uk_martin

Has anyone heard any more about it in recent weeks / months? I was hoping to hear by now about who was going on it...existing junior riders or complete newcomers. I tried to find out by going onto the BSPA site and clicking on the link, only to find that the target page is no longer there. That's just BSPA ineptitude for you. The links on their web site leads you into dead ends. So no surprise there right? Further searching on the Poultec site shows that they are still offering a course, just on other pages of their site that the BSPA haven't kept up with. So, does anyone know if these courses have started, who's been on them, and what the feedback has been?

Par for the course. The Drye House track only ever had 10% of the required amount of shale on it at any time in its history. Will Kent fans get admission tickets in the form of pre-paid envelopes, to post back the dust that they collect off their clothing next year?

A couple of years of making money and Tony Mole will sell the team on (again) as a viable concern...then it'll be up to the new owners (again) to see what they make of it.

The 2016 regulations will make for interesting reading. Let's see which of the promoters see the options and cater for them with contingencies in the rule book and which keep quiet and hold them as aces up their sleeve (no slur meant towards Belle Vue there btw)

Look back into the archives and you will find that this time last year Graham Drury was saying how much he was enjoying his retirement and had no plans on returning to speedway. Things change!

Two things...Firstly - 6.5 only applies to the new guys. There are those foreigners in the squads already who are of a reserves average. At Poole for instance, Kyle Newman only has to achieve a 5.52 and Kacper Gomolski could drop down to the reserves. Look at the averages of Tobiasz Musielak and Peter Karlsson at Wolves or Nicklas Porsing at Kings Lynn...all good candidates for a bit of jiggery pokery at "reserve". Secondly, what happens if Kyle Newman achieves a 6.5 average? Does he go into the main team, only to be sacked and replaced by Patryck Dudek or Bartosz Zmarzlik ( or similar)?

What will these averages be calculated? The first 4 meetings of 2016 or the rolling average starting in 2015? If a FTR gets elevated to the main team will they be "sackable" and are the reserve berths then open to foreign imports who drop down to reserve or does another FTR candidate get the job?

Did you hang around long enough to catch the delivery of two portions of King Plawn Cully with Flied Lice and Plawn Clackers, that these two dads had ordered?

Damn, and I thought I was a cynic!

You forgot "that" mosque lol

INCLUDING the press officers of BSI / FIM / One Sport, as well, you'd have thought...possibly?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_in_sports It's OK for Formula 1, it's OK for Major League Baseball, football, rowing international athletics and even Polish Handball... ...but bah humbug. Speedway doesn't need a listing on Wikipedia, does it? Aren't you glad that the FIM / BSI etc are above this kind of thing, and don't need to resort to cheap gimmickry to attract a younger web-savvy audience?

Don't shout that out too loud, it won't win you many friends lol The perils of having a fair home track eh?

What if there is a merged EL / PL "Big League" with no GP riders and one rider / one team? With some PL teams on dodgy ground for the future maybe one home meeting per team is the answer. Did BV say that there will be a "maximum" of 20 meetings? Could there be more maybe? As I see it the "guaranteed" 20 meetings should ve viewed as a minimum not a fixed prediction.

Is it the same engine that Martin Smolinski is using? If so maybe it's a "600"??? ☺☺☺

I'd fancy a real 7 man team to prevail over a mix of 3 "original" team plus 3 guests plus R/R at any time, trick track advantage or not.

How often do we hear complaints about opposition fans being partisan? I don't for a minute think that Eastbourne's fans will have been cheering/jeering the fAllen rider. Far more likely that the were seeing the opportunity for their team to rack up more points. Speedway could do with more partisanship and more atmosphere on the terraces to attract more fans. If all you want to do is to politely applaud at the appropriate moments then I suggest you look out for the next chess tournament in your area.

There's every chance that the NL will revert to "Division Two" status when the EL and PL merge for 2016. All former Corinthian values can then be transferred over to the amateur and development leagues, as the 2nd Division (under whatever guise it takes) will just become a "mini me" of the "first division".

So the SCB "taxes" tyre sales? Are they legally constituted to do that? Is the SCB tax before or after VAT?

I assume that if you purchase twice the quantity you get a bigger discount. Maybe the unit costs for the two teams need to be revised?

I don't understand why Eastbourne's riders get half price tyres. Or is it that they don't get tyres for one of the meetings and have to use old ones...or...well I just don't get this at all...please explain.

It would be interesting to see what the cost of a second hand GM plus ongoing tuning / maintenance costs are compared to what are promised to be a almost tuner-free new Gerhard or Jawa. If these bikes are more beginner-friendly, then maybe they will help avoid injuries to the newcomers thus keeping them earning for longer in the season instead of these GP-standard bucking broncos that so many of them can't handle. As JJ has said, NL riders get their equipment second hand, so there's the time when they have to make a decision. A new low-maintenance and high track time bike that will keep you earning and keeping your money, or a second hand GM that will keep the tuners and hospitals more occupied than you. In every other class of motorsport, people go up through the classes. You don't hand a 16yo a second hand MotoGP bike and tell him to get on with it...these guys go through the 125cc / 250cc classes on their way to the top. Even Valentino Rossi had to do that. Speedway riders should be no different. If it means "Formula 2" bikes at the lower leagues then so be it. Keep the riders on the bikes that they can handle whilst they are learning their craft. They learn nothing in the Ambulance.

Overcoming regulations??? Yep, that'll be a speedway engine for sure then. Matt Ford would have been proud of that quote. See a regulation...don't obey it, overcome it! Yeah, the way forward. Still that's Sam for you. He can't commentate without making a hash of his words, so what do you expect as a spokesperson for a new product? Looking at the gist of the press release though, it does look like it will be an "entry level" bike. So how about this for an idea then? How about National League racing being restricted to the new Jawa and Gerhard engines only? See how that goes for a season or two?

Just went past the track on a double decker bus ony way to work. I could see that it's wet and there are only a few minor puddles along the kerb line. The worst of the rain is past us now and tif thats as bad as the track is the drainage has worked well. The forecast for tomorrow is good enough to get that track raceable imho.

Good point Kev. I suspect that if the leagues get restructured as the intentions were a few weeks ago then all of BSF will have that "where to put what" issue to face.