moxey63

I think cost should be reduced. Riders don't need to be full-time or as so-damn professional, which I think has raised costs. Even the novice nowadays wants his bloody name on his van, whereas 40 years ago they would have been just happy with a second half spin. People are comparing the price of admission with other sports, but in other sports they don't need such a huge outlay of machinery and stuff for the riders. When these things are bought, this is money going out of the sport. It's like anything nowadays, youngsers want what is cool - and wouldn't be seen in a tatty pair of leathers while their rivals fall about laughing at the pov. I mean, when was the last time you saw a kid with a phone resembling a brick or trainers that were less than £200? It means thousands is spent on speedway stuff even before a kid has had his first spin. It's all about image,never mind how good the rider becomes. It was like Ken Bjerre in the World Cup, when his suspension thing came lose and he probably didn't realise until after the race. Is this extra cost that isn't really needed? Ditto the dirt deflector. Then you see riders with four different helmets, each with a different bloody colour on it. What is that about? Speedway admission, for the amount of entertainment you get, is too high. The whole cost thing needs looking at.

The World Cup began brightly in the early 2000s when most countries took pride in racing in it. However, recent times have shown that a little gloss has worn off the competition and will continue to do so. Perhaps there are too many countries padding the week out, some with no chance whatsoever (and seeded to the Final as well) of even puting on a show. Perhaps best bet is to have it over the weekend, two semis and a Final, at the same venue.

Speedway, being speedway, you have to have rules that'll make things more complicating. Let's just get back to basics.

Instead of using the Joker, why not introduce a new tactical rule allowing the team that's 6 points in arrears to name one of the team's (that is 6 points up) riders on a handicap.

Another new rule: Please no Tweets from our PM as he snuggles upto any sort of success in UK sport (or life in particular), congratulating a Team GB performance on anything higher than third place in the Race-Off. He probably won't be in power then, but the rule must be written.

I cannot see them ridding the competition of the Joker, so I suggest putting a rule alongside it... when a meeting reaches a time suspicious rider actions may take place. Any opposing team manager who thinks a suspicious tactic may be about to take place could nominate the team/rider he expects to act suspicious with a "Clown" ride, in which the rider under suspiciion of about to throw the race would have to wear a big red nose on his helmet. If he (the "Clown" rider) proves his nomination is of the "Clown" tag is wrongful and he doesn't begin acting daft by having this mysterious engine failure or believe he's done four laps and stops after two, then his points would be trebled and the team that thought he was about to throw the race would have their points deducted by x3 of what the "Clown" rider scored. You could call this a Cynicla Foul. If the "Clown" rider does as the opposing team manager expects and throws that race, then the rider would have a big bucket of water thrown over him as he walks across the centre green, followed by a shed full of flour, as the "Clown" rider looks/acts disappointed and puzzled at his first engine failure of the season. He would have to race the rest of the meeting covered in flour, which would be good for tv viewers. What do you think of that?

Don't be daft... Stuart Hall wouldn't be seen dead anywhere near speedway.

Easy to blame the manager, but he wasn't riding the bikes. Team GB are at its lowest ebb in years. In fact, I can't ever remember when we lacked the talent to field even a four-man side and feel confident of pulling off even a decent World Cup appearance. Middleditch can't be blamed for our riders failing to each anywhere near the standard we were used to in rose-tinted spec days. And, remember folks, we (meaning England) haven't actually lifted the World Cup since 1989... and that because Erik Gundersen had those life-threatening injuries in heat one and hot favourites Denmark were shattered. It is 33 years since England actually won the World Cup and were the powerhouse that deserved to.

To create excitement and ultimate climax, why don't we just stage the last race of each meeting and do away with having to sit through the rest. It would cut cost.

You echo my feelings exactly. One of the main reasons I think I stopped attending speedway was that I ddin't believe riders were actually trying as hard as they could, I couldn't tell a genuine pass from a stage managed affair. As a stats freak, I like to see records and believe them, not think that maybe he beat him because he let him. Until speedway returns to reality, I ain't stepping foot on the terraces again. You are right, keepturning left, about Nige and Kelvin, they weren't happy initially by Crump and Pedesen's tacticd of slowing to give their nations some advantage in last year's final but quickly changed their opinions within minutes, possibly with a word in their ears from the TV people. Couldn't believe how quickly they altered their views.

