Leaderboard

the sooner the Polish no 8 rule is binned the better- Wroclaw had the equivalant of a Tac sub when leading !!!!!!

Starman, really? It was obvious he was talking about Dorset Knobs.

A big crowd at Stoke last night, but those who stayed away missed another Speedway Extravanganza at the Stadium of Wonky Light. A dodgy-awfully prepared track sent entertainment values soaring. If you blinked you might miss another faller. Stoke delivered on their aim to have fallers into double figures (10 at the last count). Where else in world speedway can you see 7 out of 15 heats awarded due to falls? Fantastic stuff. Why don't other clubs booby-trap the track in this way? Stoke convincingly won 8 falls to 2, which excited the crowd so much that they lifted the roof off the grandstand (at least I presume that's why parts of the bar ceiling are falling in). But despite winning on falls, Stoke lost by 7 submissions and numerous knockouts (mostly knockout blows to the credibility of the sport). Back to the beginning, Stoke started with a minute's silence for Roy Smallwood MBE (since he had worked at Stoke for over 40 years, an MBE seemed most insulting. He should have been given the George Cross for acts of heroism in extreme danger). I don't know if Roy was a good man or a bad man, but even if he is now in hell being tortured for all eternity, we can feel content that he is in a better place than Stoke. Roy was pictured in the programme in a 50s Teddy Boy suit. The picture was taken the last time the Stoke electrics didn't fail. Despite being dead, Roy was still in the programme's officials' list as the Pits Gate Manager. Then the announcer. It was his first time. Not just his first time announcing, but his first time at speedway (possibly his first time out of the house). He had no idea what was happening. Remember the taxi driver interviewed on BBC by mistake? It was far worse. The poor sod tried to hand over to a centre green presenter, but the presenter had no microphone. So the confused newbie had to read out Belle Vue names he'd never heard of all by himself, such as Ken Dicken and Joe Lola. The hapless announcer must have thought he had been duped into the Jeremy Beadle show, except for the fact that Beadle has been dead for 10 years, and is now presumably working as the Stoke Pits Marshal. Heat 1 and novice O'Keefe leads from the far better Clegg and Perry. He realises this is wrong and throws the bike at the fence to become first faller. SUN BREAK Heat 2 and O'Keefe becomes the first rider to cause an awarded race. Heat 4. O'Keefe retires and Shuttleworth inspects the "shale" to give BV an awarded 5-0 (Shuttleworth's first of 3 track inspections). SUN BREAK Heat 5 All 4 riders finish. This is to be an extreme rare occurance. Heat 7 Awarded again as the hungry Shuttleworth eats more "shale" Heat 10. Alcock falls, and Clegg goes an unexplained splat while in a comfortable lead. Awarded 5-0 Heat 13 Smith is the first BV faller, trying to use the outside on the first bend. (You can't do that). In the re-run tired Shuttleworth needs a third lie down on the track. Awarded Heat 14 Who else but O'Keefe falls. The ref puts on the red light and fuses the whole stadium. He's been over-using the red light. (Remember in the 70s when it got cold and you had to switch off the TV before you could put on the second bar of the electric fire, or else risk fusing the whole street? The City of Stoke still runs like this). The referee is warned that he must not use the red lights again. To do so would damage the flux-capacitor, destroy the space-time continuum, and we'd all be stuck here in 1955 with Biff Tattum, and Roy Smallwood playing Johnny B Goode whilst dressed as Stoke's answer to Showaddywaady..... Shoddyshoddy. The ref agrees that when the inevitable awarding of heat 15 happens, the race will be stopped by hand signals and the shouting of the moronic announcer, which will alert members of the track staff to wave red flags (the ones that are still alive anyway - Roy and Beadle are excused duty). Heat 15 and an actual race develops between Atkin and Lawlor. Perry is a distance back in 3rd, Clegg further back stone last. Lawlor chases Atkin and just gets ahead up the back straight. Atkin faces being moved into the outer part of the 3rd bend track (here be dragons) and tries to resist. The two collide and the race needs to be awarded. (the 3rd awarded race in a row, 7th of the night). The Announcer then announces Perry (who was minding his own business back in third) is excluded. The win awarded to Max Clegg (who was stone last). The announcer returns minutes later (possibly with a referees hands around his throat) to change the exclusion to Lawlor...but still has the awarded places wrong. After a further few minutes it is changed again. The MDL match is cancelled and everyone leaves, completely unsure on the final score or the final awarded decision of heat 15.

