SPEEDY69

They will potentially get better starts - all those revs don't help. RIders will adapt.

Good signing. Will be better in top league than Championship I fancy.

Zagar?

Is Chris Holder planning to ride in the UK next season (Tru Plant sponsored?)? Is Iversen bound for Ipswich? What's Robbie Fuller doing these days?

I don't know in what country that might be but I reckon, allowing for UK inflation, 50 quid then would be worth about 90 pounds now. We'll agree to differ on clubs folding, i think the bigger drain is cost rises, not income falls. Speedway in the UK can barely support two professional leagues, let alone three. Would you mind paying more to watch NL speedway?

Jacek or Marcin?

Sadly Buxton have withdrawn from the NL and on reading the great article in the S Star last week (bought in WH Smith) it seems costs are the issue yet again. It really was a sad development when the third league went 'professional'. With ever increasing medical, insurance and licence costs it seems NL riders have been looking for higher pay rates, vans and even paid mechanics! If the third div collectively refused, there would be more riders seeking CL places and lead to less need for doubling down from the PL. How many more tracks will have to close before the BSPA and more importantly the riders realise that the money is not there. When I rode in the third div in 1997 the top scorer got 50 quid and a gallon of fuel plus 5p mile travelling. The bottom two got 15 pounds in total. It was a hobby so I didn't object to paying to ride. Those who wanted a career also had to shell out in order to progress. That's how it is in many careers - how much debt do students leave Uni with on the prospect of future earnings? I really hope the track there is not lost and that the third tier soon returns to amateur status and I feel really sorry for the Moss family. What do you think?

No thanks, boring to watch - gate or nowhere.

At home. Still as has been the case in the top league for a while, the first three months don't really matter, it's the team you have for the summer months/playoffs that counts

Just like we had meetings on Wednesdays last season! What this means of course is that riders will have to ride in UK I there is a clash.

Spot on. When talking to Jeremy Doncaster a few years ago he said he was very keen to keep as much stuff from one year to the next as possible, frames, wheels etc. Fact is, many riders use new every year because they want to, not because they have to or need to to remain competitive.

A speed gun situated at the end of a straight on a track would be an interesting addition to speedway, a bit like they have for skiers. Not all the time as it would get boring but now and then. Surely can't be that hard? Big screen at the track I think would have the biggest opportunity to improve fans interaction but a speed gun could help.

You're right, some riders do earn a lot of money and there does seem to be loads who don't need to work at another job over the winter any more - good luck to them, it's not their fault is it.

Interesting. I wonder where Swindon and Berwick feature in this speed list (of course average speed doesn't mean the highest peak speed i.e. at the end of the straight)?

Nope, riders will then look to make two livings

I hope they are both told to 'do one', from all tracks. A business has to budget realistically.

I think the Ltd company idea is a good one. It could mean that losses across clubs could be absorbed against profit to reduce tax bills even further, I'm no expert but could clubs become franchisees of the BSPA? I really hope we see the end of PL number 1s in the Championship.

The pits were visible at Odsal I seem to remember - needed binoculars if you were any distance away of course. I expect the old H&S would create hurdles most couldn't be bothered to overcome. They would need cover - it's ok for fans to get wet but not riders! Much better to get views from the pits onto a big screen I think to help make it more interactive.

What attracted me to and kept me interested in speedway was following my team. I have very little interest, if any, in individual meetings. The erosion of the team aspect in the UK has withered my interest. As I've said many times before, some existing fans may want to tinker around with the product but I think it far more important that thought is given to improving the night out - then it becomes less important how many overtakes there were. If people go away having had a good time then they will return. I liked KTs idea of using interactive aspects - playing to peoples' obsession (particularly the younger ones) with mobile phones/technology. Standing out in the cold/wet is unpleasant, standing around watching a tractor or listening to 70s music is also not engaging. There could be other things on the terraces to do e.g. video games, bike simulators, bouncy castles/bungees, party events hosting, free wifi, a big screen - none of these are messing about with the racing but just trying to modernise the experience. If you then added characters for your team, with nicknames etc. as they do in other sports this could also add some atmosphere - this does need promoters to stop 'pass the rider' games and loyalty can be achieved if handled consistently. We'll always have the memories I suppose.

We stayed at a small mountainside lodge in Lasko, was a great weekend and the GP only 40 minutes drive from there down one road.

3 GPs in Poland again and still they can't find a World Champion, will one of them do it next year?

Oh dear. Poole's title now.

Unfortunately he failed to get through the qualifiers, then got a wild card to the challenge final and failed to get into the top three. Zagar doesn't deserve a wildcard and I wouldn't have had Vaculik either. Id'd have had Dudek, Smektala, Pedersen and Madsen

Yep, doesn't work for me either.

I always wonder how Oxford and Cambridge always seem to make the final of the Boat Race.