uk_martin

Then please explain why there was a "Tactical" rule in one guise or another in the days of black and white television, let alone before Sky. Also what is the excuse for the Polish League still having a TS rule that is very similar to what was in use in Britain in the 70's and 80's? No doubts the Swedes use something similar too... Like it or lump it the TR / TS has been part of speedway for longer than we've been around, and they do something to keep meetings alive. Unlike football or rugby (etc) where if one team is way better than the opposition, you can still marvel at their quality of play, in speedway, it has the opposite effect. One team being way better than their opponents leads to boring 4-lap motorcycle processions that do nothing to entertain the paying public. Something has to be in place to counter that, and the TR/TS is what we have.

If you're running a chocolate business, the customer cares that the bars of chocolate are on the shelves in the shops when they come in to buy them. I don't think that the customer is told, nor do they care twopence about the behind the scenes issues such as transportation, logistics, packing, warehousing, production, raw materials etc. Why is it that in speedway, the "customer" thinks that the product of regular racing isn't enough for them? How come speedway has been turned from a sport into a soap opera, with all the characters, their interactions and relationships as well as all the minutiae of the running of speedway on a daily basis being of such concern? Do football fans care this much about what happens in the boardrooms of the FA etc? The average footie fans I know take a passing interest in what's happening in the transfer market, and after that it's all about "X United" beating "Z City" on the pitch. They can't believe what ultra-anoraks speedway fans are, and if anything that image of the speedway fan is a deterrent against wanting to mix with that kind of person and giving speedway a try.

I'd add another angle to the debate, and that's that a rider with "decent" body mass and inherent strength that goes with it, may well be able to withstand the bumps and bangs of racing a lot better than the "will'o'the whisp" riders. Compare Arthur Browning's (lack of an) injury record with that of someone like Adam Roynon.

Bet you won't forget to print out and take your paperwork with you again in future though

I'd still rather the no-frills / no thrills Ryanair flights that get me to where I'm going on time (even with those confounded bugle blasts to tell us all about them lol) than a Lufthansa flight that gets so far delayed that it eventually gets you back to your airport after the last train has departed and all the night service buses have gone...

Sorry Mr O'Leary !!!

Unless you decide at the last minute to go, in which case the admission will be £398.00 to go in, and it'll be your fault for not booking your ticket way ahead in advance.

Going back a few years, their sizes never held the legendary Arthur Browning or Michael Lee back. http://www.trialonline.org/01%20TRIAL.FIM/00%20CHARLY%20AIDE/DRAP%20PHOTOS/DRAP.BROWNING%20ARTHUR.jpg

I dare say that every rider will "demand" what they are worth. How about the theory that being "spoilt" with continental pay rates, they may even consider asking for more to make it worth their while being in the UK. Oi !!! Just thinking about these air fares...isn't it time that Ryanair, Wizzair, or in the case of Martin Smolinski, Singapore Airlines started to give something back to the sport that earns them, between all the riders in the EL and PL somewhere between £250,000 and £300,000 per year? How about a Ryanair British League, next year? Or maybe "Speedway" could be rebranded as "Wizzway"? Or maybe the fans can all get nice oriental massages off the Singapore Stewardesses

One of the biggest instant-results cost savings would be to have UK based riders only. A team (e.g. Wolves) that has 5 foreign based riders would incur air fares for the Swedes, Poles, Danes etc, of, (let's say for round figures) £100 each way, thus £200 return, thus £1,000 per meeting. Yes I know you can get air fares to some places, below £100 each way, but given that there are a lot of rearranged fixtures taking place, that a lot of air fares have to be bought at the last minute, and therefore be at much much more than the lowest fares that airlines offer for advance bookings, so I'm thinking that an average of £100 each way won't be far off the mark. So for a 30 meeting season, that's £30,000 off the season's running costs. Anyone else got any ideas as to how to trim the costs as effectively?

Do a search on this forum for "Smolinski" and "600cc" to see what other people think about the upkeep of his machinery That said he is a former World Champion, at Longtrack Speedway. So he's not totally without skill, ability, and a head for speed!

