John Leslie

Sorry I can't make it. I'm worming the cat that day.

Its been well documented and stated by both sides that he didn't sign this form, and hasn't for the past 3 years.

Nothing to do with what you have posted. He should be fined because he was contracted to be there and didn't turn up. Whatever his reason for not turning up that's irrelevant. If he was ill or had a genuine reason he'd have contacted the staging promotion/BSPA and provided a sicknote etc. To just not turn up shows a despicable contempt for the paying public.

The BSPA need to hit Barker hard with a big fine. Loram purposely didn't sign the forms guaranteeing his appearance at BSPA events because he didn't want to be committed to them all. Barker presumably did sign the forms, but then just doesn't turn up. He needs to be fined heavily. If he gets away with robbing the public with his non-show then it is totally unfair on Loram. If Barker gets away with it, then it says that Loram too could have signed the forms and still got away with picking and choosing which meetings he wanted to ride in.

Hopefully Barker will be heavily fined for his failure to turn up. He was riding for his club last night and didn't get injured. In fact, although he didn't officially withdraw from the meeting, most people had heard the rumour before yesterday's meeting that he wasn't going to turn up. If Barker isn't heavily fined it makes a mockery of the Mark Loram situation. Loram didn't sign the form to enter for BSPA events as he didn't want to commit to them all. But Barker clearly did sign and should be punished for breaching the contract. If he gets away with it, Loram will think "I could have signed the form and still refused to turn up for meetings with no punishment"

He dislikes anyone who can consistently beat Twicky... So he used to dislike only Crump, but now there are dozens of riders for him to dislike

Then you'd complain about being bored watching 55 races...or being charged £60 admission....or the riders would complain about having to do 10 races. The 6 team group should have ridden against 4 of the other 5 teams in the group, whilst the 5 team group raced against the other 4 teams in their group. The the top two from each group into 2 semis and a final. By having the 6 team group race against all the other 5 they wasted an extra 3 races which could have been 2 semis.

Come on be fair to Shovvy. He really hasn't got time to come on here and whinge about the inept displays of Twicky-the-Blond and street-cool MC Rapmaster Tonio in the G.P. He's far too busy on another thread whinging about Poole's inept display in the Elite League pairs!

Good to see that when they were on the centre awaiting the presentation Thomas could be heard saying to Crump and Stead "When you get your trophies, there are Belle Vue fans there and there" (pointing to the back straight where he wanted them to acknowledge the fans - which they did). Nice touch.

Absolutely right. I meant to mention this in my post. I hope the mods can edit his post to remove his disgusting obscenities before they are seen by more children. I don't think the "report a post" button works.

The format was bizarre. 25 qualifying races for 1 final made it a snoozathon. In the group of 6 they shouldn't have had 15 heats with everyone racing every other pair. They should have cut back so that each team met 4 of the 5 other teams. Then the top two from each group should have gone to 2 semis and a final. That would have kept more interest, rather than half the teams being out of contention halfway through the 25 heat qualifying snoozefest. The method of deciding a tie on race wins was also strange for a pairs contest... BUT The rules were clear to everyone. In the event of a tie race wins were more valuable. Crump reacted accordingly and went for those race wins. Poole also knew the rules. They weren't settling for a 5-4 in their last qualifying race, they were going for the win which they knew they needed. They failed to win and failed to qualify. In the Final the 5-4 gave a win and again Crump acted accordingly (with the astute Thomas). Adams off the wrong gate, and shooting off into the distance abandoning his partner, got it wrong (with the help of the less than astute Rossiter). You can't say Poole would have qualified if the rules had been different. If the rules had been different, Crump, Stead and Thomas would have adapted their tactics to secure 5-4's rather than the race wins which the format demanded. Under the rules Poole weren't good enough. Under different rules they still wouldn't be good enough. It was the rightful winners who stood on the B&Q paste table at the end of the meeting. For all neutrals it was good to see a BSPA event not won by the home team. And the whinging from Shovlar is the icing on the cake to show it was an enjoyable result.

