RobMcCaffery

I found it worthwhile. Given that it is essentially a piece of P.R. by the BSPA with the primary aim to sell tickets for Monday you can't really expect huge revelations. Instead it was good to hear the Belle Vue promotions comments on what they have been through whether or not you agree with them or not. We've been over that well-trodden road too many times this year. There is only so much that can be done at meetings and on TV to let supporters hear from those directly involved in the sport and it's good to see the BSPA finally embracing modern technology and setting this up. In fact I'd say these events should be regular features during the season. Perhaps if people in the sport in all aspects started listening to each other there might be a little more understanding and tolerance? Sadly there is another such opportunity here in this forum but far too much time is wasted by people's egos and twit for tat bickering to let it flourish. This year we've also seen regular clips of racing published on the BSPA website so at last progress is being made by the BSPA in promoting itself to its public and hopefully the world beyond via the internet. They are small steps but ones in the right direction. Tonight's forum was never going to be sensational but it was good to hear what was being said, even if some of it was of necessity limited by the need to put a positive spin on what was after all intended to sell tickets. I particularly liked David Gordon's comments about trying to rebuild the after-meeting social scene at Belle Vue and most of all Richie Worrall talking about how much fun it was to ride the new Belle Vue track. Yes, fun. That's what the sport should be about, exciting, risky but above all fun. Well done BSPA - it's good to see you getting something right. Keep trying please.

You also have to take into account Mick Bates' many years as a police officer. Not the best person to take on in this instance.

The time has clearly come to put the EL out of its misery and to combine into one senior league but with one key proviso. It must be based on current PL team strengths and costs at worst . It would be appalling if the financially weaker PL tracks were thrown out of business in order to bail out the top division, as happened in the 90s. The problem is though that certain influences in the EL have poisoned that league, as can be seen by the reluctance of sane promotions to go anywhere near it and an unworkable rule book, full of clauses inserted to close loopholes exploited by those influences leaving it incoherent, illogical and requiring a degree in statistical research in order to just work out who can ride in a team. That poison must not be allowed to pollute the lower leagues. The PL needs to stand firm and defend what it's got. It and the NL can be the saviour of the sport running at a sane level relative to attendances. Sadly, entrenched attitudes such as "I only DO EL" need to be changed. You either love speedway or names. If you want the names the message sadly has to be in the short to mid term - "There are cheap flights out there to the GPs and Polish League". It's far from ideal but we need regular speedway with workable rules and teams - and certainly not have tracks closing for a month in peak season! Even if by some miracle Coventry, Swindon and Leicester are all able to enter the EL in 2017, and I pray they can, it is only postponing the crisis. Perhaps it does need one year of a single race night, possibly seven home and seven away on the Swedish and Polish model just to prove how that system is unworkable here. One thing is certain - the PL and to a certain extent NL must not be damaged in order to rescue the EL tracks.

In order for there to be live streaming you either need the meeting to be covered on TV or for a video company to offer a live stream, which is really quite rare outside Russia or Sweden. Sadly a semi-final of a qualifying series in Italy is an unlikely choice by either.

Not everyone fiddled the EDR system to make sure they had EDR riders who could hold their own in the top 5. As ever, if it's okay for Poole it's got to be okay for everyone else. What price Holder in a reserve berth in time for the play-offs?

A truly stupid comment, even by your low standards. The Swedes don't use a 'protected' race formula that is supposed to keep reserves away from heat leaders, thus they don't produce blatantly false averages for reserves who only face second strings and reserves while heat leaders have to race mainly fellow heat leaders and some second strings as in the Elite League. Surely it's not that hard to understand that false averages are being created and riders being promoted prematurely? Are you deliberately misunderstanding this rather simple point in order to back up the Poole promotion and their colleagues on the BSPA or are you genuinely unable to understand? Either way I'm concerned for you. As has been said many times (and seemingly ignored) riders do need to progress into the teams - BUT NOT THIS WAY! In Sweden the race format creates relatively false averages by also having two reserve races but the reserves certainly don't have 'soft' rides in their other races as they do in Britain. I rather suspect that only a handful of posters here follow Swedish speedway or understand its nuances anyway so are unlikely to comment on their race format and averages. Now, if this still isn't understood, and my goodness I've tried to dumb it down enough for you, perhaps you need to consult with your Speedway Star seller when you finally get round to staging another meeting? Sorry to have to puncture your complacency again but I am heartily sick of the way Poole and its mouthpieces try to twist this sport, always pleading innocence and incredulity that anyone should question them. Some of us can see right through it though. Unlike yourself I have no party line to toe these days, thankfully. Been there, threw away the T-shirt in disgust. The problem at Poole is you are so experienced in feeding the world utter bull you've clearly begun to fool yourselves! I'd suggest that the money on offer in Poland also helps attract young motorcycling talent than in other countries. Your 'sink or swim' policy is a harsh one but clearly some extremely good motorcyclists are coming through your system but the sport is far more high profile there and surely more attractive to such young talent than it is in other countries? I don't think there's any doubt that as the money disappeared from British speedway the flow of talent dried up. There just wasn't the incentive to get involved unless you had a genuine passion for the sport - or wasn't after big money.

It's good to know that Tai can fit this into his schedule but not a petty event such as his national championship. Surely it's not about the money?

They came, they saw, they almost conquered. Sadly the Team Eport2000.pl merchandise has arrived a tad late . Anyone know where there's a market for Happy Hippos in ra-ra skirts that squeak "Team eport2000.pl forever" when you blow in their ears and whisper 'One Sport are doing all this for the benefit of world speedway'? I could probably offload them in the EL section - they'll fall for anything in there.... Off to book my holiday in Ostrow. Give us a "T" Okay, maybe not. (Never worked when I used to do it for money )

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.