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I claimed a bit of responsibility too !

Enjoyed my first ever visit to Poole, Tigers struggled to get out the starts and to be fair the heart has been ripped out of the club with Ulrich's accident but the guys tried hard, I think the pirates will go on and win the championship, they have a strong team. The pirate fans were very gracious towards our very small travelling support, thanks for that.

I thought some scum might of stole it for the van, and wouldn't know what to do with the bikes, and maybe leave them somewhere. What scumbags

One of the drawbacks of having all that sign writing on your van! A plain colour van would seem a safer option to me!

Perhaps it would have been a good idea to have the jab the day after a meeting rather than a day before

Think we all know the answer to that.

You’re always up against it if you visit Edinburgh and see McGregor is the referee.

Just looking at Isle of Wight Masters Championship. www.dirthub.co.uk/island-masters-shale-track-championship-schedule-entry-list/ You have to applaud the promoters for taking on meetings of this format. There's no reason why stadium racing of this type can't be run with both speedway and grasstrack bikes dependent on the size and condition of the track. I think individuals on this forum are too quick to dismiss this type of event ultimately who cares at least it gives UK riders an opportunity to race instead of applauding Wolverhampton with their plethora of imports.

My mate went and said it was well supported with lots of families attending. He said the presentation was very good, refreshments great and minimal delays and he got about 25 heats for £12. He also saw ex Glasgow promoter Gordon Pairman taking a close interest in what was going on. Well done Isle of White by all accounts.

And don't forget Ben Barker.

Superb lineup. I’m sure for some it could be seen as an audition for 22. Stunning way to end the home season and further wet the appetite for next.

I think there’s a good chance of someone coming in but any riders should be on points money only. Stick a rider on a guarantee and there’s no incentive for them to score. They get paid regardless.

Think most of your riders prefer our track to yours too! Bad night for the Scorpions and the track prep was poor and drastically under watered. Well done Lions your gating was better than ours and with no outside line the racing by our usual standards, was pretty average. We are now looking over our shoulders, watching teams below catching up in the league points, our remaining matches look well difficult too.

Speaks volumes about what was "on offer" doesnt it? Why pay to watch contrived septets in a competition devoid of credibility or status, when you have already paid Sky and can watch it at home? Out of 5 of us who used to attend pretty much each week, up until 10 or so years ago, only one now does so regularly, with the rest of us getting our fix by watching the TV and taking it in turns to "host the evening"... We will though all go to Cardiff and several of us will go to Poland to watch League racing and GP's, as well as attend FIM events over here.. And "if the weather is nice" we will visit a few tracks on the odd occasion.. Cant beat a bit of "live" Speedway now and again can you?.. I (and the others), would still go every week if the leagues werent ran so 'Mickey Mouse' and actually had some kudos in winning.. And there are more than a "fair few" out there like me I would suspect who just need some persuasion to attend again... (A "fair few" that is more than actually currently attend I would suggest).. And by "persuasion", I mean those in charge actually running the sport properly, either in a league system or in an individual one.. Either way, make it mean something and many who "used to go" regularly, and still keep a very keen interest in the sport, might start to attend regularly again. One thing for sure though.. To keep doing the same thing every single season isnt an option surely is it?

After a very unhappy visit to Poole in August I've had an idea. You know those old black and white POW films where the inmates are trying to get rid of the soil taken from a tunnel? They put the soil in bags inside their trousers with a draw string attached. Then they wandered onto the exercise area, pulled the draw string and released the unwanted soil onto the ground. Perhaps visiting riders could adopt a similar technique with bags of shale when they are doing their track walk at Wimborne Road?

you must remember we are the poole pirates and we make the rules

In the early years, GP 'stars' were possibly thought of as a drawcard as British fans expected to see 'the best riders in the world'. And quite possibly promoters would have seen decreased crowds without them, so it's understandable why they got sucked in. However, history has shown that the inclusion of GP riders did little or nothing to improve crowds or revenues, or ultimately justify the costs that were incurred. That's not the fault of the GP riders who are largely only interested in making the best living they can whilst they can, nor indeed can you blame them for having their cake and eating it with respect to riding in the SGP, if that's what British promoters put on their plates. But at the end of the day, they merely hastened the downward spiral of a sport that had already started on the downward spiral. As I said, the moment the SGP cat was allowed to be let out of the bag, the British leagues had stuffed themselves. A GP series was inevitable in the modern world, just as similar disruptive influences like the IPL and Big Bash were inevitable in cricket, but if you're the incumbent running the sport then at least make sure you're part of the bandwagon and get your cut from it...

