Vince

Talking of nonsense, don't know if you noticed but that wasn't Bydgoszcz last night. It was a track with long narrow straights and tight corners where the riders have to turn a lot harder. Therefore where a rider can take a knock at Bydgoszcz and stay on at Lonigo where there is no grip and he has to turn in harder he will go down. Certainly a classic Gollob move - works a treat on big open tracks ut you would have thought he had been excluded for it enough times now to know it's not the answer on every track! There have been some terrible decisions by refs in the GP's this year but I thought he was spot on in both cases last night. Despite my usually siding with the commentators as I think they have a very difficult job I must admit that Tony Millards comments about Lindgren were terrible.

OK ljh I will try to put my point of view to some of your comments. Firstly the rider who apparently can't handle rutted tracks without resorting to foul tactics. The fact that I can't immediately know who you are talking about indicates that you have seen something to give you this view that isn't necesarily viewed in the same way by others. I have seen so many riders in trouble on bad tracks in the GP the last couple of years that I have lost count. Undoubtedly some of them can handle ruts better than others just as some can handle slick tracks better. All of them handle either better than the majority of riders and are only seen as struggling when viewed against the worlds best. Without a doubt there should be a few deep and grippy tracks in the series and there should never be some of the tracks that we do see. A variety of circuits is desirable but although the worst tracks may provide uncertain results I would rather be entertained by the skill of the worlds best riders than a lottery produced by track conditions. Slick tracks: my guess is that on the 'proper' outdoor tracks this is done so as to try and avoid rain off's rather than a great Danish conspiracy. A slick track may well be able to run in poor weather conditions that would cancel a deep one. Some of the temporary tracks though are just a disgrace imo, they desperately need to get some advice from outside the sport on how to put a temporary surface in. From what I have been told they also need to get their hands in their wallets for the track at Cardiff, as the sports showpiece that track especially should be great but is far from it. Maybe a lesser 'star' entertainer would finance a better track which would be a great swap as far as I am concerned. As for Wembley on World final night one old time rider who competed there in either the late fifties or early sixties told me it was awful for the final at least once when he was there. I can see that the battle for the championship is over but for me personally the GP's are still exciting as people battle for their overall position and for the top few to see if they are improving as the build for next year. Even then we have had several important meetings with the Championship at stake rather than just one. I am also uncomfortable with the GP series being run as a seperate entity to the rest of the sport and feel strongly that the revenue could be used to help future competitors worldwide. As for the wild card entries I can understand your point but personally I think it makes sense to be able to include a rider who had mechanical problems in the qualifying rounds or if injuries kept him out of the top 8 the previous year. Though it might be more often used to ensure riders of certain country's get a place, while possibly not strictly ethical, does make financial sense I would imagine. To me while the GP's are far from perfect they are a little closer than the one off finals. I also thoroughly enjoy watching almost all of them, the exception being when a track is so bad that the worlds best riders are made to look like CL reserves.

I think a lot of us have been around the sport so long that in truth we don't really know what would get new people 'through the door'. Therefore I think you are in a better position to comment than we are. I think some of your ideas have been tried by individual clubs but not properly by the sport as a whole. I know some clubs have had riders go into schools and give away tickets. Personally I am not sure a safety seminar and Speedway sit too well together! Like the 'hold em' ideas. 4 riders 4 laps shouldn't be as complicated as it has got. Personally I would not be interested in a mascot but there might be many like yourself who would enjoy it so worth a go (the one at Reading seems popular). Perhaps local bands or even an inexpensive light show to go with the music being played could be effective between races. I would very much like to see a roadshow with bikes, music and Speedway videos turn up at shopping centres and other highly visible areas throughout the UK. It wouldn't be that expensive in the scheme of things but could reach many thousands of potential fans. I would also like to see a large scoreboard at every track as I think it is crazy that a newcomer could lose track in his program and not know how the meeting is going.

