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I would also argue that early season meetings rarely produce the best racing. Plus if you have two riders from one side on another planet to the rest it doesn’t help. Its sensible to give it a few meetings before passing too much judgement however some people seem to be salivating at their keyboard waiting for the first opportunity to stick the boot in to make themselves feel better. Each to their own.

That’s where Hans is these days. He’s nowhere near the level of ten years ago. Peterborough need to sort out this Cook business sooner rather than later. Getting him to change his mind or getting a much better replacement than Summers with all due respect needs sorting pronto. That moves Bjerre back down to reserve and makes a big difference to both him, and this team. Need to get this signing right and quickly.

Looking at the weather, you made need to be

If there was a “falling out” between Buster and Cook,there is only one winner in this situation and it ain’t Cook.

And your still banging it, do us a favour and go and bang it somewhere else your boring.

But when you have six fingers and webbed feet it's easy to get those knickers twisted

Think you’re almost right there - except don’t think we’ll be fighting Ipswich or anybody give us that spoon now and be done with it.

Thurs 11th 6.30pm

Can you put that in writing?

Inside line of bends 3 & 4 taken in 2 metres as well as a metre off of the inside line on the straights to give even more width. Couple of pictures taken from Swindon Speedway Twitter show it all progressing well. TBF I'm sure Terry Russell would also like to know why the Club were not permitted to start the work earlier in the closed season.

That's the balancing act... Sadly the truth is that a 'successful' Speedway team can be more of a risk to its survival than a 'run of the mill' one... Paying out too much money to riders (who bring in hardly one extra punter by their presence), versus not peeing off your fan base by getting beat most weeks, is a tricky thing to achieve.. Winnng British Speedway competitions carries almost zero kudos the way they are ran, so it really isn't worth the risk paying out daft money to try and win them and possibly threaten your very existence.. After years of teams spending fortunes out on chasing 'fools gold' it does actually look like three teams at least are working to an initial strict payroll budget... As the season goes on this budget may change if Chapman feels it is effecting attendances adversely. Or he may decide he is still getting enough 'die hards' to keep his costs the way they are and make a profit. The correct way to run any business for me...

Totally agree, & that's why I went up the pub rather than attend.

Why does anyone live in Peterborough?

As for Darcy he is what he is unfortunately brains were not handed out when it was his time.

Hope you can post some info for those of us who can’t make it.

But we are faster swimmers

Uniformity. Professionalism. Its looks a sight better on TV. Although its buster so there is probably a brown envelope somewhere.

Don’t think he can - there is no one out there - not as clever as he thinks he is - only Cookie and Chris Holder that I can think of and he fell Out with both of them! Saviour of British speedway and Clubs? He’s got his work cut out with this one.

It hasn't but Craig is an absolute tool for turning it all down. He is too big for his boots sometimes and whilst I can understand his point (although he completely contradicted himself when asking for more money-makes his sponsor stance void) that doesn't excuse the stupidity of turning down a seat somewhere.

Don’t think the full story has been told.

Just had an hour at Press & Practice, Richard Lawson turned up late and did not have a ride before the photo call but otherwise they looked pretty quick. Biggest surprise was Alfie Bowtell, I missed him last year but he used to be uncertain at Arlington however he looked a vastly different rider today. The other thing of note was that Ben Morley wore the No 2 Jacket and Bowtell No 4. The one who looked to have a bit of a problem was Lewis Kerr, Quick enough but will need practice making the sharp turns, it should not be a handicap as most visitors will also be having first sight of the track and no doubt he will soon get dialled in. The only 'visitor' was Jason Edwards who did not look out of place at all and looks nailed on for No 7 in 2020.

Well switching it around , why is Buster so adamant riders individual sponsors have to be in plain white ? For the life of me I can’t understand either party’s stance on this ???

Can't beat a good rave.

A very ordinary looking Panthers performance with Hans looking slow and no one else other than Wright standing out. Track was fast and smooth but was gate n go with no passing. Disappointing.

Buster will only pay what is needed to make speedway viable at Lynn.Why overpay and see another team go by the wayside.We have seen too many go in recent years.

I wonder if buster still thinks that Kenny is no longer a heat leader in this league lol.

Sums up a ridiculous idea.

3 Days - 6 matches for all to enjoy !!!- all UK times 4 matches from Extraleague round 1 and 2 from Nice Polska league round 2 Friday 5th April Zielona Gora v Torun Eleven sport 1 programme starts 4.30pm 1st race 5pm followed by Czestochowa v Gorzow Eleven sport 1 programme starts 7.15pm 1st race 7.30pm Saturday 6th April Rybnik v lodz Eleven sport 2 programme starts 7pm 1st race 7.15pm Sunday 7th April Gdansk v Tarnow Polsat sport 1st race 1.45pm Sunday 7th April Leszno v Wroclaw N sport programme starts 2.30pm 1st race 3pm followed by Lublin v grudziadz N sport programme starts 5.30pm 1st race 6pm

Do you believe everything you read and hear

Surely the new starting procedure shouldn't make that much difference Anyway we have long complained about opposition teams moving at the start so rather amusing to see us at it. Redcar were statues compared to us and alas it does not take long for word get out ...... in the 1st 2 meetings we were certainly pushing it with the refs ........ but lets hope its just rustiness

I think Peterborough are probably holding off to see what happens with Scott Nicholls, if he is replaced by Jacob when he is fit then Scott will be available. If not then Jacob will be available.

