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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.

Well done Cook... not a rider i like particularly but he won fair and square... have to say Erik Riss has a fantasyic style and is very quick enjoyed watching him ride..

I went direct by train from Poznan to Gorzow on the friday before the GP. Left just after 9am & train went directly to Santok then we transferred to waiting buses into Gorzow. £13 return. After practice I watched the excellent Moto-Show on the main bridge for 2 hours then there was a concert til 2am (i was well in bed by then though!!). Agreed that there isn`t much in Gorzow but managed to get to the Stilon Gorzow football arena which was the speedway track until 1950 (ish). Had Wildcard Szymon Wozniak, Winner Martin Vaculik & 1973 World Champion Jerzy Szczakiel in my hotel. Also went to SoN & enjoyed Wroclaw as a city with all its gnomes!!!

Shock result result ,league newcomer cleans up.

My understanding is that Thurrock Council want Speedway to continue and planning permission for the site includes a speedway track . The trouble is, redevelopment of the site doesn’t look like starting for some time yet. Using Rye House would be a short term solution for the foreseeable future. Whether BMR want to get back into speedway and want the track back or whether they will want some kind of partnership with the Lakeside promotion is something that only time will tell.

Glad to see Zagar get up from what could have been a serious injury. That bike's for the bin though!

in any other stadium you wouldn't get half of that people came to see the stadium, it's THE stadium in Poland, so much history, so much drama, so much success...

Give each other racing room and that`s the result !!!!!!

If the rest of the meeting is as good as the scrap in heat 1 we are in for a classic !!

Same as you hated Drury in the past

The fixture is to be arranged on the Peterborough website. Well that clears that one up!

actually a decent report of this meeting on news and star website unusually sounds like the person that wrote it was actually at the meeting for a change

They certainly do - glug!glug!glug! Whereas Swindon decided to do that before the playoffs! (Just anticipating the obvious retort!)

More chips than Aunt Bessie!

okay , got it wrong , again . sorry to comet 49 then .

Wolves are very poor away so an emphatic win for the home side.

Excellent meeting last night. Thouroughly enjoyed it with plenty of passing. Klindt had a night to forget Rasser was superb Ben Barker an excellent choice of guest and always seemed to be trying his hardest Rene had a good night after a slow start and showed the type of determination we know he is capable of Ty does not seem as sharp as he did a month or two ago when he was guesting for everyone and banging big scores in everywhere but did OK Kyle did well again and it was good to see him getting points after a brave pass down the back straight when plenty of others would have shut off. I'm so pleased he is finally getting his rewards at this level Mason had a solid night but definitely needs faster machinery as proved by Nicolai when he borrowed his bike He was first out of the start but struggled to hold third Just a thought but if a rider like Klindt last night, blows a bike up in the pits when warming up, couldn't Hoggy announce it to the crowd? If we knew what was happening it would be less frustrating for us and we would feel more sympathetic towards the rider concerned

Crap track walk!!Purveys a 'Grandad' image of speedway in 2018. Attending Loomer Rd whoever you support will put you off speedway for life!!

Big difference, teams that have gone on to win the play offs from 4th are usually slap bang in form in September. Huge difference. With respect the Aces had turned a corner before Dan got injured and he is irreplaceable with RR and even if guests were available for 4th rider there isn’t really anyone that could score his points either. Swindon are bang out of form and Wolves are terrible away. That’s why I say the 4th play off team will be fodder.

What a heat 15 !!!!!

"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.

My memory of Czech tourists goes back to their first ever visit, as the Red Star Prague team in 1967. On an August Saturday afternoon when the Czechoslovaks were due to meet Cradley Heath Heathens I was riding a few miles away when i came across a car and an estate both with bike-laden trailers parked on the side of the road. The number plates on the Skodas made it obvious who they were, so I stopped and went over to them. Somehow they'd got all 8 riders (one serving as mechanic) plus the team manager and a face I recognised as BSPA secretary Dave Stevens into the 2 vehicles, along with leathers, helmets and kit, etc, for all the riders, plus 8 bikes ! (Possibly statistician Bryan Seery was also in there too, -? Sorry, it was a long time ago.) Admittedly Dave was only of slight build, (Bryan Seery the opposite,) and obviously only joined them once the visitors had reached London after their 800 mile journey across Europe, but even so, traveling conditions for the 9 would have been far from comfortable: what a difference from today's riders in their luxurious Mercedes Sprinter vans! Dudley Wood Stadium had always been notoriously difficult to find, - the SS&N once did a 'True or False' story entitled 'The Track that Disappeared' : - it was true, and based on Dudley Wood! Sure enough, even with Dave Stevens as UK guide, the party was lost. So after a brief chat I had them follow me the couple of miles to the stadium , in plenty of time for the match. I kept in touch with team manager Pavel Kacer for many years afterwards, - as an organiser of the Pardubice Golden Helmet he'd send me the programme each year plus other memorabilia, and I'd reciprocate with things like spark plugs for a family Hillman Minx that they couldn't get a match for behind the Iron Curtain. Cradley Heath was again on the tour programme the following year, 1968, and meeting with Pavel at the track that evening, he said that they'd got lost getting to Dudley Wood and had to follow a chap on a motorbike that led them to the track. Because of the poor english, I thought he was relating the first visit of the previous year: "That was me, I said, last year. "No, he replied, - Today, - it happened again !"

Not a bad idea, although the London Lions flopped at Hackney in 1996. Also, I wonder if Rye House is too far from London for it to work. Obviously, it's Lakeside Hammers for this season, but beyond that using the 'Lakeside' name seems largely pointless, especially since it's not even the traditional name for Arena Essex. It's just a shopping centre that flagged to people where the Arena Essex Raceway was actually based. Maybe Rye House Hammers does make most sense. It's a link to London it itself, since it's the old West Ham name. Plus it trips nicely off the tongue.

Thank you, fortunately Rasmus thought it was reading in KPH !

Emil Sayfutdinov has joined in raising help for Dan too with 4 sets of a ticket, a hat, a hoody and a pit pass to the 4 highest bidders The “Speedway family” at its best. Well done Emil

WHATEVER the pros and cons of Pardubice, the fact is that Prague is a huge favourite for fans with the stadium just a tram ride from the city centre.