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Unlucky Aces, started decent and thought we were in for a long night but we turned it round after heat 8 and kept the foot down to get the job done. Tough conditions for both riders early on and not as big crowd as I expect but weather might had played a part. I want to mention this though… my Polish mother in law came over and she has a close friend who was diagnosed with cancer recently, and she has an operation next month. Her favourite rider is Bewley so today after the meeting we waitied to see if he would give us a minute of his time. He was very polite and listened to the story of her friend, he put his bags down and wrote a message out directed to her, wishing her all the best and signing it. For me, it’s something he didn’t have to do especially after that meeting and not the best performance but he was still willing to be a kind human to help another out and make her day. I wished him all the best for the weekend and off he went, sometimes you can get caught up in the racing but these guys are just humans like us and whether Ipswich won or lost tonight I would remember that gesture of kindness over speedway. Good luck Saturday Dan B.

And you're a fine example of somebody who loves to attend speedway meetings in person right? Shame you said the exact opposite three months ago....

If i want to go to a meeting I go to the venue. What about those that are unable to attend a meeting for family or medical reasons? Nobody is asking you to spend any money on a "cheap and nasty production". I'm not aware that there are any available, anyway. You sound like a very bitter person who doesn't really like Speedway at all. But sensible people regard BSN as a superb service, which provides people with the opportunity to watch the sport they love.

They could go for a high winds setup with their bikes 🤔

As gutted as I am to see the Lions lose I think that a Witches victory is probably the best for British Speedway, first of all that size crowd doesn't deserve to be sent home unhappy and hopefully many will return. Ippo have been the team to beat for the last 3 seasons, they took the financial gamble in bringing Emil back 3 years ago to partner Doyley and we've all benefited from that, they've worked the rulebook to within an inch of its life this year (and fair play to them for that) and they've got a true local legend captaining the club which is rare to see these days (even though he comes in for a bit of stick from certain quarters) Well done Witches, well deserved and earned... our final was the semi final again (we've got to stop celebrating semi final victories like that!)... it's our turn next year

Regardless of it's one league or two. the sport has to acknowledge, more so the riders. that riding in front of less than a half decent semi pro football team. doesn't warrant them being full time professional Speedway riders. How has speedway got to such a point? Some riders do work, how many I don't know, but a lot of them don't! The older riders like Bomber will find it hard to cope, but lets face it, he's had a good run. But he like a lot of the others will have to cut down on their bikes and all the little extras they ask for and god forbid get a job!. There are too many youngsters who are no where near the standard to be called full time professional Speedway riders. Lets face it, if it weren't for the bank mum and dad they wouldn't be doing it anyway, because the sport has now got so far out of hand. why in the third division even the second division do riders have to have two to three bikes and big Mercedes vans? Go back to the 70/80s 90% of riders in the second division worked. That was when the sport had a lot more tracks, riders and supporters. It's a sad fact that come next season with all the top riders gone, the only option left open will be for riders to go Semi Pro. The sport in GB has to start to cut it's cloth accordingly, or sadly, there won't be league racing as we know it anymore, just amateur racing like over in the Isle of Wight.

No, it is definitely not a joke. As I posted earlier, I lost my Track in 1964 and 1974. I am still very bitter about the way it happened, both in 1964 and 1974. You get to love a Sport and it is taken from you - it is no joke and certainly not funny. I sympathise with the Supporters with every Club that has gone, or will go to the wall. Even if Sunderland returned net Season, it is too late for me, I could not attend. It upsets me very much the way Speedway, our Sport, is shrinking. When one can see what has happened at Cradley Heath, Coventry, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Wimbledon, Hull, Newcastle, Swindon et al - to me it is tragic. These were all great Teams years ago. I know I am getting on in years and some will say (not all I hope) that I am a silly old duffer living in the past. There is an old saying: "The past is another Country; they do thing differently there". Quote attributed to L. P. Hartley.

