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Outrageous, how dare the FIM make all the sensible picks just as we predicted leaving us nothing to whinge about. Shocked! PS Kubera, J Holder, Bewley, Chugunov and Miskowiak for my preferred reserve list.

For me, that makes sense if the latter stages of the GP qualification system took place after the GP series had finished. How about this. The primary qualification could take place alongside the GP series with no current GP riders involved. This could result in the top 9 going through to be joined by the bottom 7 from the current series after the last GP. These 16 would then compete in the GP Challenge (what a meeting!). The top 6 from this go through to be joined by 1 wildcard. You can argue about the numbers but the philosophy of how riders would qualify, for me, would be very fair. The also rans from this year get a last chance and a significant number of new riders get an opportunity as well. And as a real bonus you don't get any current GP riders, qualifying for next year half way through this year's series (with the possible exception of the SEC champion).

Tonight is the night people if you want to help or make a change Looking forward to seeing as many people as posible Regards John

Maybe he should just qualify if he's that good .. just a thought

Yes because it`s free

It’s because the TV were there, if it wasn’t live on TV then it would have likely been called off after the 5pm cloudburst. Of course then we would have likely had complaints from someone we had called it off to early !!!!

will ask to see if we can get somewhere in between just to help you both out lol

There are not many “Top” riders that could jump ship,or they would be there already.

Unless one is in with a chance of the top 3 finish, why bust a gut striving for 6th. place, when the 6 below you get picked anyway. I agree Kubera should have got a place... does it really matter how many Poles or how few British?. Was anyone else even considered or were the wildcards decided long ago?.

Eurosport really fkd up last night tbh no plan b to televise the other meeting in case of a rain off and there was a camera at Sheff!

Both Lahti & Becker rode in the qualification rounds so had 9 & 8 rides to their credit prior to the 6 lap final. Jack holder was also involved in the opening rounds but was unbeaten until the semi finals. Dudek & Doyle were by far the best on the day & rightly took the top two steps. Doyle wanted to be the first to take four victories on the trot but it was not to be. This is a fantastic event for which the Pardubice club deserve huge credit for their organisation in bringing all these competitors together for a full weekend of speedway & flat track in all the events a total of 99 race jackets had to be filled for 4 events over 3 days.

We had 3 times as many teams in the league back in 1965 and it was well run. Plenty of time for non- league meetings too.

Don’t bemoan an attractive meeting - live speedway at your track. On behalf of speedway fans from Coventry, Eastbourne, Birmingham, Newcastle, Arena Essex, etc etc

What he does with the profit from Poole Speedway is his own business

what about Vaculik - he got his 4th nomination within 5 years (same as Harris, Nicholls, Lindgren in the past) - he was injured this year, but probably wouldn't have reached the top 6 anyway but if you cannot get a place in the top 6 (or 8) more than once within 5 years are you stll rated as a world championship challenger??

pair of arrogant people and that's being kind !!

It's a shame the Development Leagues were destroyed for the Premier Junior League, which never happened

Because the whole TV costs for getting there/setting up run into thousands !! and they had to give it every chance however slim

That's true and we can play the examples game all day. The nutjob's point was that "but if it is raining in one part of Peterborough, it is likely to be raining in another part of Peterborough" and although it's not necessarily so as you put it, over the years as a local it is on balance he's more often right than not. Saturday for example I sat at Posh. It absolutely tipped it down in town centre for hours. I doubt that the EoES missed any of that which would have left the track pretty well sodden and not requiring anything more than a light shower on Monday. I sat at home working yesterday at 5pm and it was tipping down. Someone later posted "Unfortunately the downpour at 5.00 was the killer blow" which was at the EoES miles away on the other side of Peterborough. So from a generic point of view you were right but in terms of Peterborough rain and the speedway I had to side with KSF on this occasion.

6 man teams...the 5 SoN squad members from each Nation, so 1 rider needed on each side. What are the chances that it'll be Glasgow riders added? Cook for GB and Nowak for Poland?

Common sense would say his season is over and he should be working his way back to full fitness over the winter months. I for one would have him back in the team for 2022.

It seems that you want riders in "on merit", so I assume you want as close to the Top 15 as is possible? So, how many riders NOT in the GP's would have made five semi-finals this year? Which is what Lambert did...

