Leaderboard

Might help if he wasn't so aggressive and insulting to other posters!

I think NQ is OK, Tatum is very knowledgeable and has become good at the job and paired with Nigel Pearson they are a great team. Seems like I'm the odd one out but I like Pearson, he is enthusiastic and knows the sport and is far better than anybody else currently commentating Speedway in my opinion. The only one I really don't like on TV is Sam Ermolenko who can ruin a meeting for me. The best sport on TV recently has been Bristish Superbikes and that is on Eurosport so could be they'll do a decent job. No idea who films BSB but it must be expensive as the quality is excellent and they don't miss much.

A bit like yourself then,

Well, perhaps he should think before he posts what he does. Never seems to comment on any matches or join in discussions just insults anyone who dares to mention Poole in less than glowing terms. Deserves all he gets back.

Actually far from me to defend Starmans posts, but the replies are basically mob bullying of the guy.

Nigel does a good job in delivering an image of a fast, high octane, adrenaline rush sport.. Talking low and slow won't help that image... Lots of things are simply not fit for purpose in UK Speedway.. I would suggest Nigel and Kelvin are not one of them...

57.3?

Very well done. Proud of the Bears Now LETS GET IT ON

Good to see Craig back on track tonight at Berwick and doing what he does best. 9 from 3 rides so far.

MY decade as the Daily Express speedway correspondent included the Spring Classic when John Davis won. The then Sports Editor, Fleet Street legend Ken Lawrence, was there with me on a Thursday night and my report, and a later rewrite, were carried on the back page in every edition. Ken was always prepared to give speedway a good show. Also had the back page when Michael Lee won his WC in Gothenburg. But in their infinite wisdom the BSPA scheduled the following year's SC on Maundy Thursday... the day before Good Friday. At that time national newspapers were not published on Good Friday. Ken and the DE were not amused. And their involvement in what was a star-studded event was doomed from there on in. Why sponsor an event you cannot report on?

Nice to meet David Howe and family in Berwick now getting his hands dirty as Jyes mechanic.

On my way on the Choo Choo, this is going to be epic . C'mon the Bandits then c'mon the Tigers

YOU may be the only one on here, although I doubt it, but Nigel is very highly rated at BT, Sky, BSI, Talksport, etc. Natalie does a good job because she knows her subject. During my time at the SGPs the likes of Charlie Webster and now Kiri didn't have a clue. But why does it have to be a female, and I am certainly not being sexist. Chris Louis and Brando are far better because they can talk the lingo to the riders.

How can virtually the same riders produce better racing just because the league has a different name? I didn't realise Rowe Atkins Stoneman etc must be so much more attractive a proposition that Fricke Doyle and Iversen.....

People have no idea what Craig's problems are, what help he might or might not be receiving and how it might or might not affect his ability to race. I suggest it would be better in those circumstances not to comment on his situation or prognosis but instead to give him as much time and space as he needs to get himself back to a stage where he can return. That might just be days or much longer but when he does return it would be good to see more understanding and support. Many, many people suffer from different types of mental illness. It is no different than physical illness, it is not their fault and there should be no stigma attached to it. The body can only cope with certain degrees of stress and the mind is no different.

I was thinking of mentioning Ivor Brown myself-the man all non Cradley Heath fans loved to hate. Always good box office, always called upon for Open meetings. On a side note loved the old Harum-Scarum Provincial League-great racing and great personalities.

Seems like you wouldn’t approve of anyone.

Thank god that tripe is over. A complete bore fest from heat one through to the final. Zmarzliks now to lose. Madsen completely imploded under the pressure. Emil blew the final big time. zzzzzzzzzzz!

Nah, Zagar doesn't add anything to the GP's...

So you are basically saying it's okay. wowsers

How do you know Ippo won’t win at Poole? Not many thought Wolves would win this week. With Iversen on board they may be big spoilers.

