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I'm no fan of Buster but all boycotts will do is lead to the closure of Peterborough Speedway!

Before anyone starts pointing the finger, just cos we've got the same surname, it doesn't mean we're related,,, well at least I hope not.

I would suggest the ‘success’ in recent years has more to do with Tai dragging the other riders along while he was riding as a World no 1, rather that Rosco’s magical words to each rider before they went out for each race. It could be suggested that Tai is the inspiration to the riders to up their game while he is riding out of his skin for the cause.

What planet have you been on ? Woffy has preety much concentrated on himself and hanged uk speedway .. He snubs the league the uk final and rides in his own land about twice a year .Woffy has always been about himself and to take pot shots at Rosco when he was in an impossible spot was as low as you could get . Woffy is one of greatest riders we have ever had but that does not mean your going to be a great team person great manager etc .

Enjoyed that tonight, looked like a fair sized crowd too.. Guesstimate would be around 700-800 from where I was sitting... Plenty of kids with it being hols too.. Cant complain at a tenner in and free for teenagers up to eighteen years old can you? Nice to see a bit of needle too between Jack Smith and some of the Aces lads, maybe those Facebook comments about not getting picked for the U21 were being shared around... Cannot knock the NL can you? A very, very decent product, full of lads giving their all... PS, Barry's Curry must be good down there looking at how 'well fed' several of the IOW lads looked... Made me feel quite 'svelte' like.... (A 'trim' ahem, 15 and a half stone by the way). Well done to all tonight, including Chase The Ace who, with the kids in attendance, did a great job of engagement.. My only gripe would be that on nights like this more could be done to get people to come back to watch either more Colts or 'the big boys'. A massive opportunity to advertise more meetings to a captured market and several around me were first time attendees.. Maybe discounted Aces meeting tickets to any of the newbies? A bit of market research on the night can guide who you try and engage.. Fair play to Mark Lemon too, not a short flight from Russia yet in the pits tonight.. Well done that man.. You do feel that there is hope when the NL shows what can be done..

But just think of the fun you could have with a different blow up doll in all 5 bedrooms

That is thinking for today, not tomorrow. Surely taking an additional under-21 rider would not just provide backup coverage, but should they need to be called to the big stage in a years time they will have spent two days soaking it all in this year, and be slightly better prepared.

For someone who claims to be a speedway ' fan' you don't seem to know much about your own team never mind the sport itself? As for " stating a fact, IMHO"??? then its not a fact is it?.... It's an opinion , a silly one at that.

With Poland being their 'entry point' more and more.. Maybe its visa related? Or maybe its seen to be the quicker way forward to get them up to a higher level quicker. (Sink or Swim).. Lidsey's comments were quite telling when he said he learnt on the "big, well prepared tracks in Poland" which gave him a good grounding.. We need our young lads out there sharing the same experiences.. No coincidence for me that both Tai and Robert Lambert spent a lot of their formative years not riding and learning in Britain. No comfort zone for them.. Moved them on several notches I reckon..

Buster getting ready to top dress the track for Thursday...

Using the right type of shale would be a start!!

The riders will certainly have a load of door stops when speedway in the UK collapses.

There would clearly have to be some form of migration period. Obviously, my main concern is the plight of British speedway. Perhaps riders investing so heavily in current engines are really, to be blunt, the reason the sport is heading for the iceberg. It isn't Formula 1, it is a working class sport, the next step up from grasstrack racing. If a different engine is introduced to help cut costs, surely the riders with a backlog of banned engines could be able to use them abroad or even trade them in with someone racing abroad. We are talking cutting costs here, and surely any rider would want that? If you are going to use the argument of riders having a back-jam of engines they won't be able to use, we'll never get beyond this point.

You really are a silly sod

I'd hate to see his worst equipment in that case!

