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Well it’s a pity that the meeting wasn’t streamed as that was easily the best meeting at Redcar this year on a bitterly cold night. Lions deserved their point and it could have been closer if Morris hadn’t dropped points with and EF and the, quite frankly, ludicrous decision to award Riss the win in Heat 11 (awaits someone to tell me they were right in line and the ref was right) For the Bears the top 3 were as consistent as usual but it was Andersen picking up a decent score that tipped it Bears way. For the Lions Morris, Worrall and Rowe were excellent value but a disappointing return from Jorgensen cost them. Some cracking, close racing on an excellent track, Heat 15 in particular was a fantastic race. Meeting rattled along at a good pace and was over in less than an hour and a half, which was much appreciated considering how cold it was.

On the subject of Ambulances and Paramedics it would seem that with our NHS in the state its in that the only resolution Speedway can have is to have 2 x Ambulances and 2 x Paramedics and other medical support at each Fixture. I won't hear a bad word about the Paramedics at Perry Barr though as there is at least 1 rider in the past few years whose life was saved by them. (Mitch Davey) That awful incident though casts a light on just how unforseen accidents can happen in Speedway that CAN'T be legislated for and for that reason I won't attack the Promotion for the sake of it. My recollection of that night was that whilst Mitchell's life was being saved another rider was being treated for a significant broken bone injury. So in that context even with 2 Ambulances and 2 paramedics and teams; a Meeting would still have been abandoned as both crews would have been working independently and both going asap to A+E. That's an extreme scenario but no doubt a few bashers would still have found fault with it. With regards the refund policy the Club have abided strictly to the letter of the BSPL regulations as they stand. In my opinion they are WRONG to do so and a small amount of common sense and customer relation skills would have quickly come up with an alternative. My question though would be - if the Club deviate from the BSPL specific Rules would they be penalised? Would a memo come from the Ivory Towers to tell them they can't do that as it sets a dangerous precedent. There tend to be 2 types of Speedway promotion in this era, the ones that stretch the boundaries with a customer slant are all too often frowned upon by the powers that be and the ones who act like they don't give a fig about supporters and abide rigidly to the BSPL rules are seen as glowing lights. There are 2 sides to every story and 2 sides to every coin. Strictly speaking Birmingham Speedway have followed the protocols. By all means attack them if you wish but we don't know the full facts and until we do I will reserve judgement. I will be writing to the Management politely to ask these questions and hopfully I will get a reply. I think with a businessman like Nigel in charge who will understand how important good customer service is, I will get a reply. Too many Speedway tracks are closing, we are all rejoicing in the return of Oxford and quite rightly and in Jamie Courtney there is one of those more forward thinking Promoters that are bucking the trend, but lets not forget HOW LONG it took to get Oxford back and how long it took Brian Buck to get Birmingham back too from the wilderness years. Thank You

Awful take, watching riders struggling hitting ruts and lifting, letting other riders pass isn’t good racing. Some fantastic racing at Berwick this season so far, not just Bomber, who’s had a fantastic start to the season for Berwick and Peterborough, the two teams he actually rides for, maybe if you had a number 1 and didn’t have to borrow everyone else’s it wouldn’t matter.

Have to say I thought the "tribute" that was done for Nigel Pearson was appalling. It sounded like it lasted ten seconds which York felt he had to yap all the way through.

Well yeah we the diamonds got beat... But for god's sake I know the team are struggling at the present time but if fans want speedway at Newcastle keep turning up if we win or not coz if the fans don't turn up & the club promotion can't afford to run it & it closes.. that's the end of the diamonds so let's get behind Rob & his hard working staff & keep speedway alive at Newcastle

Some tremendous racing tonight ,certainly no lack of effort from the Bandits riders,we were just outridden on the night, very entertaining meeting.Not one re-run or a faller in the 15 heats.The one thing that was proven though is the present Berwick reserves are not the strongest in the league.

It’s not hatred,it’s pointing out that their treatment of the paying customer is poor.It will no doubt affect their business with new fans can’t see the value for money.Irrespective of print rules in the programme fans on Wed deserve a full refund or free admission to another meeting.IMO.

Great result for lynn last night, with picko flying and worrall at reserve you could be a tough team to beat at home this year. Lawson had a relatively off night compared to normal last night and you still ground out the win. the only question now is what happens next week when PUK leaves. I see sedgeman is looking for a ride in the UK

For anyone interested, ITV journalist, Nina Nannar has written a book about the history of the ambulance. It's a great read by all accounts.

