bellevueace

Last season Cooke stated he didnt ride abroad because of the costs involved not that he had no approches, dont know if thats the same this time around but i would have thought to kick on to the next level a contract in Sweden or Poland would be a must.

No doubt when the stadium is up and running those that were forever saying it would never be built will be back on full of negative comments about the track, stadium, terracing etc. One thing it will definately be is far better than Kirky Lane.

I don't think he would have rode in the EL last season if he had not won the world title, I feel he felt obligated and if he had retained it I think he would have thought hes done his bit and quit so he wouldn't have ridden in the UK next season whatever. His world title never really felt a 100% British triumph though, as Scott Nicholls said an English world champion with an Australian flag tattooed on his back.

I hate the T/R double points rule, it gives the score line an unrealistic slant if a team pulls out an 8-1 so sky insist we keep it to keep the scores close. Well why is it just speedway that has to have a close scoreline? We see many football matches that are over by half time why not manipulate football so we dont get any 4-0 5-0 or 6-0 games same can be said for both codes of rugby. Why is it just speedway is being manipulated ? I actually went to a meeting at Somerset last season and the rebels won by a landslide but there was some excellent racing, going back to the football comparison some 0-0 games are dire so having a close scoreline doent always reflect the entertainment value.

How very ironic that Aussie speedway riders are denied entry when you see the hoards that come swarming in with the sole intention of taking out from a system that they have not put one cent into, its highlights everything that's wrong with the system.

Ive often wondered about this group when riders have been refused entry due to problems with their visas, surely this is another area where some influence could be wielded?

Sad news he transformed Cradley from a Cinderella club, if only the sport had more promoters of his ilk today, RIP.

Well its their business,s that stand to go down the pan and with the gaps on the terraces becoming more and more each season surely even the goons at the BSPA can see the need for a radical change to breathe life back into the misnamed EL? If not the sport at the top level is finished.

In all my visits to Somerset ive seen nothing but excellent racing, every track has good and bad meetings but as a general rule tracks like somerset. kings lynn etc tend to provide mainly better meetings to watch, in all my years watching the Aces at Hyde Road I saw some duff meetings but the vast majority were top drawer.

I still enjoy the mag theres some good articles especially during the winter months, for me theres something about settling down with a read instead of staring at a pc screen, in an age where people are obsessed to an extent with technology (look how many people walk about engrossed in mobile phones) print media is certainly starting to become a second choice. I will certainly renew my subscription.

Think Fricke could end up at Coventry

Perhaps the Aces should have just moved into the velodrome

I was under the impression that the local council were right behind the Heathens search for a new home?

With Kurtz fit i believe the Rebels would retain their title, they have some bad luck with injuries come the play offs as the injury to Jason Doyle no doubt cost them too.

Must admit if this wasn't the last meeting of the season I would be thinking twice as we probably wont get the second match completed due to sky,s presence, just hope the racing is as good as last week against Eastbourne but as the tv cameras are present sods law and all that.

RL awards a shield for the team finishing top of the league so why not speedway if we have to have the play off system?

Eight or nine home matches a season really wouldnt be worth the bother, i know the days of 36 league matches, ko cup fixtures, world championship qualifiers plus numerous open meeting are long gone but on the other hand whats being muted by Bob Dugard is the other extreme.

As well as MPT has done this season you have to question if he would continue to improve or even match what he has done this season, i feel the odds would be against this so a rider like fricke who no doubt has huge potential and improvement in him would be a better bet on a lower average with more scope to improve his starting average, so i would go for Fricke. MPT has no doubt been the rider of the season but as we see in speedway you can actually ride yourself out of a job, it must be the only profession where you get penalised for succses.

Some very good racing last night with a lot of passing, special mentions to scott nicholls and Michael palm toft who provided some excellent action, tofty has turned out to be the rider of the season, noticed a few eastie fans who made the journey so fair play to them, Eastbourne played their part in giving it a real go and deserved their point in the second match, I really hope they get sorted and come to the tapes for seasons to come would be a travesty should they be lost to the sport.

Why should the people who were critical go onto moan about another stadium you ask? Because thats what a lot of posters on here do, they appear to delight in negativity, yes the sport has massive problems attracting crowds and some of that is down to ramshackle stadia that are really past their sell by date, BV by providing a new facility have made a step in the right direction in trying to appeal to a new fan base, yes of course the main ingredient is the quality of racing but people nowadays tend to want more for their money and at least some degree of comfort for their hard earned. Also why the obsession about a GP? no doubt something else to be negative about, its a stadium for BV not a replacement for Cardiff, as for 15,000 capacity we have seen GP,s run to crowds of this number and even below. We keep being told by people on here obviously not in the know as to how much debt the promotion are in but as for making the stadium pay its not just going to be speedway events held here it will be more multi purpose. At least the promotion are trying to do something for the whole of British speedway with their aims of a facility to help and nurture young upcoming British talent, but lets overlook that positive aspect and continue sniping. The stadium is going to be built, it was always going to be built the doom mongers were wrong simple as, if its going to be the new start the club desperately needs who knows but one thing is for sure there would be no future at the current dump so it gives us more than a fighting chance and for that reason alone I welcome the project.

Yeah aussies like the danes always seem to up their game when competing against each other, hope our new track provides the entertainment value seen at the OTA, mind if as reported its based a little on Hyde Road it wont go far wrong.

I always believed this stadium would be built despite all the negativity that people had about it, now the green light has been given perhaps the naysayers can target the supposed new stadium at swindon, coventry too could be looking at a new stadium in the not too distant future depending on the outcome of brandon, some people i think should be more concerned about their own clubs.

Despite the result there was some decent races Morris hunting down Grajczonek round the boards being one. Is there a bit of needle between these two as they were both going for it and didnt see any acknowledgement between the two after the race? Klindt was a superb guest for the Rebels and Allen looked really fast too, great to see Charles Wright doing so well always thought he was the better of the two brothers but a few early injury niggles in his career held him back a bit, Starke has also made progress and for me but for the injury to Kurtz i would back the Rebels to retain their title, they seem to have a bit of bad luck in play off finals (Doyely) so good luck Somerset hope you go on to win the play off final, always enjoy my visits down there, and not just for the real ales in the crossways.

Well this was a walk in the park for Coventry, a few of us pre match were predicting a mid to high fifties score for the Bees and it proved to be just as easy as we thought. As for the Aces the only rider who could hold his head up was MPT who yet again put in maximum effort and has easily been the rider of the season. So yet another woeful season for Belle Vue, no matter what the make up of the side the promotion never appear to get the best out of them, for the past several seasons the clubs standing/history has been trashed and you now have to look at something that is not right that is deeply entrenched within the fabric of the club. There appears to be something deeply amiss and its something a move into a new stadium is not going to rectify as whatever is running through the club is still going to be there immaterial of the stadia, if the promotion deliver a new national speedway stadium that will be a great legacy for them but you have to ask would you entrust such a facility for them to actually run it? None of this takes away from the Bees stroll in the park they were head and shoulders above us and how ironic two of the Bees side were brought up within 20 minutes of KL. So well done Coventry as for Belle Vue, some deep seated problems need addressing methinks.

At present overcast but dry, cant see any problem at all with the weather.