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Four main reasons I would think 1. Manchester is in varying degrees of lockdown week to week so planning an event there at the moment is very risky and has no guarantee it will happen. 2. Ipswich has around two thirds more capacity than the NSS so when percentage restrictions are applied you can still get a reasonable (and more importantly viable), crowd in.. 3. With Kings Lynn, Peterborough and Mildenhall all 'local' you have four lots of Speedway starved fanbases to pull from, which (with a good few from around other parts attending) hopefully will ensure all tickets available will be sold.. And 4. Ipswich might be 'in the middle of nowhere' but does traditionally at Easter get one of the largest crowds (if not THE largest single crowd), of the season at any track, so obviously have a strong underlying fanbase who show they will attend on one off occasions.. Put it all together and I would think the size of the venue, the amount of awareness of Speedway that exists in that geographical area, and the fairly low impact of Covid 19 to that part of the country, ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to planning and putting on an event that needs a crowd to be a financially viable...

OK, two examples: Laguta has 14 points entering the semi-finals. His reward for taking a further two wins is another 6 points. Lindgren has 7 points entering the semi-finals. His reward for a second and a third is another 9 points. That's nuts! If it ain't broke, don't fix it with a sledgehammer!

All this could have been avoided if they'd simply called it the British Open and got the best field they could Nobody would have cared that the British final wasn't being run this year

Doyle isn’t exactly an angel himself, if you live by the sword........

Epic timing SGB quote: "Anlas hit the headlines in the opening Grand Prix rounds of the season when some of the most successful competitors chose to use them." FIM quote: "The FIM has taken the decision to temporarily suspend the use of ANLAS Speedway tyre with immediate effect. The ANLAS Tyre can no longer be used until further notice in any type of motorcycle Speedway World Championship events and this includes SGP in Gorzow this coming weekend."

Here goes.... av got a phone book down the back of me pants... Forget the Siemens site it won't happen... not as long as you have a hole in your posterior... you don't get a licence to create noise... when you apply for planning you tell people what you will be doing and they either put up with it or object... the council will consider whether the noise is acceptable or not and base it on the amount of objections they recieve... and may uphold the objections... it's complicated but again once you start the process there could be post objections then you run the risk of abatement orders that may be applied... Honestly forget Siemens... far to close to housing and difficult to suppress noise, smell and dirt... Rob Grant has been very open and honest as to what his options are and where he is at with various local authorities... he has always stated that he wants to run as a "training track"/"practice track" during the week to generate funds so the noise could be daily not just three hours on a Sunday... (Or Monday) What also needs to be noted is that it won't be a Stadium... you wouldn't call the Redcar or Scunthorpe venues Stadiums they are "Motor Parks" or "Raceways" not Stadiums like the NSS in Manchester... where ever the club ends up think Redcar and Scunthorpe... Not Brough Berwick Ashfield Sheffield NSS and the likes where there are fixed stands and a Stadium format... it won't be the new Brough Park to start with it will be the original New Rough Park... and possibly quite basic... however it will be a new home offering security and longevity for the club and the promotion has to start somewhere... he's called Grant not Abramovich... monies will be tight the first few years I would suggest... So where to... and the outskirts of the city are where we will end up without a doubt... and again Granty has been open with what his options currently are... on the outskirts of Newcastle a couple of sites have been mentioned and met with positivity from Newcastle Authority... these sites are located near Throckley and Seaton Burn... North Tyneside are looking at a couple of more sites with one on the A19 tunnel approach and one or two more out on the coast... although they are struggling with the site size requirement and a site in Gateshead towards Kibblesworth through a Farmer that Rob knows... again it needs to be remembered that the local authority may not own the land... it may be farmland or land owned by a third party but the whole process is a complicated one... this can't be stressed enough... You have to empathise with Rob Grant and his promotional team though surely in these wretched times with this poxy Covid coming along when it did... he bought the club and was late to the party but managed to pull a team together and then wham Covid kicked in... lock down.. and Granty and his team don't get to turn a wheel in anger for a whole season... then the Dogs through ARC start getting a bit bolshie after he has pumped money into the track... it has certainly been a tough start to his promotional career for sure.... If (when) we get to move and wherever it is I hope we draw in some new fans... I know it will be hard to move but we won't be the first side to find a new home and sure some folk will take the losing of Brough Park hard and as the last straw but if you want a viable club it could be the only option the promotion have and I'm sure these decisions won't be taken lightly but if you want to watch Speedway then a change could be imminent and the only answer... Good luck to the promotion and hopefully every one will see the issues with Brough and get behind what the promotion are having to do to ensure the future of the sport in the region... As long as we don't end up in Snuderland cos a couldn't bring me self to go there.... anywhere but Mackum land... Regards THJ