I have seen both systems at work first hand and would take the GP's as the best way of finding the best rider in the world every time. In theory there may have been a chance for every rider to win the World Championship under the old system but as already pointed out you didn't necesarily have the worlds best 16 riders competing then any more than you do now. There was also a chance that one breakdown or bad refereeing decision could ensure that there was no hope at all of winning the title. At least now these things should tend to even out over the course of the series. The qualification system is there to get riders through to the GP's and I can't think of any rider who is likely to be in contention for the title who isn't involved. Many of the tracks are poor now and that is the worst thing about the GP's in my opinion. However anybody who thinks all the tracks for one-off finals were good is wearing rose tinted glasses (more like welding goggles really). Even the hallowed Wembley finals, terrific atmosphere and all, didn't have the best racing track by far. I went to two Wembley finals and thoroughly enjoyed them but they were far from the best Speedway meetings I have been to with regard to the racing. Unfortunately bad ref's, poor tracks, super quick engines and so on have always been a feature of the World Championship. As for a rider with good machinery and little skill winning the World Championship GP series that is utter nonsense they don't even get to compete at that level without a huge amount of skill.

Unfortunately the Dragons have had to cancel their meeting due to be at Plymouth on September 6th. Next meeting is at Sittingbourne on September 14th. Can all riders please get their entries in by this weekend by contacting Julie on 01633 858899 or 07920002785.

Dragons have added three more meetings to their list. They are: Plymouth - Saturday 6th September 1pm Sittingbourne - Sunday 14th September 12 noon Sittingbourne - Sunday 16th November 12 noon

I would agree with almost everything in that post. The exception being the tactical rule which I detest in any form. I would be quite happy to let the meeting run exactly as the program with the exception of injuries. Take all strategy except rider positions within the team away from the sport and let the winning and losing happen on the track and I would be happy. I would also like to see the introduction of a short pre meeting practice session to take away some of the home track advantage and possibly the losing team to get the choice of gate positions to try and keep meetings alive. Agree 100% about the tracks, I still hope that Promotions will be convinced to prepare fair racing strips but I think it is going to take 2 or 3 years without the bonus point to happen (if ever). As for the BSPA, as Halifaxtiger says it is made up largely of succesful businessmen while the majority of this forum (including myself) isn't. Let's face it anybody who is as succesful as them has the opportunity to join them and show them how it should be done.

Didn't Hancock also hint at something similar? I would bet that there is a deal of unrest among the riders given the state of two recent GP tracks. I think perhaps a few of you should try falling off a Speedway bike before suggesting that riders do it on purpose as often as some would have you believe. I can't say it never happens but at least in the incident with Leigh Adams last night I can't see how Nicki P could have stayed on his bike - all 4 back would have been fair. I would also doubt that any rider would have been keen to go down deliberately even once on a track where a rut could have turned it into a highside or a broken leg very easily.

I am not suggesting that the tracks could be laid in the same way as Supercross but that the track builders have 30+ years of experimenting with laying a variety of surfaces (they use whatever soil is available locally) onto a bare surface. They also have areas that rut up and areas such as sweeping corners, faces of jumps and straights where it shouldn't - and the bikes are far harder on a track than Speedway is. To my way of thinking it would be well worth seeking their opinion along with anybody else who has relevent experience. Clearly the guys who are experienced on full time tracks cannot do the job on temporary tracks so something has to change. In fact I would put money on Ian Barclay being able to do a far better job of a track than anything that has been seen at Cardiff so far. He does have experience of Speedway tracks but he also spent years running a plant hire company so has huge experience of a wide variety of surfaces. As things can hardly get worse they have to look at new people and new ideas. I can see that bad tracks give unpredictable results which can make for entertaining meetings but I believe that a good, grippy, surface that the GP guys are capable of riding would give the same excitement with the worlds best riders racing rather than surviving.

I understand what you are saying and there will always be bad tracks at times but this isn't just the odd one. Last night was just the latest in a long line of temporary tracks that have very rarely been even acceptable imo. It really can't be that hard but obviously they need to have another look at how it's laid from the ground up. Maybe get somebody in from the Supercross track building company to bring a fresh eye to the way it is done. Possibly shale isn't the best material for a track when it hasn't time to bed in and an alternative needs to be found but certainly something could be done to improve things. I think the sport needs the temp tracks in the GP's to allow the use of the big stadiums but some serious time needs to go into making the tracks right.

