RobMcCaffery

I expect it would work in Dubai with plenty of hype - at a similar budget to F1 and WSL for starters. As for in established speedway countries you need to impress more than the sponsors and supporters starved of star name riders like Croatia, Germany.......or Britain....

I read an article where One Sport were claiming that they could build this tournament into something resembling Moto GP or F1. Well, you can't fault them for aiming high. Apparently the sponsors are delighted with it. That makes it all right then......

It does work on Virgin's Tivo so must be a Sky problem.

Given the lengthy delay last night their delayed coverage policy worked this time, but as we know it isn't always going to be this way. Just one 7 am showing is still shocking, albeit better than nothing.

Always the glib, overconfident answer. It's clear that track is becoming dangerous. When you see riders of international standard losing control on their own you know there's already a serious a problem which abject neglect will not improve. Oh, I forget, this is Poole and your arrogance will always see you through. Your own star rider is repeatedly complaining about the situation, or is he just covering up his abject current form? (Leader in the GP, double-figures in Poland and Sweden).

I am sure that will be a comfort to the family(ies) of the rider(s) who stand to be seriously hurt on that rapidly-deteriorating track.

I was concentrating more on Karger and the stadium than noticing the dust. Bear in mind I've only seen one meeting at the old place since the Rockets folded in 1994. I've seen enough comments from here over the years and from friends who still go to know that the track's been an embarrassment for a long time which is why I was pleased to see it looking pretty reasonable in the clip. I put a heck of a lot of effort and commitment into that place in my time, despite having to walk away in 2000 for what were deeply personal reasons. I still care though, although now from a long distance.

I'm sure he earned the nomination and yes a track like that isn't a fair setting on which to judge him. Given what appeared on screen as the coverage started it's testament to Swedish track construction and preparation that we not only saw a meeting but one with acceptable racing. I think the professionalism over there and in Poland contributes to the crowds over there rather than just the names as so many wish to think. "Hey, coming to speedway next Friday, Nicki Pedersen's riding" "Who?"

God knows how we coped with 26-30 meeting seasons..... Oh yes, enjoyed ourselves hugely. Perhaps it's best to finally let the EL drift off into senility, staging a bare handful of meetings and let the rest of us enjoy the other leagues?

Probably cost. I doubt whether many have any idea who's riding.

But would he show the same commitment here or want an affordable deal? Anders Thomsen's looking an odd pick as wildcard for the Danish GP.

Scrolling-up is too much effort for some - or learning how to find links themselves :-(

That track's holding up very well - hope we get some racing as it dries.

This looks a lot smoother- it's probably as wet as the overwatered Wimborne Road was. The Swedes quote averages per ride, not CMA as we use here. Jonsson's was 1.2, converting to 4.8, explaining his reserve berth.

Looks very wet. I'd expected them to do one of their remarkable Swedish track recoveries but they seem to have just let it drain. . Sportowe Fakty reported to the Poles that it was postponed. Oh well, let's see what we get. Eurosport's highlights show is on at 7 am tomorrow by the way.

I just watched the heat 11 clip on the BSPA website. Apart from the pleasure of seeing a much-maligned kid finally getting it right it was good to see the track looking much improved and to see that the stadium is finally being sorted-out. I do hope the investment is rewarded and that it's not a one-off for young Karger. Sometimes patience does get rewarded.

Do you really want a season of seven home matches plus maybe one or two in the playoffs? The crowd levels over there have nothing to do with single nights. Swedish crowds my be large by British standards but only tend to be 2-4,000. Poland has a very long history of large crowds, going back way into the communist era. Most towns staging speedway in both countries do tend to benefit from being in relatively small places where seven big events a year are probably rather significant.

It's remarkable how much freedom he's allowed. I reported him when he made his first comment about Darcy Ward - before he was allowed to carry on and start an offensive (now deleted) thread on him. My last honest description of him has disappeared so I expect this one will as well. Still, it adds interest to matches knowing which team we want to lose. Thanks for reminding us that the problem is with ZG rather than the sport as a whole in Poland. I take it there aren't many different surnames up in the mountains

The last time I went to Arena Essex on a Friday, all I could think about was Hackney and how low the sport had fallen.

I think it was in a match in Poland, although it might have been Sweden where a warned rider had a large sign with an exclamation mark printed on it shown to him. When I was announcing the referees' warnings were always clearly passed on to the start marshal and also to the crowd via the announcer. . It's not that difficult and avoids debates like this one. It wouldn't cost that much to put a board together and to ensure the start marshal uses it. As someone else said it all adds to the show.

Maybe he knows more about Smederna than the rest of us? Or maybe not.

Glad you enjoyed your sponsors' largesse. Shame about the ordinary people, eh?

We're seeing the old third division conflict of interests here - those running sides purely to bring on youngsters, normally second teams, but not all, and the 'stand-alone' tracks with no higher level to cross-subsidise them needing an attractive team to survive. Birmingham actually seem to have achieved both this year with a very praiseworthy, youthful and winning team. You can't criticise them for seeking to maintain their success both on-track and on-terrace. We've seen what can go wrong at Birmingham and while they must run within the rules saddling Hall with a ridiculously out of date average is clearly a blocking tactic that could threaten their progress. The highly-professional team at BBC WM were pretty clear in their disgust at the decision last night, although they can be forgiven for a touch of local bias. No matter what the technicalities the reality is that Eastbourne were allowed to sign Eliis, now a well-deserved finalist in the World under-21 Championship. That makes the effective, if not formal, blocking of Hall quite ridiculous. I take it it's the same guy making these decisions that was involved years back when my friends and colleagues relaunched Rye House? If so that would explain the latest questionable decision. Birmingham are running a young team, exactly in line with the NL ethic. They've hit a problem and want to sign an eligible experienced rider far younger than some other riders in the league in order to maintain that success. I do wonder though if Birmingham are outgrowing the NL.

Starman's been passing himself off as a track expert. I'm beginning to realise the awful possibility that he IS in charge of the Poole track.

Well, the team was a fix - pity it wasn't the track they fixed. Shows no matter what the off-track scheming is riders can still let you down.