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I'm waiting for some news from the comets management before celebrating tbh, not that I'm wanting to sound negative.

Well at least we know there is a chance we could be running next season, so that's positive. Points limit had to be reduced, the difference between the top two leagues this season was virtually nothing.

Workington lost a similar amount by all accounts. Success on track didn't generally lead to the required increase in attendances, coupled to more outlay (points money) and no prize money the losses soon mount up. Although with losses at these sort of levels it does beg the question of how much tracks really can afford to pay riders?

£16 is fair enough for something you really enjoy, but how do you attract the "floating voter" at that price? I've tried and tried to sell it to folk before, and they're usually genuinely interested - until they ask the price. The last person I spoke to about it said she'd take the kids to the pictures instead. I think it was £7 (or £7:50)back in 1999 when speedway returned, now I certainly not saying it still should be that price but at present prices I think its definitely built itself a barrier to attracting new customers. Of course there's no guarantee at, say, £10 that you'll attract new custom, and who has the cash to bare the costs of trying if it all goes belly up? As for the concessions, my old fella came to his first meeting of the season for the championship play off final. He's 65, gets his pension, works full time and earns double what I do. In short, he's got money coming out of his ears. It cost him less to get in than me. Go figure. Now I wouldn't have a problem with concessions for those who had actually retired (along with those on low incomes) but there is probably no way of differentiating between the haves and have nots at the turnstile. Anyway, I'll have to cut this shorter than I'd like because I've got work to do :-p but personally I'm happy paying £16, even though I have concerns about how much it helps the sport in the long run.

There were / are still a few of us who pay in but we've (or at least I have) been told to cancel my direct debit as they don't know if they'll be running next year.

Sellafield won't support motorsports, that was the answer they gave northside anyway.

And the sun is now splitting the trees

And now it's brightened up, can't afford many (or any) more downpours like that tonight

Because Rene is still feeling the effects of his crash last weekend.

As frustrating as these fixture changes are, you can't get away from the fact that the root cause of all this was the lack of fixtures earlier in the season. 5 competitive home meetings April - June? Far too disjointed, and not for the first time.

On a more positive note, the racing was quite decent at times. Lambert had his best meeting at derwent park by a country mile and looked class. Woolley, bowtell and dugard are the rider's who should be filling the reserve berths at this level imo, not the likes of sarjeant who should be able to hold his own at second string by now (he was impressive last night). 7pm start should mean 7pm start though, unless there are exceptional circumstances, which I really don't think there were yesterday. That meeting should have been wrapped up by 9pm last night, as it should be every week. It's October, it's cold and there is very little excuse for what happened last night. We're down to the die hards now, who'll turn up every week regardless, but will still have a whinge. Problem is if you're not a die hard you won't whinge, you just won't turn up, which is what's happened (not only here by the sounds of it). The popular side Cafe was opened with positivity but that's ebbed away at an alarming rate and already seems almost abandoned, with the two initial generators being first reduced to one and then none. Customer is king, if they don't turn up its not their fault, it's yours to put it bluntly. I really hope we do get things right and continue, and I do understand people are losing money and it's not easy, but it's so frustrating watching this sport sleepwalk from one short sighted disaster to another.

Delayed start was bad enough but who thought it'd be a good idea to then have a parade? Bars closed on the popular side, cafes ran out of beer and there are no chips at either the cafe or the burger van.

Thanks for the support ;-) Having read back through my texts, spoken to a few folk and read comments on the odd forum, I'm happy to announce that I'm quite comfortable with my views on last nights proceedings, and certainly not alone in them. I also have a reasonably thick skin (immeasurably more so than some riders, it seems....) and wouldn't dream of tempering my opinions for fear of upsetting someone or, God forbid, being called a name :-)

Definitely more fans on the back straight than usual. Not as many in the main stand as last week but still a good crowd in there (it holds @900 when full).