arnieg

What has the public reception to these proposals been like in Poland? Is there any hostility from non-speedway fans? ( e.g. re use of over-extended medical resources, zloty being put ahead of public health (cf some of the discussion about Premiership football restarting in England)

Pretty much what I conclude to. The key test is how are they doing compared with their peers, and I discuss this here: http://speedwayplus.com/

OK Swindon 2007 v Swindon 2019 looks like a win for the '07 squad to me. Looking at world rankings (caveat - all world ranking sources have their limitations, and involve some element of judgement, and my sources have changed over time too) we get: 2007 Leigh Adams (2) Lee Richardson (22) Seb Ulamek (35) Charlie Gjedde (36) Tomasz Chrazanowski (38) Mads Korneliusen (97) Andrew Moore (158) ..............................................................average position: 58 2019 Jason Doyle (9) Troy Batchelor (28) Tobias Musialak (47) Rasmus Jensen (56) Adam Ellis (97) Claus Vissing (142) Ellis Perks (210) ..............................................................average position: 84 Replace Perks with (say) Kenny Bjerre and the two teams come out equal. I'd also suggest that Chrazanowski never really produced his international form in the UK so that also narrows the gap.

Not to mention the number of volunteer track staff who fall in the 'should be self-isolating category'

The UK still has one advantage over other countries - that is the number of opportunities to race that it offers. Compile a list of 2019's busiest riders around the world and it is very stark. All of the top 19 raced in at least one British League. If we are to persuade any non-Brits to base themselves over here then that will be the pull. (There is a problem, in that some of these riders may need but not qualify for work permits in 2021's post Brexit world).

I knew I had this info somewhere - just come across this. [NOTE - it is 15 years old but given the high proportion of long term fans it seems unlikely to have changed much] 70% of people who attend speedway meetings are male and 30% female. 20% bring their children 81% attend 10 or more meetings per season confirming that the sport is down to its hard core fans. Speedway fans are not particularly high earners with 31% earning below £20k and 39% earning between £21k – 40k. Their relatively low socio-demographics are also confirmed by the fact that 63% read The Star, The Sun or The Mirror. Also 31% have no qualifications and another 45% are educated to GCSE/O Level. Only 9% hold a university degree. 17% are 19-24 years old, 21% 25-34 years old and 23% 35-49 years old. All in all, this does represent a segment of society which is not particularly interesting to sponsors. Around 20% of people attend meetings with their kids, 63% with family adults and 72% attend with 1-3 other people. What is interesting is the response the respondents gave when asked why attended speedway meetings: Support the home team 30% The atmosphere 23% A good night out 20% Quality of the teams 10% Family night out 6% Other 11% Total 100% source : 2007 Marketing Report commissioned by BSPA

Belle Vue (source Match programme)

On the 1965 averages issue I think this is the position: The principal source for the Oakes History of the BL came from Speedway Star season reviews. From 1966 onwards the stats in these showed matches, rides, points, etc. BUT for 1965 (and earlier years) they only showed matches and points, no rides. So in order to produce an average (without researching every single match in 1965) it was assumed riders had four rides. Mostly they did but rides missed thru injury, tac subs and reserve rides will mean that over the season the numbers won't be right.

Germany has extended ban on large gatherings until the END of August. (although I note that tickets for Teterow at the end of May are still on sale on the SGP site ) Although I hope there are some relaxations of lockdown before then I think it unlikely that we will be significantly out of step with other European countries on this matter.

Looks like Prague GP can go ahead - provided crowd is less than 50

Are you sure? Won 't Welsh rugby get first dibs at Autumn dates, and I doubt there will be much opportunity for speedway. (How long does it take in advance to put the track in?)

I think you missed the small print in the Danish announcement that mass gatherings will be prohibited until August, thus wiping out virtually all Danish league fixtures. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-denmark/denmark-to-ease-restrictions-next-week-after-coronavirus-lockdown-idUSKBN21O2LH?fbclid=IwAR3FcrvJEopeNOgMPODEA72pxZ22VUh7CwLfMwEvLcFpWykuPW5NbOqn5rw

Sad to hear. But maybe Angus Kix lives on?

1957 Sparta Wroclaw toured (they were labelled as Poland, but the team consisted entirely of Sparta riders) Results: 19/04/1957 WIMBLEDON POLAND CHALLENGE 73-34 20/04/1957 BELLE VUE POLAND CHALLENGE 61-35 22/04/1957 NORWICH POLAND CHALLENGE 66-42 Full details can be found in the 1957 files here: http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/bellevue.html http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/norwich.html http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/wimbledon.html

Pete Butler's Hero rode for San Bernadino Sizzlers (along with Bruce Pencil). Kiosk rode for Mooses

Belarus surely?

Which Reading Racer testimonial was best attended (relative to normal crowds at that time)? Not the stars like Jan Andersson, Dave Mullett, Armando Castagna or Jeremy Doncaster, but.... .... David Steen - who ran an event that containing mixed disciplines and promoted it heavily. So it can work, but I fear UK speedway lacks the promotional and commercial skills to make it work.

Burnt Kiosk - star of Chilton Foliat

But surely the ESC applies only to schedule E BIKs, so as a DI/II man I was outside its scope.

It is a grey area. The point about the HMRC tests are that no one factor determines the outcome. Speedway riders would be one of those examples where there are half a dozen factors on each side of the argument and only a foolhardy idiot would predict with any certainty the outcome should it go to litigation. (I used to be self employed, despite 90% of my income coming from my previous employer for doing much the same things as I had previously. I remember that when the Revenue questioned my status one of the arguments I put forward in favour of self-employment was that I did NOT get an invite to the office Xmas party. And what was this job? I was training tax consultants!)

I think I can lay my hands on one of those!

You could always write a book

Many riders reach their peak after passing 30 nowadays. So Robert Lambert has plenty of time

But who would they be watching? Let's assume that Poland will be staging speedway every weekend in an effort to squeeze in as many meetings as possible. So Kurtz, Lidsey and possibly Kildemand and Bewley will want to be in Poland

I can't see what this link is supposed to show, can you explain?