Grachan

Looks likeva few 15m handicaps being dished out at Belle Vue tonight for this. Not sure what it's supposed to achieve really.

I thought it was good when Swindon had "second" colours of purple race suits a few seasons back. It was linked to Excalibur sponsorship though, and soon disappeared. I like team colours, but Swindon and Belle Vue, for example, should have one side wearing different colours.

He did indeed. Not just a max. A 21 point max.

It's not as simple as that though. I guess Chris Holder and Troy Bachelor decided the time for pussy footing around over track issues was long gone last year.

Maybe that is exactly what he is trying to avoid.

I think they are both British citizens.

From the way he was during his short stay at Swindon, I would say that yes he would have. There was something about him that I haven't seen in other riders - even Jason Doyle.

Didn't Woffy offer to do it. Why not let him have a go if they are franchising it? What credentials does this Rob Painter have?

Do any teams have a sponsor board in front of which they conduct interviews? This would, surely, encourage new sponsors amd cost pretty much nothing. These are common place in most sports now, but I don't recall seeing any? I may be wrong though. Or how about the big markings on the centre green like you see on the rugby pitch in the 6 nations - set up to look like they are upright when on camera? Surely the more of a high profile they give their sponsors, the more high profile sponsors they will attract.

Speedway's problem isn't being on TV. Speedway's problem is that most people in the country have no idea what it is or that it exist. Being on tv does not contribute towards that.

On the night attendance is clearly affected by tv, but it's not just speedway that is affected in this way. There is a Swansea v Sheff Wed football match live on BBC1 at the moment. Take a look at the crowd!

Such a shame. Before long, now, we will probably have two leagues of equal strength - totally defeating the object of having two leagues.

My main experience of Bob Hughes is that I though I'd seen him ride but hadn't. My first ever meeting was Weymouth v Crewe in 1974. Weymouth used R/R for Bob Hughes, but I didn't know anything about that. I just assumed it was him and filled in my programme accordingly. Pretty sure I never did actually get to see him ride.

I remember at both Reading and Swindon, you'd get a massive crowd gathering around the exit at heat 13, many of whom would run into the car park before the race was even finished. I used to get a lift with one guy who used to do this. Never understood it myself. Much easier to leave half way through the second half and avoid the queues. I think some people these days over-estimate what second halves meant to the majority of the crowd.

Big difference between heat 15 and the rider of the night final. The rider of the night final meant sod all to most supporters and they'd already gone home - a lot of them after heat 13. To people who left after the main match they are getting two more races than they did under the 13 heat format.

Susan Shaw was married to Bonar Colleano, who was in Once a Jolly Swagman. There's a clip of this on youtube showing a wall of death ride.

Take heat 15 out of the averages and you'd get higher top-end averages and, possibly, more representative ones too.

Recorded it and watched it. It's actually a very good film, and a very impressive cast. A couple of things I noticed. Nice bit of product placement by Ex-Lax, and Bill Fox being a rubbish team rider.

Who suggested that? They are 9.00 riders so should not be.

Wrong decision, if so.

Thanks. Yes, I think this is going to cause a major problem. http://pa1.swindon.gov.uk/publicaccess/files/DE47D3810B3EB1575DE713CC93B288A5/pdf/S_RES_18_0027-BARRATT_HOMES-653036.pdf

Is there a link to these objections anywhere? I've always been relatively positive about this happening, but once the developers start objecting then the slope gets more slippery. At the moment, literature online makes it clear that the stadium is right next door and lists it as a local amenity. One thing, I think, that Swindon have in their favour over clubs like Reading and Coventry is an enthusiastic and determined promotion, plus a lot of backing from the local government. If this does fall through I feel that there will, eventually, be another track built somewhere. I do wonder if they shouldn't be looking at options down that route anyway just in case.

They changed before this year. I think it was last year, but may even have been the year before. I remember reading about it. Those riders would have been ruled out last year too. (Edit - it was January 2015 - http://www.speedwaygp.com/news/article/3924/british-speedway-in-visa-crisis )

There has been no change in rule. As mentioned above, last year no rider had a top tier average, with everyone having one single average. As a result, everyone was eligible for the lower tier and some riders took advantage of that. This rule has been in effect for as long as I can remember - riders over 6.00 in the top tier cannot drop down. With regards the riders from overseas, the new visa restrictions were pretty well publicised a couple of years back.

Other example of races continuing include Ivan falling in the 1973 run-off and Egon Muller's tumble in the 1976 final.