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Harris's sob story is pathetic,he's earn a few bob more than he makes out,total self interest.Why go Long Tracking to lose money !!!.had a lot of respect for him as a rider and entertainer but his PR is terrible.90+ meetings this season and just making ends meet!! Pull the other one!

Well if he brings it up in an interview then it kinda is up for discussion!

You not join yet then ?

Harris isn't short of money, his wife bought him a brand new Jaguar last month. What you read in Speedway Star is mostly people pushing their own interests no matter what the consequences.

Not forgetting his continual pretty dismal GP appearances which must have cost him a bomb.....er. Pride and common sense should have kicked in ages ago and he should have stuck to league racing.

Put certain riders of a 50m handicap and you would have them as 3 pointers by May but stuck off 50m all year The next year off scratch those same riders would average 10+ Handicaps not practical IMO

98. A season I’ll never forget as an Ipswich fan

Well, can you not give a freind your money and get them to pay you in ?

Sounds like many of you think the best plan would be to turn off the lights, lock the doors and hand back the keys..... You should be delighted anyone wants to take it on and keep it going (at whatever level)

No, he just knows everything about everything, most of which is usually rubbish..

I have an incline that many fans of horse racing, attend because they can have a flutter, it kills a bit of time between races, etc. I'm not sure that I would attend race meetings, just to watch horses run around a field with white barriers and some with some bushes to jump over.

Not on here, surely? The forum is positivity personified :-)

Harris work and start the season prepared and fit???? I'm not sure his self inflated ego would agree with that.

horse racing is having an upsurge in attendance etc and you could argue that at a flat meeting there could be 6 races of 2-3 mins each or less,they fill the dead time and provide other on course attractions,also provide comfort and usually excellent food

Hope this never happens or that's me finished. Already had 3 weeks of the damn things upsetting the dogs.

Personally I would like 7 man teams to remain. I do believe the league is far too strong and if you exclude the top 22 riders and promote two nl riders in both reserve berths in every team in the league. Give the brits a chance. Let those riders double up in the nl to give them plenty of track time and that will help the transition into the championship. Maybe keep these riders at reserve all season to stop poor quality foreign riders and has beens from dropping into the reserve berths.

Can only go by the fact that a significant number of posts on this thread are stating 1)Top league speedway at Boro doesnt work 2)2nd tier speedway at Boro doesnt work 3)Weekend speedway at Boro doesnt work 4)Weekday speedway at Boro doesnt work 5)Any combination of the above at Boro doesnt work Of course how representitive that is of the real view of the pussycat faithful is not proven and there I would bow to your greater local knowledge Im just very surprised at how much negativity there is for ANY proposal even given thats what the BSF often does best

Bernie was the first Swindon rider I was aware of, as his picture was in the Speedway Star that I bought before going to my first match. That was also 1974, although David Ashby was riding, so Bernie isn't the first to go from that side.

Very sad news. He was my favourite Racer of the 70's and early 80's. Team riding with Bobby Schwartz was brilliant to watch. A team man through and through. I use to watch him grass tracking as well. A lovely man. Condolences to his family.

Yes but you will also cut the revs as you wouldn’t be able to get the same power and also the obvious thing is 2 less valves, springs and guides so you save £150 straight away

You are deluded chap, nothing can be done to save a sport that delivers only 15 mins of action over two hours. They find it boring, it's that simple...

Very sad news. Remember watching Bernie many times and was Reading thru' and thru'. After his one year loan spell at Swindon he did consider swithing over to 'the 'Robins' but returned home after Smallmead was completed afer a little pressure from Reg Fearman! Speeday couldn't survive without the Bernie Leighs...dependable team orientated loyal riders and something sadly lacking nowadays. May he RIP.

One league of 18 team would give 34 league matches + play off +koc or any other competition + any challenges , that’s around 50 meetings 25 home 25 away , season is only 26 weeks long , that pretty much 2 aWeek , how many do they need ? , I like bomber but his interview was selfish and at odds with what the sport needs to do to move forward

I preferred the Sunday meetings , but the amount of speedway abroad , long track and grass track , makes attracting riders to Glasgow all the more difficult for a Sunday these days

DanBewley was the most improved rider and his progress had been nothing short of exceptional but Robert Lambert was the rider of the year because of his step up to be an outstanding number 1 andthe best British rider in the averages.

Rasmus Jensen 100%

Rasmus Jensen without a doubt

You are correct Aviator, but a lot of the comments became abusive and far too personal, with nothing to do with speedway and shed a poor reflection on Poole Speedway itself.

Yes, thankfully it’s not just my opinion , chris Louis also believes a more safer manageable engine is needed as do many others, but tighter controls are also needed as currently if it 500cc has four valves and not fuel injected it’s pretty much anything goes, we could also look at tyres, David Howe makes an interesting point saying use a tyre that makes you shut off, I think this is an excellent idea however riders will take the view that it makes you crash if you keep the throttle on rather than it makes you shut off and go s bit slower

Perhaps we talk to people who talk to people.... Anyway Ged doesnt live near Peterborough and he knows whats going on (hopefully)

Hi, Thanks for the kind word and unfortunately you are correct in that we do not attend the BSPA AGM and we hold our own 2 weeks after at the NL AGM. It is for me way too late of course and I would prefer these AGM to happen mid season with a wash up meeting at the end of the year. We do strive to do our best for all, be that at the school, speedway, in the community, our parties - everything really. Unlike most I fear, I am really looking forward to 2019 to continue what we have begun and hopefully continue to grow and get further into our community. Many thanks Barry

So, will enlightenment reach the promoters this week? Time to hold your breath and hope it seems. Cross your fingers too or even pray as I do.

