Exactly the point I'm trying to make to counter the comparison argument from others for speedway admission to be lower.  

We already had someone who could beat No.1's at reserve in Dan T

The lowest I have paid anywhere this year is £18, but most tracks you are looking at a minimum of £20. Buxton promoter once told me that at his 'domestic' meetings he rubs 6/7 lesser formulas as he knows their 'pay to race' fees will cover his outgoings, so any paying spectators are profit. F1 meetings would have 'payouts' of around £4-5k in start and prize money on top of the other costs. Crowd sizes vary wildly depending on the formula with literally just a few hundred at some non-F1 meetings, up to several thousand at bigger meetings.  The fact that you think speedway has higher outgoings surely suggests that the prices should be higher, so the fact that admission to both is similar is a positive for speedway.

Thanks for the insight.  I still don't think it's a valid comparison to speedway though regarding admission cost.  The stock car meetings at Foxhall always seem packed, they charge for parking as well plus they get the catering/bar income.  Profits for these meetings I think will be way in excess of what speedway could make.  Do you know if the admission cost for meetings with lower formulas is significantly lower?  For speedway I'd estimate outgoings for each meeting to be around 25-26k, not adding in any profit margin.  They have to recoup this of course but I'd expect stock car outgoings to be lower. Overall, I think the entry price for speedway is ok in the Premiership.  Blimey, I paid £19 for a fish and chips meal at a pub last week plus £7 for a glass of wine - I'd have rather been at the speedway!

You do realise there are 2 GP riders in the other semi as well ? One who has a very slight mathematical chance of a bronze medal, and the other in a fight for a guaranteed place in the series next year. Why would it have been OK for them to race last night, but not fair for the Belle Vue riders ? Common sense would have been for the semis to start a week later, after the final GP.

I didn't watch it, so can't comment on Zmarzlik's actual performance, he could well have gated which he's far from bad at and stuck in his position without trying to overtake any of the riders in front of him.  8 paid 9 from 4 riders is a bad night for a rider who averages 10.87 in that league. No rider will get on the podium over the course of a GP series if they can't gate, not everyone can be Artem Laguta or Erik Gundersen away from the tapes but every rider in the GP series ever must be capable of making a reasonable consistent starts or they wouldn't be capable of maintaining a spot in the series. Mountain dropped for Zischke last year is evidence that is not always the case.