Dave C

While the Hancock episode undoubtedly overshadowed the meeting, this was another excellent Grand Prix with good racing throughout. I think its fair to say the general standard of racing has been consistently good throughout the season & I would suggest that this has been the best year since BSI took over in 2000. It seems that BSI / Speed Sport have finally learnt how to produce consistent temporary tracks, which promote exciting racing, having been rightly lambasted in the past for the state of some of the tracks & the tedious racing that was often served up. Perhaps harsh lessons really have been learnt following the Warsaw debacle last year. They deserve much credit & I say that having been a major critic of the Ole Olsen bore-fest tracks of the past. The drop in attendance from last year is disappointing & although Jason Doyle's injury must have been a big blow to the promoters, the reported lack of local media awareness & marketing is sadly familiar. Although it may seem like a good idea in principal, running on the same weekend as the Moto GP at Phillip Island is probably also questionable, unless there is a well promoted marketing arrangement to encourage fans & media to attend both events. Great to see Cal doing the business again though! Hancock really let himself & his sport down with his actions, which were ridiculous & utterly needless. It was a totally bizarre scenario considering that he had just won his forth World Championship at the age of 46 which is an incredible achievement in itself... I'm unclear exactly who the FIM jury consisted of (Castagna, Gardell & Morris?) but they called it exactly right & fair play to the Zmarzlik camp for making the protest, which was totally correct. The thing that winds people up about Hancocks conduct isn't so much the initial offense (which was dealt with fairly & proportionally) but his subsequent self righteous behavior. To withdraw from the GP is a complete insult to the fans & fellow competitors (bearing in mind the various medal & top 8 scenarios) then to try & justify it afterwards with a press release which was pure & utter BS makes it even worse. His combined actions surely count as "bringing the sport into disrepute" & although its probably unlikely, the FIM should take further action to really make the point. Middelditch, Oakes & the usual suspects straight onto twitter defending him which is entirely predictable, but also rather sad in itself. I spotted he was carrying Wessex Marine branding on his kevlars & I wonder if all his sponsors will be quite as charitable in their views & whether they are happy to have their companies associated with such behavior. It all leaves a very bad taste, just like a certain "energy" drink...

Wow. Stunned, but delighted to see this. The video, just like the song, is pure Elbow, understated but beautiful & poignant. Its heart-warming to see such recognition of the Aces & the importance of their history in Manchester. With all the apparent negativity & doom surrounding UK speedway at present, this is a welcome reminder of what the sport and each individual club, means to a dwindling band of passionate folk, throughout the country. Its all a bit sentimental, but hey, what's wrong with that? Lets hope that this video & the subsequent mainstream exposure, is another timely boost for the Aces & their plans for the new stadium. http://elbow.co.uk/watch-charge-video-online-now/

I'm not usually one to respond to a Shovlar thread, but having read the full article in the Star, I think Robert Lambert's comments are at best naive & at worst, utterly misguided. Robert and the people who are advising him in his career, really need to think carefully about how this interview comes across to supporters, existing sponsors, potential sponsors & the sports hierarchy. The article mentions his parents & his German manager Rene Schaffer so one can only conclude that they are his "advisors". Perhaps Rob Lyon needs to have a quiet word, to diffuse the situation and offer his own advice. Although the BSPA constantly come in for much criticism, this is one occasion when they are totally justified in sticking to their rules. The notion of a 14 year old kid racing in competitive motorsport against senior riders is plain wrong in my opinion. I would also question the wisdom of allowing 15 year olds to compete against seniors in the National League. In this instance the Aussies would appear to have it right, with an age limit of 16. The prospect of a "child" being seriously injured or worse, in an accident with a senior rider, in official competition is troubling. The German federation may have no qualms with this issue, but that doesn't make it right. The closing lines of the article considers how far "Team Lambert" have got with relatively little backing and suggests that the sky would be the limit if he could find more sponsorship and support, even from Britain... As someone who has assisted several riders in the search for meaningful sponsorship, may I respectfully suggest that he & his team are not going about it in the smartest way. If Robert is half as good as all the hype, then his time will come. But as well as needing talent on the bike, a successful rider also needs to lean patience, self control & the ability to keep your mouth shut, whatever you may really think about things. I'm sure that a certain Mr Woffinden would agree with those sentiments. I genuinely hope that Robert goes on to fulfil his full potential in the sport and one day I hope to see him on the top of a rostrum, proud to be wearing a Union Jack.