Because with the 1-7 Poole started with the bookies made them favourites. Quite clearly that 1-7 are nowhere near good enough to have been deemed favourites...................therefore the bookies got the odds wrong

Sorry! You aren't allowed 'better options' even though they make total sense.

people are saying it looks pretty similar this season i always thought that what the managers job was as well ?

I think you're burying your head a little bit here, Back in the 70s the wage was around £50/60 a week, and petrol was 6 bob a gallon ( 30p), I could take the wife and the kiddies, buy 2 programmes, drinks and burgers all round for less than a tenner. The night was full of enjoyment and exciting races that kept everyone interested. Looking back at a 74 programme that cost 1 shilling (5p), here were 23 races starting a 7.30 pm on a Saturday night against Hackney, (we lost 36-42.) The tenner probably equalled a 1/6th of your weekly wage, but we had nearly 3hrs of enjoyment watching 23 races. The same day out now is very different, with considerably less to watch, A lesser program, perpetually drawn-out to make it last does nothing to enthral the fans. Everything you buy, you pay through the nose,. Petrol £ 7/ gallon, Admission £18 a head, Programmes £3 each Drinks £3/4 a throw. Before, it was excepted as a normal price for a night out and each believed they received VFM, not any more.... It would be wrong to pin all the blame on costs, for the sport was much different then, the Bike were slower and the competition was much closer. Missing the gate wasn't the be-all importance then as it created more excitement. Every race was competitive and closely fought. Today's super fast bikes, that cost the earth, produce a different race from the ones we use to watch. All the low torque engines have been replaced with high revving ones. Exhaust and tyres play their part . The throttles now are either open or closed, very little control how there once was. The emphasis has moved from the rider to the bikes, meaning far more follow the leader races, and these don't pull in the punters. You only have to look at the dwindling number over the years to see the effect it has had. But nobody takes any notice of these facts and continues in the same old pattern. Regardless of how you dress it up, the sport today is not working. and unless they address the important issues of Costs, VFM and excitement, the sport will continue to die ...

bloom89 - what are you on about lindgren was only beaten by schlein who is a class act around brough 3 reserves .... did you see pickering ........... hes about as much as reserve as Ashley morris is and riding at 4 is completely different to riding at 1and 5 ........... at 1 and 5 you face the opposition 1 and 5 twice !!! at four you only meet them once .......... if you think riding heat 14 against the opposition 4 and 6/7 is the same as riding heat 13 then that probably explains your other daft comments and as for our 'super number one' ........... beyond belief ........... everyone has commented he's not a number 1 AND he has never claimed to be .... the lad maybe be an enigma but hes riding out of position through no fault of his own

Really enjoyed that meeting. A special mention to Josh Pickering , edge of your seat stuff. He was superb

Honestly. Some people need to take a chill pill. Just because everyone doesn’t understand a turn of phrase, doesn’t make it offensive. Have you ever called someone a berk ? Cockney rhyming slang..... berkshire hunt ... cu you get the picture. Just relax. Stress isn’t good for the health.

Isn't the interval just an excuse to spin the meeting out longer so it implies the punters are getting more for their money. There are enough long gaps between races as it is, more than enough time to go to the loo or buy a hot dog.

Lol! More chance of Gavan being Middlos love child than that happening.

It’s been mentioned every year since the year dot and every year it gets worse I have mentioned several times that the BSPA and the SCB should state what they require for the season and leave it to someone like Tony Steele to write it, so here we are in May and we have already had 7 amendments not including the recent change to GSA which to date still hasn’t been amended, BSPA promoters sat round a table coming up with wonderful ideas each year isn’t the way to do it. On the R/R and IRR debate I think it should be one or the other not both, teams using RR should be made to use a no 8 who has the same standing as a reserve, the fact that teams using RR can and often do lose another rider during the meeting just highlights the shortcomings of the facility.

