andrewrunagall

Not sure if this counts, but Nigel Pearson also commentates on Darts on Sky Sports as well as covers some Football matches for TalkSport.

I remember that, pretty much as soon as the previous heat was over, he'd be straight out there, I'm surprised he had enough fuel for the race after how long he always waited. Anyway, my choice for most frustrating rider is Tomasz Gollob, he's a great rider, in fact, one of my all-time favourites, but it annoyed me when he would panic and swap his bikes about five times before a heat. Then there was the last few seasons in the SGP's where he developed a habit of just giving up when he was in last.

As much as I am a Rye House fan, I'm not a fan of Tyson Nelson, it all started off when he came over and demanded to only be called Nelson, no first name, just Nelson, then the alleged scuffle with Steve Boxall the day before the 2011 Press and Practice Day (where I arrived at the stadium and saw a couple of police cars, nothing was said on the day, but I found out what happened eventually), then refusing to take his sunglasses off on said P&P day (because he had a black eye from the previously mentioned scuffle), he was a decent reserve for that year, then he was refused a visa for the 2012 season, so all went quiet, then when he came back last year, he was back to his usual Aussie self, there was a few pics posted on twitter where he stuck a cigarette in Len Silver's mouth as he was taking a nap in the pits at Scunthorpe (he's old, he has an excuse), then placed a traffic cone on his head. After the 2013 season, he posted a video where he was setting off fireworks towards houses. So glad he's been refused a visa again this year.

So, let me get this straight, it's 15 heats per meeting, and 50p per heat, which works out at £7.50 a meeting, six meetings a week equals £45 a week. I really like watching speedway and all, but I don't think I can afford to watch it all the time. If it was just a £45 per month subscription, I'd ditch Sky and go for that, but oh well.

Seems a bit weird that there's no review of the season on Sky at all, But as the above post says, we'll have to wait just a few more days to hear what is actually happening.

To save myself a few pounds, I've started using this on my phone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.krygiel.speedway.programme&hl=en it's an app for Android phones and tablet PC's which was released only last week, just before the start of the World Cup, at the moment it features all the teams from all three of Poland's leagues, the British Elite League as well as formats for the World Cup and Grand Prix. I have been in contact with the maker of the programme app as he wanted to know about the teams in the Premier and National Leagues too. I highly recommend using it, however, just be careful not to get your phone/tablet PC stolen.

Benji Compton of Kent Kings was born in Tenerife, Spain.

I think I heard right that Kent Kings have a strict 9:30PM curfew.

I remember hearing about it from Chris Holder on Twitter, I can't repeat what he said with this being a family forum and all, but the first thing that you are taught in any form of motor racing is that it is dangerous.

Personally, I'd like to manually put in my own scores, times, etc… I don't always write notes of riders, but I think it'd be a good facility if it was there, the problem I can see with automatically updating programmes is people not paying enough attention to what's going on, not that I like making mistakes, but I learn a lot more if I write something rather than having something read to me, if you can see where I'm coming from.

Because sometimes riders can be injured (like long-term injuries, such as fractured bones) and replacements need to be brought in.

Team suits don't come cheap, and usually don't make it to the end of the season, for example, the 2007 Rye House Rockets were all team kevlars right up until towards the end of the season where they were all ripped up from falls. It's alright for teams like Swindon who have acquired sponsorship from a major sports clothing company, and they've got 'home' and 'away' kevlars this season, but for a team of 7, that's about 7 lots of £600 kelvars they've got to fork out for, £4200 is a lot of money. It's just a racecard, which you have to write in your own teams each week, plus it's actually a Polish app, but the format is the same, if I could sit down and programme an app, I would set it so that you could download any team from any of the leagues and it'll have the correct 1-7 and their respective averages, but I'm sure that the BSPA would want a slice of the profits.

There is actually an iOS app which acts as an electronic programme, I'm an Android man, so I'm not able to use it. But there is such thing anyway.

I'm not saying that I would have all the answers (I'm 29 years old, so I still have a somewhat understanding of what kids want to see these days), but following what Nikko and SCOTLAND1314 were sort of talking about previously, maybe "apps" for mobile devices for individual teams and possibly even individual riders would be a way forward to reach younger fans, there are apps out there already which basically link to the BSPA's news site, of which I use myself (Speedway News and Snowfunk Speedway) and they keep me up to date, I even have a Nicki Pedersen app (I'm not a fan, but just an example) on my phone which tracks Nicki's scores from all the other leagues that he rides in. And here's another idea which isn't too far out of reach, Speedway in video games, I know it costs a lot for licences for them to be released on consoles like the PlayStation (I'm thinking if maybe the company who makes the SGP games for PC could help), but if they take the risk, they might reach out to the kids, it'll get them more involved, give them an understanding of the rules in detail and before you know it, they'll be saying "oh, I know who that rider is as I saw him in that game". It worked for Colin McRae and the World Rally Championship. Think about it, rallying, a rather traditional sport which got the video game treatment and now there's drivers like Ken Block who kids do recognise, the same could happen for Speedway if it they give it a chance.

Speedway on Eurosport (not British Eurosport) is nothing new, as I recorded a few late night shows on British Eurosport 2 which had adverts for the Speedway World Cup last year where they said that they showing it in the middle of the afternoon on Eurosport (again, no British Eurosport, but the advert was in English), I checked the listings, but there was no Speedway on British Eurosport at all. Maybe Sky's stranglehold on Speedway being shown in the UK could be over, it was good seeing some events like the Telford Ice Speedway Meeting and Garry Stead's Benefit meeting shown on MotorsTV a few years back, and it was so disappointing that thanks to Sky, the ELRC was broadcast over the internet everywhere but the UK. Besides, here's a big clue:

Yes, but it's not 100% confirmed that Sky will be showing the Grands Prix this year, although BikerFM tweeted that the SGP's will be on UK TV… somehow…

It's all because Luke Bowen isn't riding this year, he was the only rider from Rye House to bother to turn up last year, no one else is local enough to do it. Overall, it wasn't as good as previous years, was good to see the Formula Two Speedway bikes, but I can't really see them taking off (it was a bit strange to see that not only Honda are involved, but BMW and Kawasaki have made a few prototypes too). Anyway, here is my photo album of the day…

I know it's a bit late now considering it's tomorrow, I emailed PWP to ask if there was any way that I could have an advert as I can't get a copy of Speedway Star in my town, they said I could print this off and still gain entry, I hope this also helps those who could not get a copy of the Speedway Star:

There was that episode of CHiPs which was based around the 1982 World Championship.

It's true, the New Years Classic and the day after the Cardiff GP were the only thing that really kept Newport going.

The truth is, according to one press release, they sent the working visa application via e-mail with out Len's signature, so Tyson's been sent back to Aus.

I heard it was connected to the reason why Nelson had a black eye. Oh well, I hope to be there on the Friday, just hope the weather is bright enough.

Linus was indeed a Rye House rider when he was a SGP reserve, as the next day he was riding in the PL Fours. Kennett also was riding for us when he was nominated as a reserve for the British SGP when he scored a point.

I know a few weeks have passed, but it was clear to see that the Speedway Museum was a good choice for this year's celebration of Speedway. A lot more room, even Hagon setting up a display tent.

Apart from the top league being sponsored by a TV company, this is the only other Speedway on TV. And that needs to change!