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I love the fact Craig as stuck 2 fingers up at you and the rest. Go Craig. That's the best meeting I've seen at sheffield for a few years. It was very good.

Got to laugh at your average British Speedway fan. Cook shouldn't have been allowed to ride in the meeting because having a worse rider in it would have somehow made it a better event apparently?! As phil the ace suggested, that's the best big meeting seen at Sheffield for a good few years and Cook played a major part in that. Cracking evenings entertainment.

There seemed to be a hell of a sling shot effect coming out of turn 2 on the outside! Numerous death defying overtakes at that point of the track. As others have said, that was a superb, and hugely entertaining meeting. Well done Craig Cook and great to see him jumping the fence and acknowledging the travelling Glasgow fans.

Perhaps like many before him he hasn't got the budget that is really required. Jason Lyons struggled when he qualified and he later said the only thing he learned was that there was better ways to spend his money. He spent nights at GPs sleeping in the back of his van while the likes of Tony Rickardsson and Nikki Pederson had motor homes that wouldn't have looked out of place in a F1 paddock. Cookie will come out of the GP financially poorer but a better rider from the experience.

He probably would have if he'd known

First thing i thought on entering the stadium was the track looks in great shape. As you say its no wonder the racing was very good. If all tracks provided good track conditions the riders would produce, then promoters might see an increase on the terraces. Last night underlined how entertaining this sport can be given the right conditions.

Well done to Cookie...great to see him enjoying his racing again. Still a legend (even when wearing red & white). And congrats to Erik Riss on making the final. Great entertainment! I don't get the argument that GP riders shouldn't be in the Championship - I'm happy to see the best riders possible in the league that I watch my speedway. Craig is good enough to compete at SGP level, he just needs to believe in himself a bit more. I hope he does himself justice in a GP before the season is out.

Like it or not Cook is the Champ, simple as that.

Not as good as he thinks he is? On the contrary, I’d suggest that one of Cook’s main issues is his self belief and confidence. I’d also add that while doubling up exists any British rider should be entitled to do it if they wish. Cook is riding for Glasgow because he wasn’t able to get a regular ride in Poland so it was mutually beneficial for them to offer him a team place.

Because he’s not against Tero Aarnio, Kevin Doolan and Nico Covatti in the GP’s.

Good racing, good meeting, deserved winner. Well done Cookie!

I believe the championship has got far too strong. Reserves should both be British from the national league and the current top two riders in our case Danny and Rory should Be plying their trade in the top league only. The natural jump from national league to championship is too large as it stands. There are a lot of talented young British rider out there who should be getting track time in the championship without coming against the likes of Cook Morris Schlein etc at this stage of their careers

I may be stating the bleedin' obvious here, but I would suggest that these end-of-season Lakeside fixtures at Rye House are of crucial importance to the future of speedway in this part of the country. Rye House fans are pissed off because they have lost their team, Lakeside fans likewise because they have lost their track. However, if enough people come through the gate for these meetings, it might just mean that the Hammers name (and promotion) lives on, and competitive speedway continues at Hoddesdon in 2019. It's now up to us fans, effectively. If as an old Rockets fan you don't want to support a different team at your track, you have the right to choose not to go. Hammers fans who either are unable to make it to Hoddesdon, or prefer not to, can also make that choice. So, you might say that in this instance the power lies with the fans. We can make this work - if we want it to. We just need to turn up.

Isn't it amazing how folk can decry riders who put their life on the line for our entertainment? Yes there are riders we wonder why they are in the team or even allowed on the track but they do it because like real fans they love the sport. Yes I questioned Cookie's involvement in the meeting but at the end of the day he beat the other 15 riders and that's what it's all about. If you want to slate riders then maybe you should find another sport

You want riders who want to win for their fans as well as themselves in this sort of meeting .........

and that's what we want entertainment

So what would you have said if Sheffield had been successful in their bid to bring Woofy in? As for Glasgow throwing their cash, why not if they have it? The Glasgow promotion are doing what they think is right to attract crowd and increase attendance thus ensuring the future of the sport in Glasgow. They've modernised the stadium and when you consider a few years back a young Danish rider turned his back on riding for Glasgow after seeing the rundown condition of another so called stadium that should be taken as a positive. Incidentally there are other promotions splashing the cash too if you look but you'd have to take your blinkers off to see that!