SS gave you some good advice the other day. I suggest you listen to him and take a break because you are stressing yourself over nothing. Trust me, the poster was referring to Dorset Knobs - there was no bad language or ill-feeling intended

Put ya foot down bruv like me but only when our lass aint in the house ha ha ha

I’d have thought one of them at least will be a shoe in. Both local lads, club mascots and regular second halfers. Whether we include both may depend on how successful this season is. If we fall short again, maybe they’ll try a different strategy and go with one of them and a stronger reserve partner to take the pressure off them in their first season next year. We went with two 2 pointers again this year to pack in a stronger top 5 and it remains to be seen if that’s successful or not. Personally im a big fan of building a team that way and it’s the way I’d go again next year regardless of what happens this season. Especially when you have two terrific talents as those two waiting in the wings. It would also be a shame to lose one of them to a rival. It would benefit the club in the future to get them both on the clubs books so I’m hoping that will be the case. Looking forward to watching both them, and the other British youngsters in the under 19 final a week on Thursday. I hope it’s well supported!

Against my better judgement I found myself at Loomer Road last night and was disheartened to see that the place was even more dilapidated than when I last visited a couple of years ago. Surely somebody can at least work a lawn mower? It took the best part of an hour to get the first 4 heats away due to the sun being in the wrong place but at least we were able to marvel at Mr Tattum's tractor driving skills. Sadly, the centre green announcer couldn't make it last night so instead he sent his brother whose knowledge of speedway seemed a tad sparse. When it was announced that Ken Dicken was coming out for the Belle Vue Aces in heat 2 it kind of signalled that the guy perhaps wasn't a great follower of NL speedway. It could have been worse, he could have announced that it was Ken Dodd who would be riding in white. We had a minute's silence for Roy Smallwood who had apparently gone to a better place . Happy to say that they didn't bother playing music through the period of silence as they did when Mr Plinge witnessed a similar "mark of respect" at a previous extravaganza at Gloomy Road. Interesting to see that the deceased was still listed in the programme as being the evening's Pits Gate Manager so perhaps they were hoping that he would be there in spirit at least. Moving on from the depressing and farcical to rather more serious matters. I think it must have been heat 14 when William O'Keefe once more carried out a close inspection of the air fence. The referee switched on the red lights and immediately all the track and stadium lights went out. Fortunately, the riders survived being plunged into a diminished light situation without incident. After a few minutes, the lights flickered back into life and no mention was made of this failure by the commentator. As the riders were approaching the gate for heat 15, the commentator puts out an urgent call for the clerk of the course to contact the ref. Whether he did contact him, I know not. The race gets under way and Lawlor and Atkin come down heavily at turn 3. No red lights come on but the commentator is shouting at the the corner marshals to put the red flags out which they do after a few seconds delay. Now my questions are these:- Were the red lights not turned on because the referee knew that if he pushed the switch then the track lights would probably go out again? Did the referee know before he started the heat that there was a fault with the warning lights hence the urgent call out to the C of C? If the referee was aware that the safety systems were not in place then why was the race allowed to start? Perhaps there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for these events but I would be interested to know what it might be. Electrical failures appear to be a common occurrence at Loomer Road but the referees and the SCB seem to take no heed of these potentially catastrophic defects. I just hope that it does not take a rider getting seriously hurt before action is taken to remedy the situation. I see no mention in Stoke's own match report of any of these failings and it is shame that they didn't take the opportunity to apologize to the customers for last night's failings and give an assurance that they would get things sorted out. A win for the Colts but numerous crashes, interminable delays and some genuinely frightening incidents mean that it wasn't one of my most enjoyable speedway jaunts. I spoke to a family (grandfather through to grandchildren) on the terraces who were attending speedway for the first time and asked them if they would be likely to come back again. Unsurprisingly, they indicated that they would not be returning and after last night's show you can understand why. Speedway is a better sport than this.

Forgettable meeting kept alive by the closeness of the scores and a couple of controversial refereeing decisions. Dust was flying about from the first heat. John Lindman can’t have long left in this side. He only beat Kyle Bickley. Seen him a few times and not impressed.

