False dawn

Hardly a fair comment. I, for one, am trying to glean pieces of the truth as they are "released". For example. The fact that Brandon Estates were offering (are still offering) significant sponsorship to the speedway operation. This came out when their solicitor was interviewed when the fans met at the stadium some months ago. I only mention this because this is an important fact and changes the nature of events over the past 6 months significantly. Indeed, was this the significant source of funds that were withdrawn just before the BSPA pulled the plug? The BSPA mentioned this fact in their statement. We are trying to pick the bones out of this. Have a care. I am not judgemental and don't want to blame anyone. I do want to know the truth in order to help and know whether my speedway club has a future. Is that unreasonable?

What does that mean? It can't cope? I'm genuinely interested. As I've said elsewhere, at the recent Coventry match there was a fair bit of shale on the track. 7 days later we had a barrage of complaints about the slick track for the U21s. This is a fixable problem.

We'll have grid boys for the girl riders.

Heaven forbid you produce a fair racing surface!

Antonio Zagar?

Interesting. Thank you. But would you choose to redo all your PR material etc. to change from 5 to 12? Seems an odd decision.

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I've been meaning to ask. I thought the idea was that GP riders chose a number and stuck to it. I'm sure I'm right in saying that this is Nicki's 3rd number. What gives?

Now you've got more than half the team, can we re-brand you as the Beaumont Bees finally?

It's interesting isn't it? Having just posted on the Coventry thread that we could run on a Sunday afternoon to do without floodlights, I am reminded why afternoon meetings are unpopular. It has always proved difficult to control the dust throughout an afternoon meeting especially on hot sunny days. But 15 heats on a cool, balmy evening. It's acceptable for the last 4 heats to shower the fans who "sit in the wrong place" with dust? Err no. Put down some shale, water it properly and grade it in a way that truly brings the shale back onto the racing line. And on the weeks when you don't add shale, don't complain about blue line comments. You have one the best stadiums in the country. Why spoil it with a badger's arse?

The police see it as a contractual dispute and as such will run a mile. Leave it to the courts is their stance. The only winners in this dispute will be the lawyers. But let's pick the bones out of this. £1M to restore the stadium? Well maybe to fully restore it. But does that include grandstand facilities that could easily be closed off? Indeed, what about running on Sunday afternoons and doing without floodlights? Given that the stadium only has a limited life (3 years?) why not go forward on a least cost option? Significant sponsorship, by Brandon Estates for the speedway operation? Given a usable stadium, would this sponsorship make speedway a viable business without the stox income? Don't get me wrong. Forget the individuals involved. I would love to see stox get back their iconic venue. But if Brandon Estates say, "No way", is there still a way forward?

I did think someone might wonder who?

You know, I'm not sure you're right. Back in the day, I remember a lot of folks taking foreign flags to White City, Wembley etc. in support of their rider. By comparison, I see a preponderance of Union Flags at Cardiff. The main exception is the Polish flags and they are brought in by Poles.

It never occurred to me before, but what is the technical / speed considerations between leg trailing and leg forward? We must assume that leg forward proved faster. But was this accompanied by other technical changes in the bikes of the time? It might be interesting to see a rider try leg trailing now. Just imagine the effect if he started to do well? Looking at some of the photos above, if someone did start leg trailing, it could be that the authorities might change the rules to say riders have to wear dirt deflectors!

So who is "really" British? Jason Crump? Born in Bristol after all?

This is the first year I've taken part in this. It's good init? We're all bloody experts right? Well that's true till you have to put your money where your mouth is. And it ain't even my money. But you still agonise over those bets. I've been looking at results from recent league results, results from last year and even running analyses off the likely outcome. But it's all theory until Saturday night. I don't know if I'm glad they postponed the Bees meeting at Leicester. At least now I can watch every race from Warsaw with interest.

Take a deep breath...... Mr Zagar £200 more

You may be 100% in your analysis. Unfortunately, I believe Mr Sandhu owns the rights to stox just as Mick Horton owns the rights to speedway (bought for £200K?). If you want to see an agreement forged without Mr Sandhu, you need someone to buy his stox rights. That could be worth a pretty penny.