Ive never been a great fan of Tai and that has nothing to do with his on track performances which you can only admire. The past couple of seasons he does seem to have matured and listening to him over the two days of the SON its hard to disagree with his viewpoints. He was also correct when he stated that the British league was sub standard which it is with the top riders giving it a miss. What disappointed me with Tai is as a current world champion he didn't ride over here in order for the sport to be able to market itself as having the current world champion, Tai no doubt is someone the kids could identify with which is something British speedway desperately needs. Compare that to Jason Doyle who as world champion was eager to ride in the British league when he could so easily have given it a miss, so credit to Doyley for his commitment to UK speedway, I just wish Tai would have shown that same commitment to riding here and promoting the sport as world champion. Be interesting to hear Roscoes reaction to Tai,s comments after his poor interview.

all top class sportmen have some ego as its part of what separates them from the rest. and to say he has no passion for his nation is ridiculous. You cant have seen him ride for GB or see his frustration last weekend.

I think the BSPA have pretty much washed their hands in the development of young riders and subbed it all out. You only had to look for the non-existent promotion of the recent WU21 team event at BV, it wasn't even mentioned on their website or twitter feed until the day of the event. As for TM, what about Rob Lyon, didn't he resign because the BSPA refused to back him with his ideas that seem to have now been pretty much fully implemented... maybe time to return to Rob?

The thing the Aussies have over the Brits is that failure isn't an option. Travelling around the world to the UK or Poland they have no choice other than to make it or head home, brutal but its true, there is no safety net whereas in the UK riders get chance after chance to find out if they are average or not. Aussies heading to Europe must be confident in their abilities and confident that they will make it. There are obviously those who don't and they either end up heading home (or loitering in the UK 2nd tier) but those who remain are then in with a genuine chance of pushing on to world level.

As Tai said, beating riders in the UK doesn't make you a top rider.. The young lads have to go up against the more battle hard young Poles in particular more often.. These lads are facing enormous pressure to perform every time they go to a track so can handle far better the jump to the next level when their U21 reserve time finishes.. As we have seen ongoing for a good many years. Our lads can easily be feted by too many followers as "a future World Champion" when in reality they are just the best of a very ordinary domestic bunch.. Get them overseas at an early age and see if they sink or swim.. The likes of Drabik, Smektala, Kubera et al, all face that challenge every Sunday through the season...

I have to admit the above post makes very little sense in many places. What other business has demands put upon it by customers? Every single one and if they do not deliver the product the customer desires for the correct value they don't get the sale. Speedway operate in the entertainment industry and relies upon repeat trade rather than one off purchases, this means that the product must be consistent for the money and that the repeat purchasers need to feel they are getting value for money and valued for their custom (something that is the bug bear across most supporters up and down the country). There may not be Speedway any further in Plymouth without the current promotion who knows but what is certain is that without the crowds there will definitely be no Speedway.

In my opinion the've made the starting procedure unnecessarily complicated......should be IMO.....if they're sitting still when the starting marshal walks away then that's fine.....if they move and or get a flier after that, who cares.....sometimes fliers can make the race more exciting. BUT, first to touch or break the tapes....automatic exclusion. All this "at the referee's discretion" is what is causing the gross inconsistency.

Listening to Tai it would seem that the reason he doesn’t ride in the UK is because it p155 poor and does nothing to enhance a riders cutting edge ( not to mention sub standard tracks and the financial side). I agree Tai jacked in the National set-up as he didn’t like the way it was going and 2nd rate treatment of the riders. Now he seems to fully onboard with the current set-up ( if not the personnel). To me, he came across as passionate about what was wrong and what needs to be done. If that means Rosco being shown the door, then so be it. There is only one Tai but loads of Rossiters.

No rider is bigger than the team and it wouldn't bother me if Woffinden never rode for England again.

Modern day British tracks for you, there is only 1 track at present that compares with Polish/Swedish tracks,Promoters need to man up and make their tracks racable.Riders want to have confidence to race, not concerned about not being able to turn their bikes or hitting a grippy patch in the middle of the bends.

