scotty2hotty

But the vast majority have been closed down due to landlords accepting the big bucks from people who want to build houses. How many of those defunct tracks have now got houses on them or will have very soon. Very few close down due to lack of support. i actually think Speedway is on the way up actually. The crowds at meetings last year, granted in the Premiership, were fantastic most of the time and the enthusiasm from fans (apart from the usual moaners) was second to none.

All 2023 GP Riders and also Leicester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Ipswich, King's Lynn and Peterborough. The first bike is £8.50, all subsequent bikes within the same order are £5 each. Available at Model Bikes – Jaybea Designs

I'm afraid I have sold out in the shop now, hopefully if he is back next year I will have more!!

they need to get people through the gate, that is the most important thing. No , winning the league may not give them much financial reward the following season, but it will give them huge crowds for at least one play off meeting, which in turn could help with team building the following season.

Hes had a haircut and ditched the bucket hat!!!

My Dad Colin Barber Birmingham 1970-75 Mildenhall 1975-79

I think 99% of Drew's problems in 2022 were financial. The costs are so high, but the points money for reserves is not good. His equipment was not the best as he couldn't afford the costs. He needs some good sponsors and he needs new equipment. How frustrating it must be when you know you are good enough, but you haven't got the speed. It knocks your confidence and you start thinking 'is it me or the bike?' He does also have a tendancy to 'strop', but I think this year, he has realised that that wasn't a good look and didn't win him friends or supporters. I really hope that Drew gets a team place at some point in the Uk this year, an up and coming British rider should not be having to go to POland to get a ride.

If you had spent thousands on a 2020 range, as most people who run merchandise shops did before covid hit, you would not be prepared to chuck it to one side and spend thousands more on a new range. Come on Martin, you can't keep comparing everything to Poland. If it was your money, you wouldn't do it. But its easy to waste other peoples.

They are £8 for the first bike and then £5 for each one thereafter. It covers the cost of postage.

RIP Archie, lovely man.

Yes there have been too many tracks closed, far too many, but many are adopting other tracks. Quite a few Coventry at Leicester every week and quite a few Lakeside at Ipswich, Peterborough etc. But I have actually felt this year, that there is a new buzz. Crowds have been healthier at many tracks. Maybe coming out of lockdown has made people realise what they have and how much they missed it.

Oh Iain, why do you have do be so rude? I was merely stating that most people go to speedway for the spectacle and enjoyment of it. However, there are some people who will only ever pick on the problems and not actually look at what is good in the sport. If it makes you all so unhappy and all you can find is fault, why do you go? I never said the sport is perfect, it is going through tough times, but the basic product is still the same. Maybe we could look at the good and build on that instead of continually finding fault and problems.

Rarely to be honest.

I work at a lot if these tracks doing the track shops, so I see a lot of people. This year i have seen many new fans, a lot with children and a lot of returning fans. One guy came into the shop at Leicester last week and said he hadn't been since Blackbird Road closed. He had watched it on TV and enjoyed it, but thought he would come and see it live again. He was almost in tears of delight at the spectacle he had witnessed and said nothing beats live speedway and he had caught the bug again and would be back next week. What I'm saying, is that new people don't care about the politics of the sport or the rules, they just love the experience.

What a fine post. Spot on.

What difference does that make? Its still four blokes racing on a track. I always used to think it looked easy, until one day someone asked me to lift an engine into my boot. I couldn't move it. Yes I am a girl, but it was seriously heavy and yet they throw those bikes around the track making it look easy. Amazes me how they do it.

So, how about you? Have you ever ridden a speedway bike?

I believe he has, yes. Second halves at Mildenhall I think.

At the end of the day, whatever the politics of the sport, it is and always has been, 4 blokes going 'hell for leather' racing on a track. It is still the same product it has always been. Perhaps if we stopped worrying about the politics, the rules, the riders etc and just went back to enjoying good racing in its purest form, we might get somewhere. I am not a Promoter myself, but had a family member who was one for many years. I saw what it did to him and what he went through, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. It is a thankless task.

The definition of safety has changed over the years. Now for some, unless the track is perfect, they moan. If last night at Lynn was Poland, they WOULD have ridden, no doubt in my mind. Sometimes, the tiniest spot of rain has some riders running for an extra pair of underpants. I would suggest they are in the wrong profession. I may sound harsh, but speedway meetings have been run in far far worse conditions than last night at Lynn. Also, when you say that the Promoter shouldn't make the final decision, no he should not, but at least give Buster the credit of knowing when a track is rideable, as he was preparing raceable tracks before some of last nights competitors were even born.

Rubbish, that man has done more than his fair share for British Speedway. Half the problem is 'fans' tearing British Speedway apart and the people who put blood, sweat, tears and their own money into entertaining you week in week out being criticised and ridiculed at every turn. If you actually knew what went into running a speedway club and getting a meeting on and everything that goes with it, you wouldn't be so quick to pull people like Buster over the coals. Coupled with some riders with have complete contempt for the paying public. buster has been doing tracks long enough to know when a track is safe or not, Harris was happy to ride and I'm quite sure a lot of the others were, but there is always a few isn't there. If those riders really didn't think Buster could get the track round, they should have said and called the meeting off then, but no, they leave the paying public standing around, they get Buster to break his back to provide a good racing surface and then they say no. Disgraceful.

Lots of riders have their merchandise bought for them by sponsors. They then sell at the price they want, with all of the money going to the rider. It is a sponsorship a lot of the time.

Iain the problem with the clubs appearing to not want to go to any effort to get the meeting on, is not so much about getting the meeting on, its about who will come if they do get it on? A lot of people will simply not bother going if they think there is a liklihood of a postponement once they get there. And also, who wants to watch riders sliding around, not being able to see, basically a processional mud fest? This is one of the reasons Ian Jordan at Eastbourne gave. He said that last weeks meeting was the lowest gate since that promotion had been there and why? Because there was rain all around, which had been forecast and people simply didn't bother to risk it, coupled with the GP on the telly, it was an easy decision for a lot of folk. And who can blame them? There are other race nights, hopefully barmy warm evenings, where the crowd would be much more healthy and the conditions fantastic for some good racing.

Well maybe you wouldn't make a great Promoter after all.