I was their and i have to say i have seen alot worse on dry tracks , at the end of the day certain riders just couldnt ride a track that wasnt to there liking, as for entertainment i enjoyed the whole evening, starting with being told meeting delayed because " one of the scunny buses is running late" to the owner saying sorry to the crowd for getting beat and as a visitor i will be back .

We missed out on the play offs because we took a chance on Steve and Dan recovering from their injuries and getting back to their pre injury form. It didn't work out, although Dan is now almost there. I doubt many fans would not have wanted us to include them in the original team selection and the management obviously thought likewise. We missed out on the play offs because we held on to Wells for far too long. He should have been replaced before his average dropped and that was a management mistake. However, as Superace has said and despite the above, we would have been in the play offs if Fricke had not been injured prior to the Wolverhampton meeting. There were no suitable guests available from Ipswich, the only team not riding that day and we lost to Wolverhampton by 4 points with r/r for Fricke scoring just 4. Nothing is certain in life or speedway but I am sure Fricke would have scored at least enough points to gives us the win. As for promoting the club , the management can always do more but it is far from easy with limited financial resources and to compete for media space against Manchester United and City and the other local league clubs, plus the local rugby and cricket clubs. They do try to maintain a high profile on social media, they tried the initiative of giving everyone who attended one of the meetings a voucher for £5 to be used at any other meeting and it seems to me that crowds are increasing.

21/07 Edinburgh Press Charity Gala Sports Night scratch races - ANY OUTRIGHT WINNER? Appears to have been demonstration races between three riders only. 16/07 High Beech v Bishops Stortford - DATE & RESULT 16/07 Rained off (programme) 16/07 Hull - date only - did anything take place? Speedway World advertised an ‘open’ meeting the week before, but no match reports in weekly magazines suggest nothing was staged. EDITED to add: The Hull Daily Mail, 15th July 1949, carried an announcement saying 'Hull Speedway Ltd regret they have been unable to arrange a match for this week. Next home match v Exeter on July 23'. 21/05 Rayleigh World Championship QR - Tie between Alan Hunt & Will Lowther - ANY OUTRIGHT WINNER? Hunt and Lowther tied for first place (Speedway News) 15/05 Rye House Best Pairs - CONFIRM DATE & WINNERS 15/05 Winners Ken Smith & Harold Bull 12points, 2nd= Reg Fearman & Ken Osborne and George Bason & Ernie Saunders 10 points (Speedway World) 05/06 Rye House Whitsun Trophy - CONFIRM DATE & WINNER 05/06 16 heats, 2 semi-finals and a final, won by Alan Briggs from Allan Kidd, Stan Bedford and Harold Bull in 67.2 (programme) 15/05 Southampton - practice - winner: Welch - CONFIRM DATE, EVENT NAME & WINNER Should this be 15/03? Speedway Echo reported that ‘in the recent trials Cecil Bailey carried all before him in his races’. There was no mention of Welch, or of a competition, in that report. 08/08 Wimbledon World Championship QR - Tie between Aub Lawson & George Wilks - ANY OUTRIGHT WINNER? Lawson beat Wilks in a run-off, 70.4 (programme)

Southampton 1949 15/05 Southampton - practice - winner: Welch - CONFIRM DATE, EVENT NAME & WINNER Did you mean 15/03 ? The 29/03 programme refers to a practice meeting on 17/03 so I reckon that would be the date. 29/03 Southampton Charles Knott Trophy - winner ? Oakley - Date correct, Winner Bob Oakley 13pts 10/05 Southampton North v South 36-48 - Date & result confirmed 05/07 Southampton World Championship QR - winner Fred Tuck - Date correct, Winner Fred Tuck 14pts 16/08 Southampton Inter-Track Best Pairs - winners May & Boyd - Date correct, Winners Charlie May & Jim Boyd 23pts (May 10, Boyd 13) 04/10 Southampton Leg Trailers v Foot Forward 34-50 - Date & result confirmed 11/10 Southampton Pre-War v Post-War 43-41 - Date & result confirmed

Good God is this still going on? Poole lost. Well done to Wolves. Move on.