I don't disagree at all but is British Speedway in a position to be classed as a professional sport? British Speedway is slipping behind the German league in the quality of rider's. When you look at all the leagues above us charging less for superstars British Speedway fans rightly, as shown with the ever declining terrace numbers, feel ripped off. What's your solution??

i will put a bet on it . you can pay me in 50yrs time . lol.

With the lack of shale on most tracks..they like to appear to be doing something constructive,,,But if there is no dirt they are doing nothing except making meetings drag on going round and round on tractors...

I have said this before but when riding for Coventry ~ which covers a number of years ~ Chris used to spend months trying to get the right set ups on his machines at the beginning of the season and then by July he would be flying until the end of the season. So why was it necessary to then get rid of these and start again the next season on new equipment , which meant another frustrating session of trying to get the right set-ups. Seems a crazy waste of money to me.

Danny Phillips (or any other young rider) signed at reserve don’t deserve all this crap he’s getting.The lad rocks up with good equipment and keen to learn.running last places isn’t his plan I’m sure.trouble is when the so called “good lads” don’t score, the 2 point riders get the blame .the way this sport is going they won’t be one soon .give the lads a break or maybe even ask if you can borrow there kit and show em what there doing wrong......

The only way to bring equipment standards to a more acceptable level, and encouraging future rider's is to force a wage drop. If Chris Harris believes he can't earn enough on £100 a point he'll have to quite or buy cheaper equipment. It's that simple.

Agree I travel up from Exeter and Wednesday is far easier travel wise.

Congratulations Barry... Its obvious from the comments on here from those who attend your meetings that you and the team constantly strive to exceed your customer's expectations.... I presume as an NL Promoter you won't be at the AGM? A shame if so, as your clearly driven customer focus could do with being shared around your fellow 'Custodians of the Sport'.. I see you are also not resting on your laurels and pro actively seeking feedback as to how you could improve even further, through modern social media outlets? Maybe if you could attend the AGM you could have shared that idea with others, some of whom seem to struggle with the concept of running a business through listening to their customer's comments on what they like/dislike... Although maybe being more realistic, you would possibly have had to lead them out on a 'quest for fire' first..! One small step at a time/Rome wasn't built in a day etc etc etc... Well done and best of luck for next year too...

Yes there have. Crowds have been crap for years - Sky money has been bailing the sport out. Most races at most tracks are over by the back straight, if not the first bend. There is next to no racing - the reason for this is that most tracks are not conducive to proper racing/passing due to their size, shape, preparation, etc. In short, it's boring that's why nobody goes.

One big league wouldn't deliver anywhere near the number of meetings that doubling-up currently does.

And don't forget he then doesn't work for 4 and a half months of the year... I remember a few years back when Jeremy Doncaster made his comeback and he said he was using an engine he found in his shed! He didn't do too badly on it either!

I hope that the AGM does not take too much notice of the opinions of Bomber Harris. If that is how the majority of British riders feel then speedway has no chance of rebuilding itself. "Can't go on" without doubling up. "Not worth the risk" without doubling up. Bomber is a terrific speedway racer but outside of his own backyard no-one in the outside world has heard of him and many of the 25,000 UK fans of speedway do not want doubling up. He needs to talk to more of them. If there were 250,000 UK fans prepared to pay to get in and were baying for Chris Harris then he might get the rewards he deserves for his racing skills. What he did or didn't do at school is not the responsibility of supporters and he needs to really think about the day which comes to all riders ( except it seems Greg Hancock ) when they have to retire ( or want to retire or no-one wants to employ them ) life after speedway for all riders needs careful preparation and thinking about at a deep personal level.

Thank goodness that this wasn't the case back when I used to attend (1970's & 1980's) otherwise I couldn't have taken in White City (Wednesday), Oxford (Thursday) and Swindon (Saturday) and occasionally Eastbourne (Fridays and Sundays). Obviously fans used to travel around a lot more back in those days but of course that scenario has changed dramatically with the downturn the sport has been experiencing over the last 20 years or so for all manner of reasons. I talk to many people at my place of work (tourism) who say that they used to go to speedway...a common observation amongst people now.

I think the definition of "crap" is largely important here as middle tier second strings are entirely different to riders just starting out. The problem with standard at present is that the gulf between riders is too vast. The GP's provide good racing and entertainment because the riders are of a similar level. Put on a match where all the riders average in min 4 and max 6 you will see a close entertaining meeting. Put on the current show where a 9+ point man goes to the tapes with a 2-3 point rider and wonder why we are served dull from the gate racing.

Pity the action does not date from the inception of the BL in 1965. I'm missing some of my all-time favourites... Knutsson Harrfeldt Nordin

Rider of the year: James Sarjent, for single handedly doubling the length of time it takes to run a meeting, what great value for money Most impressive team: Poole for managing to cheat their way to a title yet again Team rider of the season: Chris Holder One to watch: Matt Fraud Bulldog award (Best British rider): Rory Schlein Meeting of the season: Eastbourne vs Mildenhall 26/10/18 Surprise of the season: That the sport managed to survive it Underperformers (Team): BSPA Unluckiest rider: James Sargent, the refs keep picking on him Newcomer of the season: Martin Vaculik