False dawn

The more interesting question is, why didn't they just run the meeting a few days later in Ipswich? Why the rush and therefore need to find an alternate venue?

Apologies, but I've been a bit in and out of this. Why was Dan not riding in this meeting in the first place?

Ah but. Woffy is talking about making the trip now".

It's rapidly becoming my favourite saying, but sometimes you have to "Becareful what you wish for". The word on the street is that the BSPAL have renamed this meeting "The British Open Championship". It went out on Twitter and Bartosz Zmarzlik has applied to take part.

Son Nephew of Gwordon

I can't see there being a shortage of suitable restaging dates. It's not like there is a major clash of dates with league matches or anything! Technically, you press the pause button on the stream until the meeting is restaged. Alright, I'll get my coat.

I think we need a reality check. If we ban all riders, riding on a Russian licence, what do you think will happen next? [hint: Gleb Chugunov]

Unfortunately, the British Final lost most of it's prestige when it stopped being on the qualification route to the old one off World Final. Back then, it was typically held on a Wednesday night at Brandon and the world and his wife turned out to watch it. The meeting regained some credibility when the winner became the automatic wildcard at Cardiff. But Brtish Champion? The title carries far less kudos these days. As to this meeting. I think the addition of "Open" to the name would have been appropriate. Running any kind speedway meeting this year is inherently difficult. We should enjoy it with that in mind rather than worrying if it qualifies as a "real" British Championship event.

Here's the averages adjusted for their leagues. My numbers, take them as you will. Crumpie is as per his alloted average for this year's league racing. It is, as we all know, a complete guess: Lewis Kerr 5.56 Drew Kemp 3.00 Danny King 6.84 Chris Harris 6.16 Steve Worrall 5.68 Josh Auty 6.00 Richie Worrall 6.48 Josh Bates 5.00 Jason Crump 8.21 Joe Thompson 0 Richard Lawson 5.80 Tom Brennan 4.76 Ben Barker 5.72 Edward Kennett 6.8 Paul Starke 5.12 Rory Schlein 6.64 Dan Thompson 0

There seems to be a growing "conflict" between those that "deserve" to be in the GP series and those that are chosen to be in it. Those that deserve a place via their finishing position in the series has been reduced from 8 to 6. Thus, those that can "qualify" via other means has therefore increased. The winner of the European Championship is one way most would support (maybe?). We, in the UK, might be a little biased just now. The timing and allowable entries into the Challenge has been widely criticised and I for one find it a little bemusing watching a competitor in the current championship who could score zero races points in all 8 GPs but still knows that he quaifies for next year's championship. And at the same time, we rip up a perfectly good scoring system because we dislike the fact that a GP winner may not be the top championship scorer on the night. A strange set of inconsistent standards in my view. And then we have the national political view. I'm not talking about politics in the normal sense. Rather I refer to the "need" to have a balanced set of different nationalities in the series. This is admiral in one sense, in that the governing body wish to make this a world series. But we've seen how wildcards have been awarded in the past which are hardly justified from a sporting standpoint but seemily based on ensuring a good attendance at certain GPs. We have to take stock. The GP series has completely supplanted the old one off World Final. The purists can continue to debate the point, but that ship has sailed. There is a political element to who participates in the championship. Some countries (actually one) dominates the sporting panorama just now [temporary]. TV is a big influence. But surely, the concept of fairness has to ultimately rule? We, as fans, many of us for a lot of years, can see a sporting unfairness when we see it. Surely, what we want, without necessarily know how to get it, is to have the best in the World competing for the ultimate goal?

The cancellation of this meeting is due to the rise in COVID cases and the quarantine / transport restrictions. We might get to the end of the week but there is a good chance there won't be any more speedway this year after the British Final.

The email clearly says, "Once we’ve announced the new date for 2021 a further 30 day refund period will be provided with details to follow".

I can't type fast enough. By the time I'd posted my long winded response, three other people had already beaten you up (figuratively).

The norm is that the British Final is before Cardiff. So if 2021 is anything like a normal speedway year (we can hope), there will be another British Final before Cardiff 2021, the winner of which will qualify as the wildcard.

A slightly nerdy aside..... We were reminded on Saturday that the FIM rules don't allow dead heats. If two riders finish on the exact same time, to 3 decimal places, is the ref expected to judge the relative finishing positions to a greater degree of accuracy? Not sure what distance a thousandth of second represents, but it can't be much more than a fag paper! These refs can't be blind after all.