Sadly the return of the Dons seems very remote, even if the Greyhound plans ever do come to fruition. An interesting animation of the proposed stadium development, with no hint of a speedway / stock car track, surrounded by flats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6DB1dzDtcM I also can't help but fear for the future of speedway in Swindon, as again the prospect of a motorsport venue surrounded by residential property seems very unlikely.

Some interesting observations on this thread. Without wishing to re-ignite the disagreement between Mr Rising & Mr Tomlin (especially now that they seem to be willing to kiss & make up over a pint) I think the clue as to how much Monster actually put into the BSI coffers is in the wording on the SGP website. The FIM Speedway Grand Prix is “presented” by Monster Energy, while they appear to be the actual title sponsors of the World Cup. I would hazard a guess that in real terms this means that Monster pay little or nothing for the SGP association and probably a nominal amount to pick up the SWC title sponsorship as part of the package. There is no doubting the mainstream credibility that Monster brings to the series, as a recognised brand which is already associated with many other motorsports. The Monster presentation element essentially consists of a handful of “athlete’s” with Monster sponsored helmets & minor branding, some branded airfence banners, a bevy of scantily clad young ladies who magically appear at key stages of the meeting, and a stack of complimentary cans of carbonated water with added sugar & caffeine. It’s bad taste in every sense. While it’s hardly a ground breaking marketing strategy, I guess it helps to bring World Championship speedway a step closer to other sports such as motocross or superbikes, in terms of how it is perceived by the public. Returning to the original subject, as far as the World Cup goes, I am never going to win any prizes for originality, but like pretty much everyone else on the forum or any speedway folk I speak to, I hate the dreaded joker rule, which once again ruined the competition as a genuine sporting contest. This is a World Championship event & the rightful winners were robbed, just like they were a couple of years ago. It doesn’t make it any more exciting, it just turns the whole thing into a farce. This continual line of “making it more exciting for TV audiences” is trotted out every year, and the overwhelming view of speedway fans is ignored every year. I will be referred to as a speedway purist, so my view is obviously not important, but I can bet that any casual TV sports fan who happened to be watching, would find the whole thing at best completely bizarre and at worst utterly farcical. I appreciate that Mr Joe Parsons may be off his head on a continual caffeine & sugar rush, or may not be especially bothered as there are too many other “distractions” around, but the best thing that he could do to assist the sport, is to have a quiet word in the relevant ear, and help get rid of a ridiculous rule which makes a mockery of the competition that his company puts its name to.

The World Superbike round at Phillip Island took place on the 24th of February, so I would guess that this is indeed the New Zealand SGP. The fact that the description is completely wrong doesn’t exactly bode well, but we will have to see how the coverage pans out. In response to Flagrag’s question about who we would like to see commentating / presenting (may have been on the other thread) I would also have to vote for Julian Ryder & Toby Moody, who are brilliant on the Eurosport Moto GP coverage. Their passion and knowledge of racing is fantastic. Julian used to report on the SGP for Sky in the mid 90’s and was quoted in one of Brian Buford’s recent Speedway Star articles, so knows his speedway. Some of the criticism of Nigel Pearson & Kelvin Tatum is completely over the top, as on the whole they do a very good job.

Hi Dave, I have put the Racecar Engineering article, together with an old Penske article from Speedway Star onto my blog: http://keep-turning-left.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/trick.html

Best GP of the year so far. After the undoubted improvement in track preparation standards that we witnessed last year during Tony Olsson's first season as SGP race director, this year has generally been a big disappointment in comparison. With Torun, Gorican and Gorzow left on the calendar (Vojens will probably be a typical Ole Olsen slick fest) hopefully this event marks a turning point for the rest of the championship in terms of the quality of racing on offer. Would be great to see Greg go all the way this year. I must admit that I didn't think he would be a serious contender for the championship, but he has shown real character and it would be a tremendous achievement to win a second World Championship after all these years.

An awful lot has been written on this forum over the past couple of weeks commenting on the apparent crisis facing the Elite League, so I thought I would create a picture to raise a smile and visualise how ridiculous the whole episode is... Big Fish in a... The Blog...

