Leaderboard

The new points system is not doing it for me. Zmarzlik, 8 points before the semis, Laguta 14. After the final, Zmarzlik 20, Laguta 18. In two heats Zmarzlik gets 12 points, Laguta 4.

New points scoring is pathetic, 8 points into 20 with 2 extra rides! And people ask why others aren't interested in the sport

Having attended my first match for 2years this week I have been giving this topic some thought, I'm prepared to be shot down so feel free to comment on my thoughts. I was introduced to the sport as a 12 year old in the late 80s. I was fortunate enough to witness my team in the old national League which to my mind is still the closest I've seen in this country to the sport being run professionally. The sport in that league was Great, each team in general only visited once a season the exception being for early season challenge or cup matches. There was also the national 4 team championship and pairs events plus the individuals which gave the different disciplines that everyone seems to be calling for and the best thing guest riding was outlawed each team had a proper functioning junior/reserve team. Anyhow why did I become hooked on speedway and gave up attending football? The ability to be able to go behind the scenes to the pit area pre match to see the preparation, collect rider autographs and actually speak the stars of the track. Then there was the smell & the noise something completely different to any other team sport. At that time my local track was still getting close to 4000 spectators a week including a decent number of visiting fans that gave the centre green mic man something to work with to create an atmosphere, the crowd generated noise actuall cheering of the home team and booing of the visitors that all led to the atmosphere. All this was underpinned by the feeling that this was your team they didn't leave as soon as the meeting was over and in some cases before because they had to leave to ride for someone else tomorrow. The sights the smell wer part of it but without that team aspect I wouldn't have fell in love with speedway. Move forward to the 2000s and I fell out of love with speedway and eventually gave up all together. Why? I was fed up seeing the same teams 2,3,4,5 times a season and sometimes with only a couple of weeks between visits, I got fed up as the doubling up and guest regulations became more and more relaxed so that at times the team I supported was made up of 3 riders from another club. For me the attachment to my team was lost and that was that. Now I attended very occasionally I think on average once a season since 2009, I've been to less home meetings in 12 years than I used to attend in a season. As for reinvention well the sport has to decide what it wants to be. A team sport in that case make it a team sport that people can attach too ditch doubling up and work to rid the sport of guests once and for all. If it's to be an individual sport then come up with some proper classes like other motor sport & run decent championship events. Whichever it decides the machinery, the track surfaces and the presentation need a radical rethink.

Battered and bruised and a sore neck but otherwise ok I have been informed. Reliable source.

That's simply not the case, the riders do TV interviews every meeting, and it usually features in the Friday evening news on South East ITV Station Meridian tonight. Also bbc radio Kent mention it quite often. And there is also a close tie up with sittingbournes own radio station Len has also every year produced thousands of posters and fliers, and supplied them to fans to distribute in thier own local areas, this scheme is known as fans force. Then there is the carnival scene, where the club has a float representing speedway in each town. Also the Kent messenger group (countywide), and the more locally sittingbourne rags, all fearure weekly reports and previews too. I think we can all agree the king of promotion are the Wightlink Warriors, and them seemingly never stop promoting thier club. Even they found island residents at recent meetings gave stumbled across the racing whilst claiming they never knew speedway existed on the Island. What that tells me is even with a consistently high energy promotional effort, people will always slip through the net. Can most clubs do more? Certainly, but actually when you scratch under the surface there are plenty of clubs doing a hell of a lot of work out their to bring more people in.

This is so far from correct.. We dont just try to attract holiday makers - they are the cherry on the cake... what we must do is attract business, sponsors (every single air fence panel sponsored) we atract TV, Radio, we attract Islanders, we attract students to the speedway school, we attract people who realise they associate their brand with our brand "The Warrior Way" purely because other clubs dont fit it... I can list sponsors of the IOW from across the UK and world actually that could just as easily invest it locally to their club and they choose not to. Regards the supporters club activity thats brilliant what you are doing there.. well done.. and you are right likewise I could list for ever on here our fan based ideas and feel free to use them... Free whistles and a lolly for kids, speedway bike display, beat the starter ready to be used, great priced high quality food, kids races, 50/50, 200 club, social events, fans working parties (sounds crazy but brings fans closer to the club - they invest their time in to it, it means more), autograph sessions, riders in the bar, shows, school visits, social club visits, supermarket visits, open the pits, make the riders come through the crowd.... the list goes on....... Keep up the great work and keep supporting your clubs and I hope your clubs will reinvest that support for you. All the best

From my vantage point it looked like Bjarne locked up and Worrall had nowhere to go. Well done Plymouth on getting the point and it could have been more. Great to see a few fans making the trip and one of them won the 50/50 draw.....so hopefully drinks on them tonight. Good luck at Berwick tomorrow and for the rest of the season. Also thanks for being great hosts when I was down at Plymouth a couple of weeks ago. Lovely set up and great fans.

The Greatest Rider of All Time picks up another GP win.