I once spoke to David Hemsley; he said that he wanted a fast speedway, which is why the track had such long staights. (It seems that he wouldn't listen to Sam Ermolenko). The track has been altered three times to try to correct this error ...

It was a throw away comment from Hawkins at the end of the meeting preview on the official site. Seemed just a harmless tongue in cheek comment to me, certainly nothing for anyone to get their knickers in a twist over.

There are no heat leaders out there who are prepared to ride in the U.K. for the money on offer. All this nonsense about wanting fixed race nights so they could return here is rubbish. Simple facts are if you matched or bettered the money offered in Sweden or Poland they would be queued up to return. And those days are long gone.

I've just sent Martin another question. I'll await with keen interest regarding his views in the next edition...great column and I hope that others feel inclined putting questions to him.

I think Wolfsbane is referring to Jacob's piece in the Speedway Star in which he indicates that he was less than honest with the promotion about his injury.

After his lies it won't be his choice. If CVS sticks to his principles then Thorssell won't be at Monmore in 2019.

As I understand it the team manager nominates four riders and the Twitter poll is to choose which two of those go in heat 14. So it’s as broad as it is long really. Opposing fans can’t choose your two worst riders out of the whole seven.

Without doubt, one of the finest race tracks in British speedway.

Spot on! Buster Chapman is very trying and at times it's impossible to put up with his chosen direction for UK speedway.

Alas after Friday, less positives. I know the riders are learning the track but even so it was a disappointing home start Well done to the Bears who were certainly the better team over the two legs. Decisions certainly went against the diamonds. I could be wrong but I didn't see Clegg actually touch the tapes in heat 8, the ref clearly stopped the race to early to exclude Greaves and then there was the heat 12 controversy.....tough call for ref.... but the fact that barker also fell would imply some contact with bjerre... in most (BUT NOT ALL) cases the rider diving up the inside is excluded . The most worrying aspects for me over both legs is: apart from a couple of flashes, generally we didn't look quick and the bears when behind were catching our riders in both legs at the gates we were moving all over the place and we've already had 2 tapes exclusions and 2(3) warnings we were beaten by redcar who were thrashed by Leicester !!! Lets hope it is just rustiness but we would all agree we would have preferred to start the season like redcar (or Leicester!)

I remember in the 60's if there weren't at least 5 passes in every heat, the meeting ran past 8.45 or one of the superstars shot off home without buying everybody a beer they used to refund double your entrance fee.....probably.

well it was over by 8.00...don't think 2 hours is excessive..

With the attitude Darcy shows, I'm more than justified in why I gave no money to his fund. He really is a horror of a person

would have thought the jawdees would have been on here by now , seen as they will have sneaked away after the interval

Have we given up on the thread subject then?

Now everyone knows Nicki is no angel but Darcy didn’t seem to mind him when he wore a replica suit to help raise money for Darcy.

2019 SPRING EDITION Welcome to issue 44 of our quarterly retro magazine. Here's a taster of what's inside . . . MIKE POLUKARD – First Pole at Wembley ROMAN CHYLA looks back at the history-making exploits of his fellow countryman Mike Polukard, who literally sacrificed his life trying to help others achieve the stardom he earned at Bydgoszcz and for Poland on the international front. OXFORD: 50 Memorable Moments ROB PEASLEY looks back at the early years of Oxford Cheetahs, when the likes of Pat Clarke, Ronnie Genz, Arne Pander and Ron How were the Kings of Cowley and the National League championship came to Sandy Lane. DANNY TAYLOR – From fan to boss Nowadays most promoters have a main business outside the sport and treat their club as a glorified hobby. But it wasn’t always like that. Right up to the 90s, speedway was often the promoters’ only source of income. DOUG NICOLSON looks at the life and times of Danny Taylor, who, although he passed away 50 years ago, is still fondly remembered at Glasgow and Berwick. PETER LLOYD – exclusive interview PHIL CHARD talks to unsung rider Peter Lloyd, who had spells riding trials, grasstracks and even car racing as well as a multitude of speedway clubs, including Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Poole. STANISLAV KUBICEK – exclusive interview VITEK FORMANEK catches up with Stanislav Kubíček, one of the most outstanding Czech riders of his generation. He starred for the 1963 World Team Cup Final silver medalists who finished ahead of Great Britain in Vienna. YESTERDAY'S NEWS In our new series, TONY McDONALD raids Retro Speedway's vast archives and looks back at publications and what they were writing about. First up we've got extracts from 1953 and 1958 editions of Speedway World and one from a 1965 Speedway Pictorial. IVAN'S FINAL LAP Poignant family pictures from the a private ceremony in Woolston Cemetery, where Ivan Mauger's ashes were interned at his spiritual home in Christchurch, New Zealand. RONNIE'S WALL OF DEATH REVIVAL Chris Martin, a Weymouth rider in the early 80s, recalls the honour of riding Ronnie Moore's old Wall of Death fairground attraction in their native New Zealand. Plus . . . pictures from the annual Celebration of Speedway event, obits on Don Cuppleditch, Miroslav Verner and Jim Purdey, crossword, your letters and a full-page team photo of the 1969 Reading Racers. To order this issue, or to subscribe for as little as £16 a year in the UK, please visit us at www.retro-speedway.com/

And in Peterboroughs case much much sooner than that.

From a neutral (Redcar) supporter, Lewis Kerr looked very good at Ben Barker's testimonial meeting yesterday. Hope he has an injury free season. Certainly deserves one.