Congratulations to Richard Lawson, having a cracking season in this League.

Got to be honest, really disappointed that cook won today, he should never have been allowed back into this league never mind this meeting. I'm Craig cook I'm a gran prix rider, I won't be competing in the championship next season was his message at The end of last year. No Craig your not a gran prix rider, in fact your not even riding to a standard of number 1 for bell vue. Why should you drop back down at your Willy nilly just because Glasgow are throwing the bucks about??

I keep getting a mental picture of him when he takes off, mental.

Think it’s called trolling mate, ignore.

Damn right -- and the "Workington Tigers" were just as crippling financially to the Beatons in 1987, as were the "Barrow Bandits" to the Taylor/Fairbairn axis in 1981. Neither reached the end of their respective season. It just doesn't work. However, if the former Lakeside promotion are going to hire the Rye House facilities to run speedway this and (more importantly) next year it can only be a good thing, provided they don't try to create a "Rye House Hammers" feel for their new show. They'll soon find the the thirty miles from old to new homes are a long, long road.

The track is the most important thing to make a good meeting,far too many excuses are make when track prep is poor at a number of tracks.Its no co-incidence that natural watering by God always produces a good track.

And Chris Harris i assume doubly delighted that he won the same silver medal and made the effort to honour a Speedway commitment on Friday evening.

With meaningless meetings & Worralls slow engines I'm expecting a Wolves win. . . Unless they were all grasping excuses by the cheats fans of course. Can any Poole fan just clear up whether this meeting is meaningless, testing engines, different track man, hole in the track, wet/dry weather, high tide, tired riders....to avoid any excuses before this match happens. Don't expect any answers.

Now lakeside are going to relocate to Rye House what are they going to call the team. The obvious is the Rye House hammers but will that alienate some fans from both sides ? Historically cradley at stoke. The Scottish monarchs. Boston riding at kings Lynn. Coventry riding at Leicester and cradley riding at Birmingham have all been unsuccessful to a degree. I think in this case lakeside should retain the name for the remainder of this season and next season the team should revert to Rye House rockets. Would this stop lakeside fans attending ??? Or will the rocket fans support a lakeside team ?? intresting times ahead. I’m just glad we are not loosing another team. Very intrested to know what the views are of the rockets and hammers supporters are.

