uk_martin

And maybe not...who knows? Maybe having a member of the track staff "outed" as a possible paedophile, and his subsequent suicide, may have had an impact? Maybe, like Stoke, they can't source any shale for the track? (oh, the Irony for Drye House lol) The lack of official communication can lead to all kinds of speculation. About time a proper communique was issued about what the truth of the matter really is.

Ah-haa...Rye House should carry on hemorrhaging money, just for Belle Vue's benefit? Maybe the rest of the league, or even the sport in general should subsidise Belle Vue's advantage?

I wish people would stop "bigging up" Birmingham. It's a 3-men and a boy team that might sneak into the play-offs at the end of the year if they are lucky and as long as everyone stays fit (no guarantees there, going on the way that the season has started) I suspect that Butcher and Cupitt will be in the team for a while yet, at least until other teams start juggling personnel about and there are other people's crumbs to pick up on. I doubt if any more debutantes will be tried out at Birmingham this year. On the subject of debutantes, how old are the Thompson Twins? Are they being lined up as 3-pointers for next year, or will they still be too young then?

Speedway Star and hard hitting investigative journalism??? Are you kidding? You may see something, if there's a BSPA press release that can be copied and pasted, but so far, not even the BSPA's web site is acknowleging a situation at Rye House even exists.

The Stoke Potters web site says that "many" tracks have had problems in sourcing the right shale. Could this be a reason? Stoke have had to postpone fixtures until their track problems have been fixed to the SCB's satisfaction. Maybe the Rye House promotion don't want the falls and injuries that befell Stoke, and have taken pre-emptive action until a source of the right kind of shale is found. Maybe admitting the problem is to embarrassing for the promoters? On the other hand, it could be something else completely.

Not so sure. If a track like Stoke causes more harm than good to themselves, to riders and to the sport in general, then yes, they have to be closed down, for everybody else's sake.

Interesting thoughts Brian. Another alternative is what happens in Poland, where they don't have "reserves" as such, but instead the #6 & #7 in the team are "juniors", who have to be under 21. This year they have also introduced a #8 who can be a rider under 23, who doesn't get any programmed rides but can be used tactically as and when, I think. Polish juniors keep their #6 & #7 slots irrespective of their success on the track. It's what was the making of so many of them, like Dudek and Zmarzlik. No added pressure too early, so they just kept on doing what they did, and the teams that unearthed the top juniors got the benefit of their endeavours too. Mind you, how that fits in to the NL where ideally most of the team (other than the Stoke Pensioners) should be under 21, I'm not sure, but if there is a root and branch re-think of all the leagues then this ought to be considered as an option.

I'm sure that there are plenty of other threads that discuss the major issues that the sport faces on a national scale. Returning to the matter of STOKE, can anyone advise if the track has been fixed and when fixtures will resume?

Well, who'd have guessed a 40-50 win for the Brummies. Now whilst that is all well and dandy, and lets celebrate tonight for all it's worth. BUT tomorrow a serious matter needs addressing as far as the Brummies are concerned. This result is papering over some big cracks. 3 riders could only muster up a solitary point each, and that against a team that contains Kean Dicken. To say that the Brummies are a 4 man team is unfair. They are 3 men and a boy who's getting 7 rides and doing the job of 2 men. The remaining 3 passengers can't be afforded when Leon gets elevated into the body of the team and is restricted to 4 rides (plus a possibility of Ht 15) And it's no good saying Cupitt will be a good reserve. He wasn't at the end of last year and he got beaten by Kean Dicken tonight. And Walker looks little better. Something needs to be done urgently to shore up the ultra-soft underbelly of the team.

Oops, wrong thread.

Not sure. There's something to be said for having consisency in the track from one week to the next. In any case, according to the Stoke web site, there's a national shortage of shale these days! We don't want to get the "wrong stuff" (like they did) just for the sake of it, and end up with a track like theirs now do we?

Eh? Speedway abandoned due to the wrong sort of shale?...according to the Potties own web site. Add that to the wrong kind of snow, leaves on the tracks, etc etc. How come that of the 27 tracks in the UK, Stoke is the only one that's got the wrong material on the track? Was it provided by the lowest bidder, by any chance, maybe in exchange for a couple of club house ceiling tiles, or something? Glad that the SCB have stepped in to oversee the resurfacing of the track. High time too. I'd feel sorry for the visiting fans who may have lost money for their hotel expenses etc, except that I doubt that anyone would be daft enough to risk a trip to Stoke under any circumstances these days, so I doubt if anyone has suffered a loss.

15 year-olds are that full of beans at that age you could give him 10 rides and he'll ask for more. I know that gets difficult for us "over 21's" to appreciate, especially the way we feel sometimes at our age, but I recall being in my youth MANY years ago playing sport in the park (in the days when kids still did that sort of thing) from morning to night. And as for Tom Perry's success, wasn't that on a 350cc machine, probably getting up to the same sort of speeds that his 500cc was achieving on Wednesday night? Or was he still using his 350cc engine on Wednesday?

It really would have been a miracle for 2 guests, Reidar Replacement, a 15yo boy, and three passengers to have beaten the mighty Mildenhall on their own patch. The KO Cup was written off the moment the fixtures were announced. Still, c'est la vie in this league. just have to live with it.

And if they field the Spiller brothers that'll be one in the eye of the British authorities.

Annoying to read on Facebook that Zach Waijtknecht has to nearly self-fund his trip to Czech for the u21's and yet the SCB / BSPA can waste an air fare on Craig Cook.

Agree that the SON title has to change. Is it also beyond the wits of the organisers that if they want a stadium announcer translating into English language that they find someone familiar with speedway terminology? Some of what was coming over the tannoy here in Wrocław last night sounded like Google had translated it.

The contract for the SWC at Gorzów seems to be well known and quite a few people here in Wrocław were talking about it yesterday.

The Brummies press release this morning stressed that a new signing is subject to the approval of the BSPA. As it's been announced, one must assume that the BSPA have ruled on what's in the best interests of British Speedway again. Which of course doesn't prevent them from making a U-turn at any moment.

Richard Hall on a fantasy average, perhaps? Liam Carr, in from the cold?

I didn't go, so I don't have a Buxton programme. Are only programme buyers entitled to a proper correspondence address then?

The address on your website is: Hi-Edge Raceway, Dale Head Lane, Axe Edge, Nr. Buxton, Derbyshire Where else should it have been sent to? How would a member of the public know that there is no mail box at this address? If there is a more correct postal address that will get snail mail to you quicker, maybe it should be made known to the public and also put on the web site?

Well the Spiller Brothers have been quite open in their allegiance to Germany, so you can count them out for the future.

All of which completely misses the point that what was originally in question was the honesty and integrity of a British Speedway Promoter and the credibility of the excuses surrounding why a promised refund hasn't been forthcoming.

I made my thoughts on Cupitt known pre-season, only for him to respond with a storming performance in the opening fixture. Maybe I should slag him off more often if it inspires "confound the keyboard warrior" performances out of him lol.