mikebv

Well he wouldn't have to worry about feeding the 5000....

He said grandparent.. Not great, great grandparent..

I think the key words are "even on an attractive average".. His average is exactly his level and it's obvious promoters don't see it as one thats likely to be improving any time soon.. Fans sometimes get blinded by the riding styles of riders and link it to their ability level.. Coming from last to third or second with a last bend pass after two or three laps of trying to get round your opponent might look great, but it hasn't won you the race.. You can run a second and three thirds, passing riders 'around the boards' in every race, and be 'rider of the night' in the eyes of the fans given the 'thrilling way' you did it.. Its still only five points though, and every heat could still have been a heat advantage to the opposition..

Can only be a good thing for the sport., Maybe it can be a catalyst for it similar to the way 'marquee' signings helped the (then) struggling MLS in North America..? Top level competitors coming towards the end of their careers, but with still enough talent to compete, and a name and reputation that resonates outside the sport's own followers.. On the rare occasions I attend GB League Speedway I go to watch 'the speedway' with no regards as to who wins so the odd 'legend or two' on view will definitely stir my interest.. Hopefully do the same for a few more 'lapsed fans' around the country too..

All sounds a bit fishy to me that...

500 or so non regulars minimum I would expect.. At every track too, until the novelty wears off.. If you can get 500 or so on the gate then that's around £10k with the programmes.. Three or four matches of those numbers and it would boost the season.. Presume if not all, a large part of his salary will be sponsored as he wont be cheap I would have thought..? Looking forward to the Peter Craven meeting now... Always a cracking meeting but now made a 'must go' event..

As you say, Speedway was well down his priority list but he would definitely have been around the top 10 riders in the World so becoming World Champ in a 'one off' final shouldn't have been a massive surprise.. Probably the fact he didn't ride over here that much meant his name and capability didn't resonate with too many over here.. Which at the time was the 'only place to be' in the eyes of so many.. I saw him ride in a World Best Pairs at Hyde Rd, (where him and Hans Wasserman finished 3rd) and got a pair of 'cow horns' for my Raleigh not long after..

A bit like Swindon?

Understand your view.. From an Aces perspective, and probably fans of all other clubs, it will be great to see him ride... However. I understand some Ipswich fans thinking that with over 8 pts worth of average invested they could have got someone 'current'.. A great signing for the sport as a whole I would suggest, and will help Ipswich (at least initially in the first few matches), financially.. Just not so sure it will help then make a challenge for the League given the average and his time out.. Be great to be proved wrong though as it means he will still be box office.. Personally, cant wait to see him ride around the NSS. His presence will definitely will get me there that night..

Or tarmac the track if he cant pick the riders he wants..

Fire regulations may be a large hurdle to overcome too... If someone can't access somewhere unaided (in this case using a buggy), then exiting the same venue in an emergency would be difficult to control with highly likely more people than buggies. Not sure that would pass a fire risk assessment given the level of detail that goes into evacuation processes with regards to public safety..

As no doubt several hundred athletes and cyclists around the globe will agree...

Circa (at best) 20-25000 people visit Speedway in Britain each week on average. My shop in a small part of Manchester has more customers than that.. That's the size of the sport., So.. Let the Promoters charge what they want and can get away with, supply and demand will dictate the business plan.. Most of those 20-25000 are complete die hards who will turn up every week regardless of price so fair play to the Promoter who can make money out of them..

Presume it must be in a 'conserve'ation area..? Buddum Tish.... I will get my coat.. ..

Phil or Jason?

I remember one night the meeting v the Aces getting 'fogged off' yet it was all clear at turnstile level when we all walked out.. The fog basically 'sat in the bowl' ...

No words.. One of a kind.... Truly Unique is an age of bland same old same old.. God Bless.. RIP Danny You burned bright, but sadly for nowhere near long enough.. Condolences to your family and friends..

The BDO darts did it last year with their 'World' Masters.. An organisation which is light years behind an ultra professional rival organisation that runs within the same sport... And is constantly ridiculed on social media for its amatuerish marketing, lack of clear leadership, dreadful crowd levels, unfit for purpose operating model, poor integrity, and has zero credibility in the wider sporting world media.. Any punchline can be added if required..

Unfortunately not running certain meetings can work out more profitable over a season than running them..