Reckon the crowd must have topped 40,000. Top tier quite full on back straight, but sparse on home straight. Presumably set up that way for the sky cameras? Atmosphere in the build up wasn't good. The P.A. seemed distorted, and there was not real attempt to build the atmosphere up. They did get it going about 6.50 but thn killed it to near silence with the embarrassing 'Speedway ©Rap' on the big screen. Under 16's on WAY too early. About 5.15pm this year to a nearly empty stadium. Disgraceful. Bonnie Tyler OK, but suffered from the distorted sound system. And was eclipsed by Tony Christie. The track was pretty rubbish. But I don't know why people are surprised by this. You can't lay a decent track from nothing in 3 days. It's always going to be flat and without a decent depth of shale. It's impossible to compound a decent depth of shale and build up any banking in such a limited time. What do you want....its the atmosphere of a 40,000 crowd in a mega-stadium with a dodgy track that sorts the men from the boys, or its 8,000 to Coventry with an OK long established track and poor atmosphere....I vote Cardiff. Referee a little dodgy. Richardson a touch lucky in getting away with skittling everyone in his first ride...but maybe the ref giving the benefit of the doubt due to the newly laid track. Pedersen mugs the ref by laying it down on the first corner after being outgated by Crump. Heat 10 an awful ragged start that should have been brought back. Had the ref dozed off? Hampel-Hancock final the only difficult decision and ref was probably right. Going to be one unhappy rider whoever is excluded. tough on Hancock but it had to be him. Crump - the best on display. Deserved winner despite the Hancock/Hampel incident. Hancock - a bit of a rash move in the final cost him. Perhaps should have backed of Hampel and had another go on next corner. Should have been content to keep Crump behind even if it meant letting Hampel win. Pedersen - Where was he? At least we got to see his hairdryer on big screen. Rickardsson - its over. So far behind Crump he now needs snookers. Nicholls & Richardson - Had their moments, but middle order. Didn't utilise the massive home support to make a mark. Stead - Took an awful battering in one race, but got it together at the end. Certainly more worthy of a GP place than Protasiewicz, Iversen and co.

I did exactly the same. One of the first in at 5.00pm, less than 5 minutes in my seat before the lads went out. One race each, and then about an hour and half of some crap 'stars-in-their-eyes' wannabees singing crap Abba songs. (And this year we get some washed up old welsh bird).

I've not got a ticket yet. I've been monitoring the performance of Blondie, Bjarne and Tonio....and as soon as a frustrated Shovvy puts his tickets up on ebay I'll buy them off him at a knock down price

Since you're Scandinavian I'm sure Neil Middleditch will support you.

Matt Ford's hair made me laugh

What a shambles. Surely there should be no more big meetings at Poole until they get their house in order. The clerk of the course needs sacking. He did nothing to help the meeting continue and then when the (hopeless) referee asked what the conditions were like he just told him to call it off! Didn't see anyone from Poole doing anything until it was too late. (nor the referee...who looked to be just out of nappies...couldn't we get a senior referee?) Can't see how the riders were too blame. They were just left in limbo whilst the keystone cops faffed around. Eventually when junior referee called a meeting with the riders at the edge of the track we saw Chris Louis urging him to make a decision one way or the other and stop delaying. When the ref said lets give it a go, but we'll stop if we get anymore rain, Crump said "come on let's do it" and the riders were ready to go back to the pits to get ready to race. A complete shambles. Looked totally like the lack of organisation was to blame.

You're a Poole fan....what about the Davids0000ns?

No, you have your 25th season testimonial in your 25th season. Same as you have a testimonial for 10 years with one club in the 10th year. If he waits until next year it will be his 26th year.

Like I and others have already corrected you...He ISN'T a Coventry asset! If he'd had one for 10 years service to Coventry (whom he transferred to in 1992) it would have been in 2001....but he didn't, and he subsequently transferred away from Coventry in 2005 (Even though you didn't know this). However having signed his first contract as a 16 year old in 1982, he completes 25 years service to the sport in 2006 and gets a much deserved testimonial.

No. Just the one.

Wrong. He signed for Belle Vue in 1982 and rode in their championship winning team. So his 25th year is this year 2006.

He's a Belle Vue asset isn't he? Didn't Tony Mole buy him at the end of the season. And isn't it to mark his 25th season of racing rather than a testimonial for 10 years at a particular club?

Do you mean This one ?

Agree totally. Conference League is a contradiction in terms. It's either a Conference or a League. Since it is made up predominantly of British riders I would say "British League" or "British Conference" is the best answer, with "British League" being favourite as the competition is run on a league basis not a conference basis.