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Of course. I have been in direct talks with the PZM and have told them in no uncertain terms that the standard of racing this season has been unacceptable. Swalamir Krazprcynski, secretary to the president of PZM has stated that they are doing all they possibly can to rectify the issues “of crap racing” and have apologised to me personally for the sub standard tracks, and efforts put in by certain riders. I have been assured that I will notice a certain rise in standard of racing for the remainder of the season and if I am dissatisfied, can expect a full refund of my subscription to Goldvod..

Speedway in years gone by had personalities and rivalries and these characters and behaviours have long since been banned by the the current establishment. Take a look through the history of the local derbies and for example the shenanigans that took place between Rayleigh, Eastbourne and Canterbury and then throw in the big fuel debate between Rayleigh and Eastbourne, leaping Len entertaining from the Centre Green, Johnnie Hoskins, Dave Lanning kicking verbal wotsit out of each other plus the Romford Bombers in the Essex Gold cup and speedway had a great mix of rivalry with some entertainment thrown into the mix. The same scenario applied to other teams around the country. You had riders who were personalities with the likes of Arthur Price, the Kennett brothers, Ted Hubbard, Brian Foote, Lou Swanson, Peter Moore, and these were in the lower divisions. Move up a league and you had the greats such as Olsen, Mauger, Briggs, etc to name but a few. In the second division added those at number six and seven who were invariably ex grass track and starting off were probably the equivalent standard of riders plying their trade at the IOW and Mildenhall. The sport was entertaining albeit the racing was no more spectacular but these were guys using effectively standard bikes or the track spare who honed their riding skills. Now you have a sanitised watered down form of entertainment that is no longer a raw sport where you support the guy next door who was giving it a go. Today you have the gate and go merchant who throws more money at the equipment then that are likely to earn hence the need for sponsors and treats the punter with contempt, most have zero in terms of personality, little in the way of team rivalry and the belief that as a sport it owes them a living. Professional some may be but as entertainers few make the grade until you move down to the third tier where the riders are willing to give it a go irrespective of the conditions and most of them do it because they want to prove themselves and enjoy riding. Without sponsors those in the upper echelons cannot make a living and is financially unviable hence the sport is now at a crossroads in this country. The third tier will be here long after some of the others have fallen by the wayside.

James Sargeant would get away with nothing in Poland

Another country mile win for Kemp in 18

Nothing wrong with being biased,he's your lad, so it's in the job description, you're justifiably proud of him It doesn't matter if he was first,last or middle of the pack choice for the GB spot. He's been offered and accepted it. At the end of the day its a very strange old season i can see why riders not racing regularly have turned it down. Some riders need 4-5 meetings a week to keep themselves sharp, others can survive on 1-2. But none at all is a hell of a lot of ground to make up for. Say for instance Bomber had been asked, and i don't know if he was, and accepted this forum would be melting down by now. In the wild and wacky way the British work they call for a youngster to be given a chance and then moan when they get given the chance. As far as i'm concerned good luck Adam

It's very interesting to read this because we are fortunate to have many holiday people who come to the speedway perhaps for the first time on the island.... I of course when I welcome everyone, just after 13 mascots of differing ages 7 - 24 have ridden but before the parade, ask the crowd "who is on holiday" to see the hands and shouts... why do it do that because these are a target for me and my team to try to engage with and get them out on the centre green to find out the where you from, have you been to speedway, blah blah. Not to promote the Island but our sport in general (and don’t think for one minute we leave our or visiting fans out of the extra fun treatment). Once I know the answer to my questions above, I always tell them what local to them and where to find it. And the resounding thing that I see time and time again in emails, Facebook messages or posts is that what they see when they go locally isn't half the fun or as entertaining as their experienced with 3rd tier Isle of Wight Warriors. Even more interesting I hear time and time again (and you will again see it written all over) is those who go to speedway but come to us because they are on holiday, want their promotion team to be more like us, our show, our fun packed family night out where we focus more on entertainment than the result, value over speed, a positive note rather than anything else. This why you will read the "Isle of Wight is the blueprint of speedway's future" and other comments all over social media....not by me but by people who have visited us (I guess that’s why we have won so many awards both in and out of speedway) and even more interestingly why clubs, far wealthier than us - (I know we are the poorest club financially in the sport), copy our ideas by the time I have shaken the last visitors hand or switched off the pits lights on the race day we first do it. So, sorry I don’t agree that we have a poor product, we have probably the best product for today’s environment, the best show in speedway, brilliant racing but most of all a very happy, satisfied and entertained crowd who want to come back or visit their local tracks which ultimately, sadly, disappoint.