Bobby Charlton was a great man and footballer but that did not make him a great manager though who's to say Woffinden would not be the same.

Let's be fair here - if Woffinden gives them an ultimatum of him or Rossiter, then any longer than 0.01 seconds thinking about it is wasted time.

This should be a defining night for British Speedway, we're making good progress as a nation at youth level, but the top of the tree is rotten. This should be the wake-up call that's clearly needed to have a proper clearout of the old guard and start instilling some professionalism. I have nothing but respect for the changes the new guys have made so far, but keeping Rossiter as team manager was a bad decision from the get-go. The guy seems to be living in an age where GB weren't expected to win anything, they could all have a good laugh and as long as they entertained and give it a go, it was a good night's work. That doesn't work in modern day speedway. Rossiter just comes across as a bit of a clown, I can't imagine anyone turning up on a raceday and respecting him, least of all a self made 3 time world champion. I've never been a great lover of Tai Woffinden, but dear me, is he needed by Team GB at present. His ideas, determination and courage to actually air his views are what we need if we're ever going to get anywhere. It might put a few noses out of joint but we need to get away from this plucky GB crap to being an actual professional speedway nation ASAP if we want to win anything. A new team manager is a must. I'd say they could also do with looking at all these backroom/hangers on team, a standby rider is far more important than a 'Head of Performance' (what exactly was he doing this weekend?!). I'd love to see someone with a bit of gravitas come in to manage the side, along with a younger understudy to be groomed for the future - something like a Peter Adams & Olly Allen/Simon Stead/Scott Nicholls combo. As for the meeting, without doubt the worst speedway I've seen in a long, long time. I've watched this sport since I was a kid, probably around 20 years and that's the first time I've switched the channel off and watched something else instead of live speedway. Why on earth are there 42 heats to give us 1 semi and 1 final? What is the exact point of Saturday's meeting? Do they even look at tracks before they decide to award them with the pinnacle of world speedway? Presumably the answer to all those questions is that nobody has any idea. The whole event just felt flat as a fart, there was no tension or drama, the GP qualification on a Friday night has more about it than this did. Pearson and Tatum add absolutely nothing to the event either - I'm sure Tatum is a lovely bloke, and very experienced, but he isn't a great commentator and time to get him doing more pits analysis. Pearson, where do you start? The final straw for me was him laughing and joking about the rules being so complicated and "we'll worry about them later"! It's a World Cup final, it happens once a year and you're not clear on the rules? Why is he laughing at the fact the rules are a little bit complex? Imagine Darren Fletcher doing that in a Champions League final? His commentary is going out on the world feed and he makes the sport look a joke. Clearly he has plenty control over the BSPA now along with many sycophants so it's p1ssing in the wind. Let's hope for better next year - Woffinden, Lambert and Bewley, on a better track and with a decent team manager.

What's Nigel Pearson going on about in today's Express & Star , blasting some Wolves fan,s as keyboard warriors. "Now is the time for Wolverhampton fan's to get behind the team, instead of turning on them.How some riders must feel reading some of the hatred on social media I just don't know". Ok,some aren't happy with performances this season (and justifiably so)but when he mentions "hatred",think that's taking it a little bit to far.

Well you seem to have a lot of chat, maybe put yourself forward for the role.

He lived near Kings Lynn and use to race bangers. Any relation to the esteemed leader of the sport in this country. It is unfortunate but the halcyon days have gone. Speedway is no longer viable as a professional sport and to add to the dire situation the weekend’s debacle only puts another nail in the coffin on this once great sport. If it is not too late I cannot i believe it is time to re-trench and look inwardly at all that does not work and consider regrouping and start again. To be brutal It has no appeal to younger audiences, the diehards are drifting away in droves and the riders live in cloud cuckoo land when it comes to thinking it is a viable option to making a living. If BT sport walk who can blame them. Having followed speedway since 1969 it is sad to see that the sport has lost its way and that the light at the end of a tunnel may well be another train coming. It has to take on board all that is wrong and stop burying one’s head in the sand. BSPA/ Clubs, wake up you do not have a viable business proposition and must work together to find a solution for the benefit of all. Carry on in your silos and speedway is dead.

