IainB

Who would have predicted MPT last year?

Had to go old school in the end and use the telephone!

Anybody else having issues buying a ticket online? It keeps telling me required information is missing... and it's not

I don't doubt it, all that work literally down the drain. It seems to me that rained off meetings are more of an issue these days than they used to be (and that's not to say that they hadn't used to be an issue). But it seems that the window in which the Speedway machines of today can operate is becoming smaller and smaller. Maybe the sport needs to look at some sort of wet weather setup for the bikes because we've all seen meetings being cancelled/abandoned in recent times where we've said I've seen them ride in worse than that, only the worse than that is becoming less and less with each passing year it seems. Ultimately this will effect crowds, especially on opening night, sometimes I get it, the weather will win and there is nothing you can do about it but I think as a sport we really need to get to a position that if the weather is fine at the scheduled start time then there really should be Speedway. I don't have all the answers and I appreciate that cost is a factor as we didn't repair the roof while the sun was shining in our sport but surely it can't be beyond the wit of man to come up with some solution. Maybe Phil Morris will put it on his long list of things to look at.

And you came back for more!

What is probably more damaging to the club, rather than a comment on an obscure forum, is there being no Speedway on the opening night of the season when the weather is fine after all the build up, returning to the top league, a spot on local TV and radio and the visit of a former World Champion and the returning Russian. Instead the season opens with a junior match. Still, you can't do much about the weather without some kind of track cover system.

One day you'll come up with something positive and develop a can do attitude instead of constantly coming up with reasons why things can't be done... be sure to tag me in when you do

9th of April 1993 King's Lynn v Ippo Ippo v King's Lynn Arena v Cradley Peterborough v Oxford Other matches washed out that day: Oxford v Peterborough Belle Vue v Wolverhampton Glasgow v Rye House Sheffield v Middlesborough Poole v Swindon Swindon v Poole The only match that started was Edinburgh v Middlesbrough and that was abandoned after heat 8. I wonder if this was the most weather affected day in Speedway history? And why didn't they call them off a couple of days before based on the weather forecast These were the days of course that you had to stop and find a phone box to phone the track if you wanted to know if it was still on or not, maybe give clubcall a ring if you were rockerfeller... no websites or weather apps to check and no BSF!

it's like a drug isn't it... my most recent one was travelling up to Glasgow for the play off final in 2019, left home around 10:30 had a nice drive up north in nice weather, stopped at Gretna Green for a coffee, decided to look on Twitter only to discover it had been cancelled about half an hour after I left home, another 400+ mile trip and a horrendous journey back in the rain through the Friday rush

Late 80's or early 90's can't remember exactly when... it was Good Friday though, travelled over from Leicester for the 11am King's Lynn meeting, was rained off when we got there so decided to head off to Ippo for their 4 o'clocker, rolled into the car park, the heavens opened and it was cancelled... off to Arena for their 6 o'clock (?) kick off, arrived, rained off... back home up the A1 in the hope of pulling in the 7:30 Peterborough fixture only for it to be called off just before we got there, so back home, a round trip of around 400 miles, over 8 hours in the car and not 1 lap of Speedway seen... madness

I don't know, once the season is underway and injuries start occurring and rider replacement starts his season the impetus is lost. All of the promotional activities saying come to the first match etc. all the work getting press involved and it's all gone because a 10-15 minute shower might hit.

Unless the damage was done from previous days rain, which I don't know, you can't call meetings off on the forecast of showers for me, showers by their very nature are isolated, especially in late March/ early April, you can have a downpour in one area and it be bone dry a mile up the road. This for me is where some kind of (Briggo?) track cover system could be effectively used. I get why clubs postpone based on forecasts of prolonged heavy rain sweeping across the country but not showers. Here in Leicester it was a perfect evening for Speedway but this was also called off yesterday, again I reiterate the damage to the track may already have been done. It's a real shame because it's early in the season, excitement is high and if Peterborough on Monday evening was anything to go by the fans want to get out and see the returning stars ( not the Kings Lynn variety ) and many clubs could have been expecting one of their largest crowds of the season.

Like at Scunthorpe last summer?

Has he ever not returned before?

BSN were going to stream this one... but it sounds like they've bought Jason Garrity's van

You don't even have to have retired to receive a "farewell" meeting these days

I don't really know what the rules are tbh, just going by what I've read on here and it was an opportunity to have a little dig at Poole

Have you not heard? You can change the dimensions of the track mid meeting now

I thought they can only run benefit meetings in March or October? Oh... I was forgetting it's Poole

You don't realise what you've got until it's gone. I bet Poland take their team line-up's for granted. Do you remember a few years back when Sky were making a big deal about Darcy Ward (I think)... hard to imagine them making the same fuss about Ben Barker's return from suspension! I for one am very happy to see the return of these "star" riders and think there's a pretty good mix at the moment in the top league as long as clubs haven't over reached themselves financially of course

I think it's a British thing... you hear so many riders making snide (justified) comments about British tracks

What could have very nearly turned into a farce last night was fortunately saved by the Speedway with some cracking action served up especially by the big returning "stars", each one of them being in the thick of the action and even young Joe Thompson making a pass to grab a crucial third. It's good that I can start my 46th season watching the sport and still see something new with whitelinegate, Speedway truly is the sport that keeps on giving . British Speedway were so proud of it they post a video of a rider clearly with both wheels over the line and not excluded for it! What's the deal with Edwin Overland? Has he retired or not been asked back? Is he still doing Lynn? He's been a fixture at the Showground for as long as I can remember. Didn't seem the same without him. Finally, it looks like many people didn't get the memo about the change of team colours with all the signage around the place still being in Red & Black... and Mr & Mrs Panther need a trip to the pet pamper parlour for a purple rinse

It would of added a bit of spice to a local derby... gets the crowd going!

If I were Ippo I'd be putting a protest in, only time I've seen the track dimensions change were at Telford!

Whizzer is in the pits... probably waiting for him to catch up with his note taking!