Remember you were told last season that there would be 2 Rising Stars in teams this year going forward so you will get 4 Stars which will allow for maximum combinations of a 3 + 1 Star or a 2 + 2 Star at reserve if you max out your Star ration.. After all it would be daft to stick in two 1 Star Reserves you may as well use up your star ration to the full... That will leave a figure to be chosen for the team building of the top 5 which due to the shortage of riders last season might be to a maximum of 35 but could be as low as 32 or even 30 for the Championship... The NDL will change possibly to clubs 2nd teams only so I am not sure where that will leave Mildenhall and the IOW (If they come back) and anyone else who thinks they could drop down into this league and thinking of Brum and Eastie here who have done this in the past or Oxford and Bradford if they were to come back and that is purely down to rider availability...Just personal thought that one though... Top league will be ok with the Super 6 but I would like to see a couple more added to this for a league of 8 or even 10 but cant see it happening somehow and let them build to 45 points so they can be as strong as possible... So 5 Stars for their reserves and 40 points for the 1 to 5... Finally I have been reading about this new Glasgow proposal that will be put forward by Michael Max amongst others which knowing Michael will be well thought out and lets face it could it be any worse than what we have at the minute with this rising star thing; looking forward to hearing more about this proposal and seeing how far it gets... lets hope its a winner. Regards THJ

Potentially there could be 4 newcomers each year, 3 from GP Challenge and 1 as Euro Champ, that is more then 25% of the field. I am happy with the current system which takes top 6 auto for next year and selectors pick 5, which potentially could be 5 newcomers through to 5 from the current year who are still of the right quality, and anything in between those extremes. Very flexible, I am ok with it.

Sad affair neither of them ride in there own country still i suppose it's not there fault just the mess British speedway is in

Do you think they leave all the equipment at the EoEA?

I doubt much of it is from speedway!!!

Sounds reasonable,when they decide how many go through automatically the rest should have to have be involved in a meeting to decide if they can stay in ,Wildcards should be riders who were not in the last series IMO.

Wet, but track work has begun - will almost certainly be a delayed start.

If I could go... I'd love to, but I'm at work best of luck to all there and fingers crossed something good comes from the meeting... looking forward to hearing

No it won't. Wolves have publicly stated (in last weeks Star) that they won't run in a six team league next year. So the top league will need 1, probably 2, teams joining the current six. That either means somebody moving up from the Championship (unlikely in my opinion) or Swindon and/or Oxford joining. It is by no means certain that Swindon will return next year. They took this year out to allow the stadium to be rebuilt, when in effect they could have ran as this work has only barely started. Oxford? Maybe, if they open up which league will they want to be in. If none of the above happens, will it be one league? I can't see the top division running with 5 teams. If so, at what level, and could we lose some more teams. As an aside if it goes to one league, of say 16 teams, where will they get 32 rising stars from, and how many "top" riders will jump ship to Europe?

Agreed. Wildcards to me should be exactly that, not the same old faces. No other sport fills their events only with the 'considered by some' the best in the world from last year. As I said before Radecanu winning the US Open got huge media coverage, as did Joe Johnson in snooker back in the 80s or Boris Becker at Wimbledon, Jerzy S in 73, - anyone remember Eddie the Eagle . Sport should be unpredictable and trying to generate media interest from a story that the favourite won again is unlikely to be welcomed with enthusiasm.

It certainly makes a difference to Eurosport- any matches where they have arrived at the track and incurred costs are minused off the contracted number they agree to show- already down to 17 this season and they will probably use Monday`s rain-off to reduce the 2022 number as they can`t this season

GP`s have always been 7pm- UK time 6pm. Practice and qualifying will be at 1300 local time As for Cardiff and maybe Warsaw there is every chance that practice will be on the Friday due to the temporary track. If Discovery don`t carry on with the earlier Cardiff start time they will alienate a lot of people !!

Glasgow put this on Facebook. There has to be more than 4k in attendence for the passports

Another example, it was bone dry about a mile up the A1, Peterborough were quite unlucky copping the rain

If you read the original link it is 6 man teams featuring the GB and Polish SoN squads. So as others have posted The GB squad is likely to be Woffinden, Lambert, Bewley ( 2 of whom will be used in the Belle Vue meetings) and two U21's , one of whom will make the team at Belle Vue, probably Tom Brennan. The 6th rider will presumably be someone like Adam Ellis.

T V has changed the top tiers sports schedule whereas in years gone by the sport and the meetings dictated the result rather than contrived fixtures. How can you seriously believe that a club who is fourth at the end of the league campaign meaning each team has raced against each other once or twice can then become champions because of the schedule and a change in rider averages which coincides with the play offs. Important meetings took place in October but that was after a full summer of racing, not the intermittent fixture list that exists today. The point is that with six teams in a league and not twelve or more, the sport should not be in a position of holding play offs in October. Yes I can remember meetings going to the wire in late October but not with a piss poor league of six clubs.

??? what does that matter .. without tv important league matches and Ko cup finals were still ran in oct .. hardly end of season fixture fillers. People points about Tv are utter garbage . Live Tv or No live Tv the season has always ran to the End of Oct ... how good the 16 lapper etc were has nothing to do with that point

They did but they did not have play offs pandering to T.V. schedules and before the play offs those top of the league were champions. Cup matches, 4TT and individuals were end of season fixture fillers. Those were the days and what a spectacular the 16 Lapper final at Ipswich was. Even the individual end of season meetings at Rayleigh were entertaining as was the Essex Gold Cup between Rayleigh and Romford. Today it is so clinical and not as much fun or entertainment. No longer a show for the fans but a turn out for those riders who can be bothered to turn up who are few and far.

