PHILIPRISING

I THINK it already has ...

SURELY we want the World Champion to be the best rider of the year not just a given day.

ONE problem is that British tracks are reluctant to put riders on a three or even two year contract (quite common in Poland and Sweden) because the goalposts keeping being moved every winter... and therein lies your answer.

DON'T think they agree to become assets. It just evolves once they have appeared in a certain number of meetings for the first track they ride for.

BUT does he have a valid contract? That is the hub of the issue. Rider contracts with British clubs usually expire on October 31 for obvious reasons.... tracks don't want to pay riders during the close season. So, if Niels hasn't got a current contract how can he buy himself out of it?

AT the end of the day these so called assets are human beings, not chunks of meat who can tossed around anywhere or pieces of property to be rented out or sold without any regard to their own wishes. If a club wishes to retain a rider after October 31 each year they should provide a proper contract, as is the case in Poland or Sweden. Once out of contract riders should (and probably are anyway) free agents. Freedom of movement doesn't seem to have any adverse effect in Poland and Sweden and the abolition of rider assets in the UK might actually provide significant benefits across the board.

STILL out of the country... will send one this week. Just don't tell everyone!

INCIDENTALLY, there was talk that Carl had been offered a bundle by the father of a young Polish prospect to help further his career.

THAT happened before the end of last season ... Carl wasn't with AJ in Torun.

AND one of the worst World Final tracks of all time (well, my time at least) as well ...

GHOSTWALKER: has Woffinden signed for any Swedish club? Thanks ...

TAKE another look at replays if you can and see how quickly NP clamped down on CH. That is why the referees say it was an unsatisfactory start. The conflict started long before Holder lifted and hit Pedersen.

JUST out of interest Andy, do you like anyone?

TRUE but I am sure we all strive to be... I DIDN'T say otherwise ... I simply pointed out that those involved with the SGP have nothing to do with cricket. Semantics my dear man...

THE use of the beloved Joker will not be allowed in the final four heats of SWC meetings next year. Tactical substitutes will be allowed. Team managers will have a free choice of which riders they want to use in each of the final four heats.

BSI aren't involved in cricket. BSI is a separate entity within IMG, have their own staff and Managing Director (Paul Bellamy) who is answerable to IMG's Head of Global Motorsport (Rob Armstrong). Humphrey's posts are thoughtful and nicely composed although not always 100 per cent accurate.

POOLE team manager Neil Middleditch has publicly admitted that the Wimborne Road track needs urgent surgery and will hopefully get it over the winter. Many of speedway's ills in general can be attributed to poor tracks. Give the guys a stage on which to perform and generally they will.

SWEDEN'S population may be ethnic but its demographic is not like that of the UK. It is just a fact that large swales of the UK population have no interest in speedway or motorsport in general and are never likely to. But, of course, we just don't have the cub culture that they do in Sweden and Poland and I do believe that is a major factor and something that we have never really overcome. Clubs in Poland and Sweden are much more part of their local communities like the soccer teams here. Favourite riders being shipped off years ago (rider control) was nothing like what we have now. The old Belle Vue team for example was virtually unchanged for many a year. Would both Peter Collins and Chris Morton have survived there now along with the likes of Chris Pusey and the great Alan Wilkinson? Do you believe that if the GPs went away British speedway would instantly and miraculously be rejuvenated? Or that the riders now giving it a miss would come flooding back. It is time to stop moaning about the SGP and try to regenerate British speedway as best we can. Scunthorpe and Somerset showed over the weekend that it can still be great entertainment when performed on decent tracks and with evenly matched teams. The ingredients are there, the chefs just need to work it out. Still don't know what this has to do with a Joker... TWK ... don't take it so personally. Speedway has to find a new and younger audience. Cricket was going the same way but came up with new formats that appealed to the public at large. There are many who don't like 20/20 but if cricket relied on the traditional county game for its income it would be dead and buried.

KEEP the faith ...

AND how do you suggest we (presumably you mean the BSPA?) break away from it? And how would that benefit British speedway? Of course I am interested in speedway as a whole. It is my business and, believe me, it isn't getting any easier.

