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I think you’ve completely missed the subtlety of the discussion which for clarity goes like this: 1/Noddy fails to rock up possibly because he got his visa application wrong and picked up a big black mark with the BA. 2/The promoter failed to grasp the situation and allowed the debacle to run for the first 3 months of the season. 3/ Eventually Noddy comes clean. 4/ Promoter thinks “oh sh..e I should have done something about this back in March and instead of falling in love with Noddy, I should have been courting Hansi. 5/Promoter panics and releases a press statement that says “nobody loves me anymore so I’m thinking of jumping the pirate ship”. 6/Rye House goes bust and “floods the market” with a couple of useful riders. 7/Promoter thinks thank god for that, all those nasty poles who I thought loved me so much have let me down and now, I’m my hour of need, 2 Englishmen (who previously I wouldn’t have given the time of day for), have thrown themselves at my feet. 8/Superstar Bomber arrives, crashes his bike and there is much wailing and bucket jangling to fix his bike. But, tough luck to the less fortunate rider who crashed earlier in the season broke his bones. 9/ Discussion on forum about the fairness of how the club supports all riders (or not). 10/Comparison between 2017 and 2018 riders crash costs and why one rider gets money and other doesn’t. 11/And then to the crux, if Noddy had played with a straight bat, Hans would have been in the team and Bomber wouldn’t have crashed because there wouldn’t have been a slot available. The essence of my posts on this subject is, we should be a club that looks after all riders signed up for a campaign. We should be a fair club and at the present it appears we only look after those whose faces fit....

And meaning most of the time heats are won from the gate. Poole’s track over Saddlebow 365 days a year.

Dire as a racetrack maybe but smooth, consistent and free of holes, ruts and bumps. Meaning all four riders can go flat out with confidence rather than worrying about being thrown off course.

It’s not Len Silver’s fault or Kent’s fault that they were without a number 1. That blame lies solely with Boxall for acting so irresponsible.

From the sounds of things Heeps wipes out Mcdonalds most weeks

Andersen probably protecting his average for next season!!

Congratulations to the Stars. When it came to the crunch, hts 13 & 15, Lambert and Iversen delivered. Iversen used all his experience & trackcraft in heat 15 to check Bewley's momentum coming off the fourth bend lap 2 when it looked like Dan was gonna swoop round him again. He's a class act NKI, fair play. Just a mention too for heat 11 involving Fricke, Lambert & Erik Riss - heart in my mouth as they passed & re-passed - not to mention both Fricke & Lambert nearly coming off their bikes at different points, 100% commitment from all three, breathtaking action!

What do you expect with the troll who started it

Haha!!! I will not be getting banned for saying what everyone thinks.

In fairness I would'nt count on it. Think they would probably struggle in the Championship at the moment

You've hit the nail on the head. Can you seriously imagine young fans standing on the terraces filling in programs the way we used to (still do)? They want electronic timing, fastest laps, big screen replays, modern looking bikes, manufacturer imputs etc etc

Exactly my thinking and why I am not in favour of him in the team.

One down ~ two to go.

Ove fundin fan .... 3 lap races 45 seconds of action riders will know the last lap is lap 3 and sort out their passing attempts accordingly. Most modern results are decided after lap one ( well by bend 2 mostly) . Maybe have more heats in a meeting ? Cut out all the time wasting at the start - if they aren’t up to the tapes let the tapes up .....the riders will soon stop their b gardening antics. There has to be MORE entertainment and less prims Donna rider antics. Appoint a Race Director at every meeting ( Phil Morris) who keeps things moving.

Sounding like they have might have cocked the track up. Loads of grading going on. When there’s a delayed start due to latecomers, I believe the meeting should still start on time. Very unfair on those that made it into the stadium before the allocated start time of 7.30. If a fan turns up at 7.30 it’s their fault they will miss some heats.