One token black man does not necessarily represent the views of 47 million black americans! It is neither pathetic or ignorant to compare flags. The far right in Germany even today claim that they should fly swastikas because it it is their heritage. Calling people out just because they have expressed an opinion which is different to yours does not exactly make you or your opinion any better.

I suppose You know all the family bubbles at Scunthorpe then? I for one would kick out idiots like you who want to destroy any return to normality? What is your name and tell everyone that we are trying to get back to normality without being objective. Jog on or be constructive with your criticism of all and sundry

Kemp won heat 14 by a country mile

Time must be up for Kasprazak surely.

Didn't all the great promoters of the past treat every meeting like a one off event. If you can't big up the product you are trying to sell, what chance do you have. As an IOW regular, i would say that Barry's communication skills go down well with the punters. Keeping the fans involved is a big plus, especially when I'm making a mad dash for the 21.47 ferry. I always remember Johnnie Hoksins greeting every fan as he passed through the turnstiles at Canterbury. That's what you call customer care!

He was my first favourite rider. On the night I first went to speedway, New Cross were racing against Norwich in the Britannia Shield. They had had a poor start to the season. On that night Ove Fundin and Aub Lawson were almost unbeatable. Ove scored an 18 point maximum, while Aub scored 16 paid 17. The only New Cross rider to beat him was Jimmy Gooch. He instantly became my favourite. Especially as he top scored for New Cross and the Rangers won their first match for several weeks. At that time, the final heat was a nominated riders' heat and New Cross nominated Split Waterman and Eric Williams to loud boos from the New Cross supporters who thought the hero of the night, Jimmy Gooch, should be nominated in place of Split. As the race started, Split reared at the start and a re-run was ordered. Split was unable to take part, so, in true poetic justice fashion, Jimmy Gooch replaced him. Although Ove and Aub scored a 5-1, Jimmy came third, beating Eric Williams. He remained my favourite until New Cross closed at the end of 1961....though Reg Luckhurst did run him close when he became a regular Ranger.

Indeed. The connotations in the west have changed however since the Nazi party picked it up. I think the main issue here is more people getting offended on behalf of other people than anything else. Somerset made a smart business move because some people will be offended or complain about it because they need to have something to complain about. Whatever way you want to look at it they’ve saved themselves potential criticism and a headache.

Your avtar is one of Hull Vikings. Slavery was an important part of the Norse economy I those times. Similarly, are we going to ban Poole Pirates because the Barbary Pirates were slave traders ? How far are these analogies going to go ?These are Speedway teams for goodness sake not political rallies. People’s political , religious or racial outlooks are not governed by which speedway team they support.

His last season at 250cc (2018) produced the following Division One record: Matches 8 rides 30 points 90 average 3.00 maximums all the way

I think that is the sports dilemma (over here).. The IOW seem to promote EVERY meeting as if it was a one off event, which with some of their fans on holiday it very well could be their only chance to impress them.. And for their regulars 'something different' regularly will keep it fresh.. Team success (as in winning the league) almost appears secondary to the success of providing their customer base a 'great night out' and given the lack of kudos and financial reward for winning any UK competition, I would suggest it's a very good operating model.. UK Team Speedway is basically a busted flush if you measure success by the numbers who attend, with many who have fallen away over the years basically giving up on the concept, hence no longer bother attending.. (But often still remain as very interested followers of the sport in their several thousands).. Therefore it's dilemma is can it run itself successfully as a 'Team Sport' concept (and bring back some of the lapsed thousands), or does it need to do 'something different'? The old adages though of "always doing what you've always done will only deliver what you've always had" and the definition of insanity being "doing the same thing over and over again and each time expecting a different result" is something that those who run the sport should have written large on their meeting room walls..

