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I attended a Jim Wells / Jack Millen Training School at Stoke. I learnt how to drift wide and nudge riders into the fence, Signed: N Pedersen (Denmark).

WHERE are all the nutters who were knocking the Birmingham management saying its about money that's why they have signed any one . Well in Eric Riss they have one solid team member where's UK Martin know? Mind you he will be thinking some crap up to knock them and british speedway.

So what's your point

I had me a jawa in the 70s and despite riding road bikes most of my life and still love it as I approach 60 the sheer terror of riding a speedway bike has never left me lol , they are all absolute madmen

The biggest missed opportunity British Speedway had was when Sky got involved in 1999. They had the perfect opportunity to put together a proper business plan to invest the money into a proper structure to give it a solid foundation to build on and take the sport forward. But sadly, self interest got in the way.

IN each of the past two weeks NewsTeam have taken over the delivery of around 2,000 subscription copies of Speedway Star. This move was brought about following a winter of problems with Royal Mail (often because of staff shortages exacerbated by Covid, a backlog at sorting offices, etc). NewsTeam had built up a solid reputation for delivering daily newspapers and were expanding their portfolio. By coincidence I have had my newspapers delivered by them for over a year and have not missed a single day. That said, around 50 copies have failed to reach their destination, for all sorts of reasons. It is a very small percentage but one is one too many. We take seriously the loyalty of those subscribers who have stayed with us throughout this difficult period. We are working closely with NewsTeam to identify those who have not received their copy or have found it in a less than acceptable condition. The cost of delivering SS to subscribers, whether by Royal Mail or NewsTeam, is borne by Pinegen Limited. An annual subscription saves £36 as against purchasing from a retail outlet and there is no delivery charge. But that does not mean that we do not shoulder the responsibility for delivering our product on time and without damage. There are some addresses that are not suitable for NewsTeam delivery and, as these become apparent, we will endeavour to switch them back to Royal Mail. Many subscribers have expressed their delight at receiving their SS as if by magic in the early hours of Thursday or Friday. Satisfied customers far outweigh those who are not but, as stated, we take each individual case seriously and will look to improve as quickly as possible.

Wasn't it part of the contract that Sky demanded that the "top riders" had to ride over here? Speaking to one now ex promoter at the time, a rather large portion of the "Sky money" pretty much got swallowed up by his "World Class" top rider.. So much money dripped through so many fingers, with the end result? The World Class riders 'effed off' to more lucrative pastures new, and the huge Sky investment left zero legacy for the sport from which to grow.. Amazingly ludicrous really....

and so they should be

This suggests that he has withdrawn from his Swedish and Danish commitments to ride for Lynn and Brum; http://www.kingslynn-speedway.com/_mobile/news.php?extend.31057

I am pretty sure there has been quite a bit of training going on at the NSS... Haven't Woofy, Rory Schlein and Jason Crump all been there doing some work with some of the 'next generation' over the past couple of years.? I would think that the issue with a training track on those bends would be that the concept of the stadium included the capability to put extra seating in to host 'big events', (like they did at the SWC a few years ago), which I presume is still one of their main aims.. "Bringing more World Class Sport to Manchester" was one of the most pushed selling points to get it built...

One of the "Big Six" is sure to win!

Matt B. That's the most honest post I've seen on the forum. I've said in the past they should have bought Coventry for the sport and had all big meetings there, and used it for the development of young riders ect.

I think they got lucky. Due to the rocketing covid rates in Germany, vaccine hesitancy in Poland, the EU's multiple cock ups and the NHS success in running the UK vaccination programme being based in the UK suddenly looks more attractive.

I attended one of Olle Nygren's Training Schools just to say I gave it a try and gain respect for those who go out and entertain us not that I needed confirmation of that.

I was replying to this. Will be interesting to see how the situation with Holder, Bewley, Kurtz, Klindt and others riding in Poland pans out, at the end of the day if their clubs demand that they remain over there and don’t travel due to covid then that’s what will happen. The riders signed Polish contracts that allowed them to ride in 1 other league or 2 if they are riding in the Polish 2nd division, if the Polish club then force them to only ride in Poland, it is them and not the Rider who are breaking the contract. The only people who can force people to stay in their country due to Covid are the country's government and not the clubs.

Yes i have. I lasted half a lap on the track spare at Wimbledon before hitting the fence. It looks easy, until you start to turn left!

Gating Tarts? (Sorry Matej, couldn’t resist)

The pair of them do more for the club than you’ll ever realise

Sorry just had to start this thread.

Deflection is not debate

One can't deny that the status of speedway in this country has deteriorated but there are plenty of manics on here. But I guess if speedway is all you've got to be depressed about you're probably not doing too bad.

It's a lot more justifiable than Jason Crumps average reduction this year.

Well if that's the case, he still needs a good 0.47 points off his average... His confirmed average for last year was 8.75 though

On Monday night Lee Ashby who has been doing a great series of Lockdown interviews with Speedway greats including Darcy Ward; Bruce Penhall; Greg Hancock, Chris Holder, Joe Screen et al. Will be chatting to New Zealands Bradley Wilson Dean !. Might be interesting what he has to say about doing the UK season in 2021 ? With options now almost down to zero if he does say he is making the trip then his destination might well be the EWR ? Tune in on Lee's You Tube Channel to find out ?

Sad to hear this. Rod was in the first meeting I ever saw in 1974.

