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Forgot to say, hat off to Cookie for donating his winnings to Ricky Ashworth - there aren’t many riders / people generally around who would do that.

Why do people fell the need to bash Craig Cook? Im not his biggest fan , i was there that night at Ipswich when he got thrown out of the meeting when he behaved like a petulant kid but people knocking him need to look at some facts. He Qualified by merit for the Grand Prix No he isnt going to trouble the top end but so what he deserves his place he earned it Is he really any worse than Pawlicki has been? He was a run off away from regaining his place. He should be allowed to ride who he wants for its his choice He didnt make the rules as to who should ride in the riders championship It sounded like a good meeting so thats all that should be spoke about. The favourite won it, thats what happens

I take it you would rather he didn't ride for belle Vue on Thursday so that he can prepare 'properly' for the Grand prix. 50% or more of the posts on here are about the lack of commitment and loyalty shown by riders to UK teams. yet when a rider tries to treat his team and there fans with respect he still gets slagged of. give me strength. PS well done Cookie and thanks for the way you've performed in Tigers colours

And let's not forget what he did for young Dan Bewley too

A great gesture,hats off to him.

I think you're forgetting that he was a run off away from competing in next years GP series. He might have struggled this season but clearly he's close to that level.

Yes, that's probably what will happen now. But if it was regular practice the #8s would have ridden several matches by now and would have come in at reserve with the reserve moving into the team. That would have evened things up and given NL riders experience at the higher level. I remember a time when many #8s could hold their own against lower order riders in league matches but that was when they had second half rides firstly against their peers and occasional rides against better riders if they won their junior scurries. They were used more often in league matches too back then and guess what, there were more riders coming through the system to hold down places in BL teams.

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.

That is statement of the century. Only folk that disagree are the BSPA and SCB. The only way British speedway is ever going to move forward is once a totally independent ruling administration is put in place.

And Mitchell Davey. Actions speak louder than words and Cookie has shown just exactly what sort of person he is by doing something he didn't have to do to help some of his fellow riders who have suffered serious injury.

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.

I had my same script ready when we were 10 points down.Must admit now this is becoming a good run because when you can add Wolverhampton away in that run it does make it tougher.Did it help us with the withdrawal of Proctor.7+1 from his last 3 rides although one was Lambert as T/S so may have happened anyway. Finishing top of the league is so close now.Not bad for the team tipped to finish bottom or close to anyway.

Maybe you want to take the piss face to face on Thursday.

I take it, Orion that you don't regard yourself as an older fan, and consequently you don't realise how much better speedway was 30 or so years ago! Sure, the racing was probably no better than it is today, but the noise, the smell, the atmosphere and most of all the fun has largely been lost from the sport to its detriment. Speedway today takes itself far too seriously. If you have ever watched stock cars or bangers you would have to agree that the "racing" is nothing special. Difficult to tell who is winning, if you even care, but these events seem to attract far better crowds than speedway, simply because of the noise and the smell, etc. which speedway has systematically eradicated due to "technological improvement". I know that, unfortunately it would be difficult to reintroduce the noise and to a lesser extent the smell as this would upset the environmentalists, bit I can't help thinking that reverting to deep tracks so that rider ability was more important than horse power would be a step in the right direction. How you bring the fun back is another question altogether!

Tero Aarnio would be a great choice of guest for the Comets for Dan, has already scored 29+2 in 3 meetings at Scunthorpe this season including 15 when guesting for us earlier this season.

Why is it a crazy rule? if your rider who is declared in your line up is fit he has to ride.

Why don’t you clear off and leave the forum.

I suppose that would be one way of Sheffield securing a home victory if you banned visiting riders .

In every one off world final and the majority of GP's throughout history, there have always been riders who have qualified on merit but who realistically had little chance of ever winning. Craig Cooke is probably a current example of this but it's grossly unfair to keep knocking the man - it looks as if he will be out next year anyway but even so, he has already achieved what most riders never will. The only difference for people like Cookie and Bomber is that unlike struggling riders in GP's and world finals in the past, the 'ordeal' goes on for 10 or so meetings where as it was over and done with on one night previously.

As Wolves have no chance of winning anything this year, then I wouldn't mind a Stars or Rebels league title. Still like to win tonight though !

It just seems that people want to knock Cook for no real reason. No he isnt a top line gp rider and will probably never will be , age isnt on his side. But when he retires he can say he took his talent as far as he could. People used to mock Harris and Smith but they were in it all the time and by rights as well. There are 15 riders in a gp and most seasons you can always pinpoint the riders that will probably struggle. Maybe the qualification for the riders championship is flawed but thats not Cooks fault

Was never a huge fan of Cookie before this season, but was delighted when he made the GP's last season meaning two Brits were permanent members of the series. Having followed Cookie over the season and seen the way he has interacted with his fans and given opportunities to those who have helped him has been absolutely superb and people really shouldn't forget that. It's nothing to the riders to give these opportunities to people but for the fans it's a huge memory to treasure. I am gutted for him that it hasn't gone to plan this year and he has struggled. Whilst his self confidence isn't the highest, his lack of track craft and experience have been his downfalls in the Grand Prix and it was a huge shame he didn't secure his place in the run off with Lindback in Germany. Track craft again was a big example of his issues there! However, moving back to Cookie, what he has also done for his fellow riders is fantastic and he has used his position within the sport as a GP rider admirably and whilst at times he has let himself down this year according to some, the majority of his actions have been superb. I'm all for British riders riding in both leagues personally, there isn't a huge difference between the leagues and if someone wants to ride, let them. I'm sure many fans go to tracks specifically to see Cookie now he's back in the Championship. Congratulations to Cookie for the win yesterday and hopefully he can have a good end to the season in the GP's.