Where to start? Easy. From the moment of ordering a ticket, to going into the stadium, finding my vantage point, watching the racing and then leaving. Couldnt have been easier. It was easily the most enjoyable meeting I have been to at Plymouth for years. Everything was controlled perfectly, people always on hand for those who needed help. The track? I was critical of how things went last year. This time? Probably the best its been in my memory,(I was at the very 1st meeting here) So to that end, I certainly applaud Mark and his team for their efforts. Last night was deserved reward for all their hard work. Only a couple of minor things I didnt like so much. The parade presentation and after the 4 lap blast was a little chaotic.Needs sorting out. Also Mike on the mic, please learn how to pronounce riders names. Every time Alfie came out, we had a different version of his name as in Bow (front of a ship) tell as in bottle! Amusing to start with, but not so by the end of the evening.The constant cutting across announcing/Childsy interviewing too. Not my cup of tea. The riders deserve a huge amount of credit for the way they rode.I wasnt expecting to much, but they certainly got stuck in. Some terrific tussles.Well done to every one of them. The stadium itself has been transformed with a superb main stand,great viewing. Mark and his team have certainly worked very hard on that. I havent been to any of the other meetings in the UK this season, so have nothing to compare it to. Based on this meeting alone, Plymouth have certainly set a high standard for others to follow. I would give Mark and his team 99 out of 100. Sort out the presentation side of it and you would have had the 'perfect' speedway meeting. Oh, and if I could, I would happily shake Marks hand and congratulate him on,not only a job well done, but a job that British Speedway would have been proud of. Well done. Thank you for a very enjoyable nights entertainment.

Belle Vue - 10th October I bought two tickets for this meeting the minute I heard they were on sale. Strangely only back straight tickets were avialable online but undetered I went ahead. A few days later I spotted postings on here indicating that granstand seats were avialable. I wrote (nicely) to BV asking for an explanation and enquiring if it were possible to exchange my tickets. This was more in hope than expectation. Well ye of little faith Fd. The nice folks from up north invited me to ring and they would see what could be done. I duly rang this morning and a very pleasant lady cancelled my original purchase, helped me select two very good replacements and chatted for a few minutes about the difficulties of running meetings and the prospects for the SON meeting (nothing new to report, I'm afraid). I promised to publicly acknowledge BV's assistance in this matter and so that's what I'm doing. Thank you for your gracious treatment of my request for help.

I don't think crowds would drop by 50 % by not having "star" riders about because in reality not many of the Worlds top 30 riders compete in the UK anyway, haven't done for a number of years now and In real terms the smaller amount of fans (compared to years gone by) )that still go to British speedway meetings have long since gotten used to the idea. Also theirs probably not enough interest from current non speedway spectators to potentially come along just cause some foreign guy who finished in the top 10 of previous seasons GP has signed for their local club. Likewise I don't think that most fans nowadays necessarily view watching the highest level of speedway as the be all and end all. The better the rider, the less mistakes they make, the faster they become which both add up to overtaking become much harder and less likely which is a key element to good racing. This is why NL racing is often better entertainment. My local NL track Mildenhall have in my opinion made the correct decision in staying in the lower cost, mainly amateur 3rd tier of British speedway because moving up into the Championship (2nd tier) would increase outgoings on rider wages and travel costs massively but crowd levels wouldn't go up enough to cover these extra costs. This was proved in the 2006-08 spell when Mildenhall moved into the 2nd Division. Likewise 2nd Division clubs moving up to the top flight have found the same thing as well for years now! I do get your theme of British speedway being reborn cause I think sooner rather than later British speedway will have to evolve into a mainly part time, lower level status and clubs and riders will have to cut their respective cloths accordingly. This will involve not paying out big time wages if the crowds can't pay for it, less expensive overseas and/or top level riders and riding on racenights that suit the individual clubs not the F.I.M. While I can't see British speedway returning to the halcyon days of the 70's I do think theirs enough interest for it to be sustainable if run within its limitations and more locally based riders are found that would help to stimulate interest!

