Ben91

Another example of the sport pandering to riders. If you’re a late starter then your route to the top may be slightly harder. Get on with it. The competitor should bend to the rules of the sport, not the other way round.

You’re not wrong there. Head and shoulders the best rider in the world right now.

The change of point scoring system in the GPs has taken away the importance of squeezing every point out of a meeting and placed the emphasis on reaching and winning finals. Therefore it’s no coincidence that Zmarzlik does what he needs to in the heats and then comes on strong for the clutch heats. IMO the scoring system should be changed back. It puts more jeopardy on every race of the series for each rider. In theory that would produce more competitive racing.

Talking about speedway on the speedway forum.

Any ambitious rider will look to conquer tracks they have previously struggled on. For me, on similar averages I’d take Flint over Vissing any day. There’s a lot more potential upside to Flint if it goes well.

Ellis on his current average should be a highly sought after commodity next season. To write him off at 27 is frankly ridiculous.

It was a horrific incident. Adam Johnson and his loved ones have been in my thoughts a lot recently. As have everyone else who witnessed it. Not knowing much about Ice Hockey, to my mind there seems to be a lot of conjecture about what happened and finger pointing, none of which is good for anyone. Some people perhaps commenting purely with the intention of stirring up controversy or using a man’s death for internet points. These things have to be handled on a case by case basis. Hopefully we never have to deal with something like this in speedway. If we do we can only hope it is dealt with in the correct and a respectful manner.

Someone who loves speedway. Manchester is a great city and there are many things to do in a variety of guises on its doorstep too. It’s not as if people are being asked to spend a week in Sittingbourne.

It’s unsustainable. Oxford have obviously done well on their return to the sport but sadly the answer to everything these days seems to be over exposure, as they’ll find if they do decide to run three leagues. People would have to pick and choose their meetings and then it’s likely all three teams would run at a loss. It’s certainly not worth jeopardising an entire track just on the off chance it makes it easier for a handful of riders to reach a league that is already unsustainable.

It wouldn’t change the existing pathway. Riders just wouldn’t have to go gain experience of other tracks. If one track can make three teams work then fair play. But running one team seems a stretch for most places at the moment, so three is a recipe for disaster in my eyes.

You’d like to think that is the case. One track running in three divisions is a recipe for disaster.

Things should be kept as simple as possible. Convoluted rules turn most people off. None of this “if you best rider is a Sagittarius he can be your rising star but only if he eats two packets of chocolate buttons with the machine examiner before each meeting” rubbish.

The last speedway book I read was Tai’s and to put it bluntly it was rubbish. Nobody should be releasing a book mid-career. If Jason Crump, Tony Rickardsson or one of the top names from the sport of the last 20-30 years (now retired) fancies writing an autobiography they can take my money.

The issue there is that they’d rather open a track where there is no desire for one to save face rather than fix the current mess, I’d say.

If things are that dire that Scunthorpe have to move up to the top league then it’s time to admit a single “professional” division is the way to go. Forcing clubs to operate beyond their means just to keep a TV deal and a few world class riders here really isn’t worth it.

Cocaine has always been the realm of the professional classes. See the 1980s. Drugs are more readily available now but to say the majority of under 30s are partaking is a huge stretch.

Given the increase in failed tests in recent times maybe testing has become more stringent than it previously was around the tracks. With the dangerous nature inherent in the sport I’d say all drugs bans handed out in my memory have been too lenient. Zero tolerance is the answer. Fail a test and don’t bother coming back ever.

It is. But a pretty half-assed one at that. End of season meetings used to be a spectacle and offer something a bit different. This is a challenge match featuring opposing riders you’ve already been over exposed to during the season.

As with everything it is all shades of grey. In a winter where we are losing at least two clubs already, rule changes scrapping the third tier will probably also see Speedway become unsustainable at another two. However you frame it, that’s bad business for the sport. The way to go would have been one professional league and a grassroots league. With no entry point to league racing the supply of riders will dwindle and potentially dry up completely in the next few years. Losing the National League will be worse for the sport than many realise I fear.

It’s a very defeatist attitude and probably contributes to promotion these days rarely being any more than “if you don’t come we might close.” Which is lazy and emotional blackmail. The sport should constantly be trying to improve and as fans we shouldn’t be accepting of any old dross just because we should be lucky to have speedway at all.

Birmingham seem to live under the cloud of closure constantly. To step up a league under those circumstances is foolishness of the highest order. If they do then I doubt they’ll be coming to the tapes at all for 2025.

Less riders per team weakens the sport just as much as a slightly weaker league to accommodate the standard of riders we have/can attract here. So long as the racing is competitive and teams aren’t made up of wobblers then fans will attend. There are enough riders out there for that to be feasible with one league and seven rider teams.

Five rider teams would be the death knell for me. The circle would just get even smaller with less riders required and the same amount of doubling up undoubtedly allowed. Then you’ll get riders missing and sides competing with a four rider line up and R/R. It would make the sport more tinpot than it already is.

Appreciate that, we all have different experiences. I don’t feel depression or mental health issues ever truly leave you but time and experience can help with coping. A complete aside from the thread I know! Completely agree with regards to Cook as a rider. Was dominant in this division for quite a spell. Remember him winning two races off of 15 metres at Rye House one night if my memory serves me correctly.

Where was the survey conducted?