As I’ve said elsewhere, a big issue here is that we insist on running the leagues to a higher standard than the riders that are available. If we cut cloth to measure people would complain that the product is being “watered down.” The other excuse is that there “aren’t enough riders.” There are enough riders, just not enough willing to ride here who are of the unrealistic standard British Speedway is trying to run at. Look at the top tier teams due to race this season. Realistically I would say there are five riders we would definitely lose from that league should we cut our cloth to measure. Ironically they’re five who don’t need to double down to make the sport pay, Doyle, Pedersen, Iversen, B. Kurtz and Kildemand. The main issue I guess is that landlords are still going to want the same rent from their tenants whether the sport is part time or not. However without so much money going out on wages it wouldn’t be an insurmountable hurdle. The die hards will attend whatever is served up. They’re pretty much all we have left in terms of boots on the ground in stadiums anyway, so to suggest a league of a more realistic standard wouldn’t work due to fan numbers is a lazy excuse. It wouldn’t be that hard to reset Speedway on a better path here but nobody is seemingly interested in doing so. To do so we need to take a step back, instead we keep trying to build a palace on the sand. But at least each Premiership track would have got to see Nicki Pedersen twice across the year eh.

I actually think that an amalgam of the 2nd and 3rd divisions could be the way forward for the sport.. Whether it will attract many overseas riders I am not sure given the money on offer will need to be relative to the standard of rider.... But, for British Speedway, and the oportunities it would create for British riders, and their development, it might not be a bad thing.. It would also mean a fixture list being driven by customer availability, and run to a timetable when they can get there, and not when riders can get there when it suits their global agenda.. My team get decent crowds for 3rd tier Speedway and if a team made up of 2nd/3rd Div riders was the only team they had to watch, I would suggest crowds would be pretty much on a par that the 'first team' get now.. And much cheaper to run obviously.. UK Speedway is pretty much down to its die hards who go and watch 'any speedway', and hardly any 'crowd puling top names' ride here so there is a minimal amount of fans who only go to the see 'the names'... And when (if) this bloody pandemic ever finishes, every sport should get a 'bounce boost' at the turnstiles when it returns. . So, if there ever was a time to restructure from the bottom up to build a better future then surely it is now?

Regards your first paragraph... you should really read some reviews or attend it.... our presentation is good for speedway and is objectively good. Track Staff are smart - all dressed the same thanks to our sponsors Sydenhams. Are they polite.... read ANYWHERE about the welcome people are given on the Island and you will read just how polite, welcoming, helpful, engaging, interpersonal all our staff are - you see we view every person as equally as important as the next... who do you view the most important person on race day...? Actually for me there are 2 The carpark team (our carpark is free so they are purely there to welcome and direct) and then the team on the gate... why because they are the first people anyone who comes meets... if they are smart, polite, trained, and knowledgable its the right start... then also its what a visitor takes away with them... the thrill of the last heat, great food at the right price, seeing the kids on the track in the running race or our riders signing tareoffs to give away at halftime... is it their visit to the pits, the drink in the bar, our clean toilets or using our baby changing facility, maybe it was the visit to the centre green, or the old boys on the JAPs after the meeting, could be our brilliant programme, or the videos on the TVs in the stand... could be me interviewing as I go live before the meeting starts..or it could be the tractors grading or just perhaps they have really enjoyed their night with us... Sorry I got carried away.. to continue... is it tidy? Oh my we have probably the most beautiful stadium before race day, after race day and any day... it is always clean.. ask anyone who has been every air fence panel (all of which are sponsored by the way) are cleaned for every one of the 20 weekly meetings we stage, the grass is alway on point, our toilets are clean, with flowers most weeks, and painted every off season, our stands are clean, our bins are emptied, our weeds are... oh we dont have weeds in the stands of course, or that main spectator area, or the picnic area, or the pits.. but there are a few where no one goes on race day until they are outgrown by blackberries which we encourage fans to come and pick (wash before you eat them), are we sign posted? Yes we are and we have banners across the island, pop ups in cinemas, and other attractions, can we improve this bit.. of course we can. Is the PA system good.. ,we have a great PA, a two mic presentation (fixed and mobile) but it wasnt always perfect but as soon as it was reported guess what ... it was fixed. Is the parade good... OK our meetings go like this... firstly our MASCOTs are introduced to the crowd..normally 13 every week they go off into the crowd (signing autographs and inspiring others).. then the riders decend through the crowd high fiving the kids on to the track.. the brilliant Rob Dyer introduces them one by one, giving an overview of any recent news about the rider (he knows his stuff) and when the final rider has been introduced do we allow riders to go off... although if we have our second team the Wizards in the main event we have them on parade too to be introduced in front of the crowd... so yep I think its good but we always look to improve. I guess we always try to be different, we know we will be copied, we know we must innovate to maintain our sponsors, we know we have to work hard but the most interesting thing is we are all a team... I am the promoter, toilet cleaner, tractor driver, drain cleaner, painter, joker, receptionist, car part attendant, burger flipper, drink supplier, raker, trainer, confident, accountant, marketing manager, My First Skid coordinator, track watering specialist, roving mic, sponsorship coordinator and anyone of our volunteers could be exactly the same.. they are all equal and all so very important to us.. I think the only difference is that they look to Martin and I for leadership and direction... Our reputation is pretty much known outside the UK too... we staged the first ever NICE meeting - now when I was in Poland I could have lied and said we had gates of 2000, we were loaded we had every possible machine.. but I didnt I told the truth.... when the Poles arrived the night before (from Bydgoszcz) to look at the stadium, I was watering the track - by a hose pipe..... at first they thought I was crazy...then they helped me.... look at the feedback of the riders, fans, NICE management of how we presented the NICE Challenge... no one has done better, no one. As for racing I just dont believe the racing is better... it may be faster but it never better... I dont care if the track record gets broken... what I believe fans want is action, passes, elbows, characters, appreciation from riders, interaction.... not flat out first bend new track record..... we are maybe lucky in that most of our meetings are last 3 heats deciders... and this of course adds to the tension and suspence.... but ask anyone who travels all over and watches all three leagues the entertainment value of the 3rd tier is by far the better... Now i am not saying there are processional races or thrashings of a side... but this is in every league... By the way I really enjoy this type of thread and I learn from it...normally I read more than I comment but for sure we are super proud of our product.

