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If you want to keep team racing then run it properly with credibility and integrity, at the correct level decreed by the clubs' fan base levels, not the level that the ego"s of the promoters want their clubs to race at.... And run it on days when you can get your best crowds in, not when your employees tell you that they are available.. And do this once a fortnight but more if your fan base supports it... And dont charge more than £15 for an adult and definitely not more that £30 for two adults and their kids, but if you do charge more than £30, then dont expect most of these families to pay it more than once per month at best.. And if you cant meet the costs using that max £15 price point (£30 family ticket), then reduce your outgoings accordingly until you can..

It seems that many of the current promoters, with the exception of the Isle of Wight, just want to carry on with the same formula. It would appear they are not interested in getting round a table with marketing people, supporters of the sport, riders etc. There seems to be a 'my way or the highway' attitude. I think change could only happen in one of 2 ways, 1. new tracks open with a new formula and not called speedway, but it is still 4 riders going round a track. So you start, effectively with a brand new sport. 2. assuming the new sport is successful, the existing set-ups 'jump ship' to the new sport. The new sport would have to be amateur, certainly at the beginning and will probably have to be 'a track in a field', as the chances of a new stadium in a town, with that kind of land at a premium and all the other problems associated with the building of an inner or indeed an outer town stadium, won't happen. The biggest thing killing the sport, is the costs. I doubt current riders would accept a pay cut. Stadium owners are not likely to be sympathetic to reductions in rents. For the sport to survive, in my opinion, it has to ditch the 'glitz and glamour' mentality, that every rider is a superstar, needs multiple bikes, a sign written van etc etc, we need to get back to a rider, with a passion for the sport, not a passion for what the rider will earn, but a passion for riding a speedway bike. Those riders are out there, they are competing in grasstrack, paying to enter, driving long distances, all out of their own pockets. What is more, they are 'starved' of enough meetings to attend. They would, I'm sure, love the chance to also ride a speedway type sport, but without all the 'cloak-and-dagger' the riders get with speedway.

Anyone playing guess the attendance tonight, add me as a plus one because i can't make it tonight but have brought a ticket online.

King Jamie, good call. I agree about showing respect. I can promise you, at Poole, if Benjamin is introduced as ‘Ben’ it will be because I will have asked him what his preference is. I certainly consider a riders choice as being the most respectful method…That goes for difficult pronunciations too.

lets just say you know nothing

Being shown live on Slovakian TV - link https://www.rtvs.sk/televizia/program/17780/284870?fbclid=IwAR1GxSR8RpKyfsimdU9BcaHbJVP6H34__2G5pENNzQe6E4kqpF0KF0cME1o

?? Their largest outgoing is employee wages... They are one million percent in charge of that..

I think scrapping the league format would be a big mistake. It allows riders of different abilities to race at the same meeting in a meaningful way. Both myself and my daughters much prefer it. The razzle, dazzle of a Cardiff GP doesn't match a good league meeting in my opinion. Change the league format (regional competitions before a national play off perhaps) by all means but don't drop teams.

A big problem that has been raised before is that Speedway Fans are split distinctly into two groups namely supporters of a given team and only have interest in that and supporters of the sport who have no team allegiance just enjoy the spectacle on show. I for one feel that the league format could be scrapped, needing to generate funds for away meetings off the home gate just isn't working. 600 fans trying to cover stadium rents, 2 lots of travel, 2 lots of points monies etc just isn't working and is leaving a financial hole. Organise your home meetings on the day and time that works best for your fan base and run the meeting formats that suit best. Even if thats 7 vs 7 team meetings the host club can build competitive opposition to help generate a better gate. Should teams then want to get together and run mini leagues amongst themselves should their attendances support it. But the primary role of any promotion should be to promote their own venue, its clear that there has been no sensible collaboration between clubs over the years and thats what has generated the mess so switch it back to looking after number 1. The clubs that look after their fan base best will survive and those who don't will fold but at least it gives all clubs a fighting chance.

Poole's track last week was good... A bit too slick probably but you could tell by the closeness of most of the racing that the riders behind were confident that the rider in front, nor themselves, were going to hit any dodgy part of the circuit, hence were able to concentrate on racing, not just riding to ensure they completed the race.. And there were a few genuine passes made that were down to rider talent and not rider mistakes... On other visits I have made to Poole they have seemed to have MX 'whoops' down the back straight.... Or maybe it was just the tide was in... Edinburgh will do well to get anything from there I would suggest given how strong Poole looked last week..