The result of a totally nonsense operating model which benefits no one.... Running any business which shares employees with others, and whose availabilty dictates to their employer when the operation can 'open for business', is pretty much doomed to failure I would suggest..

Phil, everyone knew Denmark had priority for Wednesdays... It's their night... Hence British Speedway was granted Monday and Thursdays as theirs... Then they changed.. Why? Well, once again, the tail wagged the dog...

The problem with British speedway is its a professional sport being run by amateurs.

As Ric Frost said before he quit in exasperation BSPA not even competent to operate a burger van

Why do you say that ... that's what the new rule was brought in to cover the diamonds gated and were on a 5 1 when heeps fell and deliberately stayed down .... ref didn't have a choice ...... wheras in heat 14 hume was clearly in no condition to get off track when again the diamonds were on a 5 1

More nonsense posts from you. You post on another thread about not wanting grief to create stress for yourself, then you make yourself look an absolute moron yet again. And to prove that, I've been going to Somerset since 2000 in our first season FYI.

There's a smallish car park where the bar is,if you don't get in there i would think you could park in the shopping centre car park.You still have to walk to the stadium though as there is no car park beside the stadium only for passes and riders of course.It only takes a couple of minutes stroll though.

I don't need to say what I think as I guarantee it will be different to nearly everyone elses.

Against what looks a weak ZG team this year, that's a very poor performance from Torun. They must be very frustrated with the performances of their "star" riders Doyle and Holder...Pretty pathetic scores from World Champions.

If you take out heat 13 he has to face the opposing heat leader once each. Which is the same as riding at number 4 it’s no different really. All we get is his engines aren’t right, the set up isn’t right. It’s all we’ve heard every season he’s been with us. Bottom line is he is what he is so frustrating he could beat the opposing number 1 then be trailed off against there number 7. Such an enigma.

I can see a yellow card for that !!!

You have to be clearer.Now I thought Maniak was a user who had a decent link,but nobody else did

Blimey bruv....armchair critic and not sure I can take your opinion seriously since you have now openly admitted you won't be going.

You seem to forget finishing 4th you can still win the league ive said before you worry to much

Exactly only cares about his own points.

but put the hoover down first , ya dont want to break the dyson. guest and r/r situation is out of control in speedway at this moment ..

Hardly a classic this one at one point it looked like ano away win was very much on the cards then it looked Berwick had done enough to win before both teams had to settle for a draw. Passing very much at a premium infact I cant recall another pass apart from David Howes very clever move in Ht14. Great to see Danny Gappmaier doing such a great job but the jury is still out on John Lindman.

Solid start for cookie 3+2 from his first 2 rides

Nothing wrong with the language - you need to get out in the sun and chillax! Knobs =Dorset Knobs - doh!

thank you mmmmmmmmm

You're right even I enjoyed it . But it was enjoyment from a pretty low baseline so far this season. I was fortunate enough to attend the new BV for a season while I was working away for a while and it saddens me to see what can be done with a blank canvass and how whoever designed the track at Leicester got it so badly wrong! Anyway we move on to Monday night... where I think we can almost guarantee a sun delay but at least KL fans will be well used to that ... I've just seen on Twitter they're promoting it as "Sunshine Speedway"... that's just taking the mick!

