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In case of Kasper its the guaranteed income from Berwick who are staging regular meetings v the uncertainty at Kent who have cancelled next 2 home matches which like other Clubs may indicate struggling to make Racing with reduced Crowds pay. Seems like Kent like a few others are praying for unrestricted crowds from 19th July. Josh had a massive off, may not be back for weeks and concussion is the hardest one to call and the most dangerous one to risk, so he's wise to wait until he feels able to commit.

Jakub Miskowiak was in the semi-final of the extraliga riders championship last weekend. Seems to be making good progress.

Still a better contribution than GAH and Diamondboy

If the water bowser was full of drink and John ran along after it,,, the track would still be dry.

The period in which Jonathan Chapman was around was also excellent. The club has never recovered from him moving on & with each passing year there's a noticeable decline. Unfortunately for King's Lynn, there's nothing that can be done. It's just not a financially viable project for anyone unless you have £m's to burn. It's simply now put up with it or find something else to do for fans

Obviously Leon will have to give up his National League duties with the Berwick Bullets but this is a great opportunity for him. Big step up but this should make him a better rider and be a positive step towards his career.

In the original days the national league I think most of the riders had jobs outside of speedway, most of the teams were almost all British, Arena Essex in 1990 had Martin Goodwin, Rob Tilbury, Troy Pratt, Wayne Garrett rip, Kevin Brice, Simon Wolstenholme and Adrian Stevens, no one doubling up or down, none of those riders rode for anyone else anywhere bar a rare guest appearance. those days are long gone and the current practice of doubling up is not sustainable. should be one biggish league next season, time to start giving the youth a better chance to ride more frequently and on a greater variety of tracks.

Agree. Good luck to the lad that he has made to progress in the sport. He has now turned his back on a level where he was averaging nearly 11.4(scoring 13-15 points per meeting) earning maybe £350-£400 as heat leader to move to a level where he might score 2-3 points earning £150. It just shows, for some riders, it is not about the pay day but a willingness to progress to another level.

I have to say that Ty's comment to the extent that he was trying to do a full time job and ride for two clubs, a bit surprising. I know it depends a lot on the full time job, but just riding for two clubs alone must get hectic at times. I have rated Ty in the past but his all round performance for Leicester this season has been very disappointing. I left Brough Park on Sunday very angry indeed and was 99% certain then that we'd seen Ty's last race for Leicester (for now at least). I wish him the very best. He can be good enough to make a very positive contribution to any club. But right now, Leicester need a second string that can score a solid 5 or 6, especially when running RR for Josh Bates. The twins have really stepped up of late, especially Dan. But we have to remember they are still only 17 with limited experience. It's not fair to rely on them to compensate for two low scoring second strings. If the team sort out those 2 and 4 positions, they'll be a match for any team, home or away.

Ulrich was carrying an arm injury so clearly didn’t want to go in heat 15 as he doesn’t normally turn down rides. I spoke to him before and after the meeting and he stated it was painful, so fair play to him. Again excellent team managing by Rob Lyon, really impressed with his style of doing things and a lot of what he does isn’t seen by most of the supporters.

He would have if he'd been riding for us..;-)

Good signing and great to see him racing in the top league, not sure there was too much more he could learn in the NL really.

Yes quite simple if you think about it. F1 and Moto GP are awash with money and can afford to run the events without spectators or limited fans and have a full programme to fit in, whereas Speedway GP is not awash with money nor are the tracks putting the GP`s on and therefore need 100% crowd level to be able to stage them. Plus with double events over a weekend 11 GP`s can be fitted in in a few months if necessary.

and welcome back Peter Karlsson - :-)

It is with great sadness that I share with you Jack Geran’s peaceful passing. The family were with him Father’s Day and yesterday his daughter Sarah and granddaughter (me) were with him all day. Just as in speedway he was a favourite and much loved part of Ivydene residential home. Under the circumstances we have decided not to have a service for Dad. Instead we will hold a memorial in the future. Which we will keep you informed. Jack would want you all to enjoy the sunshine today and a cold beer. Thank you for all you support over these past few years. From the Geran family. SOURCE: World Speedway Riders Assoc....Facebook.

