Grachan

Correct. The current strength of the first division is already $%^^, which is why I hardly ever watch it. And this is weaker, forcing out the riders mentioned in the post plus the likes of Troy Bachelor. A top league performed in front of some tumbleweed would be the result. Although if, as you say, this equates to a championship average of 47, then the sides would be weaker than this. If I decided to watch Swindon v King's Lynn it would mainly be to watch Robert Lambert. I'd maybe go to see Somerset to watch Jason Doyle. Here's an idea. Let's force them out of the league then. Brilliant.

Those teams are an absolute nightmare. Speedway is at its least appealing when you see a near-empty stadium, a few old people filling in programmes and very little atmosphere. That is what you would get with these sides, £10 or no £10. Speedway is dying on its feet and people suggest the way forward is to make people not want to go. Absolutely staggering. Mind you, with those sides, you would get riders like Nick Morris and Craig Cook on 10+ point averages, so some people would probably think the league was stronger. Seriously, please, stop suggesting speedway becoming like this. It scares me. Because I have grown up supporting a team, and that team is Swindon Speedway, I do retain an interest in the sport. But it needs to be a worthy standard to entice me - and, I suspect, many of the others who rarely now attend - through the gates.

The beginning of the end was the 39.95 points limit in the top flight - whenever that was. 2008?

That's because the level it is at now is too low.

If the product is good, people will pay to go.

Even without GP riders, you could have a league of reasonable strength. You are proposing a points limit of 35. It seems that your idea of what speedway should be is just a few people gathered in the countryside watching their mates having a skid round. That is fine at grass roots level, but the top league needs to improve its standard. I very rarely go to speedway these days, because, even though I like the Swindon side as I am used to those riders, the opposition never looks appealing. I want to be enthused by speedway. It infuriates me to see people saying it should be driven down to such a low level. It needs to get fans back in. It needs to get people like me back in.

I think some people would still be happy watching low quality teams so just assume everyone else will too. It is quite obvious that the weaker the leagues become, the lower the crowds get.

Why on Earth anyone thinks that the best way forward for British speedway is to make it a sport less people want to watch is beyond me. Surely the way forward is to get it out there and modernise presentation to make it a sport that people are happy to pay to watch. Speedway's real current problems began with the weakening of teams and the lowering of standards. Everyntime they do it, more fans disappear.

I just don't see how the answer to a sport that is losing appeal is to make it even less appealing. Team strengths drop and crowd levels go down with it. Surely the current level of top flight - which, in itself is pretty weak - can be manageable with a view to improving it over time. Keep dumbing down and the sport dies. Crowds started dwindling as soon as the low points limits were introduced. A 35 points limit will get crowds of about 300. And there will still be a team at the bottom who can't attract fans.

Why would you run a sport where you are hoping to attract a crowd of 750? With Championship level sides and a top average of 35 you'd be lucky to get that many there anyway. I remember Swindon in the second division, and, even now in these supposed troubled times, the crowds are a lot higher than they were then. It may make sides financially manageable, because it will basically be a hobby sport, but it isn't going to attract decent crowds. Make the product entertaining instead of having an atmosphere like a garden fete, and people will go. I just want speedway to be something that attracts me and makes me want to attend. I hope it doesn't end up at such a low level.

Wednesdays were actually Swindon's alternate race night when they raced on Saturdays, so, as you say, it will be interesting to see how crowds hold up.

I think this thread is a wind up. Look at it this way. Rider A scores 3,2,1,3,3 and averages 9.60 from 1 match. Rider B scores 3, 2,1,3,2 and 3,1,3,1,2 and averages 8.40 from 2 matches. Has rider B done better because he has won more races?

How did he know if they were on a 4-2? He never looked behind once from the start of the race until Tai went past him. Watch the race again. Then, when Tai passed him, he looked round and slowed down a bit, but never did anything to make sure Emil never finished last. Just the token "look over the shoulder", which is not team riding. Neither side did any team riding in the final.

Your post didn't say about the winner of the race, it mentioned the team that finish first. The team that finished first was Russia as there was still a GB rider who hadn't finished when Russia had all crossed the line. The winner of the race was Tai. The team that finished first was Russia. Not the same thing.

Looks much weaker.

Win from Bellego in heat 14 makes sure the Robins don't lose. Just thought I'd mention it.

The GB team didn't finish first in the final. The first team to finish was Russia. Agree with the warnings. Thought that was too harsh.

Did they? Looked to me like Laguta was going flat out for the win until Tai passed him.

Surely a referee who is a probationer and has sole control of a meeting has finished his training and should, therefore, know the rules? Or am I wrong there?

I think the better way would have been that in the event of a 3-3, the top scoring side are the winners. Not just because GB were top scorers, but to make more value of those 40-odd races beforehand. So the second top scoring side would need a 4-2 to win. Talking of that final, I was disappointed at the end, and commented on here that we might have won if Tai had slowed the race, but when you see Tai's comments, they make sense. Basically, we went into that race with a winning mentality - to go and win the heat and, thus, go in and attack the race. Race positively. I can see the validity in that, even though it never worked (mainly because the Russians had a very strong pair and it was unlikely either of them would finish last). In the end, Robert Lambert was very close to passing Emil at the end of the race, but never, so the tactic never worked. But they went into the race with the mindset to go out and take the race, and the main reason they never was because Russia were on a 5-1 on the first lap so GB became every man for himself.

By having Lambert at reserve you could effectively use him at will and have, in Cook, a GP rider as back up. It made sense for him to be reserve if he was eligible.

Tennis?

Laguta never slowed to let Tai past, I'm sure, but, as soon as Tai goes past him you can see that he immediately looked round to see where Emil was.

I think you are missing the point. People aren't saying it would have neccesarily got Lambert through, they are saying that it was, in the situation, worth a try because, even if Emil had then got past Tai, it made no difference. And, imagine if Laguta had seen Tai doing that and decided to also drop back to try and help Emil. What a race we would have had! I think the main reason people were disappointed is because they thought Tai might do thst. Had it been Australia, for example, I don't think anyone would have expected Doyle to try to get his partner through as he had shown no such inclinations in other races. On reflection, I think the plan in the final was for Robert Lambert to gate and for Tai to support him to go for the win, but the whole thing went out the window when the Russians both gated ahead so we were playing catch up with no plan B. In retrospect it's probably harsh to criticise Tai, who was in a position he wasn't expecting and had to make a snap decision to go after the Russians.

Football World Cup coming up, where a team can finish top of it's league and lose the final to a team that finished below it.