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Potential banana skin for the gladiators no room for complacency.

What red blooded male doesn’t ! Oops..just checked the Japanese spelling…move on.

Speaking as a neutral; some of the racing last nite was brilliant, the likes of Douglas, Allen, Worrall, Lawson & King (late on) gave terrific entertainment, loved it. A meeting where you could've dragged non-fans 'kicking & screaming' (!) to watch and they would've said "that was great, I can understand why you enjoy speedway". Good stuff ....

Chris Louis has changed the track, and banking as much as he can making alterations 4/5 times in the last few winters. it’s unfair saying there was a “lack of preparation” it was clear to see how hard Chris and bob had been working all day to get moisture into the track and produce some grip, this week has been horrendous weather hotter and hotter with a drying wind every day. I work on a local golf course and it’s gone from green to toast in just a few days. my question would be, if the material they currently use is just so so difficult to produce an outside line with when it’s so hot and dry, is there a better material that could be sourced to suit the climate and track here at Foxhall? I agree that the stock cars running all over it between meetings really don’t help.

The (tens) of thousands who make up the "silent majority" and have walked away... Cardiff will have approx 100% more British Speedway fans in attendance than will colllectively attend all UK meetings on any week.. Passionate fans of the sport who, in many cases, have "given up" watching Mickey Mouse nonsense like Bomber riding for heaven knows how many teams, with those who run the sport allowing it and thinking "that's ok that, makes perfect sense".. (At the current rate of guesting, Bomber is going to get "Rider of the Season" at several clubs' end of season awards nights).. Not enough riders of a certain level? Then have less clubs at that level, or less team places per team, thus creating a surplus of riders to replace injured riders or poor performance.. Make the supply exceed the demand by making changes to your infrastructure.. In other words. "Basic business practice"... Run the sport "properly", thus making the competitions actually worth winning, and who knows, maybe many of the thousands of fans who have walked away, but still love watching the sport either via TV, or in person at "proper events", will come back to domestic Speedway? And who knows also, if the competitions became worth winning, the league's themselves may attract headline sponsors happy to be associated with them..? Something that would be a "hard sell" under the current way of running things I would imagine..

The structure used to be there but the short sighted promotors ditched it. I well remember the national League running with no guests they were banned. My team Ipswich suffered Dave Norris was out injured and it cost us the chance of the league title. However in every sport injury & luck plays a part. You may disagree and think doubling up & the guest fest is ok but for every one Trees who accepts it there are 1000s who don't. I want to see this sport become successful I want to see it survive & I want to support it again. However in its current guise it does nothing for me and thousands like me.

Surprised to hear that however am not on any social media like Twatter or Facebuik so wasn't aware? If either do post anything stick it on here so we oldies get a chance to read what they say and then moan about it (or... go on al say it... praise and agree with it) Everyone has an opinion right or wrong... Regards THJ

Ar e you Rob Grant ?

The biggest problem with all uk tracks these days over what was available in days gone by are the materials available and what the environmental police will allow you to do. the reason most tracks are clay based is simple. It's available and it's cheap. traditional red shale is still available but it is horrendously expensive. the second is that many things used to be added to the track surfaces in the past to get the shale to bind together and provide grip. the surface now just turns to powder and dust and doesn't bind, hence you go to very slick dusty conditions much more quickly these days. I know in the past from talking to old track curators. The old waste oil used to be mixed into track dressing, to get it to bind. obviously this is no longer allowed. What you have now on most tracks amounts to no more that mud and dirt with some clay mixed in. Add water and this is what you get. Obviously the idea of allowing oil to be put into the ground (from where it came) is a bad one apparently. the tracks of yesteryear are impossible to re create because of that.

I have never read such crap come out of a keyboard warrior as I have reading all these comments. You are all just total nasty people. Nothing Newcastle speedway does is good enough for anyone on this forum. They could be the best but they would still not be good enough for you all. If your not slagging the track it’s the management or it’s the riders or it’s the day they ride and even the volunteer staff have been called. Just pure nastiness. It’s not even freedom of speech or entitled to your opinion chat it’s just pure slagging then off for the fun of it Well I’ve had my rant and I’m sure I’ll get nasty comments back but as you all say I’m entitled to my opinion and that’s mine