This meeting wasn't the best match that I have seen this season although it was eventful! This is a typical picture of all spectator sports - there will be good matches and poor matches often for no apparent reason, so no track should be universally condemned as the cause when the latter is the case. The much loved and lamented Brandon track used always to be immaculately prepared and the riders very rarely had cause to complain about it - yet it regularly produced some very processional races and was often criticized as being "too smooth." I have witnessed some very good racing (and some poor stuff too) at Perry Barr this season and in seasons past and like the vast majority of supporters I accept that every meeting isn't going to be a cracker, so I don't blame, the track or the opposition when a meeting falls short of expectations.

Back to the Dugards ( if they've still the will and enthusiasm which only they would know) in a competitive NL with a decent points limit so fans will pay to watch is probably the only viable way next season, oh we had that before it was taken away.

I think you have probably hit the nail on the head there when you get 50,000 at Newcastle and 25,000 at Sunderland plus footballs not cheap either so you can only do one of them plus the local papers aren’t really that bothered about speedway any more and it only gets a mention on the news when Geoff Brown is on. I do think a competitive team has a massive influence also a winning team will always be better supported football being the greatest indicator ,I appreciate everything that has gone on this year and you have to cut your cloth accordingly , in my personal opinion I think the change of race time has had a massive effect especially for me as I can’t now make it and I think that will be the same for a lot of families

Think it's particularly fair Swindon claim the majority out of his clubs...2 league titles and would had been riding for us if it wasn't for the two evils of Covid and Clark Osbourne!

In 2 valve days, as a Jawa factory rider, Ivan Mauger would visit the factory and have tested many new engines on the dyno. He would then pick, for his allocation, the best engines for himself, this gave him a better starting point for tuning than having the less powerful engines. Mind you having Guy Allott as the tuner helped a lot. I can remember seeing the rockers on Ivan engines being on needle rollers, instead of the bronze bushes they used in the factory, much smoother operation. So even standard engines, straight from the factory, are not equal.

But we now find ourselves in the position of NO GP riders riding in our Leagues yet we still elect to run on off-nights and on many prime summer weekends there was no Speedway this year!

You can't sign someone before and not redeclare until after the cut off date Any new signing made prior to the cut off would have to have been in the declared 7 for Thursdays meeting however clandestine the communication was!

The die was cast the moment that the professional league promoters, but particularly the British ones, failed to grasp the opportunities offered by the SGP and allowed the FIM to sell it off to a private promoter with basically no benefit accruing to them. The SGP affects the Polish and Swedish leagues much less - if at all - but even so it's ridiculous that they allowed a prime asset that basically utilises their assets for free to escape them. Very poor vision and even poorer politicking in the FIM corridors of power. Once the SGP got a foothold, the British leagues were screwed either way as the speedway-going public were used to seeing the top riders in Britain, so any stand against using GP riders would cost fans, yet by trying to accommodate the SGP they found they had to run on off-nights and/or not on prime summer weekends, and lost fans anyway. The GP riders dropped Britain once the wages dried up, not least because the fans stopped coming. I'm quite sure they'd still be turning up if the British leagues paid Polish wages, whatever other excuses they may have given. But the whole issue of insufficient riders is a wider one, and is another thing that wasn't well addressed over the years. Doubling-up is fine as a development pathway through the league structure, but ridiculous when it's just a way to make up the numbers. It just becomes the thin end of the wedge - reduce opportunities and you ultimately reduce the number of riders competing for those places.

I'm happy with what I've watched at Peterborough this season and that's with a team written off as wooden spoon winners by many before a wheel was turned

In the grand prixs money will always talk and Bartosz is small in stature he will always be quick but that does not always translate as a bit of weight could mean better grip off the start? Domestically something has to be done to reduce costs to the riders, no one can afford to pay them the sort of money they would like to be earning, so the only other way is to work it so that a riders outgoings are less, thus they can keep more of what they earn without it being ploughed so heavily back into their equipment. Until speedway is made more viable to both, riders, promoters and fans, things will continue on a downward trend, it really is that simple.

