MARK246

It is an opinion, but speedway is a statistical sport and the way to judge the best is using known numbers.

That's a fair point so 15th would be Holder. Sorry Holder is an error, Jepsen Jensen is the next in line

These are the top 15 riders in the world at the moment. Zmarzlik, Madsen, Pedersen(N), Laguta, Woffinden, Sayfutdinov, Kasprzak, Janowski, Dudek(P), Lindgren(F), Vaculik, Doyle, Pawlicki(Piotr), Drabik(M), Kolodziej. If you need a reason it's because they are the top 15 in the toughest league

You could well be right just had a quick Google, 1979 the first production GM

I thought Egon Muller was one of the first riders to use GM in 83, it was the only one in the world final that year.

The problem is not with the quality of the riders but the logistics of riding at that level throughout a season. Biggest part of riding GP's is not the racing but the support team you need, it's why the top ten is so stagnant, they have the infrastructure to maintain their places.

The Poole sale sounds like Matt Ford trying to bluff the BSPA into keeping a top league, so his rider "assets" retain some value. We heard it all from him in 2009, when he was going to close the track because the club was bottom of the league. Support from the south coast faithful was fickle then, as always.

I think that's a tip who the new owner is, knowledgeable about speedway. It has to be Starman, he's been trained up all year by Ford. That's how he knew so much about Ford's plans, plus he's the only person daft enough to buy a speedway team.

If it was profitable and sustainably profitable why sell. Only an accountant could tell if it's a viable concern, terrace talk means nothing

Are you Matt Ford's accountant or is the racing that boring at Wimbourne road you count heads every meeting. Where is the proof to back up the 1,500 "paying" customers

Vienna is not so far either, I used to fly to Vienna and drive from there. A little more expensive to rent a car but a nice city to visit

You've been on the Moscow ring road as well then. Not much no

Been there done that, trust me it's better to fly

You can fly to Samara from Prague then get a taxi to Togliatti

Supercross is a younger sport, better suited to todays market. The venue choices in speedway are limited, most tracks I have been too are "in fields with nothing around". Eskilstua had a near 9,000 crowd for the play off final, the GP was run there in the past, but never to that size of crowd. So the product doesn't attract support in numbers to make it pay

Thats good to hear that BT are happy but they are not running the meetings. The lack of venues is a problem, less and less people prepared to risk their money in BSI's product. If the crowds were big they could recoup their investment, but it doesn't happen often.

Too late for the sport its already dead and buried, but the last few hundred watching might take up a money off offer. Would it have a use before date ?

I'm glad you enjoy it. If it wasn't for the fast forward option on my tv viewing box I wouldn't even look at the GP's. Each to his own.

Is that speedway fans or tourists, as a fan I would rather watch good racing, than sit in a bar drinking cheap beer debating who gates best. The GP's have lost their way and have become dull and stale, that is why numbers are down.

Thats a riders view, money in the bank with out any concerns about which team wins. Fans have more commitment. It's why league speedway in the UK is on its arse

So what was your view of the referees performance ? You always sit on the fence pontificating do you really believe it was acceptable.

And even after 24 pages telling me how wonderful he is, I still wouldn't cross the road to watch him ride.

Or a SCB bribe to keep Matt Ford interested in UK speedway

Spot on post