OK 48 hours on.... I usually stop throwing my toys after 24 hours ...apologies its taken longer Moving forward.... Wednesday happened due to the club's short sightedness..... maybe? Surely, something will have to be in place for the next meeting to avoid this happening again ? I'm happy to contribute to a monthly 'fans lottery' (as mentioned in a previous post by Bandits4eva) somebody from B'ham speedway needs to get this scheme set up. I'm happy to forfeit my entrance fee from Wednesday, but I wont be attending again unless something is in place for future meetings. I hope this reads as a fair and balanced view..... Hope I'm forgiven for spitting my dummy out! More importantly.....Best Wishes to Josh for a full recovery ASAP!

Oxford put a good team on track, just beaten by a better team.

Berwick were better than the score suggests, some really good racing , especially Cook and Harris passing and repassing in heat 13, man of the match for me was Connor Bailey, outstanding from the young man

Just through the door, by god that was magic tonight. Might be the adrenaline still pumping but I can't remember a better league match than that. Heats 10, 12 and 13 were out of this world. Team looks solid from 1-7 all capable of winning heats. Fair play to the bandits they all got stuck in final score a wee bit harsh

For a club with one eye on its finances I would suggest not "too bad" a result... Win 46-44 on Sunday and the icing on the cake..

Nice to see Eleven Sports mentioning Nigel Pearson's passing...

I thought they'd have to pay you to watch that!

Just heard the the former Norwich rider is coming up to 100 this month- feeling fine and has just had his driving license renewed-his brother is 106. These speedway guys seem to last a long time-must be something in the smell of Castrol R. Proves there is hope for us all.

The double tap option isn't available but you should be able to scroll through the timeline? We also have been cutting highlights of just the races to save people who don't want the faff in between. I'd say the handover Comms to pits was much slicker for the Oxford meeting as we knew that was an issue. It gets better as it gets darker as they have a light to tell them they're live it's just hard to see in daylight On your first point, do you mean a little like the Polish coverage where two cameras are visible at once? We can clip up replays fairly easily, from different camera angles and different speeds too. The hard part is we don't control the meeting pace like Eurosport do so getting the replays in between races can be tricky. As a whole we just want to bring a product that makes most people happy. We understand not everyone likes the same thing so finding the balance will be key. We want to push ourselves as much as we can, the more signups means the more we can add onto our production for equipment/staff etc. My messages are always open if anyone has any ideas they'd like to put forward.

I personally am just happy to have a local team and have enjoyed both the meetings so far win or lose as have new people I have brought with me that have never seen speedway before I think we all knew we would be up against it this year as did we also know that Poole would be a tough ask home and away so for me that home result was not only a big learning curve for some but also the track staff (yes I agree it was extremely dusty), so all in all even with a loss I was happy with the result

Think it must be a long time since you visited then, that's an old chestnut and far from true about the current track.

I don't think Ray is being disrespectful in making a what he thinks is a valid point. I also think that if someone dies that you don't respect or like for whatever reason, justified or not in the opinion of the majority, that the most respectful reply is to say nothing at all. Thats all I have to say on the topic.

Nice tribute on Sky's Darts coverage last night

2019 when the powers that be thought it was a good idea to use social media to engage with a younger audience.

Spot on. The promotion can’t afford to lose fans so early in the season especially as they have rectified the track which was one of the reasons for poor crowds last season

Let's hope there aren't any draws, then the stupidest regulation since the Tactical Joker will not have an unnecessary impact.

Nobody want to see Birmingham gone, but then nobody wants to spend time, money and effort going to a speedway meeting only to see it abandoned due to a problem that should've been covered by the Birmingham promotion.

That's the most enjoyable evening at the AFA I've had for years. Who doesn't love a heat 15 full of passing when the result of the meeting rests on it. Thought we threw away several points tonight so to still grind it out was pleasing. Also pretty clear to see that Basso's absence on Monday was a significant factor in our win.

Perhaps the camera angle isn't great but that move didn't look that bad and nothing that Hans wouldn't have done in his pomp.

Reflecting on this now having absorbed all the tributes and comments, it's clear that speedway, in the modern age, has lost its greatest ever promoter. I can't recall such an outpouring of grief and admiration for someone involved in speedway who wasn't a rider. Nigel spent years promoting nothing but positivity in so many aspects of speedway that his contributions were quite extraordinary and surely without precedent. Crikey, he even ghost wrote Kelvin's recent book(s)! This really is a case of you don't know what you've got until its gone. A truly tragic loss.