When you sell yourself out to TV, surely complaints of stay at home fans, losing money every week, are hollow. When the companies grow bored, stop chewing and spit us out, then perhaps speedway can return to running itself.

If it's correct what Philip Rising states, and we knew it anyway, then speedway promoters need a good shake for letting themselves be run by TV companies. Their concern should be for the people that have been turned off by these rules and perhaps watch at home (like I do), boosting the TV figures. But surely speedway tracks don't want this. It's no use people staying at home while venues play to empty terraces. Seems to me as though speedway is at the mercy of TV companies and their efforts to drum up the X-Factor TV feel. As long as there's a thrilling climax they don't seem to care. Speedway will struggle on, battling to find its identity while the likes of SKY and Europsort seek other avenues to entertain their own patrons.

There is worrying news tonight that some fans are still defending the current use of Golden Doubles and Joker points in the professional sport of speedway racing. Not since Comical Allie's denials in the last Iraq war have I laughed so much. There are also some, boasting that Poland were the best team, even though they used a Joker ploy to leapfrog over Denmark's honest attempt to make a strong dash to the line. Some witnesses say Poland's tactics were like a game of tiddly-winks, when your opponent dashes off for a piddle and you sneekily move your counter up a few places while he's away.

Belle Vue won the league in 1982 simply because Bruce Penhall walked out on Cradley. As regards saying they won many away matches using tac sub, that was the norm then. If you recall, it was using the speedway method of scoring - 3, 2, 1, 0 - and didn't call for a take-two-throws kinda move that the Golden Double/Joker provides. I don't remember as many races being thrown back then as I can recall in Golden Double Joke races. You can't suddenly alter a scoring method during a match when sufficient points arrears allow. Next they'll be playing circus music when a Joker or whatever is introduced. Back in the days of the old TS, when your team fought back from a 6-points down using the rule, it felt like a deserved victory. I can't imagine even the Poles regard themselves as the better team, now the celebrations have wound down.

We have just had another major competition where the winners are victors by using artificial means... and I don't like it one bit. I don’t have any affinity for cricket and often scratch my head at some of the methods they use for deciding matches. As for football, you won’t see many walking away from that because it is forever bringing in silly rules nor would you get teams trying their hardest not to score because it may allow the other team to win!

Being a cynical sort, I became disillusioned with speedway when the Golden Double, Joker or whatever it's called came in. I no longer feel the sport is about honest racing and that it is important to win at all costs. I don't attend matches but still watch on TV. I question whether some of the riders are allowing others to pass in order to help the team use of this terrible ploy (the Golden Double, Joker etc). We witnessed it last year... Crump and Pedersen, who could go over the line slowest so to benefit their countries and warrant them use of the Joker. I thought after that farce it would be abolished, but, aye, it's good TV. So please don't whinge, promoters, about the stay away fans. This rule has made many disillusioned, and, like me, they watch on telly from now. So, has the Joker, the climax to last night and “It’s good TV” adage, would it have won any supporters back to the terraces? I doubt it. It is time to look at reality, question the actual impact of the Joker and such other gimmicks. Is it worth losing terrace support in favour of ones who find it good TV? If so, with an apparent hunger of catering for TV fans, in future you’ll be racing in empty stadiums. Is speedway a serious sport … or will it continue to go down the avenue of relying on pretty ladies, Joker cards and miss-a-go rules to stir up some reaction from stay-at-home Herbert’s?

With the Joker and Golden Double, we are seeing stage-managed speedway racing. How much of the actual racing is real; when a rider passes someone, is it because the other rider's team benefits for letting that rider passed? Speedway doesn't need this joke scoring system at this time. It may be good for TV companies and fans who like novelty pop records also, but to genuine speedway fans the rule just sucks.

