IainB

So how does that affect Speedway? Could Emil still be the best rider to never have won the World Championship if he wins the SGP series? Just noticed on the SGP website there's no flag on the Russian GP which is being called the Togliatti GP. Would the national anthem be played if one of the Ruskies won? Just checked the F1 website, they also have no flag for Russia but are still calling the Russian GP, the Russian GP.

Was on my way down to Kent the other week and stopped off at the Thurrock services was sad to see that Arena is now just a Covid testing station, scandalous!

Strange one isn't it. 18/7 is his birthday... perhaps he's just sold the last of his #507 merchandise

... Also, I don't know if anybody caught it but did you know that the tapes are now being released after a random amount of time after the ref puts the green lights on! I'll mention it again in a minute or two if you like?

Not only that but also when they go to Russia for the GP to be staged there. The SGP graphics had some kind of Russian motor federation flag next to the riders names I think

I saw tonight KK was #187 He used to be #507 I wonder why the change?

She was much more than that... She was the first host presenter in the history of the sport on TV in the UK who was actually a knowledgeable fan. Was able to bring more to the party than the stock "what is he thinking right now", "will he be making any changes to his setup" and "is the track changing" questions. And was a decent presenter too. Everybody else has been a rent-a-presenter.

Surely you mean she knows "of" Speedway

Was thinking take the speedway bikes to the moto x track... so riders could have a little go on them to feel the power, acceleration etc. Didn't realise you were referring to a moto x show

Were bikes taken along for moto x riders to have a go on? Or were they expected to go out of their way to a track? "If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain," Is bio oil an option? Hmm... not so sure about this one. I think this isn't so much to do with the speed of the bikes but the ability of the riders. I remember watching the junior matches in the 2nd half at Cov back in the 80's and some riders were shutting off halfway down the straight, as you would expect them to as they were still learning to ride the bikes to their full potential. Then I remember watching Tony Rickardsson & Jason Crump at a GP practice session, also at Cov and was amazed at how they were actually opening the throttle and powering into the bends, these were the only 2 riders doing this and understandably were in a class of their own during that era. Look at Zmarzlik at the moment, bumping the fence and straight lining into the turns, the only rider with the ability to do the latter. So for me it's about rider ability... which, as good as the riders are in this country and as much as I admire them, we just don't have. Having said all that... I do agree that the bikes do need slowing down and standardising in this country.

all-weather sports pitch... crafty!

Done

I suppose it's almost a self fulfilling prophecy... Because fans don't attend fixture filler challenge or individual meetings at the beginning or @rse end of the season, they assume they won't attend a well promoted meeting in the height of summer. There's a reason the British SGP was scheduled for this weekend, it just needed somebody with the vision to put a meeting on somewhere. A Young Lions test match against somebody. Matches involving the national side are proven crowd pullers.

Yes, and unless I'm mistaken I do remember issues during that season... Didn't BT let him off a GP and got a guest in lol

My point was that basically there's nothing on at Leicester on Saturday night because Kent signed a rider who has put his "TV Career" ahead of his speedway one... the exact reason why he's not signed back at Leicester ironically.

How ridiculous... sounds like the tail is wagging the dog down there.

My criticism isn't directed at Leicester specifically but speedway in general. There must be a few clubs operating that are nowhere near covid capacity due to the size of their stadium. Why is the BU21 being held on a Friday night in Redcar for example. An actual meaningful fixture that could have been held at say Ipswich on a Saturday night and promoted correctly could have drawn a decent sized crowd. ... or any postponed league match could have been slotted in, stadium availability permitting. Better to have it on a Saturday in the summer than a wet Tuesday in October.

About the same time as me then, it sounds like the overall atmosphere attracted you, there used to be big crowds in those days though. Tough to generate an atmosphere with no fans and long gaps between races.

When did you start attending?

Don't "need" answers at all, was just asking a question and everybody got their knickers in a twist You may have gathered by now that I, as a fan, am not keen on postponements based on weather forecasts, not only is it frustrating when you're sat at home and the sun is shining outside, it's also frustrating at the end of the season when showpiece events that should be attracting big crowds are crammed in, often on "off" race nights on wet unraceable tracks. All of these false postponements have a knock on effect with the fixtures. Below is what was cancelled in October 2019 due to actual real rain. Premiership P/O SF National League PO SF British Youth Championship Round 7 National League Riders' Championship Premiership P/O SF Premiership Supporters Cup Championship KO Cup Final Premiership Grand Final.1 National League Grand Final.1 Championship Grand Final.1 Championship KO Cup Final British Youth Championship National League Grand Final.2 National League KOC Final I would also bet that the restaging of many of these were held on less than perfect tracks.

I only say 30 heats because if you do away with all the faffing about you're still only left with 15 minutes of action, you have to give the punter some sort of feeling of value for money, it could all be over in 30-45 mins with no faff and people maybe leave feeling short changed. I think 15 heats are pretty boring because they are spread out sometimes over 2 and a half hours, there's still quite a lot to admire even in a poor race. The interminable delays often mean a meeting has no flow or momentum and the atmosphere can go flat very easily. One of the many down turns in Speedway was the loss of the old 2nd half. I can only speak on what initially got me interested in Speedway and it was the noise I could hear from about a mile away, I badgered my dad to take me along to see what the noise was and in those days at Leicester it was free admission to the 2nd halve, we went to a number of those together, then started paying to watch the main match. The 2nd half also allowed promotions to get local companies involved with sponsored rider of the night trophies and a sprinkling of "junior" races to help bring on future talent. All in all there were around 20 races in the evening. It all stopped, if memory serves, because the riders got greedy and wanted extra appearance money for the 2nd half events, what a very short sighted view and we're now reaping what they sowed. It's obviously going to take a hell of a lot more than that but that's a start to get new people coming along again.

Pairs at Somerset? 4's was due to be on the Sunday at Leicester last year. Obviously nothing on the Saturday. Everybody has had 3 months to organise an event of some sort somewhere... yet nothing

No, I don't want any club to run at a loss. Not every track in the whole of the UK is running at a restricted capacity level that would mean a loss. Why on earth any of those clubs hasn't put a fixture on, on a midsummer Saturday night, shows what a state the sport is in. Maybe you're right, they should continue to run midweek meetings in front of a few people.

Yes it was... but that was cancelled in April

No meeting on a Saturday night in the middle of July is a sad indictment of our "sport"... not just at Leicester but any track in the whole country