I always thought that if a race was stopped after the first corner that somebody had to be excluded as the cause of the stoppage. I can think of many incidents where a rider has been unfairly excluded in a 'racing incident' because somebody had to go.

Don't know how many Speedway bikes you have ridden but in at least one of those incidents it would have been impossible for him to stay on in my opinion, I don't think too many would be willing to take a chance on falling deliberately with all those ruts waiting to hurt you either. All 4 back both times would have been my decision and the ref is the worst ever without a doubt.

The track was terrible, surely they should have learned how to keep a temporary track together for twenty races by now. That one didn't last the first four before rutting up and was the worst I have seen at Cardiff. It might make for a more entertaining meeting, especially for first time spectators but these are the worlds best riders being made to look like novices by the track. The likes of Hancock and Crump might well have dealt with the conditions but their comments afterwards clearly showed that they were seriously unhappy with that track. Just very lucky that there were no serious injuries, this is the sports showpiece and should be far better. The ref was even worse than the track, a complete joke. He has even knocked Ms Vardy from the top of my list of worst referee's, suspect Leigh Adams won't be sending him a Christmas card either. Don't see why Nicki is blamed for the ref's stupidity, no rider leaps back up after a first corner incident as they are expecting an all four back if it is stopped. He just happened to be the benefactor of a completely useless official, it's not his fault. Surely they will not allow him to take charge of two more GP's this year. Good to hear the Sky commentators actually saying how bad he was rather than sitting on the fence as well. The racing ended up not being too bad, mainly as a result of the bad track and mistakes though rather than the quality of rider which is not as it should be imo. Good to see the British lads back in the mix at least.

He didn't need to as he already knew how close he was and could only be inside and drifting out. I really rate Gollob as a rider but I thought it was way over the top even for a GP where they are all pretty aggressive

In my opinion turning left on the straight is one of the worst things a rider can do. He went acros gate 3 that lap and never did again for the rest of the night so I think that he knew full well what he was doing although I don't suppose for one minute he expected the outcome to be so bad. I couldn't believe he wasn't excluded as Steele is usually a very good ref, guess he saw it differently but it sends a dangerous message to all the young riders watching.

Just thought it worth saying that on Monday at Reading I saw young Chris ride for the first time since the Weymouth round of the U15's last year. I couldn't believe the improvement he has shown, especially when he is apparently not riding very often at all. He looked like he actually wants to be out there and going as fast as he can for four laps and he was smooth and in control the whole time as well. Well done Chris I was pretty impressed.

Don't listen to Shazzy Chris, it's all down to you mate not that fat old boy you let tag along

Due to the circumstances at Newport Speedway the Dragons meeting for Bank Holiday Monday 5th of May has had to be cancelled. Members will be updated with further information as soon as it becomes available.

Can confirm the following for the Dragons with more to be added: Bank Holiday Monday May 26th at Newport Bank Holiday Monday August 25th at Newport Sunday September 21st at Newport. Thanks for taking the calender over, it must be very useful to the riders - I only wish somebody had thought of it a few years back :-)

Nick and Tim have just got the latest forecast which is for rain overnight but blowing away by mid morning. The track is hammered in tight to allow the rain to run off and the meeting is 100% definitly going to run.

It's not so much the material, the drainage is excellent which means that as long as it stops raining for a fairly short while you can get any standing water off the track and it will dry very quickly. The surface itself doesn't have so much clay in it and at this time of year they use less fines (dust) and more stone so that it doesn't turn to mush. Fine material will absorb and hold hold more water than coarse. Obviously the downside of such good drainage is trying to keep it moist in the warmer weather. Spoke to Tim earlier and he has been keeping an eye on the forecast and is confident the meeting will go ahead. He will let us know for certain later today so I will then post on here if somebody else hasn't already done so.

If you or Nick email Tim he will sort you out with a team shot from last year I am sure.

As far as I remember it is 15 heats and a final. There is usually some junior racing as well.

Even a max wouldn't beat the post count for that joke now :-)

Marcin Kozdras is 20 years old and lives in Gorzow. He has ridden for Gorzow and Lodz and rides GM machines. That's as much as I could find out.