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Once again he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. If it had happened at other teams it would have been “How refreshing shows how much he cares” At Newcastle not a chance.

Agree on all aspects... Playing a blame game is never a good response as a leadership team... As you say, given the team they have they are going to take a few 'beastings' so no need to give out apologies.. And as most riders get paid based on performance, I am sure it wasn't down to lack of effort. Lack of ability maybe, but any team who get beat by a superior one can testify to that... If it needed mentioning then it should have been a simple "We are all extremely disappointed but are all equally committed to turn it round".. And as you say, if you go public as a professional entity, for heaven's sake, get your message out using the correct English language, as it can come across as amateurish, and brand damaging, when you don't..

Does this mean there was no discussion with Trollope before the track was prepared? Who briefed Trollope and didn't discuss it with the riders? Frankly an apology after the event isn't needed, the Diamonds were always going to struggle this year based on the late entry in 2020 and the relative inexperience of the promotion. No need to chuck the lads under a bus there have been changes galore all season they will have felt bad enough after the weekend without further public humiliation. Oh and a spell checker for whoever is doing the website releases might help, it's beginning to look like the village fete committee are at the helm!

Gates had only just opened when I took the pic. Looking good indeed

Yeah,I went yesterday for the footy

TBH your Team Manager (aka "Calamity Clown" ) lost you this match. Instead of trusting messrs Cook, Jensen, Nicol & Wells to cover Ostergaard's programmed rides, in comes a highly dubious choice of guest which spectacularly backfires! Hard to imagine Stewart Dickson would have made such a blunder in a derby match when he was at the helm

Don’t think apology is needed,most fans know that is a very weak Diamonds Team and Redcar are a good Team.

Met Office forecast doesn’t look too promising .....heavy rain 1500-1600 ☹️. Hope they are wrong . Kent will be up against it with a rider short and no satisfactory cover for R/R. Heeps needs to score some points and prove his fitness......

Message him and ask him. I’m sure he will tell you. Great to have people stepping forward to do the updates, we should be very grateful that people do. And very fair in his reports too.

It is all conjecture what if this happened or that happened my own personal opinion is R/R was the better option ,you have your opinion which is your prerogative.

It's dead easy to praise someone who gives you something for nothing, innit? Your new best friends. Wait a minute though. Birmingham (one amongst many) were running with "Kids for a Quid" in one guise or another since 2007. If lowering the price, or giving admission away for next to nothing was the answer, then the terraces would be awash with young people in their late teens and early 20's now, wouldn't they? I mean, how many 17-20-year-olds are at Berwick now, having been bitten by the bug in their pre-16 years and are now paying full price at the gate? How do you answer that one without sounding negative? I know that the answer to the same question at Birmingham will result in a big round number. Basically, the experiment that everyone hung their hopes on has failed. (just waiting for the "I know someone who knows someone who came in as a kid for a quid" smartarse who just wants to be contrary) Sadly in the rush to the bottom of the admission price barrel has resulted in promoters taking the eyes off the ball when it comes to quality of the product. Whilst Rugby, Darts and Cricket have reinvented themselves time and again, and now have full venues, and attract competition from TV stations for the broadcasting rights, speedway still tries to offer the same old same old 1950's product without any thought to new ways of doing things. And all for the fear of losing the 70-80 year old "regular" fan base that's kept the sport going. There will come a day however when it'll be time to crack some eggs to make an omelette...

Isn't this a case for all sports though, other than football maybe? I know going back to my own experience, I was speedway daft when I was a teenager, Then I started to go out, alcohol and girls took over. Then you settle down and lose interest in the "chase". Then you go back to what you used to enjoy. I would bet that the only sports which attract teenagers in any amounts are one which also have alcohol nearby? Football (because it is media wall to wall), T20 cricket, darts nights out (sold as a night out rather than a purely sporting attraction). So if you want to attract teenagers, maybe you need to turn speedway meetings into a stag party atmosphere?

Methanol is a bio fuel so any thoughts of using petrol instead should be binned straight away.

Seems to be a threat of rain every Tuesday. Unbelievable really.

