False dawn

You will find a significantly large portion of this forum talking about that very point i.e. racing incidences. I don't say I agree with your analysis of this particular incident but regardless of blame, the rules state that if a race is stopped, the primary cause of the stoppage has to be disqualified. Beyond first bend incidents, someone has to be disqualified. The rules don't recognise racing incidents and allow all riders back in the rerun. Discuss, in less than 4000 words.

The bouncy castle is looking a bit flat!

I think THJ knows something about that subject

Perhaps a bit more transparency would avoid wild speculation. It always better to tell the truth rather than people making up something worse.

If I remember rightly, he pulled the wheelie crossing the finish line, in the lead, at the end off the race and fell just beyond the line. But we remember his time at Coventry for a lot more than that. A true professional and ambassador for the sport.

For a rider who scored 40 points in the first 3 GPs, it's hard to understand his current form. Is he hurt? Surely not from that crash in Mallila.

It was said (earlier in his thread?) that they might try more banking on the turns. That would be welcome as a means to better quality racing. But it won't be easy to achieve. A physical / construction challenge. Plus the fact it may rule out the lowest level spectator areas on the turns at least.

Someone told me on Saturday that the biggest single cost of putting on the Cardiff GP is the storage cost of the shale. They keep it year on year if it's true.

You need an experienced club manager, who has won some trophies, respected by the riders, maybe an ex rider, thick skinned, who is immune to social media comment. Remind you of an ugly bugger of our acquaintance?

So if Tai had 16 more points for the two rounds he's missed, he'd be 3 off 8th place. One race win.

Hey, I tried hard, but I was never any good. My record was 6 falls in 6 laps. Not long after that I took up sidecar racing as a passenger. At the age of 48 I figured that was a safer option (never been known for my good judgement). Mind you, 8 years sidecar racing, everywhere from Kent to Adelaide, was good fun.

The track at Sheffield closed when the safety fence was declared unsafe by Colin Meredith. Pity really as they used to run an open session on Saturdays. Turn up, pay your £40 and you got a bike, fuel, day licence, racing gear, everything to have a skid for the day (30 - 40 laps). I tried my hand at becoming the next world champ there for a while. Even had a half share in bike.

Remember Sean Connery....

It's been a bit slow but 1032? That's well past my bedtime. I'll get my coat pyjamas

I have to say that I learned something new last Saturday (I try to remain open minded). I had several reasons for attending the final meeting at Stoke but what I witnessed was somewhat extraordinary. The track was clearly well prepared. The gates were fair. There were several racing lines and the quality of racing was good throughout. Not particularly noteworthy (actually it is, but) there were no men with rakes and there was no track grading. No tractors, nothing. I've never seen the like before. Someone should employ those (redundant) folk. Maybe they'd like a southern seaside employment location?

Just to be clear. The discussions here about top riders, budget constraints and falling crowds is all very interesting. But Stoke closed because the stadium was sold from under them.

Can I just say "Congratulations Leicester" on winning your first ever national team trophy. This was a consummate performance by a thoroughly balanced team. I can only say to the other three play off teams, "Beware".

Danyon has developed well this year. He's had Ellis Perks as a target to shot at and the Thompson twins on the rise. But he has obviously responded positively to these challenges and is now very close to Ellis in the averages.

It was a very strange experience at Stoke last evening. As a (temporary) Leicester fan I always want my side to do well and their win was well fought and I believe, deserved. But there was always that feeling that these were the last ever heats to be raced on this excellent raceway. And I almost wanted the home side to do well, particularly those riders with a long association with the club. A going concern, cut down, maybe not in it's prime but still operating at a sustainable level. You can only come away from such meetings with a sense of loss, not just for the club itself, but for the sport in general.

What'll happen in the final if Stoke wins the semi final? Can they hold the home leg at a neutral venue?

I accept your premise that we should all respect the rule of law. However, the sense of many posts on here suggest that the authorities can only rule by consent. It is beholding on any ruling body, be it the law courts or the SCB, to be transparent in their rulings. We have the right to hold up their pronouncements to scrutiny and seek some justification for their rulings. Otherwise the authorities leave themselves open to accusations of inconsistency, incompetence or bias. In the current case, the only exception to such transparency can only be out of respect for the medical condition of the rider concerned. However, that seems strange since the said rider continues to compete and is clearly, in the eyes of the authorities, well enough not to be danger to himself or others. Please listen, Mr or Mrs SCB. By taking this high handed attitude to your constituents, you invite guesswork. And we all know where that ends up. Tell us the truth.

No, that won't do. At Birmingham tonight, heat 3 was won in a time exactly 10% slower than the track record. Subsequent to that there were 4 heats even slower than that. So even the heat winners fail that test meaning those races would be declared 0-0. And there must have been many riders in other heats outside the 10% limit. See how difficult it is to be prescriptive?

I think we're violently agreeing (note the date people - anything is possible!). But I did look up the definition of "to race"..... To compete with another or others to see who is fastest at covering a set course or achieving an objective. I guess the only race you can race on your own, is against the clock. It's interesting you say "at usual race speeds". The only time constraint in the rules is to finish the race within 3 minutes. You cannot define usual racing speeds. I would like, sometimes, to penalise riders who finish a race in last place at less than racing speeds but I cannot imagine how you would phrase such a rule. Thankfully the 0-0, riders not trying etc. is a very rare occurrence. Enough said.

All valid eventualities, sort of. But the example I was alluding to was a rider who found himself the last "survivor" in a "race". Rather than complete 4 laps in around 60 seconds, decided to entertain the crowd by pulling a few wheelies. His race time would have been a few seconds longer, certainly under 70 seconds. Despite all of that, the ref invoked the "not making a bona-fide" clause and excluded him. I don't find that logical, by definition, since one can race when there is no one to race against?

Nah. He's only good for 18 points