Ace rode brilliant on the night and has ben the last few weeks. To get his confidence back up to the level it is has been very much a work in progress type of situation. Its still on going but we are certainly getting there. Jody had passed Nagel in Heat 6 on the line and then been all over the back of Dan Thompson in heat 9. I did deliberate over the change in heat 12 but decided in my mind that Jody was very capable of beating Perry or Hodder and deserved another go at Thompson. I agree Ace deserved more rides but I didn't feel anyone warranted being taken out of a ride. Tate led heat 14 with Ace until a mistake out of bend 4 saw him nearly run into the back of Ace and ultimately cost him 3rd place when Hodder past him. If that hadn't happened Im pretty sure they would have gotten the 3-3 that looked on the cards. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and afterwards its easy to say I should have done this or should have done that, however its a big balancing act about juggling with riders confidence while getting what I feel is the best results for the team. Hope that answers your questions Gav

Thank goodness Howarth let Kemp win that one... or Kemp may have pulled up at the back 😁

Wouldn’t have had a meltdown if he wasn’t selected behind the Russians or Fricke or Michelsen or Vaculik ….. however if someone like Becker was in ahead of him then yes How the hell is Tai in there??? Farcical Left out last season …. Has a serious crash that ended his season early So in what way is he a better selection than Michelsen or Vaculik or even Kvech? Wasn’t good enough in 2024 in arguably a weaker line up … has missed a whole season so who knows how good he will be …. Awful choice

Max has more than doubled his average this season. Last season, he averaged about 1.04, which was masked by the league minimum 2.00 GSAs. Now it's 2.35. Freddy's average last year was about 1.52 - now it's 2.70. Earth-shattering? No. But it is measurable progress.

Oh get over yourself- the attitude of an handful of Ipswich fans on this form has been pathetic over last couple of years- constantly hounded about our track, fans and riders and giving a dig at every opportunity even when their teams aren't involved in it. Do I think most fans want to see Sheffield open? Absolutely. but with way the club has been lambasted by some i also feel there's some that would relish seeing the demise of the club i support. I'll leave it there. If people agree or disagree I don't care anymore. Outside speedway I'm a Wednesday fan so seeing both clubs you support potentially go to the wall is pretty draining.

That's wind

If people think Covid is fake they really are utter numpties. These people really do walk amongst us. Luckily I am up to date in all my flu/covid jabs so the virus isn’t too bad for me and I am on the finishing straight back to health. But it’s very unpleasant and `I have had three solid days where it’s been quite bad. Not as bad as flu which can take you down for 2-3 weeks. Everyone should get fully vaccinated for themselves and their families. Anyway back on topic and Up The Pirates! Let’s beat those Bears and get our first trophy!

You're going to Leicester on Thursday? Good news for those going to Ipswich.

Unfortunately that is it until 2026. Thanks to all the riders, clubs, officials, broadcasters, forum members, particularly Racers & Royals and Stewmac and all in involved in the Polish league racing, it has been great watching all the meetings here in the UK and hopefully many will get the opportunity to turn up at tracks in Poland next year to experience all that is great about the sport of Speedway.

The whole sport is based on what individual promoters want to do... They even pick their divisions to race in, even if clearly too strong, or nowhere near strong enough, for that particular league.. For a pro sport, there are simply too many people who see it as an expensive hobby, rather than a business, so therefore, because they spend so much for hardly any material financial reward, or even local public awareness of any "success" they may get, they make up rules to circumnavigate what a "normal proper pro sport" would allow, thus driving a coach and horses through the sports credibility... It is quite a ludicrous situation that people willing to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds then devalue the very competitions they want to win, however, you, can see why they want to win them, regardless of their stature, when they spend hundreds of thousands of pounds!! I cannot think of another pro team sport in the UK with such a small following, small financial reward, a lack of sponsors from "outside" the sport, and such a small amount of public recognition, both locally and nationally.. (And definitely no other team sport has such an incredible operating model)... It is truly ironic that the very people who "save the sport" by spending so much, (who all love speedway and are well meaning), are the very people that prevent growth, and higher finanical rewards for success, due to the way they run things... When all are focused in what is good for UK Speedway, and not necessarily what is ideal for themselves, the sport may have a chance of moving forwards... Seven figure costs are met by the promoters each season as a collective, on riders alone, so surely now is the time to get that huge, (and for such a small sport a truly incredible outlay), to work for the sports' growth?