True... But instead of adapting and being in charge of their own destiny, the UK Promoters decided to come up with some unfit for purpose half way house, half arsed system which was built around the GP riders' own individual agendas.. Even though it was evident that crowds dwindled whilst these riders rode over here, and when missing (which was regularly), meant guestfest upon guestfest... Which only then sped up the dwindling levels of punters.. And then of course the GP riders then pretty much all dropped the UK like a stone.. Yet the UK still have the same operating model?..... But nowadays just to provide around 70 riders or so with multiple team places... Not a great plan is it?

Did you notice if their teeth were gritted ,when they were celebrating

Best wishes to Aaron Summers who will retire after next week's meeting with Glasgow.

Your probably correct, he has set such high standards it comes as a bit of a shock when his standards slip. As they say form is temporary class is permanent.

Or he's a young lad that's worked to pay for nice things?!

Or rules don't apply to Poole and Sheffield or they make up new ones and somehow get others to agree There must be some tasty compromising photos in certain people's possession

Good looking line up for the gladiators 90th anniversary meeting, all the gladiators plus erik riss,Danny King,Chris Harris and Henry Atkins. Tues 7th September.

I go bend one at the front, great for getting covered in sh**..... shale! All part of the fun when attending speedway, the sound, smell & getting covered in shale! Especially as there's no greyhound track u will get hit by shale on the bends. The odd piece of stone can whack u in the face. Unless u want a seat in the stands or be along the front it doesn't really get too crowded to choose where u want to go.

May 2002, scores were level at 30-30. I remember Andre Compton saying afterwards that he "couldn't see a thing when in front and was basically guessing where he had turn turn for the corners". It was the first abandonment by fog since the end of season four team challenge in 1975. In the re-arranged match the Diamonds won 48-41and also won at Newport 47-43.

First time visitor at Ipswich on Thursday night and I was greatly impressed with the facility, I sat right at the very top of the big stand down the back straight and the almost bird's eye view of the track was brilliant, although I couldn't hear the announcer very well (which may have been a good thing, depends on how annoying he is haha) Brilliant night in the end and well done on Peterborough who looked the much better team... Just wish the racing was slightly better, but you can't have everything I suppose

I think there’s more chance of me winning the lottery lol . Losing Nielsen a big blow and I just think Batchelor can t ride the track at Sheffield

Can you believe this !!!!!!- it is Eurosport so yes !!!! Eurosport Poland have said it will be concentrating on the Tennis, and if the match due to start earlier this afternoon finishes in time, they will then broadcast the speedway on Eurosport 2. if not, it'll be on player only.

Steve Worrall guesting for Morris on Saturday.

The Dugards will back the club with the right people in charge..

I think Kerr is on a 2 year deal but so was Broc Nicol.

I think it’s 3rd v 6th & 4th v 5th Then top of league pick who they want in the semis.

Part and parcel of the sport I’m afraid , all teams are affected by injuries during a season.

Age discrimination is illegal, can't see a rule being allowed that limits how many 30/40 years olds teams can use!

Give me the Poole track over Wolverhampton any day of the decade. A proper speedway track not some little training track.

Is this the same team that manipulated the rulings to get Bates in as a result 'rising star'? I'm sure 4 into 3 goes if your face fits lol

I used to love going to Sheffield Speedway… really enjoyed the racing. I went 8 to 10 times a year for many years. in recent years there has been a serious drop in the quality of the racing culminating in only going once a year…. Then a decision to not bother going at all. sad times

Maybe instead of trying to standardise the engines just handicap the riders like in horse racing? Bike and rider weighed before the meeting and ballast added to the bike so that they’re all on a level playing field. Simple and effective, no flyweight will spend thousands on tuning if he has to have 10kg or more to his bike

I think Kerrs career has gone a bit stale. He could do with moving to another track to kick start his career. I also think he shouldn’t be being beaten at his home track by riders such as Leon Flint.