britmet

Totally agree with everything that is said above. The 'sport' is continuing in its downward spiral !

a) yet at every restructuring proposal we keep being being told there aren't enough riders, b) It is too regular, - teams are starting the season off with R/Rs. . . on both sides of a match. No injuries there yet.

If you support riders having more rides per match, what should be done is change the format and ride 6-man teams over 16 heats, - NOT pretend we have 7-man teams but only track 6 (or 5). The more rides the better 3 have, the less exposure the rawer 2 or 3 have, - then that, over time, leads to a diminishing pool.

Extract from UK crews' Blog; "Current British Champion Paul Whitelam stated “I’ve made the journey for the past three seasons, but with only one event being offered and without start or guaranteed prize money I could not warrant the expenditure this year. Hopefully the World Cup will be run closer to home in the near future, Belle Vue would be a great venue”. Former British Champion Mark Cossar also spoke of his wish for the event to come closer to home. “I’m gutted to have to turn my place in Australia down, but we have done the trip over there so many times over the past six years. If the championship is to work the FIM has to run it in Europe again”. It may seem about time FIM gave Europe another opportunity, but unfortunately the Continentals aren't interested in the 1000cc class, (not one entry from mainland Europe on the last occasion there in 2009, in France on grass,) only in the 500cc. So chances will be slight. https://www.sidecarspeedway.co.uk/2019-news

Speedway is on the front page of the D.Telegraph's Business supplement today, and inside with a sizeable action photo from the GPs. It report that "BT Sport has extended its deal to broadcast top class speedway - incl'g FIM World Championships, Grand Prix series and Monster Energy Speedway of Nations for another 3 seasons until 2021." . . http://www.speedwaychampions.com/ http://www.speedway-sa.com/

Past results, - http://www.speedwaychampions.com/sidecar-champions.php .

I am an older person, i.e. retired; I do have a smart phone; I do have PAYG, even though I can afford a contract, but am sensible enough not to be sucked into living my life with it in my hand and running my life. (In fact I'm seriously thinking of reverting to my old Nokia, - just need to check if its WiFi is compatible with my car's system.) . No, I wont be partaking in the scheme, even if every stadium does have WiFi. - 2ndbbh is right to ask: remember, most supporter are of the same generation as me, and won't have or know what 4G or 5G is or means, and will be unlikely to convert for this scheme to become meaningful.

Dandelion, - You may find this of interest, http://www.speedwaychampions.com/long-track-champions.php

I knew a forgotten European,. . but I can't remember his name. . . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Frying Pan described its size rather than its shape,. Aerial photos show it had a 2:1 length to width ratio. Length was 262 yds up to 1953: 278yds in its brief revival, '59-'63. . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Still nobody has derived an answer to the question "How many. . . . . " Seems the answer so far is 29, 32 or 35. As regards the nations (or Crown Dependencies) of UK, unlike soccer and rugby associations which have their own Scottish, Welsh, Nthn Irish authorities, there's only one motorcycle/speedway authority for the UK, - the ACU is one entity for the whole of the UK. So does that not make the answer 29 ? The answer swings on 'Germay', 'West Germany', 'East Germany', . . . and on Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. Oh, . . .and on Croatia and Slovenia: if we never had a Yugoslav ride in UK, (think not,) then that's an easy 2. www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Attended all five. (Obviously southern softies can't travel!)

To clarify for the benefit of others. Brian's excellent 'Internationalspeedway' website is still open, but since the advent of Windows 10, after almost 15 years, his site-builder programme no longer functions in Win.10, So no updates or additions, - for any area or Tests - , nor even an explanation, are possible. There has been no 'business as usual' for about 2 years. The site is, in effect, frozen.

Thanks again, you're affirming what others are telling me they're finding, - or rather, not finding. (Ditto Newcastle.) I've added that date to the Fixture table. Maybe Glennon had the task of organizing the sidecar matches and the whole project died with him. . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com

Recent extensive research of on-line international press archives by Cape-based expat David Austin has clarified and significantly extended the detail of the 1951 5-country tour of Europe by the South African speedway Test team led by Buddy Fuller. Originally posted 15 years ago on the now-frozen 'Internationalspeedway' website, the updated comprehensive data on the 21 meetings undertaken by the S.African team is now to be found on the Speedway-SA website, HERE . www.speedwaychampions.com www.speedway-sa.com