MattK

From memory, the old rule (when we had rules) for a new GP rider was 8. Given the league is now significant;y weaker, he should come in on at least 9.

When King's Lynn moved up to the Elite League, was there a noticeable increase in crowds? What was the %age increase in costs between the two leagues?

Given his association with Simon Stead, maybe he's off the Sheffield?

Your assessment is far too negative. Group 1 - what do clubs do to reward loyalty? I don't know about KL, but at Swindon there is nothing. Clubs should be working much harder to reward their diehard fans in order to stop them drifting into group 2. Simple things such as attend five meetings and get a pit tour, attend 10 meetings and get to watch a heat from the centre green, attend 20 meetings and get a meet'n'greet with your favourite rider. All things that cost the club NOTHING, except effort. In turn, use your most loyal and diehard fans to actively promote speedway. Set up some kind of referral scheme where fans can introduce newcomers. Gamify it by having leagues tables of the fans who have introduced the most newbies. Get the fans competing against each other. There are plenty of options in this space. Group 2 - firstly you need to understand why these fans have been lost. I used to be a regular at Swindon, but I've stopped going mainly because the racing is rubbish. Even the meetings I've watch on TV this year have been poor. In my opinion there are two main reasons for this. Firstly the gap in quality between riders is vast. This started with the draft, but unfortunately has got worse. Secondly, the track at Swindon is very poor. However, these are the problems, what are the solutions? Offer fans some kind of incentive to return. Discount entry, hospitality package or something along those lines. I can't remember receiving an email from Swindon in the last two years, so there is plenty of scope to try and win back these lost supporters. Group 3 - I don't agree with your assessment of "I still feel that anybody, that was interested in bike racing, would take it upon themselves to locate and watch". I've spoken to several people who actively follow other types of bike racing, but have never been to speedway. This is an easy group to target. However, I think there is an even bigger untapped market among the general public. I used to work for the largest employer in Swindon. Out of 6,000 people I knew four of us who went to speedway. Yet I never once saw a single poster, leaflet let alone a staff discount or other type of promotion in any of our offices to try and attract new fans. ​Now, I appreciate there is a huge difference between getting people through the gates once and them returning on a regular basis, but I feel most clubs lack a strategy to address either.

People often complain that there is no ambition or strategy in British speedway. The GP has both of these. Over the years BSI/IMG have taken great risks to push the GPs forward and I think wildcards are a suitable compromise in order to allow the organisers an element of commercial influence over the line-ups. For example, imagine a British GP with no British riders. We are lucky that there are currently two full time riders in the 2018 line-up, but in the past the organisers have had to rely on wildcards in order to get any British riders into the series/meeting.

Just had a look and the ninth and 10th riders from the previous year have received wildcards into both the 2017 and 2016 series. In 2015 it was ninth and 11th (don't know what happened to Lindgren who finished 10th). 2014 was 11th, 12th and 13th however the rider who finished ninth in 2013 was offered a wildcard but dropped out (Gollob) and the rider who finished 10th (Kasprazak) was second in the qualifier. 2013 was ninth and 14th. So it is hardly unprecedented.

Chris Holder is more than capable of being a 9-point rider in this league.

Commercially it makes a lot of sense. Those four are likely to put more bums on seats than any of the newcomers and looking at some of the attendances IMG have clearly taken the low risk option. However I do think this is last chance saloon for Hancock, Pedersen and Holder. Personally I am surprised the first two have decided to continue racing in 2018, but they will have to qualify by right next year, as I cannot see them receiving two wildcards in a row. On the whole I think the GP line-up offers a good mix of established riders and those breaking through. Half the line-up have been in the GPs for four years or less, so there is a good balance.

Interesting article here states 18 Poles have a place in the Swedish league so far. At current count there are two Brits.

We've tried cheapening the sport for the last decade. How has that worked out? Maybe we should try the former? Because running a NL side along side your existing team is a terrible idea unless you have a clever marketing angle, like Wolves. NL teams do not attract any new fans, so you are entirely reliant on your existing fans attending more meetings.

Is it? When has the sport ever been financially stable? Certainly not in the last decade. I am sure every club owner has lost money running their club. When was the last time a club closed it's doors due to lack of finance?