Walker Heathen.

Anyway looks like the job is knackered with England winning tonight as their next match.is Tuesday at 17.00 hours... That will be a big test of crowd loyalty down there I would say... Regards THJ

You Heathen.

But the big question is would any sane person spend £17.85 to spend an evening with Mr Shovlar, listening to his blinkered and brown nosed opinions of everyone involved in the sport

Stuart Shirley 1977 E/Port training school hit a roller centre green

Only to fill me programme in... and if you are brave enough to join in you can find out first hand Lewy... I can't drink half as much now as I used to but I do try my best... Regards THJ

Do you stop talking long enough to drink

Luke Crang

Well I thought we may have had some comment from the Leicester fans who were in attendance but maybe not... Not a bad day for racing in the end as the forecast was for it to be battering down but shirt sleeve order was the dress of the day... Track was a bit dusty and an old man with a prostate problem could have put more water down than that water bowser... but they did have a couple of goes... apparently a new bowser is being delivered this week from Belle Vue... as for the racing it was competitive with plenty of passing and personally I was very pleased with not only the result but the performance (which if I am totally honest; I was not expecting) Steve Worrall looks like a Number 1 and delivered a score to underline that with good support from the other 4 who all got wins under their belts even Max in heat 14 which will do him the power of good along with the practice laps he put in after the meeting and young JPB was like greased lighten out of the start gate but lost ground after lifting once out of the gate; and once he gets to grips with that minor issue I think we have a real prospect at 7 and not detracting anything from the effort put in by Joe Alcock... JPB appeared to have a bit more fire in his belly when behind and worked really hard to get back into races; so again I am looking forward to seeing him progress... its a pity we didn't have Stevie for those Edinburgh meetings even just the home one might have made a difference and on that Edinburgh meeting it was noticeable that the times were much faster at around the 63 second mark compared with the fastest time in the Leicester meeting which was 64 seconds.. On to Leicester "Hold me now" because they have a couple of class acts at reserve and I know Joe only got 2 points to Dan's 12 but there was enough shown on the day to think they will both do well and maybe carve out the same future the Worrall twins have and possibly go further again; good luck in their career and I look forward to seeing them again at Brough, Leicester put a lot of effort in and kept it close and if the shoe was on the other foot with the Morris exclusion I would have been a bit miffed as it looked like his rear wheel had been clipped before he locked up and the two Diamonds bailed out; all four back would possibly have been the fairer call but some you win and some you lose; however the biggest disappointment of the day was Ty Proctor and I am hearing he has stepped back from both his Leicester and Kings Lynn slots today and I am not surprised as he looked totally devoid of confidence on a track where he has always scored points... even going back to his Redcar days... and again he could always trap... but the guy looked like he has a lot of issues on his back... real shame as I like Ty as someone I sponsored at Worky however he definitely looks like someone who needs a time out and hopefully he comes back with his head in a better place because on his day he's a quality rider and someone who has performed far better at Brough than the effort witnessed on Sunday... So all in all an enjoyable meeting and seen some new faces in the crowd... all we need are the old faces we usually see back in the crowd as well and we will have things sorted... an opportunity to say hello to Bjarne Pedersen this week as well so it will be interesting to see what he puts on the crowd as it may be the last chance to see him at Brough Park ever again... never say never but time waits for no man unfortunately... Oh and this week I got the Double Cheeseburger with all the trimmings and you can not eat two of them that's official... in fact if they done some Veg and Mash with them it would be as filling as a full Sunday dinner... knocks that old rubbish that used to be served up right into a cocked hat... Roll on Plymouth and if @lewy has the Cojones to show his face the beers are on me big boy... Just bring your passport so they let you over the Tyne crossing... Regards THJ

I was going to say, Leon’s beat Chris Harris at Berwick and Redcar this season, as well as many other heat leaders h&a, but I do think ur rising star should be protected at reserve, as they are in Poland. Jakub Miskowiak is averaging nearly 8 in the Ekstraliga, yet will be at reserve all season, learning his way and getting the confidence needed to make the jump up when he turns 21

All

So sorry to hear that. My condolences to you and all the family.

