RobMcCaffery

No, you're missing the point. If he had stopped to put goggles on he would have been excluded under the two minute warning. Instead he rather foolishly rode without them and scored two points that ultimately proved to Poole's winning margin overall. Of course he was handicapped by riding without goggles but the cheating was him avoiding a time exclusion by riding illegally in the heat. Sorry it's off-topic but I couldn't let that one pass.

I prefer the Finno-Ungric languages such as Hungarian. Jo Napot.

I am certainly NOT a doomsayer. I want Swindon Speedway to survive and prosper , if necessary in a new stadium. It is not good news to hear that there are further problems. I would be absolutely delighted to be proved wrong and to ultimately take a seat in a new stadium and am appalled you think I would be pleased to hear there are further problems. However, objective reading of the council documents plus professional analyses by Arnieg and the writer of the article on Speedway Plus reveal severe problems with the application that show it cannot be approved without significant changes. Given how far into this project the developers should be and the time taken to get to this dreadfully incomplete state of affairs, plus GI's appalling past record with proposed replacement stadia you have to be severely concerned that they may be deliberately failing to produce an acceptable planning application in the hope that they can hold out and complete the housing estate without the nuisance of building a replacement stadium. That's not 'doomsaying' for the sake of it like the rubbish that was spouted about Belle Vue's new stadium, it's trying to sound alarm bells amongst the complacent who seem to have little grasp of the seriousness of the situation and choose to believe the P.R. they're being fed. I'm no planning expert but I know how to read and understand primary source documents as on the council website. There are two people who are experts and who have also voiced real concerns. I would suggest you read their comments before making yours. Unlike too many on here for me it's not about being proved right. I am merely trying to help people understand that the current problems are certainly not 'excuses' but serious sticking points that at present will not let the project go ahead. Where am I? Keeping an eye on the situation and trying to avoid the bull being spouted by those without a clue about what they're talking about. Sometimes you really do wonder why you bother. The council documents quote financial penalties on the stadium owners unless there is a significant rise in car-sharing going to the new stadium. It also talks of a park and ride bus service. What it doesn't say is where this bus service will come from. At present there are no bus services in the evenings to the stadium and haven't been for some time. Given the crowds attending speedway and greyhound racing today the chances of getting a bus operator to put on a service from the park and ride site to the track is pretty slim. Council subsidies for bus services are being cut all around the country and it is highly unlikely that Swindon council will subsidise the service. So, it's left to the stadium owners of the speedway promotion to fund this bus service, or at least take the significant commercial risk. This will be on top of the risk of financial penalties if they can't persuade supporters to car share and the cost of increasing sound insulation after three meetings if the intended barrier doesn't meet the required spec. Factor in the need to thoroughly review the required car park design changes, road access to the park and ride site itself and changing significant aspects of the current grandstand plans so that it meets current building regulations and it all looks a total mess. The big question is whether it's a deliberate mess, trying to force the issue and have the plans quietly dropped?

Preparing for the seven meeting plus play-off format arriving next year? If anyone can't see that the decision of the most successful track in the country not to run meetings for four weeks in June constitutes a major crisis for the sport then they really aren't paying attention. We've gone from 26-30 home meetings a season to a bare 14-15. Now where is the EL heading, 0?

I covered the 1986 World Ice Racing Team Championship in what was then Leningrad. It was cold - about -25 centigrade. Now normally at these events you could nip into a bar to warm up in the longer gaps between races when the track was being resurfaced. Not in Russia. There was no escape from the cold. No commentary box, just standing next to the main camera hoping the mic wouldn't freeze to my hand, trying to fill in a programme written in Russian cyrillic script with a glove on. Gave up. Hand froze to mic..... Then the interval arrived and a bunch of local kids came onto the infield, one of them carrying a large globe. What followed was a mini ballet on the subject of world peace lasting about 20 minutes. It was the early Gorbachev days so they were trying to make the USSR look cuddly and friendly. By the end the cameraman, not the most cultured of types in the first place had run out of whinges. Anyway the racing eventually restarted, we got through it, headed back to the hotel which was full of drunken Finns on the lash, hookers trying to pick them off the floor and make a sale, and American students. It wasn't quite what we'd expected. Next day, back to the track, about minus 25 again. All was going well. Then came the interval and a large globe appeared...........

I was at an ice racing meeting held at the Soederstadion in Stockholm when one rider's bike suddenly dug deep into the ice and propelled him straight onto the infield where he took out the meeting's promoter. I think it was an accident.

Quite right. Averages are utterly meaningless under the current EL race formula. Reserve wins heats 2 & 12 against reserves but doesn't score in two other rides - 6 point average. Heat leader does the same and wins two of his heats, against two opposition heat leaders or one with a second string while similarly partnered - 6 point average. Are the achievements really the same? Of course not!

GI need the cash to pay for someone to keep fouling up the planning applications until the council finally give in and let them finish the housing estate instead of building the fictional stadium.

Disgusting behaviour - who do they think they are, Falubaz fans?

You must by now be thoroughly regretting your decision to return to the sport now Gresham. It's the old "It's worse elsewhere" excuse, the lowest of the low.

Your definition of abusive and mine are obviously at variance. I think you should be more concerned at the offensive behaviour of the Pole. 'Might have'? Surely you know or you don't? Delighted to return to the topic, and hopefully some honesty. And if you consider that worthy of a ban, I will wear it with pride.

