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Harris's sob story is pathetic,he's earn a few bob more than he makes out,total self interest.Why go Long Tracking to lose money !!!.had a lot of respect for him as a rider and entertainer but his PR is terrible.90+ meetings this season and just making ends meet!! Pull the other one!

Well if he brings it up in an interview then it kinda is up for discussion!

You not join yet then ?

Harris isn't short of money, his wife bought him a brand new Jaguar last month. What you read in Speedway Star is mostly people pushing their own interests no matter what the consequences.

Not forgetting his continual pretty dismal GP appearances which must have cost him a bomb.....er. Pride and common sense should have kicked in ages ago and he should have stuck to league racing.

Put certain riders of a 50m handicap and you would have them as 3 pointers by May but stuck off 50m all year The next year off scratch those same riders would average 10+ Handicaps not practical IMO

98. A season I’ll never forget as an Ipswich fan

Well, can you not give a freind your money and get them to pay you in ?

Sounds like many of you think the best plan would be to turn off the lights, lock the doors and hand back the keys..... You should be delighted anyone wants to take it on and keep it going (at whatever level)

No, he just knows everything about everything, most of which is usually rubbish..

I have an incline that many fans of horse racing, attend because they can have a flutter, it kills a bit of time between races, etc. I'm not sure that I would attend race meetings, just to watch horses run around a field with white barriers and some with some bushes to jump over.

Not on here, surely? The forum is positivity personified :-)

Harris work and start the season prepared and fit???? I'm not sure his self inflated ego would agree with that.

horse racing is having an upsurge in attendance etc and you could argue that at a flat meeting there could be 6 races of 2-3 mins each or less,they fill the dead time and provide other on course attractions,also provide comfort and usually excellent food

Hope this never happens or that's me finished. Already had 3 weeks of the damn things upsetting the dogs.

Personally I would like 7 man teams to remain. I do believe the league is far too strong and if you exclude the top 22 riders and promote two nl riders in both reserve berths in every team in the league. Give the brits a chance. Let those riders double up in the nl to give them plenty of track time and that will help the transition into the championship. Maybe keep these riders at reserve all season to stop poor quality foreign riders and has beens from dropping into the reserve berths.

Can only go by the fact that a significant number of posts on this thread are stating 1)Top league speedway at Boro doesnt work 2)2nd tier speedway at Boro doesnt work 3)Weekend speedway at Boro doesnt work 4)Weekday speedway at Boro doesnt work 5)Any combination of the above at Boro doesnt work Of course how representitive that is of the real view of the pussycat faithful is not proven and there I would bow to your greater local knowledge Im just very surprised at how much negativity there is for ANY proposal even given thats what the BSF often does best

Bernie was the first Swindon rider I was aware of, as his picture was in the Speedway Star that I bought before going to my first match. That was also 1974, although David Ashby was riding, so Bernie isn't the first to go from that side.

Very sad news. He was my favourite Racer of the 70's and early 80's. Team riding with Bobby Schwartz was brilliant to watch. A team man through and through. I use to watch him grass tracking as well. A lovely man. Condolences to his family.

Yes but you will also cut the revs as you wouldn’t be able to get the same power and also the obvious thing is 2 less valves, springs and guides so you save £150 straight away

You are deluded chap, nothing can be done to save a sport that delivers only 15 mins of action over two hours. They find it boring, it's that simple...

Very sad news. Remember watching Bernie many times and was Reading thru' and thru'. After his one year loan spell at Swindon he did consider swithing over to 'the 'Robins' but returned home after Smallmead was completed afer a little pressure from Reg Fearman! Speeday couldn't survive without the Bernie Leighs...dependable team orientated loyal riders and something sadly lacking nowadays. May he RIP.

One league of 18 team would give 34 league matches + play off +koc or any other competition + any challenges , that’s around 50 meetings 25 home 25 away , season is only 26 weeks long , that pretty much 2 aWeek , how many do they need ? , I like bomber but his interview was selfish and at odds with what the sport needs to do to move forward

I preferred the Sunday meetings , but the amount of speedway abroad , long track and grass track , makes attracting riders to Glasgow all the more difficult for a Sunday these days

Best 500cc rider of the day, is that better Uncle Andrew

DanBewley was the most improved rider and his progress had been nothing short of exceptional but Robert Lambert was the rider of the year because of his step up to be an outstanding number 1 andthe best British rider in the averages.

Probable teams for 2nd division - Nice League Unia Tarnów Czaja Kaczmarek Mroczka Ljung Kulakov Cierniak Rempała Konieczny Konieczny Knapik ROW Rybnik Szczepaniak Woryna Batchelor Bewley Etheridge Laguta? (currently suspended, will join in May) Logaczev? Chmiel Tudzież Giera Tyman Kłosak Duda Start Gniezno Fajfer Gała Jabłoński Berntzon Jakobsen Pavlic Stalkowski Szwacher Lewandowski Burlaga Lokomotiv Davgapilis Lebiediev Kostygov Puodzuks Lahti Lewiszyn Tarasienko Mustonen Michailov Trofimov Kurmis Avgucevis Matjuszonok Orzeł Łódź Okoniewski? Jeleniewski? Musielak? Tungate? Andersen? Wybrzeże Gdańsk Gomólski Pieszczek Cyfer Bech Thorssel Kling Wilson-Dean Żupiński Majchrzak Stal Rzeszów Baran Grajczonek Koza Hancock Huckenbeck Sundstroem Becker Summers Morris? Curzytek Kowalski? Curzytek Majcher Ostrovia Ostrów Gapiński Walasek Klindt Gafurov Loktajev Masters Karion Nowacki? Szostak _______________________ I urge you to watch this great video of the Gdańsk team presentation! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAuKSBAGct8

