fatface Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Mark said: Name it the Welsh GP and they might double the money. Ha! :-) Nice try, but I think we all know that to be untrue. The kudos of being the British GP and the exclusivity of having the only GP in Britain to draw fans UK wide are what secures that investment. Without it, there wouldn't be any government support. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 5 hours ago, falcace said: Correct. Should Cardiff lose its "British GP" tag and be threatened by another UK-hosted GP then it would be hugely less appealing to the Welsh Government. Keep it as the British GP. One at Belle Vue could be the English GP or Commonwealth GP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehone Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 22 minutes ago, waiheke1 said: Keep it as the British GP. One at Belle Vue could be the English GP or Commonwealth GP? or the European GP slot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 23 minutes ago, stevehone said: or the European GP slot Correct. I think everyone is aligned that you shouldn't devalue the Cardiff GP. I honestly dont think one held at the NSS at the opposite end of the season would adversely impact it. A few would not go to Cardiff as a result. But conversely, maybe you gain some lapsed fans for whom domestic speedway is not appealing, and Cardiff too far to travel. Maybe NSS is only every second year, under the moniker European GP as suggested by stevehone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatface Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 6 minutes ago, waiheke1 said: Correct. I think everyone is aligned that you shouldn't devalue the Cardiff GP. I honestly dont think one held at the NSS at the opposite end of the season would adversely impact it. A few would not go to Cardiff as a result. But conversely, maybe you gain some lapsed fans for whom domestic speedway is not appealing, and Cardiff too far to travel. Maybe NSS is only every second year, under the moniker European GP as suggested by stevehone. I can't argue with the logic. But as I understand it, it goes much deeper than just a desire to have Cardiff GP as the sole British GP, it's part of the contract with the Welsh authorities. I stand to be be corrected by someone more in the know than I (Phil Rising?), but that's what I understand. And, from a business perspective, I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 19 minutes ago, falcace said: I can't argue with the logic. But as I understand it, it goes much deeper than just a desire to have Cardiff GP as the sole British GP, it's part of the contract with the Welsh authorities. I stand to be be corrected by someone more in the know than I (Phil Rising?), but that's what I understand. And, from a business perspective, I get it. If that's the case, then NSS can't/won't happen. And maybe that's the reason it hasn't already, given it appears to check all the boxes to warrant inclusion in the GP series. You'd hope some arrangement could be reached (one year trial, if Cardiff GP crowd drops more than x % yoy then NSS is dropped?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehone Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 2 minutes ago, waiheke1 said: If that's the case, then NSS can't/won't happen. And maybe that's the reason it hasn't already, given it appears to check all the boxes to warrant inclusion in the GP series. You'd hope some arrangement could be reached (one year trial, if Cardiff GP crowd drops more than x % yoy then NSS is dropped?) if there was a GP at the NSS (i doubt it'll happen while Cardiff want it), they need to have a lot more going on around the stadium than that one food truck, but there needs to be entertainment and good food, and i think that's the only place NSS fails to tick a box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Commonwealth GP not a good theme at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Mark said: Commonwealth GP not a good theme at the moment. I don't understand tbh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 11 hours ago, falcace said: I can't argue with the logic. But as I understand it, it goes much deeper than just a desire to have Cardiff GP as the sole British GP, it's part of the contract with the Welsh authorities. I stand to be be corrected by someone more in the know than I (Phil Rising?), but that's what I understand. And, from a business perspective, I get it. SORRY, but I cannot answer that question. Have no idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 On 6/6/2020 at 11:31 PM, Terry said: I went to the last four world finals at Wembley and the first six Cardiff gp's (sickened I missed Bomber winning) and Cardiff doesn't compare, although I appreciate how good it is. I just wish we had Cardiff and Manchester. I don't see why not, Poland has three. Poland has three because it can fill out the stadiums. GB has one Grand Prix, which has yet to be a sell out. If Cardiff was full then I would say it would be great to have another in the UK, but it isn't. The World Finals at Wembley used to sell out. These days a one-off World final would probably not be a sell out, but if it was it would be mainly because of people coming from Poland. Whether we like it or not, Poland is the centre of the World as far as speedway is concerned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 4 hours ago, Grachan said: Poland has three because it can fill out the stadiums. GB has one Grand Prix, which has yet to be a sell out. If Cardiff was full then I would say it would be great to have another in the UK, but it isn't. The World Finals at Wembley used to sell out. These days a one-off World final would probably not be a sell out, but if it was it would be mainly because of people coming from Poland. Whether we like it or not, Poland is the centre of the World as far as speedway is concerned. Warsaw is 50,000, has that solkd out every year, I don't think so. Cardiff sells about 40,000. The other two Polish stadiums are not very big in comparision. Reading comments on here it seems Gorzow and Torun sell thousands of tickets to UK supporters. Its not Polish fans filling stadiums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Mark said: Warsaw is 50,000, has that solkd out every year, I don't think so. Cardiff sells about 40,000. The other two Polish stadiums are not very big in comparision. Reading comments on here it seems Gorzow and Torun sell thousands of tickets to UK supporters. Its not Polish fans filling stadiums. THOUSANDS of British fans? Think that is an over-estimate. If you have been to SGPs in Torun, Warsaw, Gorzow you would know that the vast majority in attendance are Polish. Warsaw has sold out on at least one occasion. With regards to Grachan's comment about Wembley, speedway attendances there were often exaggerated, including 1981 which certainly wasn't 100,000 but had a nice 'ring' to it at the time and since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topaz325 Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 25 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said: THOUSANDS of British fans? Think that is an over-estimate. If you have been to SGPs in Torun, Warsaw, Gorzow you would know that the vast majority in attendance are Polish. Warsaw has sold out on at least one occasion. With regards to Grachan's comment about Wembley, speedway attendances there were often exaggerated, including 1981 which certainly wasn't 100,000 but had a nice 'ring' to it at the time and since. Yes more like 70/80 thousand . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehone Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 every speedway fan should sample a Polish GP, i've been to Warsaw 3 times and absolutely love it, atmosphere i haven't felt in speedway since Wembley '81. if Cardiff could be filled think how amazing that would be 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bendonebunching Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 47 minutes ago, stevehone said: every speedway fan should sample a Polish GP, i've been to Warsaw 3 times and absolutely love it, atmosphere i haven't felt in speedway since Wembley '81. if Cardiff could be filled think how amazing that would be Totally agree, went to Warsaw last year and the atmosphere was fantastic, much better than Cardiff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topaz325 Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, stevehone said: every speedway fan should sample a Polish GP, i've been to Warsaw 3 times and absolutely love it, atmosphere i haven't felt in speedway since Wembley '81. if Cardiff could be filled think how amazing that would be Indeed, been to Torun twice and Warsaw last year. And Wembley 81 Edited June 8, 2020 by topaz325 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinMills Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 40 minutes ago, Bendonebunching said: Totally agree, went to Warsaw last year and the atmosphere was fantastic, much better than Cardiff. Whilst I get your point, a great atmosphere dont make the racing great. Normally is good in poland, but my experience at ullevi was very disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 Is'nt part of the reason for going to Warsaw that the city is not in a speedway hotbed so may attract spectators who have never witnessed live speedway in the hope that the Polish can maybe expand their leagues further. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehone Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, ColinMills said: Whilst I get your point, a great atmosphere dont make the racing great. Normally is good in poland, but my experience at ullevi was very disappointing. true, i've seen some rubbish at Wembley, in fact other than a handful of races in '81 that was nothing special, but people remember the atmosphere and just a few races. if Cardiff was full this would happen there too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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