Agreed, And If some meetings are going to be guaranteed "loss makers" then they could just play 'rock, papers and scissors' instead to decide who goes through.. The positives are no loss making meetings. And the Cup could be done and dusted well before the cold nights of October.. Obviously it would be better to play 'rock, paper, scissors' in person rather than over the phone, to maintain the sports high reputation for integrity and credibility, (and make it more exciting) which will incur some travelling costs for the relevant team managers, but overall it would be a positive move forward for me.. Maybe even dip their toe in technology and use Skype and stream the 'matches' around the country to the thousands awaiting the results with baited breath? NB Best of Three home and away on the 'rock, paper scissors'.. No Tac Sub for double points if behind.. No guest 'rocks, papers, or scissors' allowed.

To be fair, with the sport allowing all riders to ride on an adhoc basis for any team, at any given moment, the changing of a draw won't devalue any competition too much.. Given the low level of kudos, publicity and financial reward in winning any Speedway title, saving money on travel whilst facilitating more 'local' derbies, which may produce larger crowds than riding against a team from hundreds of miles away, seems to be a sensible decision...

Yes they have, and it always struck me as strange that in this H+S litigious world cars and people could use pretty much the same strip of land.. Especially given both tracks had almost 'grass tracks' which the cars followed and no designated separate walkways adjacent..

Umfortunately the H+S laws dont make safety allowances for certain differences around each individual venue.. It will be solely based on 'risk assessment' with control measures then listed to be used, and followed, to reduce that risk and provide a safe environment.. If it's deemed having pedestrians at risk by being in a designated vehicle movement area, then there will have to be restrictions to reduce that risk.. As there will be if any pedestrian right of way is possibly impacted by moving vehicles.. It could only take one serious accident to close the facility down if proven they didn't follow the risk assessments and the owners could face criminal charges,.. Not to mention the possibly devastating impact to the person and family concerned. Sadly when it has an emotional impact, rather than just a functional one, you can very easily, and understandably, feel extremely aggrieved, even though those implementing the rules have no choice and are not targeting you personally.. Unfortunately, sometimes you simply cannot 'win' and, willingly or not, have to accept its the way it is..

I believe the pigeon is currently being prepared for its journey to HQ.. To be fair, it cannot be easy planning in fixtures when some teams haven't even got seven riders yet.. "Well, the ones I've got can be there on that Monday at the NSS, but the riders I haven't got yet might not".. The transfer window sounds like a move forward. Maybe a deadline for teams being announced should be brought in too? Sweden had their fixtures announced in the first week of December 2019.. They race on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yet Thursday is a GB priority night? So surely GB should put the fixture lists for Thursdays out first and Sweden work around that? You can only suppose the Swedes think "sometime towards the end of January" is a bit late to inform riders, sponsors and fans of their fixture list..

When I go to other sporting events all round the world I never see cars adjacent to the playing surface.. In football for example clubs have to designate a certain % of the overall crowd level for disabled customers but that doesn't entail them parking on 'the doorstep' from the section they are allocated... All disabled bays are 'as near as possible' to the entrances but don't grant instant access. (With the sheer size of stadia logistically preventing that from happening).. The law states 'reasonable adjustments' must be made to cater equally for all, which covers access.. Having cars in areas with pedestrians would be classed as very high risk I would imagine (especially as by definition those who are disabled will be less agile and mobile to avoid any issues that may occur), and any H+S risk assessment will clearly not allow that... As someone whose work life is directed by risk assessments covering 'moving vehicles in public spaces' I was always surprised Stoke and Buxton for example, could allows cars to pass within yards of pedestrians in a 'shared space'.. 'Reasonable adjustment' is very subjective obviously but in this situation parking bays as near as possible (and enough of them), would be a minimum requirement you would think (eg like supermarkets do)... You could argue that maybe having wheelchairs available to be used might be another adjustment but the counter argument would be that if someone cannot walk a 'reasonable' distance then they should probably provide their own transportation as they would need this assistance every day of their life not just for the Speedway. It is always more difficult when something is 'taken away' as you become used to having it and relying on it. And when emotions are involved it resonates even more.. As has been mentioned previously contacting the Showground for the definitive answer will be the best course of action.. Bottom line though is that they will have to follow all H+S and Discrimination laws like any other entity so will no doubt have covered off all angles legally if they are a professional organisation..