I have to agree Lisa, you should be expecting your number one to be leading the way and showing consistency, that i expected nothing and was underwhelmed by his signing didnt bode well. Lets hope those that say Bewley going to number one will relieve the pressure on Kurtz and he can pick up are right, but really in this weak league he should be doing far far better than this.

Got to agree with Uk_martin on his point re quality of product. As an example T20 cricket down here in Kent - all the remaining matches have sold out ....... its £25 a ticket and £7 for 5-15 year olds. Party atmosphere, flames leap int othe air every time someone hits a boundary. Day night games add to the atmosphere. Cricket officianados scoff at the crash, bang, wallop, limited overs white ball game , but it has saved cricket from the abyss. Watching a 3 or 4 day county match is not everyones cup of tea . Someone has gone in and sorted out Cricket with choices of format, whilst speedway is stuck with 15 heats every match 4 riders 4 laps per race .............. yawn. IF the product was moved into the 21st century, interst woudl be increased , crowds would increase , and maybe prices would reflect better value for money?

Rode ok for Torun this afternoon.

I think Rich is spot on, methanol allows high compression and big flywheels which not only gives the right sort of power needed but a lot of engine braking too. The problem with road engines (or MX etc) on Speedway has always been the lack of flywheel effect.

My pic from a crazy night in Cloppenburg: https://www.baansportfansite.nl/nieuws/2119/oskar-paluch-wint-bizarre-finale-van-het-wk-250cc-speedway-in-cloppenburg

I just found an old programme from 1975. The programme was 10p. On the back were details of the next week's Blue Riband individual meeting. Admission for this was 75p for the grandstand, 60p for West stand & terraces and children 50p & 42p. Prize money for the event was, winner £50 and a portable TV (value £85!! ) 2nd £30 and 3rd £20. An inflation checker calculates this at about £14 admission for an adult and 2 kids with programs!

I think he will be at Peterborough next year if he wants to be, I also think he will be racing again this year as he should be back for our September matches if not some of the later August meetings. Ulrichs very popular, with his team mates, sponsors and most importantly the fans and it’s noticeable he is very fit this year and a fit Ulrich on good equipment is a match for mostly anyone. You don’t put over 3 points on your starting average by fluke or accident.

Who would of thought that when Peterborough announced they were bringing back Ulrich Ostergaard into there team that now Panthers fans would be saying it could be a disaster hes got injured

He'd never been to Stoke then

Wonderful personality. At Weymouth he went fron second half to reserve to second string to heat leader in successive weeks. Guys with pony tails and beards were very rare at the time so he really stood out and quickly became a bit of a folk hero. Of course the usual instability at Weymouth saw messrs Mawdsley and Lansdale pull out of Weymouth after the season to start their new venture at Rochester. Pity as the local community was really starting to take to the then Eagles. Most memorable Barry escapade was when he clashed wit Terry Stone on the home straight and went careering off onto the centre green. Now the stadium at that time was in a terrible state and the centre green grass had not been cut for months. It was waist high at the lowest and much higher elsewhere. The surface was also incredibly rutted and Barry was soon separated from his bike with Barry and bike flying on in different directions. The ever dedicated Red Cross came over as fast as the conditions allowed but then they had a problem - they couldn’t find him! One shouted “Here’s the bike” but it was a few seconds later when another shouted. “OK. I’ve got him he’s over here”. Luckily Barry was just bruised and shaken up and it was always a pleasure to follow his later career regardless of his team. Nice to hear he is doing well

Such sad news. Lew always had time for everyone and was one of those who would treat the top people and the ordinary fan in exactly the same way. In Speedway his biggest contribution was the wonderful Weymouth Training School which he ran for so many years with his wife Betty. It had a world wide reputation and was often the first calling point for newly arrived Aussies and Americans. A grass track legend. He won an all star event in Germany so many times that they gave him the trophy to keep. It was huge, standing some 5-6 feet high. I asked him about it one night at Weymouth and the next week he took the trouble to bring it down to show me. Typical of his thoughtfulness and kindness. As someone said earlier: Race In Peace Lew.