Firstly thank you for taking the time to respond Philip. Unlike Sir Humphrey, I have always been a big fan of the GP series, but I had become increasingly frustrated by the constantly poor track surfaces that were appearing every fortnight. I accept that the temporary tracks (I still can't fathom why people continually refer to them as "man made". Leszno may be great, but I doubt it was divinely inspired...) can be a difficult area, but the major gripe was when the real racing circuits were usually packed down hard to become ultra slick. I also have a lot of respect for what Ole Olsen has achieved in the sport, both as a rider and as one of the main driving forces behind the Grand Prix concept. What has overshadowed this is the style of track preparation that he appears to have insisted on for so long. I feel that those who have "knocked" him over the track issue, have been largely vindicated on the evidence of the past season. In fairness, the temporary tracks seem to be getting better all the time. Copenhagen has generally been good for a while now, and at least Cardiff now seems a lot safer for the riders these days, compared to the "rut" roulette of previous years. As far as the GP "dying a slow death", that may be slightly over dramatic, but for a while now, it has felt somewhat stagnant compared to the optimism of the early BSI years. With the announcement over four years ago that BSI were being taken over my IMG, I along with many others thought that this would be the breakthrough that the series needed in terms of expansion, marketing expertise and the potential to attract major sponsors. However the GP seems to have basically been treading water during this time, with little if any direct evidence of the undoubted commercial clout of IMG at work. I subscribe to Sky Sports during the speedway season primarily for the SGP. As with the majority of the Sky speedway audience, I am a neutral (since the demise of Hackney many moons ago...) and have no real affinity to any particular team, so what I really want is to see exciting racing every Monday night. In truth, what is served up is often patchy at best. Chris Harris's heroics in the recent Coventry win at Poole were certainly captivating, but a lot of the racing throughout the year is often very processional. I still think that Sky do a great job overall, but in all honesty, the product is often poor. A good GP on the other hand can make for great viewing, and will get me on the edge of the seat, shouting for Bomber. I consider myself a real speedway nut, but I came very close to not renewing Sky Sports this season, because I had become so disillusioned with the continual slick tracks and processional racing in the GP. However this year has been much better (I missed Prague!), so I have no hesitation in subscribing for next year. I surely can't be alone in thinking like this? The GP undoubtedly has huge potential, but beyond the hype, it is exciting, good quality racing that will get people from all nations well and truly hooked. I fully agree with the point about the FIM though. BSI are continually criticised for not putting anything back into the sport, but as a commercial organisation they bought the rights to the Speedway World Championship from the FIM, so the question has to be directed toward Geneva. This whole area really has to be made much more transparent.

In what has been another tough year for domestic speedway in the UK, (as well as Sweden) I feel that we should acknowledge the fact that this years Grand Prix series has been one of the best for a long time. Like most genuine speedway fans, I was heartened to see Tomasz Gollob finally capture the world title after so many years of trying. However the major factor that has contributed to such a good championship has been the undoubted improvement in the standard of track preparation at most of the venues. For years now we have bemoaned the constant stream of slick tracks and the processional racing that they inevitably produce. The finger was always pointed at GP Race Director Ole Olsen and although he would often be defended by the likes of Philip Rising in the Speedway Star, ultimately he was the only person in a position to control track preparation across the series. It really is no surprise that since Ole has been "moved upstairs" and Tony Olsson has taken over his role, a definite change has taken place. Tony Olsson was quoted at the start of the year that he would let each individual track prepare the circuits in the same way that they would do so for a regular league meeting. It is hardly rocket science to reach such a conclusion, merely basic common sense, but I really can't work out why Ole could never see this, or more importantly, why the powers that be at BSI/IMG failed to act sooner. At the end of the day, exciting racing is surely the core product that they sell and I struggle to understand what took them so long to change things. It almost seemed that there was such a collective reverence for Ole, that they dare not overrule him on anything. By not making this change much sooner, they have ultimately lost out commercially. Good racing has got to be good for business. Happy fans, happy viewers, happy broadcasters, happy sponsors, hey even happy riders... It may be a somewhat simplistic view but good racing has surely got to be the backbone of the product. I am convinced that one of the major factors that pushed them into acting was Keith Huewen's increasingly vocal outbursts about slick tracks on Sky Sports. It is never made clear what the exact viewing figures are for speedway on Sky (The BARB audience figures are apparently somewhat unreliable, but they still give us a reasonable idea...) but one can only assume that they tailed off last year as the racing was consistently poor. In the main, BSI make their real money selling the product to the likes of Sky Sports, so if the broadcaster is unhappy, they are in a position to demand changes. Lets hope that this season signals a change in the right direction for the GP, and that it starts to fulfill its undoubted potential as a major sporting series. Lets also hope that BSI show more common sense and pick the four obvious candidates for wild card's (Pedersen, Sayfutdinov, Jonsson & Kolodziej) and that 2011 will be a classic season.

