Rich

Maybe these posts should contain the word "allegedly". All the posts have question marks, that indicates to me they are just opinions, gossip or rumours.

I didn't say admission prices increased, but I know for a fact my dad, taking me as a kid, and some of his friends went to to watch riders they followed or knew in the Golden Helmet match races. Probably others did too, fixtures were always well advertised, maybe to bring in a bigger crowd? Riders go to Poland for 4 rides, I'm sure if the money was right they'd even go to Manchester😂

No doubt the fee/pay rate for the meeting would have made it worthwhile doing, and the increased crowd level covered the extra expense to the promoter. I can well imagine today's riders doing it if the money was right, but would the crowd level cover it today?

I'm well aware of all of that. When Isle of Wight started running under NORA all SCB/ACU licensed riders were threatened with having licences revoked. None actually were, many riders continued to ride for their League clubs, and some rode in International Grasstracks on the Continent. I wonder why that was? Similar to what happened in the 1970s when the ACU tried to ban MotoX riders from taking part in AMCA events and holding an ACU Licence, they failed.

Would they? The court cases brought under "restraint of trade" regulations would be interesting. Withdrawal of licenses has been threatened many times but the ACU/BSPL know it's not an option.

The BSPL, or any other Federation, cannot stop anyone who has ridden in a NORA meeting from competing in an ACU event. James Shanes has ridden Grasstrack (ACU) since riding for Mildenhall (NORA)

Barry Briggs won the 1964 World Title in Gothenburg. Igor Plechanov beat Ove Fundin in a run-off for second. I was there, meeting was delayed by heavy rain and only went ahead after tons of sawdust put on the track.

Exactly this! Speedway is an "extreme sport" and should be marketed as such to attract a younger demographic. I watch more Grasstrack nowadays, I think this suffers from the "family sport" image as well. There's a YouTube channel, Grasstrack SPORT.com, featuring the best! crashes. Is there a Speedway equivalent for crashes and fights?

It's available on Spotify

And I pointed out that Grass Track still has Winner takes all Finals

British Masters and National Championships all have winner takes all Finals. Not silly at all.

Riders have always been self-employed, that's how they are/have been so easily dropped from teams.

I don't think so. I've not seen one in the 250 class on the Grass. Made a 350 quite a few years ago.

The new Godden engine has been around for a few years now. Charley Powell has been using one on Grasstrack, he's had a few good results in Europe

Me too! I argued about the renewal price which didn't include TNT, said I'd cancel. They added TNT, sent a new modem and got £1 off the old price.