Rasmus Jensen 100%

You are correct Aviator, but a lot of the comments became abusive and far too personal, with nothing to do with speedway and shed a poor reflection on Poole Speedway itself.

Yes, thankfully it’s not just my opinion , chris Louis also believes a more safer manageable engine is needed as do many others, but tighter controls are also needed as currently if it 500cc has four valves and not fuel injected it’s pretty much anything goes, we could also look at tyres, David Howe makes an interesting point saying use a tyre that makes you shut off, I think this is an excellent idea however riders will take the view that it makes you crash if you keep the throttle on rather than it makes you shut off and go s bit slower

Perhaps we talk to people who talk to people.... Anyway Ged doesnt live near Peterborough and he knows whats going on (hopefully)

Hi, Thanks for the kind word and unfortunately you are correct in that we do not attend the BSPA AGM and we hold our own 2 weeks after at the NL AGM. It is for me way too late of course and I would prefer these AGM to happen mid season with a wash up meeting at the end of the year. We do strive to do our best for all, be that at the school, speedway, in the community, our parties - everything really. Unlike most I fear, I am really looking forward to 2019 to continue what we have begun and hopefully continue to grow and get further into our community. Many thanks Barry

For a sport that delivers only 15 minutes of action, it's rather remarkable that it celebrated its 90th birthday in February 2018. Don't you think that the paying punters should have twigged by now?

So, will enlightenment reach the promoters this week? Time to hold your breath and hope it seems. Cross your fingers too or even pray as I do.

i will put a bet on it . you can pay me in 50yrs time . lol.

I have said this before but when riding for Coventry ~ which covers a number of years ~ Chris used to spend months trying to get the right set ups on his machines at the beginning of the season and then by July he would be flying until the end of the season. So why was it necessary to then get rid of these and start again the next season on new equipment , which meant another frustrating session of trying to get the right set-ups. Seems a crazy waste of money to me.

Agree I travel up from Exeter and Wednesday is far easier travel wise.

Just the most important people then.... Chris Harris' comments this week absolutely epitomise how far removed from reality most riders are - their selfish approach is a huge factor in the mess UK speedway finds itself in. I am one of the long-term fans who has been disillusioned by so many things (particularly the way the sport is run for everyone but the fans) that I'm not sure I have anything vaguely resembling enthusiasm to give a toss if/when they are fixed.

Dont believe for one minute the uk could support a super league at this moment in time

One big league wouldn't deliver anywhere near the number of meetings that doubling-up currently does.

Donkey is an absolute legend - he couldve pulled out his lawnmower from his shed and won races

And don't forget he then doesn't work for 4 and a half months of the year... I remember a few years back when Jeremy Doncaster made his comeback and he said he was using an engine he found in his shed! He didn't do too badly on it either!

I hope that the AGM does not take too much notice of the opinions of Bomber Harris. If that is how the majority of British riders feel then speedway has no chance of rebuilding itself. "Can't go on" without doubling up. "Not worth the risk" without doubling up. Bomber is a terrific speedway racer but outside of his own backyard no-one in the outside world has heard of him and many of the 25,000 UK fans of speedway do not want doubling up. He needs to talk to more of them. If there were 250,000 UK fans prepared to pay to get in and were baying for Chris Harris then he might get the rewards he deserves for his racing skills. What he did or didn't do at school is not the responsibility of supporters and he needs to really think about the day which comes to all riders ( except it seems Greg Hancock ) when they have to retire ( or want to retire or no-one wants to employ them ) life after speedway for all riders needs careful preparation and thinking about at a deep personal level.

Spot on... Sign up 100% to ride over here.... Or dont. ... The Promoters will need to play their part by putting together a fixture list early enough, and sticking to it obviously... I know, I know, I am laughing as I type...

Thank goodness that this wasn't the case back when I used to attend (1970's & 1980's) otherwise I couldn't have taken in White City (Wednesday), Oxford (Thursday) and Swindon (Saturday) and occasionally Eastbourne (Fridays and Sundays). Obviously fans used to travel around a lot more back in those days but of course that scenario has changed dramatically with the downturn the sport has been experiencing over the last 20 years or so for all manner of reasons. I talk to many people at my place of work (tourism) who say that they used to go to speedway...a common observation amongst people now.

I like nothing better than standing around for about 3 hours on a cold wet night in October.

Pity the action does not date from the inception of the BL in 1965. I'm missing some of my all-time favourites... Knutsson Harrfeldt Nordin

One upside of the aging demographic of the speedway fan is that soon they'll be bringing their carers along, it might just save the sport