WHEN have I ever said everything in the speedway garden is rosy? I simply stated that I don't think the SGP series, which is going from strength to strength and which has just enjoyed a tremendous season, is to blame for the troubles in the UK. Okay, Saturday night GPs have done the UK no favours. But many of the other problems are self-inflicted. Too many silly rules, too much dumbing down to the lowest denominator. Obviously this year the weather has dealt us (and by that I include Speedway Star's sales) a major blow. And, much as it would solve many of the problems, Elite league tracks all racing on the same night is never going to happen. Like it or not it is the top stars who attract the fans who might not otherwise go. That isn't exclusive to speedway of course. But British speedway simply hasn't addressed the problem that has grown out of Poland in particular and also Sweden allied to the fact that there are far fewer British born or based riders than used to be the case. Poland may be rueing the cost now or in the near future but the strength of their league and the wages their clubs pay has provided many riders with enough money, along with Sweden, to boycott the UK. These guys are not anti-British speedway by any means but racing on a Sunday in Poland and a Tuesday in Sweden is very convenient. Those who still commute back to the UK are diminishing all the time. It is costly and and time-consuming, especially when there are alternative and easier pickings to be had in Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic and so on. This is the real world in which we live. There was a time when most riders spent Monday to Saturday racing in the UK and a lucky few then hot-footed it to the continent for lucrative grasstrack and longtrack bookings that were the icing on the cake. Those days are long, long gone. And the money that the likes of Briggs, Mauger and Olsen could demand in Germany especially pales when compared to what some of the top speedway stars now receive in Poland. The SGP has nothing to do with the fact that many riders are simply financially better off not coming here. But the powers-that-be here haven't come to grips with reduced rider availability and cut their cloth accordingly. Lowering the points limit does not ensure lower rider costs. That has been proven. British speedway requires a radical shake-up, thinking outside of the box, innovative ways of attracting people back to the sport, providing better entertainment and value for money. Of course some of the traditionalists might be annoyed but they are getting fewer and fewer anyway. One thing that always trikes me when I watch domestic speedway in either Poland or Sweden is how much younger the audience is, how speedway seems to appeal to a younger generation there than it does here. But then those countries don't have such an ethnic population as we do and it is a fact that many in Britain have no interest in motorsport, and particularly motorcycle racing, and bow only at the great god soccer. Constantly changing teams from year to year alienates many fans who see their favourite rider shipped off elsewhere, a points limit as such patently doesn't work otherwise teams wouldn't finish so far apart at the end of the season. Fine in theory but not in practice. Speedway is on a slippery slope in Britain and it has to find ways of providing what the people want at a price they can afford. Not an easy puzzle to solve, I agree, but we must try. And before you ask, no I have no idea what this has to do with the SWC Joker either...

YOU cannot seriously believe that! Sadly, you probably do. To blame all the ills of British speedway at their door is frankly ludicrous.

NOT at all. If he seriously wants to make it in the Grand Prix then he will have to change some of his ways. If not, then he seriously risks blowing his career before it has even got started.

BSI covered this in their Press Release and when asked really had nothing further to offer. Yes, a British presence is preferable but only if they think the candidate is of the required standard. They believe - as do some of the people they asked - that Woffinden has a much better chance of holding his own and even to do far better than he did two years ago, which in hindsight was too soon for him. I do think that if not Woffinden then they might well have gone without a Brit. But, as they say, many feel that Woffinden has the talent, will have much better engines in 2013 than he did last time out, and could develop into an authentic GP rider. The view of many on here about Woffinden isn't universally shared although personally I do feel that he, like Ward, will find next season a make or break year for their GP and World Championship aspirations. Woffinden doesn't possess the sublime natural talent of Ward but both will need to come of age off the track, take a leaf (quite a few actually) out of Holder's book and realise what can be achieved but only if they knuckle down. Some will obviously disagree but, as they say, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

I HAVE always thought of you as an intelligent man Humphrey, although I disagree you with a lot of the time, but I am sure you would appreciate the time and effort that goes into staging events like the British GP at Cardiff and many of the other aspects of the GPs. Ask any of the riders what they feel about the behind-the-scenes organisation ... tickets, passes, facilities at tracks, security, etc. Or all the aspects of ensuring the smooth running of these events, especially when you compare them to everyday league matches, not just in the UK, which are often a shambles by comparison.