In all fairness they are both prospects but on current form you certainly have to put Leon ahead along with Brennan & Rowe. Hopefully Kemp will have a springboard moment shortly too. Pleased to see Leon taking the bold moves though and committing to higher tiers and Poland also. I feared for a while that he was stagnating but he is really pushing on now. It also means that he doesn't need to keep any reserve energy for the seconds halves and can really give everything to the bandits meetings.

Not anymore.

If the rising star scheme is to be anything like the principle of what it is meant to be then this is who it's for - Leon and the like

christ dont give him any ideas hes a loose cannon and crazy enough to do anything

Agree Tellboy. Nicol notched 13 for Wolves on his last visit. We might have a chance of a win in this one, if Eric goes well, and Lewi didn't have any ill affects after the qualifier. We have 6.82 ,but need someone pretty quick to replace Ty. I just hope they don't think cheap and draft in a 4 odd pointer, and waste points yet again.

Been confirmed thank god. ! Didn’t want the raff of the forum after me ha

Thorpe was hit by the grader when turning around at the tapes, if I recall correctly

Was the rule about a tractor not being on the track at the same time as riders not brought in as a result of Jamie Smith being hit by a tractor on track in the 00's. He was given a massive settlement, something that he refered to in a recent interview which was written and published in the Speedway Star by Peter Oakes. I think Mark Thorp might have been riding on the tractor and he got mangled by it, something like what happened to Guy Allott and finished his career.

1: 56.74; 3: 56.56; 5: 57.8; 11: 58.41; 16: 56.83; 18: 58.98; 20: 59.69 but don't have the time for the run-off. Heat 16 seems v.fast but that's what was announced

That's good to hear,thanks for the info, by the way we are no longer the devils

No its a sensible suggestion and you shouldn't get shot down for it but I believe it is the Stadium owners (ARC) who are dictating the strict terms with regard to Covid safety; because it seems (and I could be wrong) the Council appear to give any proposals to do things differently a fair airing and if the council think whatever the promotion are suggesting to do with regard to Covid safety may work then they seem open to supporting them and giving them the opportunity to try the new proposal. ARC on the other hand don't want you using cash however that's a bit hypocritical when they are taking cash for the drink they are selling inside the stadium; however I don't think the Birmingham situation helped either again could be wrong... but we are where we are As @IronScorpion stated earlier names and addresses taken before entry at Scunny and as @Ringitsneck stated its not beyond the wit of man to put something simple in place to allow for the taking of cash on the day without the need of using pinch points like the turnstile's. All you need is a table in the car park in front of the turnstiles with a couple of people on it and four more tables spaced apart with a pen on each one; a ticket like a raffle ticket that we all know; about and the size of a 5 pound note; perforated up the middle; one half is an entry ticket to the stadium and the other side a place for the name; address and telephone number of the person using it; Buy ticket at first table; fill in name and address at next table where you will find a pen; then just go join the line at the large gates being used for entry; on entry keep your ticket for the rain off and rip the perforated side off and chuck that into a bucket; then if there is a need to track and trace you have a bucket full of names and addresses; or is that to hard. No congregating; no crowding of people; a flow through that follows the same process we have now (which works well) a ticket for the fan should the meeting be abandoned and a ticket for the promotion to keep with all the contact details on just in case of a Covid problem; and how about this; when the restrictions are lifted if there is still the need to socially distance and track and trace you have a bucket full of names for a free raffle for free entry to the next meeting... little incentive to buy a ticket... Regards THJ

On official website Gobby , sorry Blobby. Even predictive text knows your Gobby.

More room for manoeuvre than I thought then. Shame we didnt keep Connor Mountain at No. 2.

I know its Jasper...but was a Kent target....and sounds like very few choices. Agree they should let Hurry go and bring another heat leader in ...plus one more?