I was being sarcastic .. Wolves is one of the best .

i think you're being a little unfair on Bewley. Before he had his crash. he was scoring very well in Poland. The same league as Lambert was in. He gave Lambert a good run for his money in the British Final and had a few good meetings in the world u21 world finals beating good riders along the way. That crash he had last year has stopped the progress he was making, but if you have natural talent like he has, then I'm sure he will get over it.

I wish you a speedy recovery. You have obviously just got home from hospital after having your sense of humour removed... There has been a constant battle on here as there are those who believe that being born in a foreign country makes you British, yet being born in Britain to British parents makes you an Aussie... Yes, IT WAS A JOKE! WHOOSH! Iainb clearly got it...

A season long GP style series to fill in some of the fixture gaps we currently have would be great. I'm sure riders would be keen to prove that they can compete with the best on a level playing field and put themselves in the shop window for attracting sponsors and advancing their careers. As you say though it will rely on a major sponsor to supply and maintain the balloted engines. Good luck with the project I hope it's a success.

Based on original team declarations is Chris Harris guesting in place of himself?

Pretty much sums it up perfectly! The revenue received from SKY was never invested in anyway, no short term (let alone medium or long term) strategy was ever implemented and remember that due to a commission the BSPA naively agreed with the man who negotiated the SKY deal, meant a large chunk of the amount paid by the broadcaster never went to the clubs. The BSPA failed to capitalise on the more than credible viewing figures to land a title sponsor, shameful! Too many petty little squabbles saw promoters try and out do each other on points money paid to certain riders. All comes down to the fact that a the sport's weak self governance failed miserably and they totally ballsed everything up by taking SKY for granted and even going back cap in hand at one point! Massive opportunity lost - never get another chance like that!

That's two leagues.

The SKY coverage during the first 10 years at least should have put speedway on a sound footing. Had real business people been running the sport, no doubt it would have done. For two-to-three years from 1999 there were real signs speedway was on the up. Crowds seemed to be improving and SKY really did recognise viewing figures were good for its network of channels. We had our faces painted and kids were let in for a quid on the evening SKY rolled up for a live broadcast. There did seem to be a hint of proper promoting by those who had lazily worn the tag for yonks beforehand. But it didn't really last. It drifted into being taken for granted, speedway being on TV every week, and sometimes twice. I felt the sport - promoters and fans - thought SKY and the influx of cash would always be there. We even began having long faces when certain matches weren't on SKY, despite all they had done for us. Fans began getting picky when commentators were pronouncing riders' names wrong, or if certain teams featured more than theirs. That afternoon SKY had its cameras set up for the Riders' Championship at Coventry, when the promoter was scrambling on the floor looking for the dummy he'd just spat out, that was the final nail for SKY. They had so many rained-off meetings towards the end, I believe they decided to cut their loses. They were a professional broadcasting company working within an amateur sport. They couldn't drag it up to their level. For example, how many times did live matches overrun? BT have only half-heartedly accepted it, but we should be thankful for small mercies and not start bickering of who's doing a bad job and who you'd like to see on the panel. I often look at some of the dross SKY are covering during the summer months and cannot believe how the sport messed up its opportunity and is no longer featured. As a fan, I don't really know the ins and outs. But I do recall the amount of money SKY used to shell out setting up all the gear, and then the match was washed out. They aren't a charity and won't put up with it. BT also. I look at speedway, 20 years after SKY could have saved it, and see a dangerous shortage of riders with clubs having to share them, like the last cigarette being passed around by kids behind the bike sheds. I see clubs going weeks without a match in the height of summer, which will surely mean some fans will simply get out of the habit and get used to the cash in their pockets. Meanwhile, fans are expected to tune in to the GPs and see many of the riders (or their type) who put two fingers up at Britain and merely used it like a Tom Cat when the female was in season. Fans are expected to turn up trackside and support riders in their team who aren't even their riders. It's like visiting someone in hospital you don't know and wishing them to get better. It's not someone you know and love. In fact, you ask yourself why bother turning up at the bedside every week to wish someone you don't know get better. Looking at British speedway right now, I see remnants of what might have been, ghosts of live matches on SKY and all the missed opportunities. That could have been the sport's saviour. It should have. But look at it now. How many lives does it have remaining for British speedway to mess up?

