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what pees me off is the knocking of speedway riders on the forum when 99%of us on this forum wouldnt have the balls to do one full speed lap on a speedway bike

For me this should be a watershed moment for people who ru(i)n our great sport. When a young British talent who 2 seasons ago could be seen whacking round the NSS beating all manor of genuine international level riders on sky sports, who ups his average and is able to compete at Elite level has to miss a season due to his high average, punishing the lad for developing and improving. And a season later faced with the same fate decides to hang up his boots. Something is seriously amiss with the way the sport is being run.

Yes, let's lose a quality production, expertly presented by an experienced presenter with a solid speedway pedigree and programmes shown consistently as advertised and matches covered reliably and complete. Let's go for a service that can't be relied on to show matches reliably in a regular time slot and often delays coverage until late at night, often cutting out heats and whose basic presentation leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. It's also a station that rarely actually covers the meetings themselves, relying on taking the World Feed from BSI when they showed the Grand Prixs and simply took a feed from CMore when they showed Swedish speedway. The only speedway they've covered themselves has been the OneSport SEC and Pairs events. Yes, let's go from quality to third-rate and unreliable.....

His 2016 top flight average was 5.14. Perks is the one who can't cut it at a higher level. I remember people saying fast Freddie was a one track pony for years. Jacobs has always done ok as a number 7 in the top flight, and more than done his job.

No snow but just seen a couple of polar bears trying to break in to my hut for a heat. Ive left the fridge door open to heat the Kitchen also.

WHY? Who would do the production?

And no doubt this has contributed to Perks, Jacobs and any other British lads who miss out not getting a CL ride in 2018. Marvellous.

Best top flight side Leicester have built!

I'm not a Workington supporter but I think that's good team, simply because it has a huge amount of potential. Klindt aside, the whole of that Workington team can improve their averages, with Bickley, Bewley & Proctor looking most likely. By the way, Proctor beat both King & Schlein at Derwent Park last season.

The most important thing is that British Speedway remains on tv and the clubs really need this to keep their commercial partners happy. As it turns out on this occasion there is no need to worry about production

Eurosport isn't free.

I see he has announced his retirement on Twitter. Assuming this isn't another Josh Bates style incident, then it's certainly a shame. There is something very wrong when our own riders can't get a place or can't double-up, yet quite a few untried or low grade overseas riders will be in the starting line-ups and plenty of overseas riders will be doubling-up. Priority should be with all home riders until they all have a place.

Some of the comments on here regarding JJ , completely missing the point . Joe Jacobs was more than capable of holding down a place in a championship team , but for one reason or another never got the chance ???

Joe Jacobs not good enough!!! Your talking absolute tosh as always. Averaged over 5 in the 2016 season. If anything he did to well!! Another Brit lost to the sport....... Steve Shovlars idea of a rider not good enough is as follows: 9+3 v Wolves .........main reserve Howarth 8 v Swindon.......main reserve Wright 7+1 v Poole...........up against Pedersen and Newman 10 v Leicester...........main reserve Auty 8 v Poole.......Pedersen and Newman again. Wont be up against that calibre this season yet Shovlar thinks he isnt good enough lol

don't think anybody talking about Joe Jacobs ability on a speedway bike but another British rider lost to speedway except ss and pb shame on you

If it was cheaper..do you think more people would go???? I'm not sure they would...not in enough numbers to counter act the price drop...those that rent stadiums won't see their rent go down to compensate lower admission prices...and would lower admission prices make the sport any more appealing and cooler???? again..I don't really think so. The whole thing needs completely re branding to create a new and different audience to the one it attracts now.....and even that may not be enough...but maybe just maybe it might.

I'm assuming the new promoter is new to speedway, if they are already involved then due diligence will already be in place. Regarding the lack of any news, the promotion are advertising season tickets for sale without any information regarding ownership or team lineup, It's a bit like asking you to buy a ticket for a stage show without telling you which show it is and who's appearing, not very good promoting!

Most British riders can’t compete with foreigners in terms of equipment as sponsorship seems so hard to come by in the UK. Until a foreign rider turns up that that is and then his bike will be covered in British sponsors. Sigh

I totally agree. Is it not time that the sport in this country looked after its own. It is becoming slightly frustrating that the up and coming riders who really deserve the backing are cast aside and the British promoters are falling over themselves to bring in overseas riders who cannot generally hold down a team place in their own back yard. People might winge about the old foggies who harp on about the 70’s and 80’s but back then the decent promoters took pride in home grown talent and we did see some real British characters. No point in naming them because most will know who they were. Sad that today few have the courage to take on riders and build for the future. That is one of the reasons why support is dwindling. Promoters think on. You have lost the plot and are signing the death warrant of this once great sport.

The amount of times I needed them extra 2" has been the story of my life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In more ways then you might think

I remember watching an old Speedway video from around the early 80's (1982?), cant remember which track but they showed the turnstiles with people queuing up and Adult entrance was £3.00... If it was 1982, that £3.00 entrance fee is now worth £7.40, (not Eighteen quid).... Add in the cost of Satellite TV, Internet, Mobile Phone contracts, increased car ownership, inflation busting higher house prices and rent, higher cost of Petrol, Gas and Electric, Higher cost of Home insurance, Life insurance, etc etc... And the bottom line is for so many people their disposable income percentage wise is so much reduced from the early eighties due to the cost of basic living... £18 today is equivalent to £7.29 in 1982... I would suggest if Speedway charged £7.29 back then crowds wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as they were.. Clearly perceived high admission costs are a huge factor in the demise of the Sport.... How it finds a way to reduce them to attract people who either used to go or simply have no knowledge of the sport is the major barrier it needs to overcome..

Cook has got to the GPs very quickly. He was a new NL novice only about seven years ago. He’s late to the sport and older but he’s the equivalent of a 23 year old who started at 16! He’s got there faster that Brady Kurtz or Jack Holder will. Poole have cornered the win at all costs “brand”, based on mercenary opportunism every year, but it works only because no other club does that well or adopts real branding which is a longer term strategy of creating a club culture that fans and potential customers in the local community can identify with.

Despite all the negitives of last season I am guessing that most of of us will be back next season to sample the fayre that is on offer. Some will arrive with the glass half empty and some with the glass half full, but ARRIVE we will

As I've said often before on here, I started going to Speedway in either 1966 or 67 and immediately fell in love with the sport. I was taken by my grandfather and was told at nearly every meeting by the people around me how much better it was in previous years. The racing I saw then and in the following couple of decades was mostly from the gate with a few good races at a really good meeting, a couple at a normal meeting and a handful of great races a season. Wembley World Finals were a great occasion but certainly not because of the racing (although apparently they were much better in the years before I went!). The main difference was being in full or near full stadiums so the atmosphere was better. In my opinion the racing today is the best it's ever been, the riders the most skilled and determined (although I do believe the top riders from any era would always be the best) and I don't see riders settling for position anywhere near as often as I used to. Quite often I think the tracks aren't prepared for good racing, especially in the GP's where the riders can handle the deeper dirt although even that is improving. There's not a lot wrong with the racing, the biggest problem is the perception of the sport from outside. It's just not seen as being a cool place to be, probably because it's really not. Us lot aren't the people to ask though, the questions need to be put to 14 to 20 year olds.

It certainly has sunk, I can remember the day when some clubs closed down because they only attracted a few thousand spectators, I can't understand how the majority of clubs are surviving now. It's probably better off not being on TV, at least we wont be embarrassed by empty stadiums, riders waving to empty terraces, or the crowd squashed into one small corner to make it look full.