I have every sympathy for the fans concerned. It's the reason why I (and others I know) gave up on following the Brummies on their away travels. I lost nearly £300 on "duplicated" fuel costs and wasted hotel room payments for away trips that were rearranged in 2011, not to mention about the lost Annual Leave off work for days that should have had fixtures that eventually didn't. The EL can stuff all that for a game of soldiers now. Away travel was so much more fun in the PL days. So I feel the pain of the Lakeside fans who had their time and money wasted and feel sorry for the Belle Vue fans who couldn't get time off booked in time to see what was an epic win for them.

So the season will end at EL level, for the most part by the middle of September. Two months then get wasted. Then there's the AGM on or around the 3rd weekend of November. Then it's only 4 working week's til the Christmas / New Year break And with the whole root and branch structure of the sport in need of revamping and redesigning, you have to wonder where they will find the time to reconstruct the sport let alone sign any riders or agree a fixture list in time for next March.

Well precisely, one would, wouldn't one? After all they are all "successful" businessmen , with their own legal advisers for their "other" business interests. Surely they can negotiate a bit of a contract can't they? Any of them?

From a "fans" point of view, which is the bigger stage? Where are the bigger "events"? Where would you rather be? And from the "productivity" point of view, which has produced more international success? And next year with the points straightjacket taken off the Polish League, see for how long Sweden remains the strongest in terms of rider strengths,

Ahh, OK, that's fair enough...but it's still a good way to develop the youth, and there's ideas there that can be adapted for over here. At least in Germany there are ideas...more than what comes out of the British system.

Absolutely. And what Martin Vaculik is reported as saying here is what I've heard that the likes of Leon Madsen, Patrik Dudek, and many many others on the continent have been saying for a while. There needs to be a reality check on where British Speedway is in World regard. The Polish League is the Premier League, The Swedish League is the "Championship" and the British EL is the Conference League. We really are that far behind, Even countries with only two cities of note, one shale oval between them, and worse climatic conditions, (Latvia) are now producing better riders than what we have. One man's muck is another man's brass! Why not go another step along this route and do what they do in the German Bundesliga, and reserve one place for a 14-16 y.o. so that the junior riders are given a chance?

Somebody remind us all please...how much was the Sky Contract, and what percentage of it all went to Terry Russell's GoSpeed company as "commission"?

Sometimes the rose bush has to be pruned back if it's ever to be seen in bloom again...

Biggest sufferers next yeat will be the airlines. Can see only British based riders in use next year to cut the travel costs. It will be bye bye to some big names (and a lot of small names) but it may give the sport a chance to survive and give some British youngsters a chance to develop.

Be nice to have a second Brummies rider to cheer on at Poole. As for WHY he was chosen, well at a guess, because he is British would be one reason, his high ranking amongst British riders would be another, and he's not too bad around Poole. I don't think Middlo / BSPA / SCB / ACU would have had the slightest input into this decision. It's BSI's train set and they will play with it the way they want to play with it. I dare say someone at BSI made the decision based on who would add value to the event / ticket sales, and that Danny King ended up being the best answer that there was to that...in their opinion, and at the end of the day, they will get the financial rewards / penalties of their decision, so let them live with it. How about we now look forward to the event and some really good racing?

So if Gorzow beat Leszno and Torun beat Tarnow...have a guess who'll be straight onto the Wizzair and Ryanair sites to about flights to the play-off's lol Likewise Falubaz & Stal I was there for the SWC and have to say that the stadium and track are first rate. If you can stay somewhere "nice" in that part of Poland and commute directly to the stadium and back, then that would be ideal. The town of Czestochowa itself a dump though. Not had the money spent on it that other places have to bring it into the 21st century, and is really a throw-back to the Communistical era. Nothing there to endear it to you at all. The sort of place where you want to send your trendy-lefty mates for a 6-month sentence, just to kick-start them into a life in the real world after they see the products of communism.

Has the penny dropped yet? To conquer Lakeside on their trick track you need as many guests who are specialists on that track as possible. "Normal" teams face too much of a disadvantage with the home track favouring the Hammers to the value of at least 10 points a match.

Thanks for the information. Very interesting. Am I right in thinking that the maneuverability of the speedway bike is what gives it the advantage on a "short" track? I would guess that over 1km with bends that go on and on and on, having an agile bike isn't so important, and brute force and power will win the day for the LT bikes? I wonder where the cross-over point is? 600m? 800m?

Classic!