Sensible move to fit this in. A spare week after the demise of Rye, and a big holiday crowd. What’s not to like?

our photos from the DM-Final in Esbjerg are now online: DM-Final Esbjerg 2018

I too was very disappointed with the crowd last night, though I realise that it is holiday season. Last night was almost like our season starting over after yet another break in our fixtures, we were up against very good well matched opposition, we were at full strength (though some were struggling with knocks), we have our best 'team' for ages, we are watching a young local star in the making and even the weather was good. What more do the people of West Cumbria want, and what is going to get them back to DP ? Laura and Co. must be wondering the same and be seriously thinking about why they bother. For the loyal few, I feel we are going to have to make the most of the next few hectic weeks.

Sounds like the 50s, except for the three laps.

Wow ! What a fantastic night of racing last night ! It is a LONG time since I saw two absolutely committed teams compete like they did. It is incredulous to see such a low attendance though. Those that chose not to attend, have missed one of the most exciting meetings for a long time. This was one meeting that contained the sort of racing that the "Premiership" would LOVE to see each week I am sure. Not to mention our league ! Dan Bewley was HEART STOPPING in some of his moves..not to mention Ty. Thanks lads, for putting on such a fantastic heart pumping meeting. Here's to a few more !

Such fond memories of watching Bob race around Wimbledon in my younger days. The pairing of him and Trevor Hedge were so powerful in those days. His passion for speedway in general, not least his own club Eastbourne, is possibly only equalled by Len Silver. Both real characters in this great sport of ours. RIP Bob, and thanks for so many treasured memories.

Danish U21 final Friday 3rd August Outrup

Iversen won so Smederna now have two riders that won their respectively national individual titles on the same night.

Challenge final Landshut Saturday July 28th

Has another famous club gone to the wall? Rye House was always a decent evening out, for me a 100 mile return drive, but a pint and a bite in the pub, sit by the river, then in to one of the friendliest clubs around. But that's dreaming. Speedway urgently needs reforming, otherwise it's going to die. And that's no empty threat. I had limited experience as one of the consortium at Wimbledon back in 1987, but we learnt a lot. Most of that was from John Berry. Who remembers back in 1986 when he offered his services to run speedway as a "front man", but he would have been in charge of it? The promoters then, as they would now, turned down his offer. With hindsight, he could have been the guy to have saved it. In football, individual chairman (call them promoters if you wish) run their clubs, but the principal is the FA, and there are some very powerful people running that. Many years back I had a long talk with Len Silver. Love him or loathe him (and I'm in the former camp) he knew his onions. Even almost 25 years ago he told me the sport was being run by "amateurs". Now, this ISN'T a dig at individual clubs or promoters, but it seems to me that the BSPA as a collective really have some outdated rules and regs, and seem content to let the sport drift. If memory serves me well, back in 1987 Wimbledon paid (in the then National League (2nd div)), £10 per point and £10 per start, but if I recall, these rates were laid down and agreed by ALL promoters under the auspices of the BSPA. As there were 78 points up for grabs in the league match, that was £780 that had to be found. We ran a 5-heat 2nd half with varying rates of pay per race but that pushed the riders total to around £1000 for the night. We paid the GRA £1750 per week for stadium rent, shale, staff, and the hire of the team (they retained the riders contracts). I cannot remember our programme printing costs, but lets call it around £250 (remember these are 1987 prices). Various sundries probably came to another £250 so each meeting would cost approximately £3250 to run. We charged £3.50 admission for adults and £2 for children, with a free programme, so we needed approximately gates of 1300 all in (adults and children) to break even. The opening night, of course, was well above that, but there were the inevitable dips with some gates of around 750-800, and some of 1500 for special events. I left the promotion before the season end, but we weren't making any profit, and fair play to the other members of the crew who soldiered on, and eventually made the fatal mistake of taking Wimbledon back to the BL Div 1. It lasted but 6 weeks before the inevitable happened. Now, I'm not preaching the gospel in any way shape or form, but as a fan of 54 years I think I know enough about speedway to know when it's being driven into the ground. Promoters need to promote. From what I can gather it seems that only Sheffield are taking responsbiltiy for this. At the end of the day, speedway doesn't need a "Speedway Star" - it needs a "Speedway Czar". Unless somebody comes along, shakes this sport up, and takes it by the scruff of the neck and is able to get the publicity it so richly deserves, within ten years it will be as relevant as extreme marbles.