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And then between themselves and sponsors pay riders the kind of money that they need to pay for, and maintain, those bikes and vans. Money far in excess of what the sports crowd levels and financial income can justify... And all to try and win something that they then systematically destroy the very credibility of due to using a truly ludicrous operating model for a pro sport... Imagine a couple of promoters taking the UK Speedway business plan and operating model to the Dragons Den programme, and asking for investment...? The Dragon's response would resemble those Martians in the Smash adverts of the 70's...

Well done!

Max has more than doubled his average this season. Last season, he averaged about 1.04, which was masked by the league minimum 2.00 GSAs. Now it's 2.35. Freddy's average last year was about 1.52 - now it's 2.70. Earth-shattering? No. But it is measurable progress.

It’s always the same with tracks falling foul to property developments.

Love that assessment and couldn’t agree more.

My answer is Wayne Brown and Steve McDermott away to Stoke in 1980. 29-48 Berwick win.

What will 2026 UK speedway bring? A Headache

What will 2026 UK speedway bring? Another gigantic headache.☹️

Maybe British speedway can exist without these riders and focus on the ones that want to race in Britain as a priority? This opens up opportunities for young riders to establish themselves and clubs become more stable as they don't live beyond their means by paying riders who don't see Britain as a priority.

Time will tell but I think you are showing ostrich tendencies on this one

I agree the current state the country is in, means walking into a job like the old days is not going to be easy. I think I heard or read, Paul Stark works as a bricklayer also Richard Lawson works on site and that Palm Toff took a day off work to guest for Edinburgh last week.I'm sure there are plenty of others who have a job. Someone like Bomber, who's had a great career. Has rode at the top level for quite a few years, so I would guess he has never had to work. So in Bomber's case It could be tricky. He does though ride on the continent doing Long Track meetings, so maybe he will not find it as tough as some of the others. Regardless there does have to be a reality check. In other bike motorsports i.e Moto X and Road Racing, only the top riders are professional. If you look at our sport. Riders who ride in the UK, Sweden and Poland are genuine professionals. Riders who only ride in the UK are either not of a level that promoters of Polish and Swedish want or they are quite happy to double up and ride in two leagues here in the UK. Unfortunately for these riders, speedway in the UK will need a drastic change next year and if whats been muted, one league. Doubling up won't be an option.

Fairly sure Gorzow will win on aggregate quite comfortably now. But losing Vaculik & Lebedevs means they're likely to struggle again next year. They desperately need to find a decent 'senior' Pole. Do the club lose or gain financially from hosting a GP annually?

Surely in the current economic climate, both riders and promoters should be working together in making the sport as cost effective as possible. It's economic suicide for riders in the lower leagues having to run the same equipment and budget as the top riders. The promotors and riders have to cut their cloth accordingly.

If they stay up they will compete, they have a debt but an accepted debt by the league which has a multi year plan to pay it back. The issue is with relegation, this is what the club fear will bankrupt them.

I totally agree with the general point you're making, and there are far too many who think a Championship team place or higher = made it, but having said that, what jobs are we expecting riders to get? The world is a very different place to 30 years ago, it's hard for young people to get any job now, let alone one that'll be flexible enough to let them fulfill a full speedway calendar. The clubs do need to take a stance and call the riders' bluff to some extent, and make them realise it's either take it or don't ride speedway. The tail cannot wag the dog. However, it's very difficult to see how that would actually work in the current climate. I wish I had the answers.

There's no guarantee that Gorzow will even compete. I hear their financial plight could be worse than feared.

The full article indicates he had several offers in DK but Varde fitted in well with his other commitments in Europe next season. In Varde's own release directly below Bailey's it stated that he is also expected to sign a contract in POL for 2026. Suppose the question may be whether he will even do the UK with other Continental Meetings such as SGP2 qualifiers etc. Hope he does follow the well trodden path of UK as so many of his compatriots have. Doesn't bode well for Poole I suppose considering we have no idea of next season League structure or fixture list. That's assuming they were even considering him of course. Can still hope of course as he is one very bright and exciting talent.

Beau Bailey signed for Danish side Region Varde, don't know how that affects him potentially riding for Poole

Because the promoters demand it.

Thomsen was superb for yesterday, finished watching the replay this morning. Could have been different had Fajfer rode but Gorzow only actually got 6 points from the RR. As far as Bydgoszcz deserving a spot in Ekstraliga over Gorzow, well in terms of infrastructure Gorzow Stadium is far better than Bydgoszcz Stadium. Bydgoszcz have obviously built that stand on the back straight recently which is an improvement but the terracing on the bends is a fair distance from the track - I assume the track used to be much, much bigger? And as with viewing from almost any older stadium the air fence impairs the view from corners. Gorzow were looking for somewhere to practice that was similar track to Bydgoszcz ... is Leszno the nearest in terms of shape & size?

as bad as the masons..🤣

a personality would help with half of them

The championship is a very huge jump from the NDL, you're riding against some premiership number 1s and riders that have been at the highest level. Max and Freddy last season were struggling for points (Max was even dropped). At the start of this season they'd have had a good meeting if they scored a point outside of heat 2 but now they're scoring 6+ points and really contributing. While they've not suddenly doubled their average like Cairns did I don't think it was really expected they would. They have definitely had a big improvement, Max and Freddy would run laps around their start of season selves, If they just had a bit better consistency and could carry their home form to more away tracks they would make a significant gain on their average but again it's a tough league so they'll need more time to build on that.

It's a sad state of affairs when two riders on 2 plus averages have impressed you. I'm not being disparaging in any shape or form. It just shows how far the standard has dropped. I dread to think how low the standard will be next season. I would imagine the two riders you have mentioned, at least one of them will be in the 1-5. That will be replicated across the whole league. So the dilution will just keep on diluting until it can't get any weaker. Yet one things for certain, the price of admission won't being going down to reflect the lower standard of the sport!!

Regardless of it's one league or two. the sport has to acknowledge, more so the riders. that riding in front of less than a half decent semi pro football team. doesn't warrant them being full time professional Speedway riders. How has speedway got to such a point? Some riders do work, how many I don't know, but a lot of them don't! The older riders like Bomber will find it hard to cope, but lets face it, he's had a good run. But he like a lot of the others will have to cut down on their bikes and all the little extras they ask for and god forbid get a job!. There are too many youngsters who are no where near the standard to be called full time professional Speedway riders. Lets face it, if it weren't for the bank mum and dad they wouldn't be doing it anyway, because the sport has now got so far out of hand. why in the third division even the second division do riders have to have two to three bikes and big Mercedes vans? Go back to the 70/80s 90% of riders in the second division worked. That was when the sport had a lot more tracks, riders and supporters. It's a sad fact that come next season with all the top riders gone, the only option left open will be for riders to go Semi Pro. The sport in GB has to start to cut it's cloth accordingly, or sadly, there won't be league racing as we know it anymore, just amateur racing like over in the Isle of Wight.