Gresham78

If anyone's intersted there's no park and ride facility at Cardiff City's ground this year even though the team's playing away at Ipswich. With a rail strike set for this Saturday I would have thought they could do with every parking facility in the city available. Parking details for the event can be foound here https://prnewslink.net/releases/32094.html

So this the state the sport’s got into in the UK; the British Final and some riders deciding it’s not worth their while riding in it. Well as someone who has supported this event in the past ( at considerable cost as I live nearly 200 miles from the track) I don’t think it’s worth my time going to watch it. I don’t know what the criteria for riding in the final is but Lambert & Woffinden should be in it as well as that would surely bring in a few hundred more bums on seats. Riders should be supporting these events if they want the sport to continue in this country thus enabling them to continue earning a living doing the thing they love the most.

Good meeting last night & a great effort by the Panthers to push Wolves all the way. As a Swindon fan it’s sad to see two more teams who are set to lose their race tracks. With other teams futures in doubt, the sport as we know it in the UK is on the brink of collapse. Whats frustrating is that places like Oxford and Glasgow seem to be thriving so it shows that Speedway can be successful in this country.

It’s clear that today’s statement has come as no surprise to anyone. From the moment the picture of Rosco with a set of stadium plans in his hands with Osborne looking on was published GI has shown absolutely zero intent to press ahead with redeveloping the Abbey & this announcement was always going to be the outcome. ‘Swindon Motorsports Ltd’ is surely some sort of tasteless joke - what a motley crew. Its just a ‘sop’ to the fans “Look don’t worry about the Abbey, we’ve formed a shiny new company to build a new stadium” Not only is this bad news for Robins fans but it has wider implications for the sport in the UK. How long will a 6 team Premiership last? I think the BSPA was banking on the return of Swindon to shore it up but with Peterborough’s uncertain future it really does look doomed. Would love to be at the AGM this year.

Cheers Arthur

Thinking of going to this but haven't been to Poole since pre pandemic. How much is the car park now & is it still exact cash only ?

Thanks Arneig. It’s very changeable at the moment so I think I’ll pass on it today If I lived closer to Oxford I’d chance it.

Rain forecast for Oxford this afternoon through to early evening - what’s it like at the moment? Got a 120 mile round trip to make so weighing up the odds of the meeting going ahead

To be honest with the mess they appear to have made with the ticketing, Cardiff City FC being at home on the day of the GP (so the excellent park & ride option that stadium provides will not be available) plus a rail strike which will mean a significant increase in traffic, I think I’m just going to settle for watching it on my lap top and save all the hassle. But for all who are going hope you enjoy the day and the racing is good

Cheers Heathen. As a Swindon fan we don’t get to see much track action there’s days!

Thinking of coming up for this . As I'll be travelling from deepest darkest Wiltshire how's the weather looking? Showers are forecast for about 5pm but only light. That's what the BBC's forecast says anyway but they have been known to be wrong! Can anyone provide a more local forecast? Thanks

Went to the protest outside the stadium, about 25 -30 fans there. The Advertiser & Richard Crowley we’re in attendance . A few photos of the protesters & a couple of interviews with Richard and that was pretty much it really. The mood was a bit downbeat, nobody feels confident about seeing Speedway at the Abbey again. Rosco’s sister was there & she said he and the club don’t know anymore than the fans. Richard Crowley said he’d emailed Clark Osborne and his second in command at GI twice asking for an interview but strangely enough received no response. Richard said there’ll be a piece on Wiltshire Radio about the protest tomorrow at 7:30 in the sports bulletin. Fair play to all who turned up but I don’t think it’s going to make much difference. Can’t see GI being moved enough to make any sort of statement.

Swindon fan in exile; First trip to Oxford in about 40 years. Given what’s happening, or more to the point what’s not happening at Swindon this may end up as my local track ! First impressions are good - tidy set up with toilets that work which is a luxury for us Robins fans! Sunny warm evening, hoping for some good racing. Well done to all at Oxford in bringing back the sport to Sandy lane.

Thank you davieb 1 & PoerfulPierre

Thinking of going tomorrow night - has pay at the gate been reinstated at Leicester or is it still advance ticket sales only?

Yep, totally agree.

Sadly it seems to be going that way. Credit to Rob Godfrey & co for running the Premiership this year but with only 6 teams it’s all looking a bit forlorn. Im planning to go to Leicester this year sometime - let’s hope the Championship thrives this year..

Haven’t posted on here for some time but I feel I need to get the views of other Swindon fans; does anybody really believe the Robins will take to the track again at the Abbey Stadium? Read what Jason Doyle said in the Star the other week about Swindon fans needing some reassurance that speedway will return to Blunsdon next year. As per usual Gaming International have resumed their normal stance of total silence regarding anything to do with the redevelopment of the stadium. The problem is all through the process of the stadium upgrade GI have displayed very little will or intent that they really want the work to go ahead. I feel sorry for Rosco and the owners as I think they’re as much in the dark as the fans. I realise this is a bit of a gloomy post but I’m still feeling really disappointed about the closure of Somerset as I was going to go to the Oaktree this year to watch the Rebels in lieu of seeing the Robins. Is there any sign that work has started at the Abbey?

Not sure this meeting will happen tonight. We're definitely going to get some rain today. BBC forecast has rain from 2pm through till 9 whereas AccuWeather is more favourable showing intermittent showers. I think they'll do everything they can to get it run..

Well done the Robins but I expected more from Wolves; they're a much better team than they showed tonight. A professional job by Capt Doyle and his men.

I've been going to Cardiff now since 2012 and i've enjoyed the occasion each year until last year where I had a bad experience with somebody in the seat in front of me who seemed incapable of remaining seated for the the entirety of each race and this year like a number of others I found the racing to be lacking much excitement and very processional. The fact that we had the top three riders in the final I felt it should have been a lot more exciting than it was. Coupled with the alternative Park and Ride being full when I arrived and having to fork out £15 to park elsewhere it won't rank among my best Cardiff experiences. The fact is you're never likely to get the best racing on a temporary track but with the Principality stadium we're able to showcase the sport in one the UK's top arenas which in my opinion is great PR for British speedway. However, I do appreciate that people get different things out of their GP day and that for many its the chance to meet up with friends, have a day out eating and drinking with the GP as a back drop to the day. And whilst it continues to pull in 35 -40,000 fans each year it clearly works as an event and I would not advocate moving it elsewhere and in particular to Belle Vue even though the racing would almost certainly be better. Why would you move it to a venue that can only accommodate around a quarter of those who currently attend? The GP in Cardiff is very much British speedway's blue ribbon event and given the fragility of the sport at the moment I feel we need to keep it going to try and maintain the profile of the sport in this country.

Thanks Rob and to everyone else who's responded to my message.

Anybody know an alternative to the the Park and Ride at Cardiff City Stadium as assume this will be unavailable this year as Cardiff City are playing at home on the day of the GP. SGP Cardiff website has no information whatsoever about event parking this year which is oh so helpful.

Don't know what's happened to Ipswich - can't believe this was the same team that pushed Swindon really hard at Blunsdon a few weeks ago, Pieszczek was outstanding that night but was really struggling tonight as were most of his team mates. The Budgies didn't have to break sweat - Doyley & Batch were a class apart and helped themselves to paid maximums. Special mention for Ellis Perks again; that guy tries so hard 4 paid 5 but deserves more with the amount of effort he puts in. With Wolves losing at K Lynn tonight, think we're well in contention for a play off place now.

Wouldn't be anything to do with the fact that the Chairman of the BSPA owns Kings Lynn??