RPNY

Look into NY (Red Bull arena) Unreal stadium, easy journey from Manhattan Weather good in April & would still be good in October as a last round. Tbh, there's so many flight to & from NY you could go there at any point in the season. Lots of people could make NY in a long weekend & it's a new market. Come on, as much as I love the air miles, would live a GP here!

I hope I'm wrong too sir. Great memories of Rye, hackney & Arena as a kid.

WK thanks for your reply. I do understand where you are coming from & yes league racing, where the riders have to come up through to get to the GP's has taken a battering. However I'm inclined to agree with gustix that between the stupid rule changes, lack on continuity with team building & the general ineptness of the BSPA, team racing in this country is on the way out. It's sad, but can't see how it can survive. Looking likely it won't be on sky after this season, that will be if not the final nail in the coffin, very close to it.

Well I don't think they woulda sold that many more is my point. I doubt there were 1500 effected by the restriction of discounted tickets. Also, why do you think we will regret BSI ever being involved? This is a genuine question not a loaded one.

Like I said Dave, I know it's not right it's just the way it is. And especially with 45k already sold, they won't give any late ticks away at a discount. Not saying its right, just that from a business point of view I understand. Yes there were a lot of seats free, but they won't (have never) filled them even at a discount. So I guess they try and maximize revenue with a "This is your only option, take it or leave it" attitude. As I said before, same usually goes for any tickets bought late for any concert/event/travel

From what I can gather if you book well in advance, then you will avoid these problems and you'll be able to buy tickets at the rate you think is acceptable. Now I know this isn't always possible, but when you do book things up & pay last minute, whether it be speedway gp tickets, flights, football tickets, theatre tickets, you run the risk of paying more. Not saying its right, but it's business, they all do it. Not trying to annoy anyone here, just giving you the view from a business perspective.

These were just ideas guys! Yes it's likely there would be the same winner regardless of where it was, but it should still be on a bigger faster track IMO. And staging it on a Saturday with reasonable entrance fee is the main issues as its better for the fans. Better prize money & the wild card 'carrot dangle' are again just ideas to add spice to the meeting.

Very true. Bloody English weather.

My fixed date would be the Saturday before Cardiff..

Hold it on a non GP Saturday afternoon. Highest placed non GP rider is Cardiff Wild Card Have it at Peterborough - a big, fast, entertaining, fairly convinient and neutral (well if last few years are anything to go by) track. £10 entrance for adults £2 for kids/over 65s Find a sponsor that could put up some prize money Make it an actual event not just a Monday night meeting!

Anyone have a link I can use that works on iPhone/iPad? Many thanks Russ

Anyone have a link I can use that works on iPhone/iPad? Many thanks Russ

Bit of humble pie for me, this has turned out to be an alright GP!

Blimey whats the crowd there 5000 if that?

I don't think it's a particularly good idea to take away the carrot that was being dangled at the last few British finals. However, I do try & see both sides of every speedway argument & I honestly think this time round, they just want a Brit in there who's MOST LIKELY to score some points. If memory serves me correctly, even when Bomber wasn't doing well (ie most seasons) he generally scored ok and made the semis at Cardiff. As I said, I still think the highest non GP rider at the BF should be the Cardiff WC, I'm just saying I understand BSI's thinking here...

No sir they are not, he was penalized for avoiding a pile up - but they are the rules unfortunately.

You're correct that Niels did the right thing, but it's not Phil's fault that the rules are what they are.. From my memory there was (post 1st bend) over takes in heats 4, 9, 18, 20 & 22, photo finishes in heats 11 & 18 plus a few crashes (which I'm very happy as always that no one was seriously hurt) That coupled with the fact that everyone was taking points off each other says to me it was a decent meeting. Those of you moaning that it was boring & that the commentators didn't pronounce names how you think they should and any other trivial examples really need to stop watching cos you'll never be pleased.

Its so sad listening to people complain on here. It wasn't the greatest meeting no, but was by no means awful. There was a sprinkling of overtaking, some close races & everyone was taking points off one another. I bet if you were there live it looked pretty special the way they were motoring around that big track. As for the coverage, those of you moaning about that, well I'm lost for words. I can only assume you try and find fault with every situation you come across. It was more then fine. I say well done to all and look forward to the rest of the series.

Are you serious?

Morning all from NYC. Not a bad meeting so far. Everyone dropping points. Come on Tai!

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but is it time we did away with Wild Cards and just had 16 regulars? I know the occasional rider springs a surprise but often they score low or zero!

100% correct!

Is this definitely on?? Only weather reports I've seen is snow & freezing weather.

I’ve been going to speedway since 1985 and I don’t think the product is any worse these days. We can all look back and say it was better way back when, but we do tend to get selective memories when reminiscing. Maybe in EL the racing can be a little bit too spread out as the gulf between heat leaders & reserves is so wide, but even that I can’t comment on really as being a Rye fan I never really watched top tier league speedway. I think the decline (if we’re talking about shrinking crowds) is 90% down to there being much more choice in what people (and their kids) can do for entertainment. 100s more channels on TV, video games, more bars restaurants in local/small towns, other live sports/entertainment, the list goes on. Also, generally ‘big’ events in any sport tend to draw large crowds, as the GPs do, while ‘regular’ (in Speedway’s case league racing) tend to not be so well supported. England Rugby tests will sell out but league game will be a relatively small crowd. Cricket ditto, same for big events in golf, boxing etc I can go on. Even in football, below the top 10 premiership teams, they aren’t all sold out stadiums. Certainly not once you start heading down the leagues. I know our sport tends to shoot itself in the foot at times, and I do believe the BSPA are amateurs and by that I’m not just being rude, I genuinely mean that although for the most part they want what is best for the sport, they are not qualified in how to run a professional sports league. They don’t have the business acumen or know how to create the best way for British Speedway to prosper. But I still say our sport is for the most part a good product, it’s fighting the tide for the reasons mentioned & as it’s no longer the no.1 Speedway league in Europe. But it’s still pretty good in my book… Oh and belated happy new year all, hope its a great one for you.

You make a good argument but will agree to disagree I'm sorry