fatface

94 or 95 - nitpick if you want. :roll: The major point is that since SKY has covered GPs (ie since the series launched in 95) there has been a huge increase in the number of operating speedway tracks in Britain from 23 to 32. And since BSI's involvment, our sport now achieves a much higher profile - even the Guardian have been known to give the sport some good coverage. The sport is back in some of the world's great stadiums - that's cause for celebration surely? Cos ten years ago our showpiece event was in some German backwater called Pocking. Don't get me wrong, all is not rosy and BSI and the BSPA have some issues to sort out. But whilst the BSPA has lurched from disaster to disaster over the past 20 odd years, BSI have taken the World Championship and made it something very special again in a very short space of time. Like it or not, in marketing and promotion terms they leave the BSPA miles behind in their tyre tracks. If the BSPA can't keep up, that's their fault.

Sorry Kevin, if you think it is coincidence that there are now 9 extra clubs since SKY/BSI/GPs all got going in 94, you have your head stuck in the shale. There is no way on earth that prospective promoters and former fans who have come back into the sport with clubs like Rye House, Newport and Workington have done so without having their interest at least partly re-kindled by the TV coverage provided by SKY/BSI/GPs. Please don't tell me they just happen to be interested in the sport again after all these years, at exactly the same time the sport started to receive decent TV coverage. Please... :roll:

I do think this idea that BSI, SKY and the GPs has done nothing to increase interest in Britain really ought to be put to bed. I've done some research, here's what I've come up with: 1994 (pre-GP/BSI/SKY) No of clubs: BL Div 1 - 11 BL Div 2 - 10 Others tracks (Buxton/Linlithgow) - 2 TOTAL - 23 2003 (incl GP/BSI/SKY) No of clubs: EL - 8 PL - 18 CL - 5* Others (Weymouth) - 1 TOTAL - 32 *not counting clubs who also have teams in higher leagues Nine extra clubs now in Britain - that's nearly 50% more - this can't be coincidence, surely?

You are bang on Jeff. The pros of the current format far outweigh the cons. There hasn't even been a year yet where somebody who hasn't been able to qualify for that year's GPs could realistically expect to get in the top 10, never mind win it. It never ceases to amaze me the criticism Sky and BSI recieve on the forum. Even when the sport was in its heyday, live coverage was a rarity. Now we have national live coverage of all World Championship events and weekly league racing. At the start of the 90s, I reckon you would have got bloody long odds on that happening.

It doesn't stop them holding a European Individual Championship, or a European U19 Championship! Certainly doesn't Kevin, and I'm sure you'll agree both are about as important as the Dagenham Ladies Darts Championshipss

Might not be a bad shout. But i'd find it easier if it was every 2. For other sports, there is normally European Championships in between World Championships - which makes the gap more bearable. Of course a Euro Team Championships would be a little pointless in speedway - so we could just do the World thing every couple of years.

Superb stuff that Grachan. Amazing how 60 seconds worth of frantic action can bring so much pleasure after so much time. Talking of that has your wife given birth yet?

Where do you go to the toilet then?

I know - sorry about that. No offence to Rudy. In fact I'm sure I read somewhere that he emigrated to Australia? Still wouldn't mind knowing what happened to Larry Ross though....

Well, if he wanted to win something, he just had to head North.

Yeah then they sold him to Halifax/Bradford and he was (errrmm got to be polite!!) not very good home or away Larry Ross - always true to Belle Vue........

Aye right Steve! You'll be there every GP Saturday in front of the TV with your surround sound cranked up. How miserable it must be for you for those 10 or so Saturdays every year.

Would love to know what Larry Ross is up to as well. He was a cracking rider for the Aces for a while.

Chuffed to see Loramski there. Since the GPs started, he truly has been one the most successful and exciting riders in the series. I don't think he's capable of winning the series anymore, but a fully-fit Loram is capable of pinching a rostrum place or two.

I would say that the whole Pre-Main Event is meaningless in the current format. Ultimately though, it doesn't matter what format you use if the event is well promoted, and the racing sufficiently exciting. The 'boring' 16-heat, 20-heat format still managed to attract 100,000 fans to past World Finals, which is three times the number of the best attended GP to date! Don't really agree. Riders from the Pre-Event Main can win the GP - I know Nicki Pedersen is one who has certainly done this. I also think the format does matter - GP organisers have to appeal to people outside the sport not just those within, that means an easy-to-follow system in which every race counts. Also, I do think harping back to "Wembley-100,000-one-off" is nothing more than a pleasant trip down memory lane. Like it or not, those days are gone. We live in a multi-media world where people's choice of entertainment has increased ten-fold. We have to change, the world won't change for us.

113 - Chris Cobby/Darren Boocock 114 - Les Collins 116 - Martin Hagon, Paul Woods, Blue is anyone's guess - Flemming Rasmussen will be my first stab in the dark :?

Or possibly a 16 rider formula in which the first few races see elimination heats which get rid of just one rider (4th), give two another chance (3rd and 2nd) and one goes through? That might be a way of keeping around 20 heats? Or is that too complex?

I remember Tony Forward too. He seemed to leave the speedway scene just as quickly as he had arrived as I recall. Didn't he also have a short stint in the National League with Long Eaton or someone similar??

Its a nice sentiment to be concerned for riders having to travel so far for two rides. But this is our big showcase event, and I think it has to be geared toward spectators. That means every race meaning something. Some Formula one drivers crash at the start of GPs, Some 100m athletes are eliminated in the first round of the Olympics, Some Footballers go to the World Cup and don't get a game. That's sport. Its tough, but as a spectator I wouldn't want it any other way.

On second glance - i think you've nailed this one.

How about: "PC, you've got over one hundred caps, why oh why did you choose to wear that?" - hehehe - like it falcace! Cheers WATigerman Andrew's pulled a few good uns out there too, Tony Forward in particular is a great spot. See if I can help with the gaps: 103 - Paul Woods, Mark Courtney 104 - Kai Niemi, Neil Collins 95 (I think that was the one I thought was Flemming Rasmussen) - I'll go for Thomas Ravn now. :?

How about: "PC, you've got over one hundred caps, why oh why did you choose to wear that?"

I still say 98 is Simmo, as for 95, I need more thinking time :?

90 - I'm struggling, I'll throw in Dave Morton, but I'm not confident :? 94 - Martin Hagon 95 - toughie, I'll try Flemming Rasmussen :? 96 - Nigel Crabtree 97 - Finn Jensen 98 - Malcolm Simmons

90 - Tough one this, Craig Pendlebury?? 91 - Steve "Handsome" Regeling 92 - Kenny McKinna 93 - Mavis Davis?