Mind I wish some fans would lighten up and actually cheer on their riders, it was like a funeral every heat that didn’t have a Berwick rider in it.

History will show that Craig Cook is a champion. It will also show he was a GP rider. How many other riders will history show as both. Not that many. Well done Cookie.

Remind us... Where did Lambert come in the GP qualifiers?

Exactly, but because this is Poland and Poland can do no wrong, nothing is said. Must admit, this was my first taste of Polish speedway this season, usually I haven't got time to watch anything, but tonight I had a bit of spare time. I watched the first half dozen heats, all processional, massive long gaps of silence in the commentary and when he does speak, he shouts at nothing exciting at all. For all that moan at the Sky / BT coverage, they should get a load of this and be thankful for what they have. i switched off after heat 6, I couldn't take any more of the shouting and the racing was boring me. Give me live action, where I can speak away to friends after races any day. Had this been a British meeting there would have been no end of "another nail in the coffin" comments.

As a complete neutral, I couldn't give a monkey's that Cook is riding in this league and was allowed in the meeting, just want to see the strongest lineups possible in the meetings I choose to attend up and down the country. That's why I have a dilemma about my first planned visit to Somerset this week being against an Iversenless King's Lynn!! The likes of Cook and Riss ultimately persuaded me to make my first visit from Coventry to Owlerton...and I'm glad I did. Good racing, well presented stadium and a decent atmosphere with the big crowd. Hope to visit again and great to see all the club colours on show with no disappointing no shows on the day for once!

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.

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

Hoping worky make it...even if my own team don't....would be shocking injustice if they don't take their place in the play offs.

He probably would have if he'd known

Are you often on the look out Blu

What about Todd Wiltshire, David Cheshire and Lee Derbyshire? Steve

If you want discuss Somerset you need to go to the Premiership section. This thread is about teams not named after towns or cities. Anyway, apart from Kent and Somerset I don't think there's many more. Edit:- Bristol today is actually classified as a county, so Bristol Bulldogs would qualify.

Scottish Monarchs were neither city nor county.

No reason he wouldn’t ride in heat 15. Not as though he is defending the WC. To make every effort to win the meeting then not ride in heat 15 is bizarre in the extreme. If I was a travelling Rebels fan I would be fuming.

I know that youngsters need to get the experience, but other than a handful - a very small handful - of riders over the years, very few have benefited from being thrown in at the deep end. Sure, they have potential, but chucking them in against top riders usually does nothing other than destroy their confidence and end a promising career before it has even started. Look what happened back in the 80's (I can't remember what year), when they introduced the "compulsory junior"; it achieved absolutely nothing. Incidentally, please don't just claim that us "older fans" are "out of touch with things". I am one of those, and I am only too aware that things have to change, but I just don't know what the solutions are.... What I do know is that throwing kids to the lions, and putting out a sub-standard team resulting in a tedious and one-sided match is not one of them. Steve

Wow one helluva a result for the Stars

Away fans who dont want the hassle of rain off procedures who wouldn’t be able to make the rerun, also I usually decide on the day of the meeting if I’m going to Armadale or not.

Only if you pay at the gate - not sure why anyone would?

It was called Diamond league back then if they are the same. http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?/search/&q=Diamond cup&type=forums_topic&nodes=9

first of all , congratulations to cookie on his win . although not totally in agreement of how the qualifiers for this event was worked out . ride 4 meetings and get in . there is something wrong with the governing body of the sport . but fair play to Craig , he was chosen to ride by bigger dogs in the town and done what anyone else would have done . well done marra . even on Saturday night @ workington , he was still giving help to Kyle Bickley on his starts the night before . you cant knock him for that . A NICE LAD AND VERY GOOD @ WHAT HE DOES . also well done to ty proctor on getting into the semi. almost there , but not quite . a great effort by ty . hope the dan bewley fund raising is still kicking on and look forward to seeing him next season . double header @ worky on Saturday night , 6.30 start . a good deal on entry for these two meetings . hope to see lots of redcar and newcastle fans down for 30 heats of cracking speedway .

Can echo what Bagpuss said about Craig Cook with self belief/confidence, it definitely appears to be his biggest issue. I know what people have said about GP/Premier Riders, but had we taken all of those out we would have been left with a line up of second strings and reserves, and this is supposed to be the Championship's plum individual event with the cream of the League in! I also don't remember much dissention about Carl Stonehewer racing in the PLRCs when he rode in the GPs either! The only issue I would have with Cook's eligibility is that he has hardly ridden any Glasgow meetings, where there used to be a cut off point for qualification for this meeting. But the fact this hasn't applied, well this season at least, is not Cookie's fault. It was an excellent meeting I thought, how close it was shows by the fact that the top 3 after 20 heats were all on 11! Ty Proctor may well have been top qualifier had it not been for his crash, I don't think I've ever seen him race Sheffield as well as yesterday (auditioning for 2019 maybe? ) Both Kyle and Charles started like steam trains but then faded a little, but like Kyle said, "third is better than bottom".

If you struggle for a lift, maybe the x1 coach would be an option?

Why?

Surprisingly, the team manager was "Main Man" if I remember correctly.

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

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.

Last night was my eighth meeting of the season on the island, two down on last year. Not bad, considering I live in Surrey.

Cleveland Bays and Anglian Angels (?)