Again no dodgy reffing, just people not in a position, to make that decision, making accusations. Three people on the line all gave it to Riss, me, Ryan Nassa, and most importantly the ref. Again 2 feet over the line, Morris was in front, but its the line that counts.

We move on to Sunday Sunday April 24th Ostrow v Czestochowa start time 3.30pm UK time Canal + Sport 5 Sunday April 24th Gorzow v Torun start time 6.15pm UK time Canal + Sport 5 links http://kergel.ucoz.lv/ http://www.maniak.tv/mk7 https://daddylive.eu/cast/stream-75.php Racecards Ostrow v Czestochowa pages 26 and 27 https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:9f992f1e-fd95-468d-ac16-04ebc7d00f79#pageNum=27 Gorzow v Torun pages 16 and 17 https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fce62d7c-6c0d-41fe-9290-889a03c409d0#pageNum=17

Or even better than that there's a Gregg's drive through but don't tell Starkey with his dinky tummy

Hope so too, but hope he hasn't got a picnic with him?

Hope it's nothing serious

Good to see laguta helping his team mates

Cutoff is 3pm on the day.

Horrific impact for kubera there and also cierniak getting his shoulder run over by kasprazaks wheel

I think with Ben Duffill being the man behind the British Speedway Network and stepping down from his role with the Bears, it might be the end of streaming every match at Redcar? Just a guess though, no inside info.

Well ipswich got one for Klindt when he hadn't raced for us,, so must be okay

I have no idea

Jacob has done an excellent job so far, simply by scoring in every heat 2. The number 6 berth is notoriously difficult, with the chances of further points severely restricted thereafter.

Wasn't having a go at all as others on that forum have. The racing is generally far better when ashfield is on the slick side only meaning the weather conditions are such that water will be dried up very quickly today

It was planned to host the final in the last week of April but the rain offs put paid to that

Insideout on Easy, Tiger! forum will be after you.

Hope getting plenty water into the track.. both dry and windy today could lead to a dust bowl

We've got a decent guest this Sunday tho, (Richie Lyons).

Clarification of race day schedule- all UK times Official qualifying practice & start number selection 12pm-1.15pm Opening ceremony 5.49pm 1st heat 6.04pm 6 QUALIFYING PRACTICE Date and time of the qualifying practice must be clearly stated in the SR. Qualifying practice is compulsory for the riders. Riders taking part in qualifying practice must do so within the official qualifying practice time schedule for each SGP meeting. Riders will be divided into groups of 3. Each rider will have three runs. Each Qualifying practice will commence according to a draw made (before qualifying practice) to determine qualifying practice order, unless specifically ordered otherwise by the race director. Each run will be of a maximum two (2) minutes duration determined by the referee. If the Qualifying practice is interrupted before all runs are accomplished and the remaining runs cannot be completed, then the results of the last fully completed round of runs will decide the order the riders will be called to make the starting number selection. If all riders have not taken a run, then the draw made for qualifying practice order will determine the race day starting number draw. Each rider must make himself ready in the lining-up zone, within the time limit of his group. On the order of the race director, he will be allowed to enter the track. Riders must practice according to the official qualifying practice order (1- 3/4-6 etc.). However, if the rider is not ready, he will miss that run. The race director may change the qualifying practice schedule according to the circumstances if he feels this is necessary. Managers, team members, mechanics or machines etc. are not permitted on the centre green. It is forbidden to make practice starts on the corners or on the starting gate straight. No starting practice with the starting gate in operation will be provided. The race director will decide on watering, grading etc. of the track according to the conditions. The weather conditions, the conditions of the track surface or other circumstances may dictate alterations to this procedure. Qualifying practice may be partly or totally cancelled, which may be decided only by the FIM international jury.

For the record - you can request a glass of tap water which is free of charge (Birmingham Speedway are not responsible for the bar/catering prices - that is purely down to the greyhound landlords).

Just got home from the meeting and a great result for the stars, but... the first 10 heats were dire gate and go affairs, but the meeting really came alive at the end with some great racing. Why oh why can't the track be prepared for the start of the meeting like it was at the end tonight. Picko was brilliant and Puk made a couple of great moves too

Just someone to take the mic away from Peter York.