RPNY

I think you'll find most of the new tracks started-up in the 1997-2000 period, before BSI got involved in the sport Redcar, Brum, Somerset, Scunny, Weymouth, Plymouth.. They were all way after 2000 mate.. I also disagree with you saying crowds are down in domestic leagues since BSI involvemenet.. Look at last night for eg.. once again I'll say that in no way are BSI fautless, but to say that their involvment has not benifited British Speedway at all is just not true IMO

But in a indirect way it has helped british league speedway as the profile of the sport has gone up, league speedway has been shown on TV since '99, Sky money has gone into Brish speedway, new tracks have oepned up all over the country.. It's just a shame the Elite league is run like a sh it show at the moment. Ok so JP & BSI havent directly handed over cash but they have had a positve effect in some ways.. I get the feeling you wont agree though...

I think you'll find it has a lot to do with paying competitive wages. The money availiable in the Polish, Russian & even Swedish leagues is much better than in the BEL. And if we dont try and match that then most of the better Riders will race in these leagues instead of in Britain. Look at the English soccer leagues.. Most of the best players now play over here because of money, up untill 10/15 years ago they were mostly in Italy/Spain cos thats where the money was. With Regards to the league bending over backwards, that is just life I'm afraid.. Rugby players miss club games in order to play for their country/ in world cups, Cricketers ditto, the football premier league has to have Saturdays with no fixtures because of internationals - I'm sure there are other sports I could name...Top level should take priority..

No-one is suggesting that the British leagues are a wonder of organisation, but that could be fixed regardless of the SGP. As to the statement that the skill level is far far above what was seen in days gone by, well I'm afraid that's utter nonsense. With the exception of a handful of riders, the standard of the lineup in current SGP is very much below those of World Finals in the past. Zagar, Pedersen and Lindback - give me a break. Well I believe rider for rider the series now is better now than any one off final in my memory... It is ironic that you mention 3 riders who have all had podium finishes in a GP.. I am in no way saying the series is fautless, but it does make me laugh when riders, promoters, ex riders etc all say how much the GP has changed speedway for the better, yet the "experts" on here still talk it down.. Some promoters moan about the GP - and for one reason only, they get p*ssed off that their riders go missing.. Well run the league better, get a set night or 2 for British league racing, use the Sky money & other sponsorship better to pay competitve wages & it might all be a little easier..

Well I like watching meetings in Stadiums such as The Millenium at Cardiff. Meetings which are slickly run, dont drag on and are most of the time very entertaining with a level of skill far far above what we used to see in days gone by.. The GP series brings about the best of the best & the reason why our sport is a lot more high profile these days. I dont think the Reading Fiasco proves that JP cant promote speedway, I think he was just too ambitious for a 2 bob league run by an old boys club.. Ok he obviously got some sums seriously wrong too!! But I still say at the end of last season, I bet he was happy with the way things had gone at Reading...

I think it's great the GP's are heading back there. Hopefully all the previous problems will have been ironed out..

Sold them a crock of what? So your saying neither the GP's or John P are any good for speedway? Give over.

He can't be that rich!??

1)AJ 2) Nikki P 3) Adams 4) Zagar 8) Bomber 10) Scotty N

Do you run a cult?

I personally would like to see the last 4 places decided by a GP challenge type meeting, like what they used to have a few years ago.. The bottom 7 from this years GP plus the 4th to 12th place finishers (think Ive done the Math right there!) from the weekend qualifier in a last chance saloon race off.. They could get sky to cover it, it would be one hell of a meeting and I believe a lot fairer way to decide the line up for the following years GP series.. But I guess they need certain countries represented, therfore it wont happen.

Must be a little soul destroying that he's riding that good & still it's not good enough to win the world title.. I hope he continues, I think the guy is a class act.

Thank you matey

Anyone know what time the German GP starts? (Local time) I touch down is Dusseldorf at 2.00pm, hoping will have enough time to get there..

I try so hard not to be negative on here - but once again speedway shoots itself in the foot. Firstly the line up. Just shy of half the orignal line up being changed is a shocker. I cant blame PK or Crumpy (man that hurts me to not have a go at Crump!) as they are genuine injuries, but the rest I find hard to believe. Im a big Lee Richardson fan, but he has taken the p*ss out of those who pay his wages far too many times now. Secondly the track.. How can a muck up that bad be allowed to happen? Anyone who was a new viewer to Speedway would have switched off very quickly. IMO they need to have the ELRC at Perry Bar & the PLRC at Coventry so it's central/neutral for everyone. Also it should be very high on the BSPA's priority list to find a major sponsor & therefore good prizemoney for these meetings. The Riders Champioship used to be second only to the world final itself, now it's Speedways equivilent of the Carling Cup. If we want our league to be taken seriously and held in high regard, we can at the very least make our glamour event a success - not the c0ck up we witnessed last night.

Very rough & tough of you to insult someone whislt sitting anonymously behind a computer...

Schumi I dont really agree with you on the arrogance / lack of spirit but again you do make some valid points. I still say he's top 10 & am quietly confident he will get an automatic GP place for next year. Though I believe that he probably thinks himself that he should be doing better than just getting an auto GP place for next year..

Stuart I would for the most part agree with you there, I think it's pretty hard to disagree with what you say..I'd put him in top 12 in the world tho! Certainly top 16.

I'm not saying the guy is world champion material. Im just saying that he is a very good rider, much better than yourself, Subedei etc make out. Lets be honest the top 5 in the GP's evolves very slowly, if changing at all. Most of the guys there now have been there a few years, Hans being the exception. It was a shame that he had to get seeded through to this years series, but if I remember rightly he missed a GP thrpugh injury last year & yes he started off badly in the 07 GP series, but I was at Lonigo, and that was one hell of a smack up he had.. Once again, I dont think he's the greatest rider in the world, but by the same token the 'too fat', 'ex British Champion', 'not worthy of GP place' remarks are over the top, on Par with the stupid remarks Hans A recieves on here. Your just mugging yourself off when the guy is obviously not doing too badly on the world stage riight now - and I repeat, not world no.1 material, but not doing too badly.

Im talking about current form, which in sport is all that matters. Also the title of this thread is implying Nicholls is back to his best form. So really, even though you are correct that he should have made more finals over the years, going on about his past under achievemnets have no releveance to this subject.

When it comes to sponorship there are 2 reasons you do it. 1) Exposure of your company/Product which he'll receive through Scott being in the GP's 2) Because you want to back someone you have an interest or you support. Alan Ham isnt stupid, I dont think he was backing Nicholls and expecting him to become world champion. He's probably doing it to give a brit rider the most help he can. Also, if you see Nicholls in normal clothes (ie not his race gear) you will see he's not remotely over weight. After 3 Semi finals including a final apperance you still you put him down.. Taking blind hatred to a new limit!

The Danish GP will be moved? Really? I thought they had a full house this year.

What a waste, Laukkanen will finish last, he's not even doing it in the premier league this year.

Complicated break of his had apparently. He should definately be seeded through next year, no question. I hope PK gets a few GP's beore the season's out, he's a class act.

I'd pretty much agree with you there. I definately think they need to have a system where the bottom rider (maybe even bottom 2) are replaced from GP to GP.. It would make the competiton even fiercer. I believe they did for the first couple of years in the GP.. Someone Lindgree/Sullivan would be putting on a much better show than Tonio right now.