We now know 10 of the finalists- Hopefully English comms will be available for the 4 final rounds. Michelsen Madsen Dudek Bewley Piotr Pawlicki- injury replacement likely to be named Lebedevs Smektala Jensen Berge Ellis

ah, work permits - the Brexit bonus

there must be Czech, German, Danish boys who don't ride in Poland

Think the kid and his family are a bit more dignified than that as has George Congreve been... and fair play to them as well... the problem is much more complex and won't be resolved by swapping out a couple of reserves... Regards THJ

A cold October/ November midweek night in front of 2 men and their dug no doubt

The "Polish commitments" comment when dropping Smith, was obviously an attempt to be kind to the rider. Rather than saying "he was so bad, we had to drop him after one meeting". Racing in the U24 league wouldn't stop him racing in the Champ. A more honest announcement would probably be, "we don't like to drop a rider after only ONE match, but when the opportunity arose to strengthen up by signing Bickley we couldn't afford to miss out. Thanks to Jack for his efforts etc"

What the PZM are doing is no different to anyone else offering a contract of employment. they are imposing conditions on that employment that no one is forced to sign, but they do. It's no different to you getting a builder round to build an extension and agreeing to pay them a large fee if they only work on your job and one other at the same time to minimise problems that other jobs they do could take them away from your contract. the builder can either sign the contract with the big bucks or not and go work elsewhere. The PZM are only doing what's right for them (why would they not?) The riders if they stuck together would have huge power, but they never will as they are all trying to get one over on each other anyway. they are competitors for jobs at the end of the day. If you pay peanuts you'll end up with scraps

Thank you, we are trying to save a great club in the South East of England that has been tarnished by a previous management structure We have the support of the stadium owners, the BSPL, investors and sponsors but we are looking for more to get it off the ground, we will work on this...

Plymouth can still use Bomber to guest at 1 at home (8.39 +5%)

Never disputed that, but when you look at the hype when they were all 14/15 compared to now then it's fair to say all of them have been underwhelming in differing levels.

agree you can only do it once .take the chance when you can

But then you risk the opportunity being lost and losing the meeting by a point Poole's top three can beat anyone anywhere IMO so there shouldn't ever be a reason not to use a TS as soon as you can.

You are a card mind... But don't give up the day job because you'll never be a comedian that is for sure... it would take more than a 5 year apprenticeship IMHO... but keep at it God loves a tryer... BTW if I had a pound for every time you have been told that I could buy an Armarni suit to go with those quality shirts... I will use the crystall ball routine aka Septic Meg style for the next little gem... coming to a post near you very soon... Regards THJ

This is the part clubs & riders fail to mention when complaining about the restrictive Polish contracts!

Kemp is averaging almost 2 points above his starting average, while Bickley has fallen slightly he's much the same standard as last year. Palin definitely fallen more than the others.

Bike cleaner

They are not banning them - they ask them to make a choice All these riders are free to choose to ride in the UK. It is their free will to sign the contracts in Poland with the restrictions on participating in other leagues and which additional teams they join British Speedway is simply the least attractive option for most at the moment for a variety of reasons - money , travel , the tracks , number and timing of fixtures

Don't know how anyone would prefer Congreave 0.67 (0.67) over Bickley 3.20 (4.56). While Newcastle are still the weakest team in the league, at least they're slowly getting stronger.

I have no issue with Mildenhall using a guest, if that's what the rules allow. Otherwise as soon as one team gets "special dispensation" then everyone else would want it. Like Glasgow getting an awarded victory after 9 heats, so Redcar expect the same & it's not allowed. Sticking to the rules saves loads of hassle imo

He didn't do that bad at reserve but he was on a hiding to nothing at the time as the replacement for Cook If he joined Sheffield now in place of Cook no one would think of him in the same manner at all .

Most weeks it's like that . Last night was a good meeting and it's a always better when a the opposition have strong heat leaders

Oh there are but would the Diamonds be able to pay what they probably want or would they want to come to race with a struggling team? Sadly riding in the UK does not carry the prestige it once did.

Scunny has always produced good racing, one of the better tracks

Also, Jason is a rider who likes to keep busy. In Sweden he would have a minimum of 14 fixtures plus play-offs etc. Here he gets a minimum of 29 plus any guest appearences that might be in the offing. Getting back to NKI, here's a plan that could work. He drops out of the Danish league for the 29th June fixture as suggested and stays with the Stars throughout July. He can then re-join Ebsjerg from the 3rd August whereby King's Lynn can claim a 28 day facility covering them until the end of August. The regular season in Denmark is over by 24th August so if Ebsjerg fail to reach the play-offs (they are currently 3rd) he could come back to King's Lynn. However, if they do, it frees up other riders of clubs whose competition is over or the play-offs can be covered by Woffinden.