As I mentioned briefly in the Wroclaw v Torun, Sunday August 19th. topic, I made a visit to Lodz to see their new speedway stadium whilst I was staying in Wroclaw last month. The match I attended was Lodz v Pila on Friday 17th August. The new stadium is indeed very impressive, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Everything, however, isn’t up and running yet. There was no ticket office or club shop in operation, with ticket sales from a van on the roadside and merchandising from a couple of tables outside the stadium. Admission tickets were 25 zloty (£5.26) and programmes (£1.05). The electronic turnstiles were not in use and entrance was through the exit gates with someone checking and clipping tickets. Not all the toilet blocks were open with those in use being ‘unisex’. The floodlights were not yet commissioned, so hence the unusually early weekday start time of 5:15p.m. The area between the old and new stadiums is still very much like a building site and, for those that know the Belle Vue area; the old and new Lodz stadiums are much much closer than the NSS is to the Greyhound Stadium. Before the match I had an interesting 15 minutes or so talk with Hans Andersen. He wasn’t selected to ride in the Lodz team that day, but was about to do some ‘meet and greet’ with the fans at the merchandise stand. He mentioned that he very much liked racing at the NSS, but hadn’t been able to put four or five consistent rides together. ‘I can win some, but also run lasts’ he said – as if to predict exactly what he would go on to do three days later when he had two wins and a last amongst his rides in the Aces v Leicester match!! Thankfully, the refreshments stands were all open – it was a very hot and sunny day and touching 30 Celsius – and, as I was in the queue, one of the Lodz supporters struck up a conversation with me when he heard me speak and spotted my Aces cap. He was most likely in his late 40s and spoke English more than good enough to hold a conversation, insisting on buying me a beer. Later at the end, he and his friends came over to me outside. They must have spotted me buying a Lodz cap at the merchandise stand, as he presented me with a Lodz scarf and said ‘to go with your new cap’. Before waving goodbye he said they don’t often get foreign visitors – ‘they all want to go to Torun or Gorzow’ he said ‘so we are happy you’ve come to see us’. Speedway fans eh? Fantastic people. As for the match itself, there was some good racing with Lodz beating Pila 53-37. It had been pretty close through the first half of the match, and after heat 6 it was only 19-17. Pila, though, only managed one heat advantage after that, but when they had either Thomas H. Jonasson or Tomasz Gapinski out on track there was some good battles with the Lodz heat leaders. For Lodz, Aces’ Rohan Tungate scored 6+2 from 3 completed rides - he had a tapes exclusion in his other heat - and Poole’s Josh Grajczonek 4+1 from 4 outings. For Pila, Thomas H. Jonasson was in fine form scoring 15+1 from 6 rides whilst Tomasz Gapinski got 11 from 5. The track length in the new stadium is 321 metres and, at the time, Rohan Tungate held the track record at 58.84. I’m not sure, though, if it’s now been bettered as they’ve had a few meetings since as they catch up with their home matches. There was just one sub-60 second winning time in the Pila match, however, and that was 59.94 by Lodz reserve Jakub Miskowiak in the reserves race. He went onto score 11 from 5 rides. It was quite a long day as the coach had left Wroclaw at 10:15a.m. on Friday, getting back at 12:30a.m. going into Saturday morning. It was well worth it, though, and it would be nice to return one day to Lodz to see the fully finished stadium and surrounds.

Riss is class.

Wow full Dalek commentating mode

I think he's making sure they are facing straight ahead instead of on a slight angle.

Ah, a well earned day off then

Brilliant heat 4. Fair play Zagar

Well presumably someone from Lakeside informed the BSPA regarding this fixture, it wouldn’t have been generated by Peterborough. It would be helpful if Lakeside confirmed or advertised the said fixture or they could be dissapointed with the attendance.

I think all the meetings are catching up with ty, lynn on wed ips thur edinburgh fri wton sat and sheffield today tough on man and machine if he was to rest he might be able to afford a smile !

Somerset were already in the top league before JD went there. Was thinking more about Rye House and others encouraged up in the past

Couldn't agree more with that last sentence!

And the even less bright fail to see the guys failings.

Only thing is Trees has the balls(sorry Trees just a saying)to apologize when she has it wrong.Something totally lacking from SS.

Just in from Workington. Think we deserved the point and Monarchs were a tad fortunate with Nicolai having bike problems. Reserves for Workington tanked our two so well done to young Kyle. Any two from our top 4 could have been in heat 15. On reflection maybe would have put Ricky off 4. Hope both of us make play offs, Laura deserves it.

Thanks for coming up bellevueace pleased you enjoyed it.

Voluntarily going with 'no facility' should not be an option Dropping Phillips should mean they should have go with 6 riders only and run 3 heats with only 1 rider

While leaving Danny Phillips with no club and no option to look for a club. Godfrey once again showing his class. Him and buster deserve each other

Wonder if Connor Mountain declined the booking? With Garcia turning it on in recent weeks and Kemp seemingly a decent prospect we need JT to be in amongst it from ht2. God help us with Sarjeant in the 1-5. Perhaps we could arrange a mechanic for Manzares to get the best out of him.