Must be something up with Emil, you don't go from good to bad in a meeting without a reason But well done Lublin turned out a better meeting than expected

As has been said in other Leszno meetings, as a team they dont have any truly World Class riders other than Emil.. Yet seem to pull out great team performances with different riders on any given night stepping up to the plate when needed. And heavily relying on Kubera.. A few teams going 'head to head' should feel they have a chance against them this year..

Steve's complaint to the PZM has obviously worked. Ain't it grand to have access to, and influence in, the corridors of power eh!!!!

Lidsey gets better and better..

He'd backed Sayfutdinov

According to his mum he has

No. Premiership 1H/1A. Championship regional divisions plus play offs.

Yes that`s how i see it.

Robert Lambert was brilliant at the start of the season and during the SEC, but he hasn't been as consistent recently. Watching heat 15 tonight and seeing him being barged out of way by Zmarzlik and Thomsen wasn't nice to see. In contrast Jack Holder seems to get better with each meeting and he's definitely above Lambert at the moment..Maybe riding with the world champion is pulling him along also.

What is going on with kasprazak , we all know he can be hit or miss but his body language on the bike says he doesn’t want to be there

I remember Stoke rider Paul Thorp getting all the way to the Intercontinental final one year. I always enjoyed watching Martin Yeates ride, he had a great style. Little known fact about him, he never broke any bones throughout his career!

I admit to not being a Ford fan. I see it the same.

I did follow the Wolves from late 90s till 2009, home and away as well. In 2009 after losing at Swindon I came out the stadium really annoyed and realised I'd turned into a wolf. Then it was announced we were back so I was saved or so I thought. I still went to watch Wolves while we were back and now we've gone again what's going to happen to me . Hoowwwwellllll. Oh god here we go again

