IainB

https://twitter.com/scottnicholls78/status/1559839371028795392?s=20&t=dmyeUJr9pmRsTk4KFIFh_w Even Scott Nicholls can't believe it's the last match of the season at Oxford tonight

How many fixtures is that?

Meanwhile the rest of the sport takes August, September & October off!

That's a huge part of the sport that is missing these days, TM's are so limited in what they can do other than swap reserves around

Speedway always has been and always will be a great sport for a newbie. You can't fail to be impressed by the skill and bravery of the riders, the noise, the smell, the sheer spectacle of it all... it's only when you scratch the surface that (especially now in Britain) it doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. Some folk will realise "it's all about the start", some will make it a bit further and say "it's all about the first bend"... then you only have to attend a few fiascos, go home covered in dust, realise that your rider is riding for every other Tom, Dick and Harry and you're out

When is a draw not a draw? When it's in Speedway

Law of averages said they had to get something right eventually

BREAKING NEWS: British Speedway in sensible decision shocker!

If you are booking hotels make sure you're using Top Cashback or Quidco, there's quite a saving to be had

My ticket for the weekend was £22.50... my ticket for next years event is £22.50 I'm just wondering how much you think it should be for VFM?

I suppose the point is, you pay what you think the weekend is worth... With the benefit of hindsight I should have knocked the Sunday meeting on the head and just gone home after the SGP, total cost would have been about £70, pretty much the same as a trip to the NSS on a bank holiday Monday for me... and for an SGP round with 16 of the worlds best riders that is astonishing VFM, and lets not forget the daytime bank holiday meetings at the NSS generally ain't that special. For those not happy with the price of the weekend I think the answer to the question of cost cannot be laid at the feet of the SGP organisers.

So that's both ends of the budget spectrum for us and I dare say we had pretty much the same experience we were looking for... a great weekend interspersed with a couple of crap Speedway meetings. I also got down to Cold Knap at Barry Island and the Cardiff Bay Barrage for a scout around.

Ah but I wouldn't have "treated" myself to Maccies

I'm not saying you're right or wrong... but as we're talking cost, here's my breakdown: Ticket: £22.50 Accommodation: £41.40 Fuel: £45 Food: £18.92 Total: £127.82 And I had just as crap a time as every one else lol... it could have been a classic though Even if you doubled it (excluding fuel) how are you knocking on the door of £600? It can be done on the cheap (if you're a car owner) £165 for a couple.

The Summer Trophy after having undergone an unannounced name change will now have a 3-legged final... at least they've told us about this one. Who would have thunk it?

I get what you mean, it's a real shame that some of the associated costs around the weekend can be so high. I'm fortunate in that I only have myself to look after and believe me I'm as tight as they come and really stretch my pound out as far as I can, 60mph all the way down there and back and a diet of Aldi & Maccies all weekend. I did stay over this year for the SGP2 on the Sunday, but generally drive there and back in a day as I don't mind a late night. Turns out my night away this year was a waste of money really. Just taking the event by itself, I do think the organisers should be applauded for a £22.50 ticket, compared to events held at similar venues that's an absolute bargain... even if it was crap, I've seen worse at many tracks up and down the country tbh, it's just this years event wasn't in keeping with the stage on which it was set.

Well, so much to say, and most of it bad. Most of it has already been said, so I won’t re-tread over old ground in great detail but at least reading most of the posts on here during SGP2 kept me entertained more than anything going on inside the stadium. Getting in was not as bad as I feared it may have been so that was a bonus The crowd was clearly very disappointing, I would say the lowest ever at Cardiff The reasons behind that are probably many and have already been discussed but I’ll throw in the absence of the World Champ + Emil and Bartek being the runaway leader making it less of a sporting event. It’s clear that different people go for different reasons, I think it’s fair to say the Speedway purist did not enjoy Saturday night, for me I enjoyed it as an event with the icing on the cake seeing Dan win the thing but that was about the only thing I enjoyed about it, maybe it was the heat and/or the lack of oxygen inside the arena but I did feel a bit “funny” while I was in the stadium. I’ve been to every GP at Cardiff, the track has always been a bit dodgy, but has steadily got better over the years, Saturday night took us back 20 years. Whether it’s the calibre of rider competing today I don’t know? I think Phil Morris has come in for a lot of unfair criticism, as far as I am aware he’s responsible for the running of the Speedway meeting, timings, track grading, watering etc. Discovery Events seem to have subbed this whole event out, the actual GP itself to Paul Bellamy’s company and he in turn the track to Ole Olsen’s track laying company, there are too many fingers in the pie. You’d hope there’s some pretty high-level meetings going on this morning. Sunday’s meeting was very much an after the Lord Mayors show affair, I wandered in, didn’t even have to show my ticket and although a great experiment to hold the SGP2 at the same venue as the SGP, I think it was a failed experiment and I doubt we’ll see it again. As for the debate on whether the event should stay at the Principality, absolutely YES! It’s a no brainer, look at where it’s come from, Hackney to Coventry to Cardiff, that’s not to say I wouldn’t want to also see one at the NSS. You look at the demographic in the Cardiff crowd and it’s very different to that you see at a league meeting. It’s more akin to a Polish Crowd (I know a lot of them are) but this is exactly the demographic Speedway in this country needs to attract. I thought the whole presentation of the event on Saturday was just lacking, no innovation which there has always been in previous years at Cardiff... even the Champions Parade before the meeting was a half arsed affair and the much trumpeted (get your cameras ready!) light show at the start, reminded me of Telford! Finally, what a great result for British Speedway with Super Dan winning the event, it washed away much of the disappointment with the rest of the event. The lad should be a Superstar and you can easily see him going on to dominate the series in the years to come. I fear Tai’s days as a contender are over, I hope not, but he’s not really shown anything for a few years now, he seems to spend a lot of his time appearing to try and be cool and it’s all a bit of an act, where as Dan is the real deal and is genuinely cool. It’s just a shame that if you do a Google search for Dan Bewley his victory barely gets a mention and even Ronnie O’Sullivan’s attendance pops up in the results… and he very much seems contractually obliged to be there! All in all, it was generally rubbish but finished brilliantly... see you next year, in fact I've just bought my ticket, £22.50

Are you actually Ole Olsen? If so your final comment would explain a lot

Easily fixed... just fix brake lights to the bikes (and before you reply... yes I know)

Well, that's one on the attendance for next year... all we have to do now is get him to pay for a ticket

They were running GP's behind closed doors not so long back

Seen enough of this crap... I'm off home! It'll probably still be on and I can catch the end

It's more relevant than points scored from each gate as you don't always get the points from gating (except for Cardiff, where you do)

Why wasn't he wearing his Lions top

Is that where these lads come from?