California Queries 17/4 was a team challenge: East 47 West 52 (Wokingham Times 22/4) followed by a 5 race second half (4 heats with winners to final). The May 1 programme notes Peck 15 points (Sims 12, Harrison 12, Nailor 12, Leonard 11) as the top point scorers on 17 April - this includes second half races making it likely (but not 100% certain) that Peck won the second half 19/6 CT was held over three rounds. Th filled in programme I have shows no evidence of a run-off and the prog for round 2 says: "top point scorers from round 1: Jackson and Newell 12, runners-up..." 25/9 Previous two programmes advertised future dates as 25/9 and 16/10. 2 Oct: CT Champ R3 (prog dated 2 Oct) so it looks as if this was simply rescheduled for a week later than originally planned. Incidentally overall result: Newell 41, Sims 33, Jackson 32, Peck 30, Harrison 29, Davies 23 (2 rnds), Leonard 21 (2 rnds)

Heeps makes a huge difference to this Ipswich team, particularly at Foxhall. Made a huge effort last winter to get himself in much better shape and it’s paid dividends as he’s had a very good season. Should walk the ROTY award regardless of what happens in the play off meetings.

Sure is. I always thought, Eastbournes top 4, would score well enough, around Redcar, to keep it close. Eastbourne must be favourites now, with their home advantage, (not much of that at Redcar). Should still be close though. I have always said, that race track, against trick track (sorry technical track), trick track wins, on aggregate.

Shout out to Tom Wooly who did a great job in ht 11, leading Kennet for almost a lap, giving Riss a chance to build up a lead. Not afraid to mix it, and can hold his own. As to the rest of the team, all battled well good to see Jordon back on form, but we badly missed Charles. Would have liked a few more points, I was hoping for 14, so it could be a close finish.

I think that overstepped the mark ..

What Charlie (How important was it for you to win that race) Webster, no thanks

Great little film here from Nicolai Klindt.

You would think that if a rider says they have these types of mental issues that there would be a similar situation to concussion of not being permitted to race until they seek proper medical help and are assessed on there level of illness, especially as Cook withdrew from a meeting siting this as a reason

Do you know, I'm not entirely sure. I think the GP reserves don't come from the Challenge as they have previously, but I thought the qualifiers did. I see R&R has quoted the relevant rule.

Jye Etheridge perhaps?

Well, what a complete utter load of tripe that was!!.......probably the worst GP of the season (and there were a few completely rubbish ones at the start too!).

They better have worked out a better system for getting pints tonight rather than opening three cans and measuring it out, expect there will be quite a queue if they haven’t.