Herr fuhrer Sturgeon has now poliitilised this for her and the Natzi parties own gains. The scare mongering she is spouting about this is bordering on ridiculous levels now. Speedway and other sports should return as well as normality , there was no dusputing that there was a real issue 4-6 months ago as my youngest saw it first hand but not now. The Natzi party up here need to get a grip and stop using a virus to drum independence support up they really are pathetic. People need to wake up to what she is doing imho.

I'm well up for innovation and evolution. Change is healthy. But this particular change is just change for change's sake. And it's a change that could easily devalue the product... As opposed to the previous format (which after years of GP tinkering, was the fairest) every race mattered. If say Zmarzlik and Woffinden are going to head to head at the top of the standings, then the heat they clash is a two (or more) pointer. It matters. But if it's just a qualifier towards the semis, they are much less incentivized to race it cut throat and - if they miss the start - settle for safe second or third. In the scheme of things, it matters less and is - potentially - irrelevant. Worse still, the new format opens up a greater chance of race fixing. Let's say Woffinden has sailed through his first four heats and has 12 points and is safe as a leading qualifier for the semis going into the last round of heats. Zmarzlik has finished on 8 points is sweating on a place in the semis. Woffinden lines up against three others on 6 or 7 points (non title rivals) in his last heat. I'm sure you can see what I am driving at...... Without every point mattering, Woffinden would actually have less to gain winning his heat than trailing in last and scuppering Zmarzlik's chances. I just don't think it has been properly thought through and discussed. I get why the FIM - from a distance - might like standardisation, but the onus is on the GP organisers to map out these scenarios and show why it is isn't possible to drive a square peg into a round hole.

I hope lindgren wins the final to show what a stupid system this is

Any chance of BWitcher disappearing back to waffle complete nonsense on his Covid-19 thread, so that we can get on with discussing the Prague rounds. Intriguing couple of rounds ahead. Woffy is traditionally strong around Prague - can he come strong and get himself back into contention? On the other hand, not a track that Zmarzlik seems to like! But Lindgren seems to be the rider who is pulling out all the stops at the sharp end of meetings, which is critical under the new points system.

Anyway, just to summarise what a few seem to be missing: There’s a very rich heritage of Commonwealth riders in the British Final. From 1961 to 1974, it was, in effect, the British Commonwealth Final. Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger won 10 out of the 14 championships from this era – with Peter Craven, Ray Wilson and Eric Boocock winning the other four. Briggo, Ivan and all weren’t considered to be foreign, but considered to the British. They rode for Great Britain in the World Team Cup – the 1971 winning squad considered of World Cup Willie, one Australian and three New Zealanders. Briggo even twice finished second in the BBC British Sports Personality Of The Year in 1964 and 1966 – he was considered eligible for the main award because he rode for Britain. British riders (and indeed from other nationalities) have competed in the Australian and New Championships over the years. Joe Screen finished third in the Australian Final as recently as 2008. Dan Bewley is the current South Australian state champion. Jason Bunyan holds a record 10 New Zealand Championships, and Andrew Appleton and James Sarjeant have also won it during the 21st century. As far as I know, none of these riders had dual nationality. Again, as far as I know, Rory Schlein, Jason Crump and Troy Batchelor all hold dual nationality. Jason Crump is a three-time World Champion and his presence adds quality to any line-up. Several leading British riders have turned down the 2020 British Final, and punters deserve a line-up worthy of their £20. Arguably the presence of the legendary Crump alone is worth £20. This is a rather unique year.