Then send them round on a bike, it's so easy to do Are you referring to the Mark Thorpe incident at Swindon around 30 years ago? I believe a rule was introduced after that, that a rider couldn't be on the track at the same time as a tractor... nothing to do with helmets and parades. 2019 at BV the riders used to come round without helmets on and line up in front of the grandstands so the fans could see who they are and what they look like, more important than ever these days with them all wearing the same race suits, or they may as well just be robots. The parade at Leicester the other week saw all of the riders wearing helmets with the exception of Josh Auty... bizarre!

You've hit the nail on the head there Pieman72. Take Leicester for example, current league champions (2019), I followed them home and away over a complete season and most fans still haven't seen the league trophy that they paid for to watch them win. If the promotion can't even be bothered to make a big deal about winning the league why would the fans? Look at the homepage of the website... would you know Leicester were league champions... for the first time ever! Last Saturday at home to Redcar... rider parade, all riders come round wearing their helmets, a hard earned home victory with an outstanding match winning performance from Dan Thompson... no victory parade! None of this costs anything to do and is free promotion... and yet it's not done

it suggests the opposite doesn't it? i.e. where do another 35 riders come from? Going back to 2019 double uppers were getting ave 28 PL and ave 26 CL matches (excl KOC and play offs). So an ave of 54 standard league matches. If there was one big league of 16 (although not all would be able to afford it) gives a rider an equivalent of 30 matches. That's almost half the chance to earn than before. Yes you could increase fixtures but would clubs want to change from c14 home meetings in 2019 to c27 home meetings give the riders the same amount of meetings? Could they even? It's an impossible mess and a totally predictable one at that.

The comments I actually made Phil , Was about coverage the week before at Wolverhampton and the Peterborough coverage was a lot better. I just wish Steve would sort out with his OB provider Cloudbass what is going on with the start line camera as it looks like it’s coming from a 90s mobile phone so blurred and out of focus

What on earth are you on about? Have you actually read what I said? My point was nothing at all to do with the NHS other than quoting facts about current hospital admissions. There is absolutely no ‘justice’ to the current extension of the lockdown. None whatsoever. If you work for the NHS you will know where to find the stats on admissions. Less than half a person is currently in hospitals with Covid. Hardly anyone is dying from the virus anymore, deaths remain in single figures daily. Those stats alone do not justify an extension of this ridiculous lockdown rules. Boris himself even said we need to learn to live with the virus, that time is now - backed by data. The NHS is not under pressure from Covid at all right now. Have worked for the NHS for many years, what’s your point? The data is available for all to see. The NHS isn’t under pressure from covid right now.

Of course it’s pathetic. The criteria they used before to justify was an increase in infections x increase in hospital admissions x increase in deaths. What we currently have is less than half a person with Covid per hospital, yesterday we had 5 deaths, just a few weeks ago we had days with no deaths. Therefore there is not even a hint of a 3rd wave. The vaccine is protecting those who are vulnerable, Covid is currently the 9th biggest killer in the UK, yes 9th. There is no science that backs up the need to extend these ridiculous restrictions. There should never be a need for another lockdown ever again, however I’m sure the government will justify it somehow. Winter will always see an increase in deaths from viruses. The flu kills thousands every year. Do we lockdown or wear masks for those? People going abroad will bring new variants back to the UK. So yet again more threats of a new outbreak. It will never end. Even Boris said ‘at some stage we will have to learn to live with it’. That time is now. Or when do we wait till? infections will stay higher the more people socialise, that is completely NORMAL. So long as hospital don’t see an increase and deaths increase again then this is all perfectly normal. So yes, this extension is totally pathetic, backed up by no science whatsoever.

I must admit that the TV production didn’t seem as good this week, with on screen graphic errors and some strange camera work and vision mixing showing close up of race leader while a pass is happening behind and lots of crowd shots which made it harder for Nigel and Kelvin to justify the gaps I just wonder if Steve Saint who usually directs British and GP Speedway was away doing WRC this week and that is why production was not as per normal

How good would it be if there was a fully functional speedway track available with a promoter willing to put on regular meetings for the NL riders, rising stars etc to practice against each other & improve their skills. Sure the BSPL would be massively in favour of that seeing as there are so few meetings in the NL.