SimonB

Who would of thought it?? Norwichkev the voice of reason!

Just to clarify I didnt say I beleived Dave would be the next promoter, but I do think he is in the best position to run the Fen Tigers. If he is the promoter then there is obviously no conflict between the stock cars and the speedway and he would directly benefit from the results of any prommotion that takes place. Dave is a promoter and runs his stock car business very successfully and he could bring a great deal of value to the promotion of the Fen Tigers. All NL clubs are currently having difficulty in planning due to the delay in the conference which will agree the rules, always a difficult process due to the different reasons the clubs have for being in the NL. In addition Dave also has the court case which could (albiet unlikely I hope) close the stadium down entirely. No potential promoter would want to invest much until it is clear that speedway can actually continue at the stadium. I believe that speedway is an asset to the stadium and that a way will be found to run in 2011, but maybe thats just because I am an optimist at heart.

I do remember that bit hadnt recalled it was the league title season though

Totally agree Damon. Any person or group (businessmen or not) wanting to run the Fen Tigers has to be able to work with Dave Coventry. Dave is obviously going to be looking for the best deal for him and his business but also I presume for someone he can work with and trust, not necessarily an easy thing to find in speedway! Like I think halifax mentioned Dave has to weigh up the choice of some rent and the stadium being used and the alternative of no income at all. There are some fixed costs to running speedway at the stadium, staffing, track preparation, blocks being moved, power that Dave has to cover with the income from the rent and the food/drink etc. and so the level of rent would have to take this into account. Personally I think the best person to run the speedway would probably be Dave himself, after all he has clearly shown that he can promote motor sport and attract decent crowds to a rural area.

We won the league at Scunthorpe after just narrowly beating Rye House in one hell of a meeting at Mildenhall Ah the good old days!

I dont know but I would imagine the rent at the East of England showground would be significantly more than for Mildenhall?

On the other hand I can see the benefit to some of the people that run Peterborough if their is otherwise no involvement with the sport. Although of course I hope Peterborough run

If as you say Mildenhall needs to be run as a business by businessmen then the first thing they would say is that it is pointless investing money while such uncertainty exists over the future of the stadium. Just off the top of my head they would have the price of the licence, signing on fees to any riders given a team place, loan fees to the promoters that own those riders, advertising costs maybe to be incurred before they would know if the team could even race. Unfortunately I think whoever takes over will have to hit the ground running!

Totally agree that 16 teams works best for the PL, indeed I am certain that during my time in the BSPA there was a maximum of 16 teams set for the PL. 16 is better for the KO Cup and allows the possibility a return to the 4 team tournament qualifying meetings. Ideal in my opinion.

It would certainly be a great shame to have Peterborough close and of course that cause difficulties with re-opening given how intensive the housing is now around the showground. The EL racing I have seen there has been top class, generally much better than any other EL racing I have seen either live or on sky. Hopefully if NL is the only option they will decide to go for it.

I am with Jayne on the issue with lowering the average limit, it would just make other riders more expensive instead and would not have sucha great impact on the costs of the clubs. My view continues to be that the clubs should be allowed to make their own decisions on how much to pay riders and who to employ within the points limit set by the BSPA. The owners take the risks and should be given the freedom to decide how to provide their customers with the product that they want. In terms of bringing kids on I agree the costs need to be reduced but a large amount of the cost is in the equipment which obviously impacts everyone in the sport. Ticket prices, riders wages and the clubs financial stability are all clearly impacted by the cost of equipment. Making bikes more standardised and cheaper to maintain would really help the sport but how that can be acheived is well beyond me.

Totally agree with this, its almost a natural reaction to initially cheer the advantage to your team, even as you obviously hope no one gets hurt.

I would have thought so Semion. No idea on current debt levels though.

We sort of did that before but yes as Mr Vasey states we could no doubt find 50 or so supporters that would be willing to run the club for the rest of the season but I would imagine they would need to be given the licence but not the debts of the previous promotion.

From previous reports it seems there were offers on the table and an agreement with Dave Coventry had been reached, this was reported yesterday. Today there are apparantly no offers due to the financial situation. I would like to understand what changed from yesterday afternoon to this morning? Its why I would like to here Rays take on events. I can certainly confirm that running a speedway club is not cheap and I dont blame Ray for wanting to sell the club but to close it mid-season when if he had asked around for help and support he would have received some seems odd to me. Obviously there are things that we dont know behind his decision.

It would be interesting to hear his side of things

I feel gutted, how could Ray let this happen when there were offers on the table ?

Sounds more hopeful

Nor do I unless Ray simply does not have any more money ? The problem with this is that the licence is only worth what someone will pay for it and that looks like nothing at the minute, hope I am wrong though.

I would at least like to see motor sport continue at Mildenhall Stadium as otherwise Speedway will definately be lost forever so please continue to write support letters for the owners. It is also tough to ask someone who has just lost their wife to think about the business of running speedway as it does involve a lot of hard work and money, no one can really understand the impact of losing their soulmate unless it has happened to them. Having said all of that it is such a shame for Mildenhall to be closed due to not being able to find an agreement. Ray will be seriously out of pocket as the BSPA will chase for all of the debts to be cleared and presuming he has a bond that will be lost and nothing will be received for any sale as there will be nothing to sell. I also know that for a PL / EL promoter not fulfilling fixtures comes at the cost of a large fine, presumably something similar will be levied in the National League ? Presumably Ray is going to end up seriously out of pocket possibly at a level higher than the cost of continuing for a couple more meetings and seeing through the sale. With regards to Dave Coventry, yes he will lose the bar & food takings and the rent but at the same time will save on staff costs, electricity, food and drink purchase costs as well as potentially saving some rates if the stadium is used less. Whether or not that would overall constitute a large loss for him is hard to say.

I think Cardiff is perfect for the GP, the stadium is right in the middle of the city next to the train station and I hope it stays there rather than move to anywhere in London.

To be fair to Dave mate I beleive he is referring to all the work on the track that he has to do as a result of having speedway at all. There is a reasonable amount of work done by him and his team that would be avoided if they didnt have speedway there at all. As to the cost related to that obviously I dont know.

I have to admit to being surprised that GB qualified last night, a great performance from all of them. Kings Lynn is a great racing track and Buster certainly knows how to prepare it well. Not surprised it took a while to get out though and I still think Peterborough would have been a more suitable venue. To be honest I cant see GB doing at all well in the final but I can always hope to be surprised again.

I wonder if there is sufficient supporter interest in making this a 2 or 3 day event at one of the indoor stadiums? Friday to Sunday, two semi finals & a final, tickets available for the whole event. 8 nations involved, most of the worlds top riders and a no rain off guarantee !

From the Mildenhall website. So not looking good for the future still. I have emailed my support for the stadium as requested in a previous post and I would urge as many of you to do so as well, if you havent already.