Why can't they have covers that say hook to the outside of the fence and then attached to the inside of the track.Surely this would allow the air to flow and the track not to sweat.

Matt Ford is building his chateau on the television currently if you want something to do.

If only they’d invested that Sky tv money in track covers instead of it going in there back pockets -if only .Then there was the track blower wind machine that was going to each televised meeting wonder what happened to that

Oh no how will the world cope!!!!!!!!

When they persist in having all the major finals in October, they really do get what they deserve

Actually, Smolinski didn't qualify. He finished 10th in the GP Challenge, but was picked as first reserve which would have given him a place when Greg retired...

Don't tell me, when you look in the window you see a reflection of KingoftheTrack looking back?

Who are Glasgow meeting in the playoffs? They are still waiting to find out who their opponents will be! Similarly they have been waiting since the summer to find out their semi final ko Cup opponents thanks to Birmingham cancelling their fixture with Edinburgh at short notice. Finally the GB meeting is being held on a night that is not their normal or alternative race night. Get a life!

100%! My local National League track Mildenhall is almost perfectly functional and financially viable in the 3rd tier with its healthy crowds for the level they run at. I get the impression that the powers that be would rather Mildenhall stepped up into the 2nd tier but that wouldn't work out as costs would go through the roof, admission prices would have to go up but crowds probably wouldn't go up to subsidise the increases. And I doubt racing the racing would get any better cause race times would sometimes be 2 seconds quicker which would mean race times of under 50 seconds which would be a blink of an eye and make overtaking even harder! - Indeed with out the 3rd tier Mildenhall speedway would of probably finished permanently in 1992 when the track folded mid season in the 2nd Division and the track tarmaced over for stock cars. The reality is in present times most tracks in the 2nd tier don't get big enough crowds to afford to pay riders a professional wage. In fact most of them would be better of racing at 3rd tier level where the crowds would be more viable in terms of the reduced costs. Rob Godfrey has a short memory cause if there wasn't a 3rd Division when he got Scunthorpe going in 2005 its doubtful he would have even tried cause reopening Scunny in one of the two professional Leagues, a former failed speedway centre that failed to attract viable crowds in the better supported times of the 1980's would have been a massive gamble! I also suspect Godfrey is a tad bit oblivious to the struggles of other tracks in the Championship because his team is subsidised by being able to have almost unlimited access to his track which means he can put on lots of practises, amateur meetings, stock car meets and the venues available for private hire. The likes of Birmingham and Eastbourne only kept going a few years back when they had to drop down into the less expensive 3rd Division. The modern 3rd Division in its numerous guises has been one of the best innovations in British speedway ever since it was formed in 1994, in fact its something that would of helped speedway if it had been formed in the late 70's. - I suspect quite a few of the track closures from the late 70's to the early 90's may have been prevented had a 3rd Division been in place then? Apart from offering up and coming riders a constructive 6-7 person team League to race in the 3rd tier has been a viable water in which to reopen former tracks and for new venues to test the water. Also competent riders not good enough for higher Leagues but are still capable of providing good racing and passing on experience to young riders have benefited from the 3rd tier. Basically all this leads me to conclude that British speedway needs to go to 2 Leagues next season. - The top League called the British League will be an amalgamation of clubs in the current Premiership and Championship that can afford to run professional speedway at a level akin to the current 2nd tier. - This would be at most 15 of the tracks at present I suspect? The new 2nd tier to be called the National League to be a semi professional League stronger than current National League but not by a massive amount. This would contain the likes of Birmingham, Newcastle, Berwick, Kent, and maybe Scunthorpe and Redcar combined with Mildenhall, IoW, Oxford, Eastbourne, Workington and maybe a couple of reserve teams like Belle Vue Colts if they could afford to? - No foreigners except Commonwealth riders with a British League average under 5 or 6 allowed. 2 per team allowed. The successful, properly run, enthusiastic 4 person Northern junior League and the Midland Development League (rename it the Southern League to encourage Southern tracks to enter and for a equal North South split!) to continue for novice riders not yet ready for National League. Forget about the still born, half hearted Godfrey/Louis Premier junior League from this year. Allow teams representing defunct tracks to enter like Milton Keynes, Exeter, Reading cause these could possibly stir up enough interest to provide the inspiration to open new tracks at these lost centres like what happened at Scunny cause again Mr Godfrey who blocked such teams from running done exactly the same thing in 2003 and 2004 before Normanby Road opened in 2005! Things need to change thats for sure but what is certain is the National League has to continue albeit at a little bit higher level!

Ditto. Tbf, Shawn's record is significantly better than Kelly's, I guess those rating Kelly higher base it on natural ability rather than achievement. But Shawn was imo one of the top half dozen riders of the 80s, Kelly was probably top 20.