Warning, real life. May be a difficult read for some. Quite possibly, but it's not as an excuse as some are making out. Craig's issues are real, like mine. Just to give an insight, this is where I'm at in terms of illness, depression and anxiety and what Craig could be going through. Just to clarify though, not one case is exactly the same, none are to be placed under one umbrella. Current illness started from are servere bang to the head in 2016, probably the 4th I've had in my lifetime (coming up to 41yo). 4 times unconscious, fell down stairs at about 10yo. 16yo, again fell down stairs after a blackout. 23yo, I can't remember what happened but supposedly smashed unconscious from being hit with a car door. 37yo, again can't remember but supposedly blacked out and smashed my head on the bathroom sink and toilet. Brief medical history from this point; 5 CAT & MRI scans, all clear Numerous counselling (unaffective) Suicide attempts Medication (unaffective when certain cases arise) Severe Fybromyalgia Anxiety and depression Currently on long term sick for 3 years since April 2016. Currently, have an awesomely supportive partner but when you've lost long term friends and an unsupportive family so days become very long and lonely. Currently unable to cope with busy areas, never go anywhere alone. Communication is very difficult and frustrating. Can't have full on conversations, just simple yes-no or nodding. Conversation is to much, what I'm thinking and what I can say is not the same. Some days I can't even move, dress myself, shower etc due to excessive pain. Another day I manage 10 mile walks no problem. I just don't know when these days are coming. I've had 3 failed attempts at claiming for help from the 'Department of Work & Pension' for 'Personal Independence Payments'. This pressure to try and survive from day to day is very exhausting. I'm sure now and again you've seen my life frustration spill out on here. That's another thing, because of what you see and read you really are clueless to what that person is going through. There is not 1 simple fix to each and every situation. I'm sorry, but for me, counsellors have been and absolute waste of time and money. Medication at most works until something happens. There's also no simple "Just get over it" fix either. For Craig, should his mental health stop him from doing what he does best? 100% absolutely not. The world of Speedway, fans, rider's, promoter's etc know Craig's problems. Craig's defence s simple, the opposition prey on his weaknesses and force a reaction knowing they'll get one. This is exactly what happened and Eastbourne. Craig, over that situation would have fallen in to deep depression and regret over it. To get his mind straight again will take time, but 100%, the sport shouldn't take away from him one of the only thing that keeps him saine, racing his bikes. Providing Craig has the strength and ability to race, no way does his mental health make him dangerous. The only things dangerous are outside influences who know which buttons to push and intentionally push them. The playground bully, these are the kind of people that can be claimed as unstable and should be banned from the sport.

Oh Geoffrey.. LOL

As others have said - such instability is not something you can turn on and off when you choose ( or go to the tapes ). The decision should be taken out of Craig's hands as he is obviously having mood swings / inability to control his reactions to stressful situations. Reading what Dale Allitt saw close up is alarming and I am a qualified and experienced counsellor ( I have not of course spoken to Craig on a one to one basis ). But for sure treatment of some kind seems necessary for Craig to avoid further meltdown situations. Just taking a couple of day's off is not going to be effective. Whether this is talking therapy ( which takes considerable time to be effective ) or medication ( which can leave any patient not fit to drive or race motorcycles ) he does need help ASAP.

I'm sure he isn't the only one with medical issues, yeah we know some have serious mental issues.

You really believe that ...GazC , jeez you’re worse than last season !! Glasgow really do themselves no favours at trying to win no matter what it takes , suck it up , get on track and win like any other team . Bit of the wet stuff , a stuffing last week and a postponement tonight . UTB (up the Bears)

Dig deep Bears !!! You can do it !

Definitely is inappropriate tho i was tempted to say similar myself. If only Starman would keep to the speedway and stop hurling insults when it's known he can't take it return.

Mental health covers many different types of the illness.I would say there a millions of people in the UK with varying forms of mental health problems.Just because Craig has a problem it doesn't mean he has to stop racing.If anyone with any kind of mental health problem was to stop doing what they do there would be many,many more people unemployed that includes speedway riders. Problem with many people,is that when they hear that someone has a mental problem they think they are a bit crazy.And will do crazy things.

Why was the track set up like that last night there was no rain forecast there was dust straight away last night

Surely R/R is better than signing a rider who at best was a gamble and putting your free scoring top reserve into the main body? R/R at 2 means the rides can be taking by Covatti, Wells and Josh.......that has to be better than Covatti at 2 and THJ and Wells. If Covatti struggles at 2 you dont have a reserve capable of replacing him in a ride In Pooles recent home matches: v Kings Lynn.....R/R 7.....reserves 12 v Peterborough.....R/R 5....reserves 10 v Swindon.....R/R 6.....reserves 15 Compare that to last night....Covatti 3......reserves 1 Even away at Wolves with R/R 5 reserves 7 I agree that a full 1-7 is usually better ....but when that 7th rider is not good enough (THJ) and you lose the free scoring number 6 into the main body then i would suggest that the management have got this decision badly badly wrong

We will agree to disagree RIP King Kenny