I am not connected to the promotion at all and i do not in any way speak for them.. Paying customers want speedway and that is what they are getting.. and they are taking it into account i mean for god sake they ripped up the track and re laid it at their own cost partly for the crowd for dust reduction but mainly for the riders from all accounts. what other business out there has an environment like this where customers make "demands" as you put it none of the prospective people have the first idea how to run a team or a track or the difficulties with it.. if they did then i am sure they would listen.. but the "sort it out" brigade shouting these comments offer no answers or even know how to solve it its the owners that are trying their very best in this tough sport.. i would hazard a guess they do not have a bottomless pit of money either. and customers demands and finding out what they want.. they want to to watch speedway each week and hope for a winning side anything more than that is a request and nothing more than that and it is for the owners of the business to see if this is a benefit or not most of it comes down to money and again bottomless pit of money comes to mind and the barring of these fans i have already said is a touch harsh but it is their business to do what they want..but the paying customers that bring their children do not want to hear swearing and if it comes from an area you blanket the area with whatever solution you see fit.. everyone is going to say it wasn't me but if that few destroy a load of people who do not want to hear it week in and out never come back you could lose more to save just a few.. its called damage limitation and a harsh line on comments being made is where they have laid their hat it seems. they could just shut the doors forever and NO FAN COULD DO A THING ABOUT IT.. what would they do then.. oh thats right demand it is re-open lol i need to repeat i am in no way connected to the owners of Plymouth Speedway however i feel for them with this whole sordid story all they want to do is get on with the rest of the season and put up a fight to win. i will also say i used to be involved with Plymouth and these guys are still doing the same thing years and years later most promotions have ignored it this promotion haven't and i say good on them for sticking to their guns on it even if it is harsh.

Thursday will be interesting no doubt have to use R/R as Lynn will get first pick of any Poole guests if Lambert or Cook are missing.

Ah yes. The title. In a year where there seem to be World Cups going on in many sports and gaining them a degree of popularity in the process we get something called "Speedway of Nations". Is it a World Championship? Is it an open meeting? How can we tell?

Have to say after the criticism levelled against the speedway star for dropping the results this week they went above and beyond to make amends with a brief run down of the league standings and all the results so a huge thank you to those involved and of course mimmo for supplying the results.

I am starting to think that you are some kind of mole within the promotion . You are certainly providing me with a lot of ammunition to fire. Any business that does not take account of what its paying customers think and want is, frankly, insane and asking for financial failure. The 'get what you are given and be grateful' and 'if you don't like it, don't come' attitude that has been so prevalent in speedway is one of the main reasons why it is on its knees. Its PR has been a total disaster, with fans being treated as fools and simpletons and criticism answered with condescension, aggression, hostility and even abuse. I'm no businessman, but even I know that finding out your customers demands and trying your best to fulfil them is a key factor in any commercial enterprise. That means as much engagement with them as possible. Plymouth's response to criticism has been flat out denial, at least one supremely arrogant comment from Mark Phillips that will do him no favours at all and the barring of long term, totally committed fans on charges that are total rubbish. I would say that is precisely the opposite of what they should have done. Fortunately for the sport as a whole things are improving. People like Isle of Wight's Barry Bishop, Belle Vue's Adrian Smith and Redcar's Jittendra Duffil are changing the way that the sport looks at its customers. I suggest that Plymouth take note.

