Sir Sidney

All looking OK so far. Bikes warming up.

There should be a full disclosure from Speedway GB, Belle Vue and Kings Lynn on this, and an investigation by SCB. It's false advertising as a minimum

That simply depends on why the ref excluded Tobias. If she excluded him for hitting Brady, which he did and I don't think is disputed, then at that point Brady was at worst in second place. In accordance with the rules, Tobias was excluded and the others promoted one place at the time of the cause of the exclusion. Simple

Our posts crossed. See previous. Not cock eyed at all and covered by the regs

Or of course you could just read the regulations 011.1.15Awarding a Heat If the leading rider has completed at least 2 laps, then the Referee shall have the sole discretion to either order a re-run or award the heat based upon the positions when it was caused to be stopped; riders, other than the one disqualified being advanced one place. So my interpretation is what caused it to be stopped was Kurtz being hit by Musielak. Therefore, given that at that point Kurtz was on his bike it is perfectly correct for the ref to award him the race win. The regs are available to download online. No mystery, no secrecy, no conspiracy. Give it a go. They are quite interesting

Without the SCB revealing exactly what caused the test to be failed it is pure speculation if he was putting others at risk. Remember the case of British skier Alain Baxter, who lost his Bronze medal and received a three month ban for testing positive, after using a Vicks nasal inhaler. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/35292538

I'm assuming that Edinburgh speedway has had feedback on why its bid was unsuccessful. Is that the case? Was the speedway bid for a higher or lower sum than the chosen bid?

Nether the less, would you not be interested in seeing what Edinburgh speedway's offer was for the site, and the justification for the decision? Even if the Labour councillors have a majority on the Committee and voted on party lines there is still a Council process to follow.

You don't see or go to many Council meetings I guess

What I was hoping to see was the rationale for the decision, a comparison between the two bids for the land, the differential between the bids, an evaluation of the community value etc. I expected there to be more than just an officer report recommending the successful bid. The successful bidder may have offered £400,000 but how much did Edinburgh speedway offer and how was that structured? I hope that the Committee meeting was filmed and that will appear on line in due course, so that we can see the Councillor's discussion and voting.

Is there a link on the Council website to the relevant meeting at which this was decided, including papers and the decision please? I've looked but can't find it Thanks Edited : This looks like the link West Lothian Council Committee Information - Meetings

NO 10?

To be honest I don't think Discovery are covering themselves in glory so far. The lack of unambiguous information so far is not great. However, in the same news item it also says. François Ribeiro, Head of Discovery Sports Events, said: “Part of our role as FIM Speedway global promoter is to bring the sport to a wider audience. By offering every minute of the action to millions of viewers on discovery+ and Eurosport 2 in the UK, complemented by the best analysis from local experts, we know we can attract new viewers to speedway while delivering the most energetic, exciting and engaging season for passionate fans yet.' Now, that can also be read in two ways. 'Every minute of the action to millions of viewers on discovery+ and Eurosport in the UK' should mean every minute show on both (because otherwise they should have said 'or' rather than 'and' ). It's ridiculous that with only a couple of weeks to go we are still speculating. I contacted the Customer Service team at Discovery and they assured me the GPs would be shown live on Eurosport , so we will have to wait and see. If I were someone who had taken out a discovery+ and sport subscription which is not required I'd be annoyed. If they now only show some GPs live on Eurosport I won't be best pleased. Discovery got lots of negative comments about its Australian Open tennis coverage, so the jury remains out for me.

I understand now. That makes perfect sense

I understand that, because you changed work shifts and so have a direct loss that you won't recoup.

I can never follow that logic I'm afraid. You will save £70 tomorrow. Why not just put that aside for the new date?

Interesting to note that one promotion that are doing that is Isle of Wight. They certainly do 1, 2, 4 and 5 (and much more besides) and I am sure Barry and Martin would be quite happy to do 3. Any yet they have opted to operate outside the BSPA and league structure.

https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/manchester/belle-vue-sports-village/facilities It appears that if you want to book the sports pitches , or the hospitality areas , you have to book via Better Leisure. That would tend to suggest that Belle Vue speedway does not control the stadium other than on its own event days

Whether today's race was much more exciting than speedway is a matter of preference. Other than a bit of 'first bend bunching' and a contrived finish I thought it was run of the mill

We'll have to ask Spedeworth to convert from tarmac to shale then! I'll ask Santa

Never a dull moment with Neil around. Who can forget him riding up the front of Barry Crowson, or the time he parked his bike across the start line. A better rider with more potential than his scores would indicate

I can't see these two in the list above: Aldershot raceway - although not sure if there is room inside the stock car track for a speedway track Smallfield raceway - near Gatwick airport, right next to M23

I hope the NDL has a very strong year, with riders who are of the right ability. The BSPL has created an issue by weakening the league this season - not entirely sure how they rectify that for next season. With regards to IOW - did you go to any of the meetings? I did, and they were far from being 'a bit rubbish' as you suggest.

Very true. I have friends who are less than 10 miles away from Belle Vue and are motorsport fans. They had no idea there was speedway at Belke Vue. I took them along and now they go - not every week, but more than they would have done.

I would imagine the vast majority of residents in Birmingham and the surrounding catchment area have no idea that it exists