Woffy, once again riding far too safe and timidly... No place for that kind of riding nowadays... He may make the top six and if he doesnt will be given a wild card surely? If he wants one that is... Must be very frustrating to realise you are dropping down the order after so many years competing at the top..

Now I will leave you guys to talk amoungst yourselves for a while. All the best and as I always say, keep supporting your teams, and enjoying your speedway and my last comment is.. I wish the BSPL had given us one tenth of the promotion and support we give the sport in general...but we will continue to show great photos of fun, racing and speedway - its what we do.

I think the current fan base is split in two, those who think there is nothing wrong and would probably promote it in a positive manner on social media but they aren't active so SM. The second group are the fans who are active on SM but don't feel they can share or promote the sport because they see what's wrong.

I often disagreed with him on here ... In a very enjoyable way. His view was to be respected and I greatly appreciated the numerous times he instigated one to one discussions via personal messenger that greatly enlightened my understanding of the 'real story' that would not be possible to print. My respect for him was greatest just because he did have the balls to come on here and engage in real debate with us. He did so with the passion of someone still in love with the sport but with the deep knowledge of his lifetime of covering it so magnificently in print. A wonderful combination. His biggest legacy is of course Speedway Star, which PR curated for so long, offering Michelin Star coverage of what is often a transport cafe sport. I trust the team will carry his torch well. Farewell Philip.

Thought Kemp at least tried and did get better. Hope he finds form again as he does have talent. British speedway needs its home riders.

Ah, didn't go the that one. As a Bees fan (ike yourself) I must have subconsciously avoided a match that the old enemy might win. Would much prefer to keep my memories of 2010 untarnished!

Just got back and it was an easy win - as expected. I don't want to add to the speculation about the away side's possible difficulties but would rather comment on two more positive points. 1. The tribute to Phillip Rising was very fitting with both teams standing on track to participate in the minute's clap in his honour. Well done Leicester promotion. 2. I was very impressed with Tom Brennan. Clearly has the right attitude. Came out early before the parade to look at the gate. Tried hard in every ride. I hope he goes far in the sport. Also acknowledged the fans. Clearly Lawson should have been the man for heat 15 alongside Brennan. Was he annoyed with his exclusion two heats earlier? I thought it harsh but didn't have the best view. Still yet to see an away side run Leicester close. Does the track give that much of a home advantage? I'm beginning to think so.

I agree . I am losing a bit of interest it was for better when all the points in every race mattered.it makes the races 1/20 less important not as exciting . It was nt broken before so why try to fix.

Does anyone know what starting system is being used this year? I, for one, am really interested in finding out but it seems the commentators dont want to mention it...

Does Speedway need to re-invent itself? Short sharp answer to that is NO. Does British Speedway need to re-invent the way it is run - YES!. Speedway is both an individual and team sport and that is how it is successful in Poland, Sweden and Denmark. The Poles have owned it. The Swedes have maintained it. The Danes have consistently been good at it. The British have diluted it.

He mentioned it once, but I think he got away with it...

Perhaps the sport could adopt Bullseye rules - if you dont think its worth giving it go then the next team down gets a chance.....

i don't know what is wrong with him, but he still needs dropping whatever the reason is Sorry to sound hard but i cant show compassion if i don't know why he looks like he is not trying, and if people are paying £19 the least they deserve is 7 riders at least trying the team cant afford to carry him, what is the point of qualifying for the play offs if you know you have lost before they start

It will be on the website- tomorrow .

I'd love to see Barry be able to promote any potential return of Oxford.

I am sorry but I dont know why you are going for me, and putting everything down about what we are achieving on the island and saying its a piece of cake.. its anything but a piece of cake. I could detail plenty of negatives about league racing having attended plenty of AGMs over the year but I choose to promote the SPORT in general as well as what we do on the island. Negativity is rotting the sport and it seems to me that you are putting me down because you are jealous of what we do and how we promote. Look, it's OK that you love KL and think what we are doing is awful - a side show - although I dont thinkg the riders we have inclued and will include are anything like a side show.... but just so you know I love KL too, we have great people who ride on the island also there, pretty much embedded, Scott Campos for example... But just to remind you, we normally ran 20 meetings a season when in the BSPL, (I believe it was one of the highest in the sport) plus speedway schools, so dont tell me we couldnt cope or manage it We know our game, our leaue (when in the BSPL), our product and our market.... lets hope that we can continue to provide the right support and the right level of positivity for the whole sport, or we may just end up watching flattrack, stock cars and amatuer speedway. All the best

A league of their own? Behave.

Paternity leave ! Jack millan will be spinning in his grave, explain to any new fans how the same rider has been here the last 3 weeks riding for 3 teams? Soz but we are getting circus like every season.

Barry from what I have seen & read you're doing a fantastic job in not only promoting speedway but also shaking up the format. It would be great to see the Isle of Wight promotion put in charge of UK speedway and to see what you could achieve. You're certainly light years ahead of the current BSPA who seem to love quotes that compare there business to modern day hunting or the smell of cooking oil. Keep up the great work.