As one who broke my ankle in a speedway related injury (drunk in Bydgoszcz) i would think he would need a tad more than a month off.

Not necessarily. Unfortunately, there can be be some serious repercussions from throwing kids in at the deep end - and it is not just something that is confined to speedway. Sport - in particular, top-level sport - is all about confidence. I'm not saying it always happens, but it very easy to destroy confidence by throwing someone into something they are not ready for. Take them along to let them soak up the atmosphere by all means. Maybe give them a ride or two against weaker teams. However, with the way things started out yesterday, Bewley would undoubtedly been turning out in the majority of races. Cook wasn't fit after the crash, but he soldiered on as we had nobody else. Lambert wasn't fit to ride after the crash, but he felt he had to make the effort. I applaud their commitment to the cause. As I said, had Bewley been there, he would have been used, and as good and promising he is, he would have probably struggled to get any points on the board. Getting consistently tailed off - even if it is the world's best - can really cause someone to have doubts, and that is the last thing anybody wants. Was it a disaster for British hopes? Yes! Was it embarrassing? I think not. As has been mentioned by others, out top three riders (the ONLY three who can genuinely merit a place in such a lineup) were all missing or injured. Okay, how would the Russians have fared without Sayfutdinov, Laguta, and Chugunov? Would Sweden have been competitive without Lindgren and Ljung? Or Australia, just without Doyle? It is sad that we don't have the strength in depth, but GB were felled by a totally bizarre -- and tragic - combination of incidents. Sometimes things happen, and we just have to deal with it. Should Harris have been there? Probably not, but again, quality (and suitable) British riders are thin on the ground right now. As far as the actual event... It WAS poor, on a poor track. Is that indicative of the way speedway has deteriorated? Not in any way, shape, or form. There have ALWAYS been crap meetings. On crap tracks. There will be more. There were complaints about Amsterdam, Munich, and plenty of others, but you know what, we moved on. It doesn't help that the riders want slick tracks (mostly because modern speedway bikes are allergic to dirt and grip), and don't have the skills and mentality to deal with deeper tracks, but that still doesn't mean that the tracks are going to be like this weekend's. Maybe that was a one-off at Togliatti, maybe not, but you can't judge an entire sport on one weekend. Of course, it is sad that tracks are so adversely affected not just by rain, but by sunshine and heat... Refereeing? One of the biggest problems in football these days is the correct (and consistent) application of the rules. Speedway is no different, and I believe that we should have an elite group of individuals for major events. With the ref's performance this weekend, and Ackroyd's pathetic display a couple of GP's back, that really is something that needs to be improved. I don't have all the answers as far as starting offences, but I do know that in the case of simple restarts, the riders should just get straight back to the tapes. No two minutes, no mechanics, nothing like that... Steve

Yeah, he would, but so was Harris. What is harris going to learn about this weekend that he hasnt already. NOTHING. What would bewley have learnt??? EVERYTHING

No adjustments at all.. The bike you started on is the bike that you restart on... All round in one go, back to the start, no pit gates open.. No need for more fuel as hardly used any.. And to stop moving at the start? Hide the magnets on the tapes so all riders need to look at the tapes only, meaning no distractions by riders moving either side.. And if you move you are out, no warning, just like in Athletics, out...

Much as I respect Scott Nicholls as a rider/pundit, no way should he become GB team Manager, he's too close to it at present. The emphasis is on MANAGER. I'm pretty sure Peter Adams, for instance, never rode a bike but he knows how to win matches, he knows how to motivate riders. That's a team managers job, not being one of the lads who goes for a pint and a burger with the riders. Being a good rider does not make a good team manager.

Just watched the 2-valve race via YouTube. You cannot tell any difference in speed. If rolling back to 2-valves cuts costs and ultimately slows down speedway's decline, then what's stopping it, even for domestic racing if nothing else? There is too much money going out of the sport because of what we all thought was just progress and faster engines.