We do. And it's fantastic. But it's a case of slamming the stable door shut after the horse has bolted. I've watched some meetings from that 1999-2000 period over the last year. The buzz and the atmosphere around the sport then was huge. Big crowds, terrific action. It was a perfect base on which the sport could have kicked on. A bit of vision and joined up thinking by the promoters? Nope, just go for the quick fix and short term boom.

Thanks for that. Didn't know he had Danish commitments. There's still the matter of crossing the borders to get to and from Germany (home matches for Wittstock) and Poland (Wittstock's away matches), and those two countries are starting their third wave with the virus, so let's wait and see how that pans out.

Sad news. He was also the author of some interesting articles in some of the earlier "Backtrack" issues telling often humorous anecdotes. RIP

If I recall Martin rode on the 1968 World Final without having a practice (?) as his promoter (Wally Mawdsley?) expected him to turn out for Exeter instead where, incidently, he had amassed an impressive average that season. Who knows if he had beem better prepared and on better equipment he may well have ended up on at least the rostrum?

Great to watch Don Rogers on Saturday afternoon and Martin Ashby Saturday evening late 60s According to Briggo Crash should have been World Champion. Quiet modest character, spoke to him at his workshop in Marlborough a few years ago. Was a regular on the Abbey terraces.

THANKS for your comments.

Final pair for tomorrow is team Mimarkt Krystian Pieszczek Drew Kemp.

I seriously think that those negotiating TV rights must have it written in that Tatum & Pearson have to be commentators.

Can’t wait to see Harris and riss against our two of crump and pedersen.

Perhaps leaving a post it note on the letter box on Wednesday night asking them to make sure they post it through the letter box properly might be worth a try?

Now now - behave yourself

Redcar have been unlucky with the Riss situation and it’s definitely a big signing for the Brummies. Hopefully something positive happens for the Redcar promotion as they certainly deserve some good fortune as they do things the right way in general.

Plenty of time yet to find a suitable candidate. Riss has recently changed his mind on his availability and so might a few others yet as circumstances in many countries, including the UK, change. The promoters at Redcar will do their utmost to put out the best team possible and are to be applauded for not reneging on rider deals, quite refreshing considering passed promoters attitudes.

Perhaps surprisingly, I don't agree. What's to stop an independent authority acting in exactly the same way as the BSPL have done here ? The answer is a simple one : Let the teams in competing in each league control their own destiny without outside interference but place adjudication of disputes and decisions under independent control. That means that those ploughing time, money and effort into our sport have the final say on operations within their sphere but that the abuse, corruption and self interest we have seen countless times as interested parties determine the outcome of matters relating to the sports regulations ceases.

Can''t understand the attitude from the club , Why have a go at the fans about being cynical . Can you really blame the Fans for being like that after all the false promises they been told .

Which proves that the sport should be run by an independent authority

I am not aware that any of the clubs who have joined the NDL have said publicly that they would not have done so without a reduction in the points limit. Given that that would support the decision made by the BSPL (of which they are all members), I find that surprising if indeed it is true. According to a post from Islander a week or so ago, Eastbourne, Belle Vue and Kent had confirmed that they had no difficulty with a higher points limit. Given that Kent will have to - due to planning permission requirements - run NDL meetings on a different night to Championship ones and given that the Colts have always had separate race nights from the Aces, that's no wonder (the Colts have always built teams to the full points limit with a definite eye on winning the competition). Mildenhall made it clear that they wanted no reduction, and Isle of Wight were the same. Its not difficult to conclude why no NDL AGM was allowed and why the points limit was imposed : because the changes planned to suit the Premiership and Championship (over half of whom don't even have any involvement in that league) might well have been voted down. If those that have entered the NDL did so with the primary intention of development, then it doesn't really matter what the limit is and thus it would have been no reason for them not to join. There's no doubt if Barry had felt that Isle of Wight could have reasonably have continued to participate in the NDL they would have done. Faced with an organising body that could not care less about his opinions and the success of his business (only their own self interest) and with absolutely no guarantee that this situation might change, its little wonder that he took the action that he did. If we are to point fingers at who is to blame for Isle of Wight's withdrawal, lets make sure they are pointing in the right direction.

Well Jack Parkinson Blackburn it is then... plenty of speculation pre announcement to suggest it probably was correct. Welcome Jack to the most famous club in Speedway

1) the paying public feel short changed (again?) 2) the junior riders miss out and wonder why they bother? 3) the paying public wonder why there was a 25 mins interval between the meetings.

Interesting to see Martin Ashby listed with 18...vastly underrated rider.

Humour has always been fair game as a way to deal with even the darkest of subjects The 'world' is currently trying to suppress that right for even the most innocent of situations let alone the more serious such as this one. Now that is certainly 'not good' or healthy

IT'S still a work in progress. Thanks for the positive comments. Just wish the potential audience was bigger

Today (07.03.2018), at the age of 81, Henryk ZYTO died in Gdansk . One of the most outstanding Polish former speedway riders who together with his colleagues won for Poland in 1961 the first gold medal in the Team World Cup . He was also one of the first Polish riders competing for the British (Coventry Bees) speedway club. The sad news on Henryk's passing was given by his son, Piotr to sportowefakty.pl website. May he Rest in Peace.

The NSS seems to be a National Stadium in name only. What is going on there in terms of training the next generation, as was supposedly one of the aims of the original promotion? There was also a lot of talk of speedway apprenticeships, like the Poultec initiative. But there is nothing (even before Covid obviously). The biggest missed opportunity at the NSS was the lack of an incorporated training track within the development, which could have been located in the area beyond the third and fourth bends.

Excellent revamp !!! But could we have less space devoted to Grasstrack and European/Overseas news?