glenantony

All I've got to say is that I'm really gutted for Tai - he has had such bad luck in the last few seasons, I asked him last year whether he would ever think enough is enough and stop putting his body through it? He said he was happy to carry on riding. The bloke is a legend in the sport and I hope he can fully recover as quickly as possible.

Although not an ideal solution - the various Sports Bar & Grills have separate screens at each table and will change to 'ahem' niche sports for you. I've watched the Monday night matches in the Clapham Junction branch - albeit without sound. I know there are others in Farringdon, Marylebone and Old Street but I think the one in Victoria has closed. Hope that's of some help

Nothing sums up this forum like the number of people prepared to come on this thread and tell us how bad Cardiff is and how they will never go! Who cares? Those of us who make a big effort for the weekend seem to love it! My partner and I enjoyed meeting some great speedway fans from up and down the country, enjoyed the racing, couldn't fail to love the result and thoroughly enjoyed the impromptu Q&A with Tai after the event. Thanks Tai! We're also going to Riga & Torun, which will probably cost less together than Cardiff, but it is the only speedway themed weekend in Britain. Posters throughout the city centre, stalls with 'dodgy' merchandise on the Main Street, streets closed for fans - don't remember anything like that in Manchester for the SoN?? It would be great to see two SGPs in Britain but did Belle Vue do themselves any favours with their overpriced tickets, resulting in a big temporary stand looking empty? Again the two of us enjoyed ourselves in Manchester for a weekend, but lets not have a competition for the best - lets get together for both!

I like Kvech and think he can improve by racing in Britain - interesting signing!

Weather is looking wet all weekend - Got a morning flight on Sunday too!

Just for my clarity - what did Lemon say that he had to retract later?

I feel that there are a few things to address here still. I am bemused by the Ipswich fans on here so defensive about their parade times - I too have attended speedway around the country and Europe but frankly I couldn't care less about riders saying hello to the crowd over real racing! We all know that the package is only 15 minutes so needs some filler but there are times when this doesn't make sense and I'm sure most of us have been to meetings when the parade is sacrificed or the interval delayed. Now if the council have a ruling, that I fully understand, but it's a matter of communication to everyone, not just home fans, to say Tapes up at 2:30pm. If I turn up to se a 3:00pm kick off at Football I don't expect to see the team coming out to play at 3:15. Equally if labour laws insist there is a certain interval for track staff, just let us know when the interval is called - at least we can moan at other factors then. My real gripe/concern is that yesterday was another one of those chances to boost the sport - good crowd expected for a bank holiday derby and some first-timers were even acknowledged by the announcer. But what would the opinion be of those casual fans? How tempted would a family be to spend good money on a sport that pays so much heed to the weather, and ends up in everyone traipsing out feeling short-changed by only seeing two thirds of the races. Maybe results shouldn't be called after 10 heats? Maybe refunds should be given up to Heat 15? Would promotors attitudes be different then? I don't think the two minutes was put on immediately after every race, no matter what the local fans say, and I just didn't feel that enough urgency was shown - sorry Chris Louis! As I said I compared it to the Oxford match I attended earlier in the season where the meeting reached a full conclusion when the track was far from ideal and all parties were trying hard to get through as soon as they could due to the threat of another downpour. In the end I guess I would only have to endure another 5 heats of Ipswich putting my beloved Stars to the sword - and in the meantime I realise I've turned into my dad!

Living in an idyllic world?? I've been to Ipswich today! It's nice to see you're so behind your team you're prepared to sacrifice racing - OK if the racing couldn't start to 2:30 I get that point but making no effort to hurry is not excusable. Any idiot could read the weather apps or internet sites - unless you're from Suffolk it seems, where it is always expected to be sunny!

I was at the meeting and I did think that there was no real pace about beating the impending rain. Equally it was announced there would be a break and then after that the interval was announced. Wojdylo's falls of course add delays but there was time to get more than 10 heats in today. I have no criticism of the riders and agree that no-one wants to see riders struggling round the bends, but as a counterpoint I went to Oxford's opening night this season and knowing the rain could return the pace of the meeting was kept going throughout - 15 heats seen and no complaints!

I do get angry at the time wasted at meetings when anyone could read the weather forecast and predict problems. I'm sure people would rather see racing than be introduced to riders they already know and listen to what Ritchie Hawkins thinks ahead of the meeting. Today should have started earlier, been kept going at pace and have limited grading and breaks. If 50 people miss the start surely that is amply compensated by the rest of the crowd seeing more that the basic ten minutes of racing. I really try to always be positive about British speedway but with a good crowd for a Bank Holiday derby the public get shafted again - I don't want to see riders trundling round on dangerous tracks but I would expect promotors being more prepared to get the racing done when poor weather is expected.

Watched on BSN and I have to say that this meeting showed the sport at it's very finest. The track at Glasgow is so exciting and if the riders are prepared to embrace the banking, it produces some of the best racing you can see. Congratulations to both teams and hopefully more of the same in the play-offs. Speedway lives!

So crowd was much more than the promised 7500 - don't care who paid and who didn't the atmosphere was great and the racing was good thanks to the work on the track. Tai was a magnificent ambassador for the sport - saw him around the city and in the pits, and I have absolutely no idea of the number of pictures and autographs he did, but smiled for every one of them. Thought it was going to be his night, but not to be. Cardiff is a great city for a weekend and for a couple of nights out, and the way that streets are closed and decorated for the GP is unrivalled in the speedway world - for all the advocates of Belle Vue, they must realise that the city centre facilities nearby can't be matched. There was no conspiracy about the venue next year - the date was given, just like other years. Catching up with the forum today, after some decent racing the moaners came down to the fireworks and the trophies - please find something more interesting! Of course it was really noticeable that the negativity on the forum was widespread during the actual racing and now those of us who went and enjoyed ourselves over the weekend are now posting with more positive messages.

I'm afraid this sums up this forum - Cardiff is usually the best chance that Speedway has for mainstream coverage and publicity. The city becomes a speedway centre for at least a day and people who attend seem to enjoy themselves. Yet, here on the forum, we get 'speedway fans' who can only get joy out of the fact that it might be a failure! 'Only 7500 tickets sold, blue-light tickets to fill the stadium, must be the last one etc etc' - if you're not interested in Cardiff, don't go and don't sit by your keyboard and take your little pot shots, hoping for failure. Start a new forum for just slagging off the sport and congratulate each other on your success if things don't go to plan - just keep it away from here and let's enjoy some positivity. I hope those who are moved to a more expensive area, enjoy it more. I hope that the cameras make the place look packed. I hope some free ticketholders take a new interest in the sport and I hope everyone that goes has a great day of racing and a good time in Cardiff. The demise of the Cardiff weekend has been predicted before - but here we go again.

Thanks - never found a reason to join Facebook until now!

Hi - it seems to a bit of a grave yard area but just wondered if anyone had any of these for sale to complete my collection? 2003 - Norwegian SGP at Hamar 2003 - Slovenian SGP at Krsko 2017 - Australian SGP at Melbourne 2020 - Wroclaw SGP 1&2 2021 - Lublin SGP 1&2 Any help appreciated