It is amazing how many fans ignore the evidence right in front of their noses because it doesn't fit their narrative.

Every season the standard is lowered. Where has that left us? Is the sport more sustainable today than it was 10 years ago? You can only go on lowering so far. Last season saw a significant reducing in quality, a team building limit of around 35 points compared to 2016 Elite League averages. Has it helped to reduce costs or does it simply raise a rider's expectations as someone who was a reserve last year is now a heatleader and a heatleader is now a number 1? The problem with reducing the standard is that the only barrier to GP-quality equipment is cost, so an affluent rider or an owner with deep pockets can easily bankroll the best gear. The only way to prevent this is to have some kind of technical restrictions on what a rider can use. I have no idea if this is feasible, but if it is there is I see no reason it couldn't be introduced for the current roster of riders. Maybe this is something that Britain should be looking to introduce in combination with Sweden and Denmark, as it would at least give some riders the chance to use equipment across multiple leagues.

When I saw the tweets I thought it was a competition they were running at the Dirt Bike Show, however the press release says it has been running since the British GP. I don't know where this was advertised, but I certainly hadn't seen any mention of it before the winners were announced.

Wouldn't the same spiralling costs exist if the sport is amateur or semi-professional? All it takes is a handful of affluent riders or owners with deep pockets and the arms race continues unabated.

Was there not some kind of forum in Nuneaton shortly after the AGM? From memory I remember one promoter complaining that it was very poorly attended by fans.

You could almost write a book about it

A balance sheet is a snapshot of the company's assets minus their liabilities at a point in time. It isn't the net worth of the company, which is more closely related to the company's profits. Any company can grant a director a loan. You'll also be please to hear these are interest free. It is usually done when the company is making a profit, but before a dividend is paid. If you look at the Profit and Loss you will see a profit of 36,894 as at 1 Jan and 52,746 for the year, which means even after a dividend payment of 67,220 the company has 22,420 in the P&L account. This is why the following year the dividend is higher than the profit. The accounts required to be filed by limited companies are not that detailed and don't go to the level of showing turnover or costs. Therefore I think your assumptions are correct and they must be turning over close to £450k-ish. Again, don't get too hung up on the £2,705. Given that Go Speed is a privately owned company, there is an element of privacy which covers the businesses activities. Accounts are not designed to answer the questions you are asking. Why don't you ask Go Speed or indeed individual clubs what they receive from the TV deal?

I can't see how we can fit in Doyle as well as Morris and Musielak, unless we have a very long tail.

Same question for you. If movement is allowed at the start and only touching the tapes is penalised, do you think riders moving would result in more tape-touching and therefore more re-starts?

What difference would that make though? Would it prevent rolling/anticipation or would it simply make it easier to identify? If the aim is to reduce the number of re-starts, surely a technology which flags up any kind of movement would results in MORE races getting stopped and re-starts being held?

Dropping down the leagues, possibly back to Rzeszow?

Because the regulations state that riders should be stationary when the tapes are released. By definition, any rider who has anticipated the tapes rising is no longer stationary.

A mixed bag really: Clegg Max -1.15 Holder Chris -1.79 Kasprzak Krzysztof -1.05 Newman Kyle -0.66 Kennett Edward -0.77 Klindt Nicolai -0.58 King Danny -0.56 Porsing Niklas -0.26 Hougaard Patrick -0.13 Auty Josh -0.02 Ellis Adam -0.02 I'll upload the spreadsheet when I get home. Riders who missed 2017 but ride in 2016 include Bech, Bridger, Buczkowski, Iversen, Jacobs, Jonsson, Korneliussen, Simon Lambert, Mear, Stefan Nielsen, Bjarne Pedersen, Roynon, Sarjeant, Swiderski, Ulamek, Walasek, Woffinden, Woryna, Wozniak and Zagar. Poole seemingly assume they are signing Woryna on his 2016 average of 4.65.

So, after six pages no one has managed to offer up a workable solution which is better than what we have today. Personally, I don't think starting is an issue. The warning system seems to work well. The only tweak I'd like to see is riders returning straight back to the tapes by stopping the pit gates from being opened.