I’ve been waiting on a Glasgow fan reacting to this post but it might land better from one of us. You have obviously never seen the lad when fit. He was superb the last 2 times we were at Glasgow and he most certainly has a huge future in Speedway

Congratulations Glasgow, that was a great meeting with two teams giving it their all. I just hope Leon & Dan don’t have to get split up next year due to averages, they are speedway at its very best and when you throw a Bomber and a Kyle into the mix around Ashfield no-one else has a chance Sadly on a sour note, I apologise unreservedly to the Glasgow fans who suffered verbal abuse during the meeting and physical abuse at the end from a couple of drunken louts. Football louts receive bans…….. there is NO place in speedway for this behaviour

What night of action. Will cover the negatives first. The bizarre decision on the re-run in heat 1. Any explanation over the tannoy would have been good. Just gave enough time for the rider to get sorted like it was some youth meeting. The human error of putting the red lights on, sure it could happen to anyone but that was amateur stuff. Both incidents benefitted the away team. Track still wasn’t at its best. Lots more dirt than Tuesday but probably little clay put in to bind it. Now the positives. Glasgow winning in the last heat decider over two legs on our home patch was simply phenomenal. The atmosphere was electric. Always great when a big travelling crowd come through and make a lot of noise. The place was buzzing, the tension built and built till the amazing heat 15. Tigers top end was always going to be strong. BSN’s great coverage. A semi final being run in relatively warm and dry conditions, let’s hope the final isn’t decided in a swamp. Well done to all involved.

I'm fed up with people picking on Tatum. He does a good job and is enjoyable to listen to, get off his back!

Quitter Kemp a disgrace to the club! Get him out!

Surprised at Hawkins going for Doyle over Brennan in 15. Tom took a while to get his set up right but once he did, he was absolutely rapid in his final two rides.

Woffinden ffs I hear Bruce penhall was available

Yes it is because the sport is run by the riders for the riders

They have completely ruined the world cup week format. back in the day it was a brilliant spectacle , even if the racing was gate and go it was still exciting and well attended. this new format is absolutely pathetic. why oh why do they change things that arent broken but any thing broken they do nothing about?

The winner of the SGP2 should definitely be nowhere near the main SGP series, it's generally years before they're anywhere near the level required to be in the main series if ever at all. The last WU21 Champion currently in the series is Max Fricke who won it in 2016, it's taken him 10 years to get from that level to his current level and he's still relying on wild cards to qualify.

Your problem here is that Poole and Glasgow are run by very successful businessmen who have no interest in losing lots of money just to keep the dying Premiership going. Where would you get the very large sums needed to persuade them to move up from? The Premiership has been living well beyond its means for years and is no longer sustainable. If the top level of British speedway is now to be roughly Championship level so be it, still a lot better than no speedway

The championship is a very huge jump from the NDL, you're riding against some premiership number 1s and riders that have been at the highest level. Max and Freddy last season were struggling for points (Max was even dropped). At the start of this season they'd have had a good meeting if they scored a point outside of heat 2 but now they're scoring 6+ points and really contributing. While they've not suddenly doubled their average like Cairns did I don't think it was really expected they would. They have definitely had a big improvement, Max and Freddy would run laps around their start of season selves, If they just had a bit better consistency and could carry their home form to more away tracks they would make a significant gain on their average but again it's a tough league so they'll need more time to build on that.