The worrying fact is that stox at Brandon make money, but speedway does not. Mr Sandhu ran speedway because he loved it, he ran stox because it made money. He ran both because together they made sense. He doesn't have the right to run speedway anymore (I assume he sold that to Mick Horton for £200K). We need everyone to come to the party.

Dangerous territory. PC was seen as a British racing icon in his day. No gating skills and the best overtaker of his day. Something of a racing hero.

Fd laughs out loud. Thank you for cheering up my day. But hang on. I live in Rugby, Maybe your post should be read as a hazard warning!

In the war...... That's a warning, I'm an old bloke who has sometimes been known to look back to the "old days". Back in the day, the British Final was a massive event. Held for the most part, on a Wednesday night at Brandon. Yes, it decided the British Championship but more importantly it was a step on the road to the World Final. And back then, we had Aussies and New Zealanders in the British rounds because they were part of the Commonwealth or Empire or whatever. And then the British Championship meant nothing on the World stage and it lost all it's prestige. Riders took part, if at all, with little enthusiasm. Then someone came up with the idea of sending the winner to Cardiff as the wildcard. A brilliant stroke, in my opinion. Now you could be British champion and take part in the British GP in front of 40,000 fans. Incentive indeed. Danny posted a good score at Cardiff last year and showed in one race that he certainly had the potential to compete on the World stage. And so to this year. We look at the field and start to pick our favourites and likely candidates. Hang on, who's this? Rory Schlein? He's an Aussie ain't he? Well yes, but the BSPA have rules about residency, length of stay, passport etc. And he qualifies to take part. Ah but, he has said he has no intention of riding for Team GB. Oh well, he can't be British Champion. And even if he can, he ain't going to Cardiff. So let's see. If you disqualify yourself from riding for Team GB you can't be British Champion or go to Cardiff? Better not tell you know who. You can't have your cake and eat it. Either Rory qualifies to be British Champion and the subsequent prize of going to Cardiff or he doesn't. Decide before the championships start.

It is increasingly clear that the key stumbling block to getting an agreement was the subletting of the stadium to run stox. Had Coventry Racing Club been a customer of Brandon Estates and not of a "third party", would any of this happened? We could have had stox coexisting with speedway (as we have had for many years) both customers of Brandon Estates. The prospect of civil action now (which was always going to be the case from day 1) is worrying in the extreme. It has taken half a year for the police to decide this is a civil matter. How long will this drag on through the courts? The only note of optimism is the attendance of Mr Sandhu at one of the Save Coventry Speedway committee meetings. This doesn't bring together Mr Sandhu with either of the other two key players but at least he is still talking. We await the promised statement from The Save Coventry Speedway group with interest.

I withdraw. I'm happy to admit I'm wrong

Well let me say straightaway, I would not wish to fall out with you. I am getting back into considered debate on here after a long lay off. My two guests "proposal" was a bit glib. Two guests seems sort of acceptable, three feels off the wall. But whatever the limit (and three is too many in my opinion) the team has to choose. Obviously they would the choose the highest average riders but for the rest they would have to use a junior replacement. I feel like I'm having to justify what is common sense to any (non Wolverhampton) fan. Sorry, but I don't care if the ruling body f**k up the fixtures to your disadvantage. Tas always been so. If we really want to fix that problem, tell the promoters to talk to each other. Fixture readjustment or trade offs of riders missing from both teams have been a feature of previous seasons, albeit a long time ago, Oh, I know, one fixture doesn't justify a major change. But I'll be back, arguing the case before very long. (Am I wrong?)

Hypothetical scenario...... Wolverhampton turn up at Somerset tonight and tell the home team, three of our riders are unavailable but we've got three blokes of about the same talent who are willing to ride for us. Is this allowed, say the home team? Well yes, the rules allow anything. So off we go. Wolverhampton win and all is good. If I was a Somerset fan I might be slightly aggrieved. Non hypothetical scenario..... As a Somerset fan (which I'm not) I would be well p***ed off