During the past couple of years Arthur has taken part in the Red Bull Rookies series, which supports the Moto GP circus at most of the European rounds, with a view to unearthing the GP stars of the future. Arthur Sissis

Thanks for taking the time to reply Screamer, but if that really is the official line from the promotion, then it has to be one of the most ridiculous excuses I have ever heard and as I said in my original post, they obviously have scant regard for the well being of the riders (both their own and visitors) racing at their track. As has been mentioned on this thread, most other clubs also have to take down their airfences for either stock cars, or so that the greyhound track isn't obscured. I find it hard to believe that with some perks (free admission, club merchandise etc.) enough volunteers couldn't be found, but even if that were the case, this is supposedly a professional promotion, operating a professional sports stadium with a team of skilled professional riders. Maybe they have to pay a little extra and get some professional air fence fitters to do the job properly... Or if things are really that bad, ask the riders and see if they and their mechanics can lend a hand. I fully accept that the existing fences at some tracks (such as Rye House) are already much safer than a fence like Kings Lynn's (largely due to it's collapsible nature and the lack of anything solid behind it) but unless there is a genuinely independent commission that evaluates each track on its own merits and has the powers to insist on improvements, then airfences really have to be made compulsory across the board because there are still many promoters who appear to have their heads wedged well and truly in the sand (which is still preferable to having your head wedged into a solid wooden board...

It is completely irrelevant what domestic league the hosting track participates in as ultimately it is BSI who decide on the venue and presumably agree terms with the stadium, independent of the BSPA. A far bigger issue that seems to have been overlooked, is the fact that on Monday an airfence magically appeared but at the next meeting two days later it had disappeared again. This is nothing short of a disgrace and shows the complete lack of regard for the safety of riders in the lower leagues. There is no getting away from the fact that the Kings Lynn fence is pretty brutal and unforgiving, but the promotion appear to have no interest in improving rider safety. The biggest irony is that they supposedly have an airfence in storage, but are unwilling to use it for some unfathomable reason. I don't know if this was used on Monday, or whether they borrowed Peterborough's. Although Tai Woffindens fall was relatively innocuous, would he have got up like he did if he had clattered back first into the bare boards? And would we have witnessed the spectacle of heat 22 if the riders didn't have the extra confidence of having the airfence? Whenever this topic comes up on the forum, there are people who blindly defend the promoters, basically pleading poverty and stating that if they are made compulsory, tracks will be forced to close. In my opinion, if a track is not able to provide adequate rider safety in this day and age, then you have to question whether they should be operating at all. It should also be taken in to account how safe each individual fence (and surrounding area) is, as the tracks vary considerably. The simple fact is that the same promoters will still be pleading poverty in ten years time and will only act when they are forced to. It is estimated that the average track would have to spend around £30-35,000 on an airfence, which is undoubtedly a substantial amount of money, but it is an investment that will hopefully protect a clubs main "assets" and when you spread that cost over five seasons, there really is no excuse. It is not just short sighted promoters who are to blame, as the riders could force this issue if they really wanted to, but in truth the SRA is a very weak organisation, despite Shane Parkers best efforts in recent years. Promoters, riders and ultimately the humble (and not so humble - no names S.S....)supporters will all have to give a bit to make it happen. I have no doubt that Kings Lynn will in the not too distant future have an airfence at every race meeting they stage and people will shake their heads in disbelief that they used to race without one. I just fear it will be because a young rider is needlessly confined to a wheelchair and they were forced to act.

I recently stumbled across an excellent website called "The Workshop" that details a vast number of speedway bikes from the 1920s up until the 1990s. It appears that the site has not been updated for the best part of a decade, but it is archived on cybermotorcycle.com. I would be interested to find out more about the person / people who painstakingly put this website together in the first place, and wonder if a group of like minded speedway bike enthusiasts could continue to update and expand this impressive history of the technical side of the sport. The Workshop Website: http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/archives/speedwaybikes/workshop.htm I have also enquired about this website in a post on my blog. http://keep-turning-left.blogspot.com/