Should BWitcher get infected by COVID-19, then no, I would not expect him to need any treatment (certainly nothing out of the ordinary), and certainly not need a hospital bed. Sadly, with your medical history, James, you may be more at risk. Before you say anything, I do not consider that I am "at risk", but my wife (who has several underlying health conditions, including a compromised immune system), would be. The trouble is that you seem to believe the blanket panic that has continued to spread. As Mark said, increased testing has increased the number of confirmed infections, but for the vast majority - who are relatively healthy, and not over 80 - it is not a serious issue. I have lost a couple of friends to it, and know several others who have been infected, but again, for most victims, it is nothing more than .a minor complaint. Here in the US, which as you know, has been affected badly, it is still not the civilisation-threatening affliction that many make it out to be. So far, we've had 194,000 deaths from the virus. That sounds a lot, I agree, but (and I know this will sound harsh) a good number of those would have succumbed to other ailments, particularly underlying ones, this year. The fact is that over 600,000 Americans a year die from heart disease, and a further 600,000 die from cancer. Even though people may die "from" COVID-19, many will actually be dying from their underlying conditions. Unfortunately, we've been brainwashed into believing that, if you die while suffering from COVID-19, that means you died FROM it, which is totally untrue. For most of us, it is nothing to worry unduly about - and certainly not worth bringing the world to a standstill for...

What a superb effort from Dudek given the circumstances and after the weekend he has had. What a ride under the pressure

Hard move by madsen but nothing that Doyle didn’t dish out too

Great racing - tick Flawed scoring - tick But the other takeaway from this weekend is having GPs back to back on Friday and Saturday nights makes perfect sense going forward. In terms of practically, financially and competitively. We all know it's a costly job and a half putting these events on, particularly for the one-off tracks. So, why not just do it twice over the weekend from 2021 onwards - offering better value for the punter, spreading costs thinner for the organisers, even greater exposure for sponsors, double the content for media? Have a small practice on a Friday morning and crack on into the racing for Friday night. From a riders perspective, it gives ample chance for everyone to get something out of the weekend. Any rider struggling with set up on Friday, has a chance to come back wiser on Saturday and potentially, an even more competitive meeting. From a punter's perspective too, you could get a "double discount" for both nights and I think most would go for it. Every GP I've been to - Cardiff, Prague, Daugvapils, Lonigo, Torun Krsko, Bydgoszcz - has consisted of a very enjoyable Friday night p** up looking forward to the next night. But would I rather have been sniffing the fumes and seeing 23 races? Damn right!

Previously every point counted towards the title. According to Bellamy to ensure the riders keep riding throughout the meeting they change it so now they don't. I work with kids with Severe Learning difficulties and even they would see flaws in that logic.

Again, just a comparison. Premier Sports is as standard £11.99 per month which includes about 16 Polish matches a month aswell as 4 Swedish matches. 20 matches in total. Yet the 'British Championship' is more than that for a single meeting. What an absolute shambles that is.

Doyle a big girls blouse moaning about that move. I seen him do much worse anyway. overall not that bad a meeting, made good by fantastic last three races plus a few other belters.

All credit to Doyle for finding the setup as the night went on, but I still feel that the scoring system is....ermm....5hit. 12 race points, 1 race win during the night, but goes home with 18 GP series points.... I realise that the points system is known to all, but it just seems so inferior to recent seasons...I want to watch a meeting where every point counts and every rider is fighting for every point. Tonight we saw a perfect example of where that maybe isn't happening now...Zmarzlik v Woffinden in heat 19. In that race we saw 2 potential title contenders going head to head...Zmarzlik knew that the result was irrelevant to him. He made some effort to put pressure on Woffinden, but he certainly didn't take any risks. Would he have had the same attitude with the scoring system last year? Who knows...Maybe he would have taken more risks for that extra point or maybe he still would have raced safe for 2 points there. I don't know, but I know I watched that race with no excitement because I knew that it meant nothing to Zmarzlik or the World Championship, something that I couldn't have said last year....

Obviously not been to Ipswich for a long time up until last year but I was very impressed with the improvements made over the years. I saw some ok races and a very good race between Fricke and heeps, yes its only one race but it shows that it can produce outstanding racing size wise its the best stadia in the UK to get a bigger crowd in, so good luck to you hopefully hosting a few big meetings

Now here's a little story To tell it is a must About a new track venue That’s built on council dust You won’t find any houses Or people to complain As big as 20 acres On Siemens old terrain Oh, my old man's a diamond He wears a diamond’s cap He wears cor-blimey kevlars And rides on council cr*p Turned out nice again!

It was changed to the knockout formula in 1998, when they extended the series to 21-22 riders (plus 2-3 wildcards). It was also open to manipulation, with riders dropping points in the final outing to prevent another rider taking part in the A Final. That's what was good about the "every point counts" scoring system - it cut manipulation almost completely out.