CB252

Wow, wonder why that hasn't worked?! Perhaps speedway riders prefer financial incentives like all other pro sportsmen?

Not sure why you're so obsessed with the Poles lack of Individual World Champions? I guarantee you that any Pole would rather see their club win a League Championship than a Pole win the World title. That's why they turn up in huge numbers for team meetings. Pop over to Poland and watch a couple of Ekstraliga meetings and I'm sure that you will lose all apathy towards Poland and realize why riders favour it. It's a wonderful product that makes team Speedway feel like a proper sport, something it hasn't felt like here in the UK for many, many years. Riders missing qualification is frustrating, but it's high time the FIM and the series organisers started rewarding the riders for competing on the biggest stage of all. We've got Olsen taking quarter of a million quid to put a track down, and I'm sure countless others, getting fat off the series when it should be the riders earning the money. Riders in years gone by like Harris and Cook have had to pay through the nose to ride in the series and it's just ridiculous. I don't care if a rider is last in every round, he shouldn't be paying to ride in the World Championship. Christ, if a sport as dull as snooker can give it's World Champion quarter of a million quid for winning, all of the riders from 1-15 should be earning handsomely out of the series. Then the Polish conflict would disappear and Ekstarliga would make more of an effort to avoid GP dates.

I can give an answer as a fellow exiled Bee that has been to all of them apart from the British Youth Championship. Whilst the racing has clearly been consistently better in the last two meetings, I enjoyed the first five as well, and each meeting had a handful of decent races. The Wolves meeting in April was very good I thought. Peterborough, for me, is a track where even processional racing looks thrilling as the bikes continually flow like they are supposed to. No parking the bike on a ridiculously tight turn before you pootle off up the next straight. I've been to 19 meetings this season and the 7 Peterborough ones would all comfortably make the top half. Scunthorpe and Belle Vue probably the only other tracks where I could claim to have been entertained.

He didn't crash at all, as all those that watched the meeting will know. He had two rides and two lasts. More likely his foreign start permission has been revoked because he's rubbish.

Yes, quite. I would fully agree with that stance. Just put the photographers out of work. Can't stop them behaving like schoolboys on social media though I'm afraid.

I'm not sure it's up to Phil Rising to do anything about it? I buy my speedway star to read about speedway not photographers having a schoolboy squabble. Just boot the offending photographers out and put someone else in their place.

Won't see a better meeting than that in the UK all year. Bloody superb.

Cracking match. Hope EastEnders was good for the boycotters.

Poles quaking in their boots anticipating the second coming of British Speedway. But it's ok because we can produce individual world champions and they can't. Seriously though, is there any scope to turn this into a track more suited to a modern speedway bike, or have all the alterations that can be made already been made?

Conversely, if the FIM and the organisers of the GP were to start rewarding World Championship competitors with the prize money they deserve, rather than just expecting them to ride for a pittance 'because it's the World Championship' they could also go a long way to alleviating the conflict of interest. The Ekstraliga is currently a better organised product with better sponsors and better TV contracts and pays the top riders a wage they deserve. Also, how do you see the Polish stranglehold being broken? And why should they be concerned about producing individual World Champions? We've produced one, but he rides there, not here, and swells their crowds.

He did although not sure of the year. In the 1988 ICF, Nielsen and Gundersen infamously nearly fell over each other trying not to win a three man run off (with Per Jonsson) for second place.

Vaculik possibly based on what I've seen of him this season.

These are the win stats for previous meetings. Warsaw 2018: A - 8, C - 7, B - 5, D - 3. Warsaw 2017: C - 7, A and D - 6, B - 4. Warsaw 2016: C - 11, A and D - 5, B - 2. Warsaw 2015: D - 5, A - 3, B and C - 2 each. Riders will probably try to avoid a draw number that gives them two gate 4's. Two gate 3's wouldn't be a bad shout and number 10 will probably get picked early. 10 was always a popular starting number in World Finals, and clever riders often used to try and engineer their finishing position in the Inter Continental final once they'd qualified to gain an advantageous draw number in the World Final.

And you can apply the exact same statement to League racing in this country, which has already been tainted by riders riding for multiple clubs, thus potentially hindering their own contracted team later in the season. The penny is finally dropping for the handful of people still watching the sport over here. Save your money and take a couple of trips to Poland a year and do a couple of GPs. Much better for your health and sanity.

I don't think there's a test of loyalty. The riders will be frustrated by it no doubt, but appearing in a couple of Ekstraliga meetings will probably earn them more money than they will earn in an entire GP season if the published SGP earnings from 2017 are accurate. So they can't really afford to take a stand against Ekstraliga scheduling meetings for whenever they so wish.

But will Woffinden and Zmarzlik be hindered by their absence from practice / qualification and the fastest riders on Friday choosing their preferred draw number?

Unclear at the moment. I would say no, although I expect them both to try. Janowski has announced he won't ride in Swedish League for a month regardless of whether he rides on Saturday. I think Doyle has a greater chance of riding and scoring some points than Janowski at this stage.

Anyone need convincing that the British variant of speedway is the most embarrassing sport on the planet? Look no further folks.

Both Ekstraliga meetings tomorrow have been postponed.

If it is a squid it'll definitely be damp, since all squid live in water. As long as it's not a damp squib, we'll be OK.

The latest is that Gorzow and Wroclaw will ride this coming Friday (17th), but at Gorzow. Wroclaw v Gorzow switches to Round 10 on June 30th. So practice/qualification for Warsaw next Friday potentially takes place without the world's best two riders.

Nurse, he's out again! Is that really what you concluded from that incident?! Zagar was correct to destroy the Torun pit phone in frustration at the decision to exclude him in my opinion.

Trial over. Booooo

Useful trial. Got two matches on the go. Hopefully the other two will be archived so I can watch later. Not sure it'll convince me to subscribe though. Piraterna match is ok. Swedish racing just lacks a little intensity though. To be fair you can say about anything other than SGP and Ekstraliga.

Yeah, track ended up more like Wolverhampton than Leszno sadly. Peterborough are pitiful opposition mind you.