So you been to poole this season nothing wrong with our track

astonishing isn't it. imagine Coca-Cola sales plummenting and their Marketing Director suggesting they solve the problem with a new advertising campaign. the slogan "Coca-Cola if you stop drinking it we'll stop making it!" Genius. Been happening at Newcastle for decades now. As much as it's a shame speedway just isn't sustainable in Newcastle. Brough Park is an expensive millstone which is too costly to allow the club to operate at a lower level and lower crowds and, lets face it, doesn't produce a great deal of exciting racing in the modern era. Speedway in this country reminds me of loads of those TV shows that viewers lost interest in after season three but are still churned out year after year until inevitably someone realises that nobody is watching anymore. The trouble is that those making the show are having a great time making it. They just never realise that watching it is nowhere near as entertaining as making it. I think it's called lack of self awareness.

Maybe you need both leagues and open meetings. There may be a number of tracks that prefer league racing, whilst others want to stage other types of meetings. Perhaps even a combination of the two. I'd imagine the reality is that most tracks don't have that many riders on their doorstep, so there would have to be some sharing of riders and travelling around even if you just ran open meetings. Plus seeing the same riders every week would get repetitive, so the costs of running league meetings may not actually end up being greater and it gives some context throughout the season. However, these sorts of decisions need to be made on the basis of some sort of 'market research', even if that's just a promoter's knowledge of what works for them.

Park on Holford Drive.....left turn at the lights 200 metres before the stadium...traffic is sh#te leading up to the One Stop!

Should be ok just allow 10 or 15 mins extra time on your journey.

No sign of Troy being unfit......first time he had seen the track, and clearly doesn’t know the passing lines like Scott and Paul. Pretty much finished where he gated on debut - won his race from the hugely advantageous gate 4 in fine style. Rode conservatively getting used to the track would be my assessment. TBH Eastbourne gave Kent a gating lesson last night, making full use of winning the coin toss and having gate4 in the early heats. No hose available at the Kent start line unfortunately!

Absolutely. He posts the same line all the time. Clearly doesn’t understand a track can be fixed, bumps and holes can VE taken out to produce a very good race track. Agree with Mikebv that it was slicker last week, the first time this season. But no bumps or holes.

Obvious opportunity for sponsorship from Lidl who could supply one of their checkout conveyors for rider involved in changes

Winning at Plymouth isn't for everybody

Just thought I'd share a few stats with you (got too much time on my hands tonight). There are 6 teams in the Premiership which means a total of 42 riders. Of those 42 riders 37 of them also race for teams in the Championship. That is 88% who will wear another race jacket for another team depending on what night of the week it it. So that is only 5 riders who are exclusive to the highest tier of racing in the UK and one of those is Josh Bates Can someone remind me again what is the point of the Premiership???

nobody earns anything til at least 16 so if you want them you have to entice them. But do you know what you have to do more than anything? Don't make them embarrassed to be there or say they were there because its perceived to be naff or uncool

That's actually a very good shout!. I've recently moved to Elmdon, Solihull and my shortest route is via A45, ring road then up the the A34 from Newtown. That route really is the definition of hell at the minute, as I would be hit with the ridiculous sprint bus works between Heybarnes and Bordesley Circus. Then the traffic from basically Aston Six ways bit of the A34 upto Perry Barr island. Last match I just stayed on M6 to junction 7 and went down A34 and that's what most fans will Probably do and its fine that way. Google Maps was trying to take me off M6 at junction 6, Aston expressway and then Victoria road before joing A34. Thankfully I'm not crazy and I don't love traffic jams enough to go that way

Personally I had no problem with people leaving if that was their desire? Afterall the promotion already has their money irrespective of whether they stayed on or not but personally I always stayed on after the main event and saw some cracking races involving not only the main riders but the novices as well.

Torun v Lublin Sunday July 26th https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BuYy9Fv5gQ

In the Czech Republic the Pardubice club has Ales Dryml, Vaclav Milik & Jiri Jirout & their sons Ales jnr & Lukas Dryml, Vaclav Milik jnr & Mario Jirout In Prague Jiri Stancl, Petr Ondrasik, Antonin Svab, & Antonin Kasper with their sons George Stancl, Pavel Ondrasik, Toni Svab & Toni Kasper