I can see why some try to make a comparison between today’s racing with earlier years. I remember as a kid hanging off the wooden fence at Lynn watching Betts, Mauger, Olsen etc. Was the racing better probably not, but as a 10 year old it was exciting. But would it/does it excite a 10 year old today, I don’t think so. Back then yes it was Saturday night racing, in basically a very run down stadium. But back then what else was there to do for families on a Saturday night. TV was 3 channels, pubs were drinking places not your gastro/family pub of today. Each town probably had a run down cinema with very uncomfortable seats. Now there are many more forms of entertainment which give the customer the experience/enjoyment they are looking for at a reasonable price. People don’t have to go out as TV has 200 channels (in my opinion mainly crap) there is Netflix etc. Kids can play worldwide football, can shoot people / steal cars etc. online. Things have just changed ! Perhaps speedway in the UK has had its day. Generally stadiums are appalling run down affairs, other than some exceptions no investment has been made to them. Atmosphere is dire, the supporters who go are on average are 50+ . People look at Poland and wonder why if they can attract a younger fan base why can’t we. I go to Poland every fortnight - it is so different and without speaking the language ( I can swear and buy a beer in Polish) I see the promotional effort that is put in. It’s the little things, like the centre grass cut with sponsors logos all over it etc. The stadium generally are modern and those which aren’t are being improved with new investment. After the meeting I’ve spent an hour with Nicklas signing autographs, handing out 200/300 postcards each meeting I had printed for him. Fans even ask me to sign the card as the manager (now at my age that’s embarrassing) But these faces we are seeing are kids/youngsters 6-18. These kids have exactly the same things UK kids have. Polish cities generally are as modern as any European city and though prices lower, are relevant to their earnings. But the big difference is the promotion of speedway. You can watch live and highlighted speedway on TV 5 days a week. As an example their rider presentation nights are not done in an old shack, or social club they are done in shopping malls, rock music, lights, excitement, expectation. Personally I think speedway in UK can never recover back to the hay day but without major promotion and PROFESSIONALISM it will never have a chance.

I noticed a few heats in and quickly put some scores using my phone, adding heat details towards the end of the meeting

Of course if you're a regular Monday or Wednesday night track then the new arrangement's great. That takes care of three tracks, while Swindon have mainly kept their Thursdays. Now what about the other half of the league? The argument to adopt fixed race nights was to avoid guests caused by fixture clashes. The situation with Denmark blows that straight out of the water.

There are various conversion web sites that use prices and incomes history to give the historic value of money. The main one I use http://inflation.iamkate.com/ shows £1 in 1980 being worth just under £5 today. So, a £17 admission today would convert to about £3.50 back in 1980. I seem to remember admissions were about £1 in 1980 so on that basis in real terms speedway is well over three times as expensive now.

It looks that way, doesn't it. Only riders coming from the English speaking countries ( not in this event) keep to their own. Mind you I've heard Tai giving interviews in Polish and lately Rohan Tungate gave it a try. Good for them. Polish fans appreciate it.

I have not failed yet !!!

The price to attend vs. The standard on offer is the biggest stumbling block. £17 for 15 x 1 minute races no matter what way you look at it isn't great value for money. As a comparison it makes the 2nd division even more of a rip off as they're getting a lot less of a standard for around £15. In answer to the original question though of how is fixed race nights working out, I think it will benefit Somerset. Whilst it was nice to end the week at Speedway instead of mid week, the traffic and surrounding areas on a Friday as a nightmare at the best of times. I can't see any reason why crowds would drop at Somerset, they should only prosper.

Exactly, I think a lot of people are delusional about the quality of the sport back in the day. Tend to only remember the good bits and believe that's how it was all the time. I've watched loads of old meetings on t'internet and it's very evident that the quality of the racing is very similar to today. There's old World Finals, Continental Finals etc with 60,000+ in attendance yet barely any good racing except for 3-4 heats. I would happily say that top level Speedway today (SGP & Poland) is as good, if not better than most of yesteryear.

Do not understand why this is a 7.30 pm meeting, the last dog race is 2pm and with a nice sunny day surely a mid afternoon start time would have encouraged more families who do not want a late trip home.

I do think that is is the central part of the lack of public support in the UK. The product needs a lot of change and improvement before new fans are likely to embrace it and support it with their cash. It is not going to happen though, because those who currently control it believe they are selling something terrific and worth 5,000+ people turning up for a match. Emperor's New Clothes syndrome. 75% of speedway races are boring after the first lap 2nd bend. It is things like standardised bikes with handicap racing that might, just might , bring in new fans. But it is not speedway "as we know it" and so it will not happen. You have to look at why stock cars / banger racing pulls in so many more people around the country. It represents chaos and mayhem and the unexpected / unbelievable things happening and "going wrong". Speedway offers three riders chasing after the race leader with , in most cases, nothing happening. Only the die hard purists understand and appreciate the techniques involved. Newbies in the UK do not and are therefore hardly likely to join the tribal fan base with any passion.