That's great what you do, however you're doing that for existing speedway fans and sadly the number of existing speedway fans becomes smaller each year. It's the non speedway fans you need to attract that where the Isle of Wight is showing the way.

Thanks to all those who submitted objections but it would seem that less commented than for the previous application. I think only two or three BSPL promoters objected and as far as I can see nothing from the BSPL Board. An absolute disgrace by a company that is supposed to promote speedway in the UK. Martin Widman Wight Warriors

The Speedway star kept on going through some really tough times but Philip had the vision to keep on track.The longevity of that magazine is outstanding, a great tribute to Philip and his hard work and having great staff with him at the speedway star.The biggest thing for me was he always listened and always wanted to move the magazine forward.He will be a huge loss to speedway and he for for me was in the John Berry mould , people had huge respect for him but he had his own view as well.RIP Philip.

I agree the new points system isnt for me either.

And not just because of the weather tonight. Most GP's don't liven up until halfway through, when the track settles down. If they did it is a matter of course, I'm sure it would really improve things.

That shirt is out of stock

The very last piece of credibility ripped from the sport... why not... In for a penny

I said to people around me after Jake won heat 12 & fearing the worst with the riders Redcar would have had for heats 13-15, win, lose or draw I have been thoroughly entertained.

Yes, no problem.

The Poole Pirates you refer to are a reenactment group, dressed as Pirates who do an awful lot of charity work. Nothing to do with speedway, I'm afraid.

Yes, Sunderland did it for their first match of the season. I’ve also seen it happen quite often at speedway too. A hundred people waiting to get in is a good proportion of the crowd at a speedway meeting. If it was a few stragglers I would agree with you, but sometimes outside issues mean it’s not possible to get there on time.

To be fair there was a very slow A1 almost all the way from teesside to the m62 turn off.

I don't see a problem with that. Would give extra rides to riders who have committed to a season in British speedway. Might also convince my own club to make Danyon Hulme a permanent replacement. Might be some issues with say the Aussie riders who might decided they want go home earlier. But the concept and the principal I totally agree.

Pedersens average changes tomorrow so for tonight if they have to go the guest route they could use Cook, Masters ,Ellis to name 3

And even if "all you had" were holiday makers, the very fact you go out and promote EVERY MEETING as a stand alone event would mean they would come... It almost seems as if the attitude down there is "Promote this meeting as if it is our last"... And that is EXACTLY the missing opportunity for so many clubs.. You only have to see how hard all clubs promote "make or break" meetings to see the huge opportunity that exists if they did this EVERY week.. Surely they can see by the increase in crowds when "in crisis", (the majority of whom are their own 'non regulars' answering the call), that they should continue to market and promote themselves every day of the season in exactly the same way..? It truly wouldn't matter what your were "selling" in the IOW as the promotion mechanics you use would prick the interest of anyone within earshot, (and you certainly shout loud enough to make plenty hear I would suggest)... Whether in a "seaside resort" or not is truly irrelevant, as its "the locals" who will always be the "bread and butter" you budget for to cover the "basic running costs" I would imagine as they are not transient... "Motorbike dirt track racing actually takes place in many town and city centres"... That should be a "Wow Factor" alone when you think about it, and if promoted properly, should at least mean (if nothing else) some curiosity from those living around it.. A wise old coach once told me, as a young 16 year old kid who was lucky enough to play football at a decent level, to celebrate every goal you score as if it was your last, regardless of how many you have already scored that game or season, and regardless of whether you are hammering the opposition... "Because Michael, one day it actually will be your last ever goal"... And guess what, he was right!! Maybe some promotions should have that same attitude as given the run rate of tracks lost over the last decade, that last meeting may not be too far away for a fair few... More power to your respective elbows down there Barry, Chris and all your team...

I think he has ridden Poole once before when guesting for someone like KL.

Fantastic evening track was as good as it's been for years . Jordan Palin was man of the meeting for me always in the mix and looks to be maturing as a rider. Also for Redcarr Jake Allen was top notch be good to have him back next season

Really sad news. Can only echo the other comments, that speedway had lost a gentleman, a hugely passionate, knowledgeable and articulate advocate, and one whose lasting legacy is a top class magazine. RIP Phil.

One of,no,THE best track bar none, terrific meeting and HT 13 has to be the race of the season,an absolute belter...!!

Quite right. I do think speedway fans are the worst when it comes to trying to advertise the sport though, we constantly run it down. Look at the recent Birmingham match thread, it's full of negatives, any newcomers looking in would get deflated very quickly. We do our bit on Facebook, share share and share only time will tell if it works or not. My Friends have started asking me about the Speedway, so the awareness is still there, just not paying customers.

Enough of the Wet Spam already

I will settle for a good crowd over +800 and Glasgow can have the 4 points lol

Can you imagine listening to Tai Woffinden and/or Chris Holder with open mikes... the kids would be going home crying