With the exception of Monster these are Polish and German businesses. many of which were already involved. One Sport's propaganda seems to be working well. Apologies, I hadn't realised they weren't all Polish. It does show how these businesses' dedication to the sport is skin deep though. Ultimately it is up to individuals whether they believe that 'corporate speedway' is the way to go. It might bring some money in .... for some.... but I simply do not trust what is going on here. A lot of people seem mesmerised by One Sport's spin but then you can fool some of the people all of the time.

This is really beginning to get very worrying - uncertainty over the promotion, the sheer impossibility of running on Saturday nights in the EL, even before you look at a weakening team. I've only been once and it was a delight to be watching speedway in Leicester again after all those years, and in an impressive stadium for a speedway new build. It's now showing very concerning parallels with Newport, a track that should never have been lost. This one certainly shouldn't. I do hope the situation can be sorted out but changes have to be made, even if I'm just looking on from the sidelines - but very concerned.

No doubt we'll have the first instance of rider-replacement at reserve. Given the idiocy of this season it wouldn't surprise me....

Just to offer a little background, Wroclaw are struggling in their league and are having to race their home meetings in Poznan while their own track is rebuilt. It doesn't excuse their appalling behaviour but might help to explain. Back in the 70s the PZM's antics in releasing riders like Zenon Plech and Edward Jancarz to race over here was written-off as being down to communist bureaucracy. Seeing how the Polish clubs behave now I think we have to re-think that bit of history. Awful for Leicester. midweek or PL is the straight choice, but either way it must survive.

Yes, but the precedent was set by allowing Adam Ellis (in terms of ability if not experience) to sign for Eastbourne and there are plenty of riders more experienced than Hall riding in the NL. If it had been a weaker team applying I wonder if the decision would have been the same? Hauling out a 2004 average is pretty desperate as a blocking tactic. I hardly think Birmingham need to justify the age profile of the rest of their team.

It was claimed that the cost of giving star riders an extra tactical substitute ride was getting far too high in the Elite League so the double points option where the team benefits but the rider gets paid the same saved money. Poland and Sweden kept well clear of the idea, presumably because they could afford to carry on. Even in its original 'Golden Double' form with a handicap start I think few fell for the idea that it was some kind of step forward rather than a money-saving measure.

It's because it's a team sport, or at least an individual sport adapted into one. It attracts people who want to support a team and the bikes are just a means to an end like a ball in football or a puck in ice hockey. The scoring and general statistical side also attracts a different kind of supporter to general motor sport. Rather than try to fix labels or lament a wider interest in motor sport let's celebrate what we love and acknowledge that it is a sport 'apart'. We still have that 'club' feel at many tracks but it is greatly diminished since too many riders are far too busy getting to another country to stay after the meeting and get to know the fans. We're on the level of non-league football, the amateur level of rugby and what are minority spectator sports in the UK, ice hockey and basketball Just look at the crowd figures (estimated in speedway of course) to see. The difference is that while the last two do have limited numbers of foreign players they are based here and not constantly flying round Europe. How we think we can have riders flying thousands of miles to perform in front of hundreds of people does beat me. Too often those vital social links are now broken - they made people feel part of the 'club' and perhaps a little more tolerant and understanding of the odd defeat. It may have been a defeat, but it weas OUR team giving its all. If only we could find more to understand and share our love. Leave the 'labelling', whether kind or hostile to others.

Apparently it's no different to when the sport attracted decent crowds and had plenty of fixtures. So they tell us.

That's fine from the competitor's point of view but effectively they have used those 'lesser' championships for their own ends then cast them aside without consideration for the fact that they owe those competitions some respect and gratitude for their help. Okay, nobody's expecting the likes of Woffinden to go back to NL and PL level which helped nurture him but to put yourself above the sport in your home country and effectively walk away from the inconvenience of 'paying your dues' isn't likely to earn much respect, except from those with a similar selfish outlook on life. Could you imagine the Swedes and Poles putting up with a World Champion refusing to ride in their leagues and national championships? People have duties as well as rights. I think he's been badly advised by those seeing that the Aussies let their riders get away with avoiding their national championships. The British Championship involves just two meetings, one if a wild card is sensibly given, just as many as riding in a bogus pairs championship for a Polish business.

You could have plenty of new concepts for the sport, but the sport needs ones that benefit it, not outfits like One Sport that feed off it, pretending to be offering benefits to the sport. With the exception of Monster those brands are currently largely irrelevant outside Poland. Yes, it may grow, if they can find people dumb enough to become fans of corporations not their local teams or their nations. As for whether it could be of any benefit to the sport rather than One Sport and their corporate clients I really can't see it!

Oh they managed it prior that happening, occasionally. Bear in mind during the 90s Spedeworth were running stock car racing on the circuit and they take up far more space. It's surprising what you can fit onto the smaller tracks, especially if the competitors use their heads and don't go blasting full-throttle as if they were at Peterborough.

I remember when in the early 90s we were supposed to be getting sidecar teams together, Tragically one of the intended Rye House passengers was killed at Matchams Park and that was the last we heard of it.

robert72 is just a sad obsessive fixated not only on Tai Woffinden but also in closing Leicester Speedway. Lovely character, best ignored.

BBC WM often cover speedway in the West Midlands when they can but they didn't tonight. You can always check coverage here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/speedway/17839601