GWC

I hope GED isn’t lost to the sport as it needs people like him. Maybe Workington might attract him.

In view of the Cook issue perhaps Poole let riders display their own sponsors and avoid any club sponsor problems. Or maybe a carpet cleaning company isn’t quite sexy enough!

Harsh on Perks and Thomas in a Premiership meeting when they are CL and NL riders.

I recall Silver putting up the price at Rye one season stating he wanted his riders to have ‘top’ machinery. I think they finished near the bottom! Its what he does as he’s a business man first. If attendances are affected then he takes the blame. Half his team are school kids who would probably ride for pocket money so don’t understand his logic.

The plans show a sound barrier to go around the whole stadia.

I think speedway in general has been hit by a perfect storm of issues since 2007. Austerity, top riders either retiring or disappearing and older supporters dying off. Add in the general decline of most of the stadiums that puts off new supporters.

I’m afraid that is the level we are now at in the UK and if it means speedway clubs will survive then so be it. Until we have more Lamberts coming through that is.

I should imagine the financial outlay to have a GP rider like Iversen is considerable so investing for the future with riders committed to the UK makes sense.

Years ago the team averages were based on your last 6 matches so team places yo - yo’d a lot depending on the riders form. It made it a lot more interesting in my view with riders suddenly going from reserve to heat leader and visa versa. Of course there were more matches then and riders were far less professional.

False economy of the asset system

Diamonds now have 2 home based riders as opposed to the guys who would have incurred higher costs for accommodation and travel.

Just as Rye House had ‘unforeseen circumstances ‘ when they cancelled their meeting against Swindon if I recall. Theirs was terminal unfortunately!

Presumably there is no council order for the stadium owners to put up a sound barrier where track alterations are to be made? If not then they can start the season as things are and avoid costly alterations.

Shame the lad doesn’t have a ride in NL to fall back on. I expect that situation to change as well!

Whatever the debt is it’s clear Mr Scott isn’t the ‘multi-millionaire’ he was alleged to be when he took over the club.

Some promoters are not blessed with the intelligence to handle situations and have probably got where they are in life by bullying. Rob Godfrey strikes me as an intelligent man who cares passionately about this sport but one or two others are not. As has been said the welfare of the sport is paramount and a need for ALL promoters to work together now more than ever.

I lost track of speedway just at the time when Weslake and Jawa were the dominate engine and then came back to the sport when the lay down invasion had started. Did Weslake just give up down at Rye or was it their commercial decision not to compete? Whilst lay downs have made the sport quicker and maybe more spectacular the safety of the riders isn’t and the knock on effect has been the introduction of the air fence and loss of racing lines. Its just as well that medical technology has kept aspace!

Bob Humphreys never saw him overtake!

Speedway still has a foot in the door media wise with BT. It’s cheap for them and unfortunately they can dictate the price as the sport is desperate. The promoters must become ‘joined up’ if the sport is to survive as just looking after their own businesses will put others out of business. The sport will unfortunately continue to down size as there are not enough riders and overseas riders will be too expensive.

And it may get tougher to sign EU riders if qualifying national championships are used as a benchmark similar to Australians.

Workington like other clubs relied on riders from the Premiership and visa verse. So who pays for the van and accommodation? The doubling up and down has, in my view accelerated the decline of clubs at this level.

It now puts huge pressure on Aitkins and Rowe and their experience at this level is zero. I doubt the side will remain unchanged for very long....

I remember Danny Masson at Rye and he was way out of his depth I’m afraid.

Engine development in the Motor industry has been encouraged (forced) to produce smaller and more efficient engines that go just, if not faster than before. Surely the majority of UK tracks (Belle Vue apart) do not need such high powered engines. Reducing the cost of engine maintenance should be the priority if the sport is to continue as it is in the UK.

We used to have a thing called ‘second half racing’ where reserves especially would be pitched in against the best of novices and unconnected riders. Competition is the best way of gaining improvement and many riders got a team place this way. The sport is at a crossroads and it’s now more than ever we need riders, and local at that, to fill our teams.