Another very impressive performance was from young Dane Jonas Seifert-Salk who not only rode at number one for Piraterna at Dackarna but put in a heat leader's performance with 11 from 6, including two heat wins, scoring almost a third of the Pirates' total. He rides for Slangerup at home and Opole in Poland's League 2 and was runner-up in the 2018 European under-19 championship. Definitely an energing talent, he scored a full maximum in Slangerup's league opener last month. Hellstrom-Bangs i certainly on his way, but just needs a little more stability. Perhaps the format this year might help develop some Swedish talent even if the balance is very awkward. I agree with r&r regarding racing. Malilla and Vastervik were good fun this week but racing was at a premium at too any tracks. Obviously this year's a compromise. Hopefully Bauhaus and CMore will respect this. The comments about CMore's graphics are very accurate. For the main match to have even fewer graphics than the one camera productions was unacceptable. The picture quality from Avesta was very poor, especially in comparison to Malilla. In all four matches the majority of the nominated heats had no graphics. Only on the televised matches is it possible to watch the nominations so for the others you do have to rely on the Swedish commentators. You soon have to learn rod, bla, hvit and gul....... It's expected though for the three support matches to be 'on the cheap', but not the main match. I've not been able to watch the Premier Sports version so I don't know how Dave coped but I can only recall a couple of races at best having a proper line up graphic. Earlier in the week when Adam Ellis stood in for Andrey Karpov for Piraterna on Tuesday, all graphics carried Karpov's name. These aren't complaints for whingeing's sake, just concerns, even if I am a payimg customer of ESS {Play. It's clear that graphics are being given up when matters become complicated. The whole production of the main match is way below the standard shown by CMore before their previous contract ended in 2018. As for the league, after the first week you are painfully aware that it is a compromise, with star riders coming and going, with bigger names in the squads not riding at all. It's a brave attempt to produce a season, and after all, it's speedway - better than most things you can do on a Tuesday or Thursday.

One of my all time greats- always a popular visitor to Somerton Park with Oxford, and then O joy! he joined Newport in 1967. Was privileged to see him appear in his only World Final in 1965- guess he was 37 then-what seemed an ancient age to me. Didn't he famously have a punch up with Ove at Norwich?

Probably in response to Shovler.IMO

Gleb Chugunov is the wildcard for both Wroclaw GP`s.

Shouldn’t have taken those years away from the GP when he was arguably the best rider in the world.

He`s 17( March DOB) and he rode for Masarna last year and is improving fast. He rode in youth speedway- 250 CC

Never liked Nicki Pedersen even when he rode for Oxford for a short while before being sacked. To use an Ice Hockey term he was a bit of a "Goon" always up for a 'niggle'.

Oh... I get it now, the rider from Somerset is going from left to right, White City right to left. And it looks like the rider is dressed as a confederate soldier... http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/London White City.htm

Agreed, but if a lower grade of rider on offer, and no flight costs, hotel bills, van hire, uk mechanic, etc etc etc, to be factored in by the rider when he is negotiating points money, then maybe the entry price point will drop commensurately?

Today Friday August 14th Gorzow v Rybnik programme start time 4.30pm 1st race 5pm Eleven Sport 1 and Premier Sport 1 (5pm) Friday August 14th Lublin v leszno programme start time 7.15pm 1st race 7.30pm Eleven Sport 1 and Premier Sport 1 (7.30pm) Links http://www.maniak.tv/mk1 http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-1.html https://daddylive.live/embed/stream-71.php race card Gorzow v Rybnik pages 14 and 15 https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:98d4f70e-ac5c-48f4-8a7d-ef2cde35d5ca#pageNum=15

You were the loudest Norman!

As a City "Rebels" fan I've looked at the Somerset jacket and thought that something wasn't quite right and then it clicked...the rider depicted is facing the other way!

For many of you who attend Saddlebow Road regularly you will know Merv Beckett. He has sadly passed away after a battle with cancer. The Lynn news are running piece on him tomorrow, and I figured you may be interested in the article https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/tributes-to-much-loved-kings-lynn-scout-leader-a-friend-to-everyone-9119484/

... Back to the rest of the GP Series... Surely if Emil doesn't win it this year he must be in danger of challenging Leigh Adams of becoming the best rider to never win an Individual World Championship?

What horror? It ended months ago. It's just the government, scaremongering media and idiots who think everyone is dropping dead still that prolong it. You've just presented the entire reason why the current restrictions are in place.. not because they are necessary.. but to drive you to a vaccine.

How could they make sure of making the play offs ? they only just got into them from being bottom of the league . it made plenty of sense for Pawlicki to be at reserve rather than . Sweetman . as has been said no unban myths or conspiracy stories at. all the rules brought it was just anti cov and everyone could see that and the text messages that were sent just confirmed to me what was crystal clear .

So it takes 7-8 years to develop a vaccine to prove theres no side effects etc and you think its OK for the Government to force people to be vaccinated with something not fully tested

What I was really trying to say was that I don't believe there is any difference between trying to attract any different ethnicity to speedway than there is with trying to attract white people. If people are interested they will come. If the evening out is a good one they will come again.