I feel again speedway has sold itself out for a cheap gimmick. In an attempt to keep people interested and perhaps serve a thrilling climax, the Joker robbed the most deserving team the chance of well earned victory, and not for the first time. Denmark were head and shoulders above all others and their honest attempt to try and actually look serious about collecting as many points as possible to win the trophy has backfired on them. As with the Play-Off system in the league, perhaps it is best for any country in World Cup speedway to tootle through the early part of the meeting and fall enough ebhind to play a Joker. On the other hand, perhaps a team shouldn't allow its lead to drift over five points. Whichever way, these double points have given the winning team a hollow victory and made the sport look about as serious as snakes and ladders. Terrific climax though...

Do managers really have that much of an input in team performances? Apart from walking round the pits with dart player's shirts and clipboards, what else do they do? Team GB have a weak army at present, so much so, next they'll be relying on foodbanks to see them through. I was thinking, having watched last night on tv (which took so long, the kids will soon be back at school after the summer hols), who else can GB call on? We are really at rock bottom right now and must be thankful that the USA are rebuilding and the Swedes weren't at full strength. Otherwise, it'd have been like sitting through the Eurosvision Song Contest again

I watched today's meeting, which was recorded and a couple of hours out of date from being live, and I enjoyed it. I didn't know the result, to be honest, but it wouldn't put me off if I had. I would still have watched it. Don't mind watching speedway that's been recorded, whether from hours ago or years ago. Can't understand your point, to be honest. You are saying... If you don't see a meeting live, and get to find the result, you wouldn't watch it later on if there was chance... it would be pointless? It's like saying, Speedway Star should not carry match details from the week before, as they'd have already taken place and the people that were interested would have seen them live.

Phil What I'm saying, is that recorded highlights - as proved today - allows a recorded meeting to be over within 2 hours (just burned today's onto DVD and it was 1 hour 54), whereas tomorrow will pan out about 3 to 3-and-half hours. Speedway meetings need to be more snappy.. we have got homes to go to, you know! Think Eurpsport got it just right today... a glimpse at the pre-meeting parade, then straight on with the racing. Usually, when it's live, the build up lasts anything upto half an hour, and that's too much.

Some cracking racing in today's World Cup, the event helped I feel by Eurosport's failure to screen it live and allowed all the padding we usually have in live meetings being blanked out. The meeting, on Eurosport anyway, ran ever so smoothly and was a pleasure to stay in front of the tv on a warm day. On a down side, watch tomorrow's event be a right old lengthy evening which will drag on after midnight. I wouldn't mind if all matches were ditched from being live and screened later, if it meant we didn't have to put up with wasteful chat from certain individuals just to pad things out. Last week's Poole v Wolves match, for example, ran over by 15 minutes (the live show). The replay was edited with the first 15 minutes of waffle time taken out, going straight into the first heat after brief introductions. That is all that's needed. No more big build up please, straight into racing... and any space at the end can be filled with whatever. Sure there will be some that will refuse to subscribe to SKy and have the dish taken down and buried in the back garden, if matches aren't live. But I prefer the needless parts taken out.

Yes, because their collective heads and ears are buried in sand.

SKY insists on making the same mistakes. Every week they babble on for 15 minutes to begin, the first dozen heats usually result in several restarts, popped fences that need repairs, Chris Louis showing us how his new tele works... I think they pad the show out too much. Start the cameras rolling from &.30 or as soon after as possible, not give us Ovaltine time for the first 15 minutes and then, once yawning begins, many armchair viewers begin clock watching. Get in there straightaway, start the action from the Get-Go, and then we are not forever over-running the allotted time slot. The coverage, although appreciated, is too samey from SKY. Last night’s match from Poole had quite a bit of decent racing… but the gaps between the heats stretched the whole affair out.

People that blame the Rose-Tinted spec scenario on older supporters memories of the 1970s speedway currency is desperate. Speedway 2013 is tuck-shop business compared to 1970s. We have all aged in that time. Like a human, speedway isn’t as attractive as back then. Like the male hairline, support has receded during 40 years. Same with teeth, there are simply too many gaps on the terraces compared to then. And, lastly, British speedway and us old ones find it increasingly hard nowadays to arrange dates.