In all honesty, we should be thankful it's Poland who's calling the shots. What did we actually manage in the late 90s/00s when GB was in control? Everything Poland has now should've been GB, with the Sky deal, the top riders, the money, etc., etc. We ended up with green helmet covers, pissing money up the wall on one rider, and zero investment in fundamental parts of the sport.

If this is true, right there we have one of the problems with British speedway, riders these days expect, well those days are long gone, the sport isn’t in the position to pander to these demands,some of the things riders expect these days is unattainable and it’s not just top riders, I got told a few weeks back about a current championship rider who wanted a large guarantee to ride in a amatuer meeting, riders deserve the world but unfortunately the cake just isn’t big enough to feed everyone the slice they want

But as has been pointed out every time you mention it, other people have experienced exactly the same at other tracks. It's not just a Sheffield thing - every team has dick heads !!

Taking half a meeting to adapt to track conditions isnt acceptable at the business end of the season. Did the Glasgow riders mis-judge the track walk, did they ask for it to be ultra slick, did they even know what they were getting beforehand? Whatever it was it can't happen again, we have some hefty points deficits to claw back in our next two home meetings. Its all very well bringing in Andy Meredith to boost our GP or SGP2 chances next season but if it is affecting our core product its a no for me. Lets prep the track to suit our riders wherever possible, its brings the best out in them and allows the racers to shine.

R87 is just a wind-up merchant looking for attention. Everything that he says is complete boll*cks and as someone quite rightly pointed out, he is a liar. The contradictions are laughable. Bizarre that he spends time on a forum about a sport that he continually derides and can’t be more negative about. Such odd behaviour.

Harris is a great rider and servant to British speedway. I was there with 40,000 other when Bomber won the 2007 Cardiff GP. What a ride! He has been great and rarely injured. He was talking about retiring several years ago. Glad he didn’t. Needs a huge testimonial meeting when he does hang up his Kevlars.

I don't know but they're keen as mustard 😁

I call him the Goat not just because how many titles he has won but because his ability on a speedway bike, it is far in excess of any rider now or historically, he is an out and out racer and he has provided some of the best 4th to first moves of the last few years, his ability to read a situation and react is matched by nobody, he never jumps the start, he never has mechanical issues his discipline and his will to win are are a hard act to follow, statistically he isn’t there yet but he is 30 and 6 times winner, 8 medals in 9 years 6 gold, that is the Goat

Why do they let Morris f#ck up the track every 4 heats.Itsmust be frustrating for the riders in the 1st race after Noah has done his work.

Speedways greatest ever rider

Starting with your English teacher?

Congratulations Ipswich,probably the best run club in British speedway

That’s a bit unfair, no matter what you think about Tatum he has served his time as a class speedway rider and just for that he deserves the fruits that the sport can offer him

Not going too well though, is it...

No Chris Harris tonight ? What kind of play off final is this.

April Fools Day has been cancelled next year, because no amount of pranks can match the unbelievable stupidity of the FIM right now...

Funny how I supposedly hate Poole yet I spent the afternoon with Matt Ford and his wife here in France.

Really enjoyed getting to see one heat from the referees box. That was a great experience. Even got to press a big red button in the middle of the race. 🤠

I do feel some people are going a bit overboard on the cancelations, especially in the PL. The season does not finish until the end of October, so there's still around 6 weeks to run 4 matches. The alternative is to finish up by the end of August... and people would be complaining about that. I think it's more imperative that clubs invest in track covers more than ever, with riders not wanting to ride at the slightest site of a wet track these days, track covers would certainly allow many of the fixtures to take place when there's been the 4 o'clock shower that leaves a track saturated and the sun is out at start time. The CL on the other hand, that does seem to be a bit more shambolic with all of their competitions still having a long way to run.

Only rider who deserves a wild card is laguta who was robbed of defending his title by the woke tossers that are the FIM

After the complaints about Kurtz and Bewley on Thursday night, it was good to see Fricke and Holder on Saturday prioritising their Prem SF commitments 😉