uk_martin

Congratulations to former Sheffield rider Paul Cooper for winning this years Bergring event for grasstrack riders.

Surprised that there's no thread about this. A 3 day extravaganza with Güstrow hosting on Friday and Sunday nights and Teterow on Saturday night. Add to all that two days of grasstrack & motorcross on the famous Teterow Bergring on Saturday and Sunday daytimes, and you have a motorcycle sports bonanza here. Congratulations to Dimitri Berge for winning the Junior event at Güstrow on Friday night, and to Bartosz Zmarzlik who beat Patryk Dudek (in a 6-rider final) to win at Teterow last night. Roll on the climax to the weekend tonight at Güstrow.

Brings back sad memories of what happened to Chris Simpson.

Did JPB "change his mind" or was the story/rumour wrong in the first place?

As has been said, Polish fans are a lot younger than British fans. They will still be going strong when the British fan base has died out. Am I going to the right sport? Yes. I'd far rather go to Poland for the excitement of their league speedway than attend the local Derby & Joan club to watch their Bridge League matches (which is what British speedway is becoming like) Have yòu been attending too many Health & Safety courses Rob? Just because fans bark at each other, doesn't mean that they bite.

Add to that the others "of a certain generation" with their "don't wave that flag by me", "don't make a noise by me", "don't blow that whistle by me" and "don't blow that air horn by me" attitudes and you can see why watching speedway in Britain is as dull as dishwater.

Maybe if the social and enjoyment factors could be allowed to return to British Speedway, crowd numbers would increase here too?

Any thoughts? If time permits, I'd like to see an end of season charity match against a team of celebrity weather forcasters...just for the sheer satisfaction if it.

Looking forward to my forthcoming trip. I'm flying in to Bydgoszcz on Saturday morning and was going to take in Gniezno v Poznan on Saturday until that got rescheduled , followed by Stal Gorzow v Mickey Mouse on Sunday. Oh, well, the main attraction is worth the visit on its own. I still might get to go to Rawicz v Lublin on the Saturday instead, depending on when the plane touches down, and if getting the train station before the 11.38 train is a possibility. Will have to wait and see about that. Then it's on to Germany for some family visits and general tourism around Berlin before heading up for the Pfingstpokal weekend extraveganza in Gustrow and Teterow. Just hoping now that the weather holds...

What's wrong with a little polite applause in between the sips of tea from our flasks and cucumber sandwich bites?

If you think about it, how many people make up the BSPA? Let's say it's one per club, less the clubs like BV who have teams in 2 leagues, so that's what? 28? (maybe even 27 depending on who Gary Patchett wants to represent) It's not that many people. It's less than the average class size when I was at school. And yet they still have an organisation with more politics and in-fighting than the pretty much same number of representitives from what's left of the EU countries. How can so few people divided themselved up into so many cliques and vested interest groups with so many feudes and so much discord? Why can't they just get along?

Yeah, just like to echo that. You'll need your passport numbers when applying for tickets, and they'll be vetted when you enter, by the big beefy bouncers that they have on the gate. Best bet is to make friends over there with local fans who can get your tickets in future years for you. I found the Stal supporters a friendly lot and I'm happy to go back year after year for "the derby" meeting. Nothing can beat it. We need a "Trees sticking her tongue out and thumbing her nose at Poland" emoji, don't we?

New clubs? Or Premiership & Championship looking for a cheaper cost base to prolong their existence? Think things through, if the former, where are the riders coming from to fill all the team places around the country? It's all very well saying "We are Coventry, we have 4 riding assets (which will be lost like Birmingham lost their assets a few years ago) but that's 3 out of 7 team slots still to fill and 4 other vacancies elsewhere in the league to be filled too. If it's the Premiership and Championship teams "droping down" then how can that be done without the rebalancing of the whole country's rider base, so that more of the current riders, some of whom are in the PL and CL will have to become the top end of more NL teams. This will only push up the aggregate cost for all teams at the NL, resulting in those at the ragged edge of financial viability like Stoke and Buxton, possibly being unable to continue. So what would be good about that?

Are there enough riders of NL standard to be shared out amongst an increasing number of tracks? I guess it depends on what Coventry want to do. Will they want to develop the youngsters (if there are enough to go round) or will they want to "do a Stoke" and become a Retirement Home for those too old to hack it any more in the Championship. Maybe Coventry and Stoke could be founder members of a Seniors League?

Really pleased to have been at this GP. (I'm still in Warsaw as I type lol) The event was superb. A bit of a Tomasz Gollob "love-in" inside the stadium, but that is understandable in the circumstances. However, being only a day before the 5th anniversary of the loss of Lee Richardson, a slightly wider perspective may not have been a bad thing?

I'd take Dave Goddards commentary over the offerings of Eurosport & BT Sport at any time, overdub or not. And as for having an "expert summariser", that concept has been brought into disrepute by Sam Ummalenko & co. Just how many mangled pronounciations do you want to be subjected to?

Looked like it to me too. Wouldn't that have resulted in him being excluded for "tape touching"? In the end, he got caught out for rolling at the start, and got nothing for it. As it should be. We'd have moaned as hell had an opponent done that to us and gotten away with it.

OR - the "new" Swindon track that was promised to the FIM and which was supposed to be "just like Cardiff" and therefore standards compliment, hasn't been built yet?

BICKLEY??? I missed that. Who's he riding for? That could change the complexion of the meeting.

With Birmingham carrying two passengers, having a "senior" rider in his first meeting, and having other riders prone to falling off when least wanted, I think that claims about Kings Lynn's demise into obscurity may be greatly exagerated.

To quote Tai Woffinden on Facebook: "So i wasn't gonna post anything because ill probably get rubbish about it but i want you all to know in advance! I received a email from the BSPA last week asking if i will race in the world games my reply was! YES I would like to race in the 2017 Speedway World Games in Wroclaw and think i will be able to organise a few practice days leading up to the event! I would also like to be involved in the choice of team mate to give us the best chance of winning a medal. Please let me know your plans asap so i can organise my team, flights and hotels ect! as you can imagine that week will be booking up fast and hotels could be a issue if not booked asap... Thanks for the email & look forward to hearing back from you?! I have been advised that i am not in the squad... this is a shame as its in Wroclaw my Polish home track that i have raced at for the last 5 years but this is not my choice and i wish whoever gets the opportunity much luck! Thanks to all my fans for your support!" So, that will cheer the Tai haters up and be in the best interests of British Speedway, won't it?

Another saucer of milk for Trees

I assime that this will be the same Premier Sports channel that is listed on the Android "Mobdro" app? (just in case anyone wants to watch on the go, like)

Cue the Torun Management's blame of the track for their team's misfortunes. They blamed the Gorzow track in last year's final, they blamed their own track when Stal Gorzow beat them a couple of weeks ago and now let's guess where the blame for this defeat will lie...(in between some more side-swipes of the Stal Gorzow team as some kind of a PR "deflector shield")

If you think that this is bad, just wait 'til you see what develops on the Poole thread in the Premiership section now that the Pirates might have to replace KK