I think I fell asleep at the start of the meeting and had a dream that Zagar was actually looking for his partner who was nicki Pedersen and they were talking after the race like friends, that must of been a dream it doesn’t happen in reality does it ?

"Dumbing down" is certain for next year, the plan being to have ten Premiership sides at about the Current Championship level and a Much reduced Championship average, with probably three national league sides moving up.

Only in Speedway 2018 (UK) could you have fewer fixtures and yet still struggle to run them within the proposed timescale. Looking in from a distance its been a good season for Berwick all things considered. Looking healthy for 2019 as much of the team could pick itself.

but why did we have the hottest, driest summer on record with barely any fixtures taking place? they should have been rearranged earlier in the year.

Morning, It's a pretty empty feeling many of us have this morning, please don't let this thread descend into the usual forum bitching, life really is too short - trust me. Like you all I sincerely wish Dan a full and speedy recovery. Cancelled flights, the delayed start, and non arrival of the ambulance all conspired to undermine what promised to be a great Speedway meeting and make this a night to forget. I apologise to anybody who felt there were any shortcomings last night it was a day and night from hell for everyone connected with the club. Also, it is a policy agreed with the Medical Officer not to comment on injuries or play music/make announcements whilst somebody is being treated on the track unless asked to do so, the PA system is loud and effective and drowns out communication between the medics and injured party so I regret not being in a position to keep you completely informed. You saw us preparing for the Air Ambulance as this would have brought the emergency doctors but this was changed due to flight logistics issues never the less the Doctors from the Air Ambulance team tore across the county by car to fulfill their commitment and duty, just incredible. Jacko spent most of the morning liaising between myself, Nicolai and Rasmus once their flight had been cancelled and all options were looked at to get them to Derwent Park including a Helicopter charter. The nearest we could get them to DP was Manchester to land at 5 pm so a request was made and supported by Lakeside to delay the start by 30 minutes. Nicolai and Rasmus started their shuttle around Europe and Jacko and I put in contingencies to cover myself as announcer/presenter and both riders in the event of further delays so that it was game on whatever happened. If Jacko didn't look at the Lakeside website please do forgive him, at the end of the day the Lakeside team was Will's responsibility and would have had to have been cleared with the Referee at some point. Let's not make anyone feel too bad about that at the end of the day both clubs gained nothing from yesterday and have the opportunity to race each other again. I really would like to praise Nicolai and Rasmus they could have so easily given up and stayed in DK and I do hope they are ok after their white knuckle ride to DP in the back of the Funmobile

Ive been sent a video this evening that shows Mason is clearly not the cause of the accident, I am so disillusioned with speedway tonight after a couple of things that happened at the track after the accident, 1, after being asked to leave some 'supporters' chose to either stay in the stadium or return to see what was going on after being asked to leave quickly and quietly, give your heads a wobble its not a side show, go home and wait to hear the news in due course, 2nd the people whinging and whining about getting a poxy refund, get a grip a young lad was still lying on the track with multiple injuries, his Dad and Gran had to witness what happened, our promotor and team manger were clearly distressed, go home, do the decent thing and email the club at a more appropriate time if your are that god damned desperate. Im with you Geoff lets get behind our club and support them in any way we can and stop behaving like utter morons over things of no importance

Hope dan is ok , texter on updates blames mason i dont think he was to blame he was going for a gap same as kyle and dan just a racing accident with a bad ending. Now on the bad side i guess tonights tickets get us in next meeting either free or with a massive reduction howabout as a gesture to laura we all on here pay the full admission and spread the word so laura doesnt take to much of a hit i know not all will but now is the time to stick together , tonight has been a bad night with flight delays the late ambulance arrival and poor dan in hospital lets do all we can to show laura massive support.finally on the plus side well done kyle on his first comet race win.