Congreve has less than a 1 point average and Smith been around for a while not doing anything ,at least Bickley has scored some real points at reserve.

Some good racing last night, but we threw some points away too. Can't help feeling we gave the Pirates a point and let a substantial lead fritter away. Another 3 points and at this stage of the season our aim is to stay in the top six, after that its start again and all to play for. I am still of the opinion whoever scores the most league points wins the title, but it prolongs the season and gives the underdogs a chance of the trophy. Shout out to Rob and his track staff, who provided a good race surface in 30 degree heat and drying wind. The Poole fans near to me, were thankful the track was not dusty, didn't need tractor racing and could make their long journey home after 15 heats in 80 minutes.

Using a transponder system that's used by just about every other motorsport would solve such problems. Don't even need video replays, even if they can also be linked to a timing system as a backup check.

I’m not sure I ever heard Tigers fans wanting shot of him. There’s been frustration at his results, but I’ve not heard anyone say any of the riders should be dropped. Craig started the season really well, but hasn’t been himself recently (although engine issues in one meeting didn’t help). Connor was great at reserve but is understandably finding it tougher at 2 Ulle is fitting in well at 3. Not as strong as last year, but last year he was exceptional. He’s a bit short on speed but he shows his experience. Basso has been pretty reliable and last night he was unbelievably good. Tom’s hit double figures in 6 of his 11 full meetings. Danyon’s similar to Connor - does well at reserve, found it harder at 2. Broc really struggled early, has improved since he moved to reserve (with a blip at Scunthorpe). The biggest impact has been Craig and Ulle - their averages are going down. Everyone else is at around their season starting average, or above it. If Craig can get closer to his start of season performances, the weakest link is at 2. But that’s offset by being strong at reserve. Playoffs aren’t for another two months. Let’s be honest, the biggest factor is often making sure your riders are fit when you get there.

think your on a banana skin there lewy,youve almost certainly infringed copyright law, your "banana skin" post is most definitely exclusively registered to steve shovlar for use on pirate previews only !!!

Practice is 2pm UK time Krsko completely re-laid the track during the winter, so hopefully should produce decent racing tonight.

They havent banned anybody. As I said in a previous post, NKI is just as much to blame… he could of always dropped one of his other teams or heaven forbid his Polish team. He could of signed for Newcastle and double upped then too!!

Peterborough not too far away so maybe if both KL and Peterborough are at home on any evening, he could nip forwards and backwards and appear for both? .... The time taken between heats for track grading may just allow it maybe?

Hopefully Palin can get sorted soon but it isn't going very well. Between him, Kemp and Bickley, it's been a lot of expectation for very little return.

Nothing to do with that

Seems a tiny bit insensitive to play The Chain after Josh MacDonald's fall in heat 14!

So I have to give the management some credit for finally providing a proper factual update tonight. Well done and hopefully it continues moving forward. Welcome to the Diamonds Kyle, not the answer to the teams problems but he is certainly an upgrade in the reserve department. Fingers crossed we can secure one or two more changes in the top 5 positions.

Think you are missing the point that bikers don't relate to speedway more probably because they don't ride the sort of bikes that speedway riders do. If Harley or Indian etc still made speedway bikes it might have more connection with the outside biker world As it was, back in the 70s i used to love the GB v US series with Barry Sheene, Mick Grant etc

But Andy Grahame was on loan to Milton Keynes from Birmingham that year (think it was '79). He was always destined to go into the top flight for the Brummies, as happened the following year. There was a bridge back then for riders to cross over, the second division to the top league. In fact, Grahame was BLRC qualifier because top rider Billy Sanders moved from Birmingham to Ipswich in September, after Steve Bastable arrived at Birmingham due to a fallout with Cradley. Nowadays, as Dean Felton says, it is a swingers club. It is like the wild west. It has lost its direction - is it a team sport or a sport merely keeping a set of individuals in work? Individual meetings became unpopular decades ago, but now we're having a bunch of individuals thrown together to pretend we have a team sport.

Wonder who wrote that for Granty.

It does make a huge difference. If you're trying to market the sport to people outside of speedway to ensure its survival, them having to explain that the riders in your team can ride for any other club in the UK under the doubling up/guest regulations & that their performance for a rival club could impact your own season or worse if an injury is suffered. It made a difference to me and many other 1000s who gave up on the sport. And just because it's happened for years doesn't make it right does it?