with the ref telling the ‘offender’ that he asked those around him in the refs box and they agreed he made the other rider ride into him ! Get a grip folks, this is modern day speedway, don't take it seriously.

Because you need to engage your brain cell before typing perhaps ? The sport has always had its ‘ back up ‘ riders who were never going to be world beaters but are the backbone of the sport and are essential back up to the ‘ stars ‘. Halder has scored in every meeting and is as solid a second string as you will find in the NDL.