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Yeah probably tipped the scales in him not returning. From a supporter view point Craig appeared to let the club and himself down toward the back end of the season. Not turning up at Redcar apparently without notice isn't what fans and management expected from the skipper. It's a shame because everyone loves a local hero to get behind and that was Cookie.

7 riders make the team I couldn't care less who has strongest no1 or strongest no6 and 7 It's a team sport

Bit of a bizarre response 🙄 I would imagine the majority of people that buy season tickets are the hardcore supporters that'll support the team whoever is in it.

Hi Woke 23 , for info it's Andrew Bain not Baines.

i mean its a fair question perhaps the extra stuff that comes with cook topped the balance in batch's favour

4.35 ave at Armadale last season hardly poor fir a guy that was signed on a sub 3 average

Probably not a popular opinion but I've thought for a while now that the speeds of the modern speedway bike are no longer suited to Cardiff and any of the other indoor tracks. The circuits are just too small and tight. I'm sure Hancock said in an interview this year that you have to have a separate bike set up just for these tracks. The indoor stadium tracks are all about prestige and putting speedway in the limelight I suppose but just stick to proper circuits. I've been to Cardiff a couple of times and it was more about the atmosphere than the racing. Had some good times but I think the time is right to move the GP elsewhere though I do think a double header at Belle Vue is stupid.

Pretty sure we won the league and two cups in 2018 without a regular number 1... You aren't one those folk who were spitting their dummies out on social media when they announced Cook wasn't coming back were you! 🤣

It’s certainly not Reider Eide.

Sorry, that's ludicrous. Harris' win in 2007 and Rickardsson's wall of death in 2005 are among the most iconic moments in GP history

Sad day, really sad. The 3 home wins were as good as atmosphere as I can ever remember at any sports event Ive been to, Bomber in 2007 in particular. With regards to this being 'inevitable' I understand that but why was it ever put on the calendar? Its inexcusable really is. This lot keep making bold promises they do not keep and we now have a series in sub par stadiums with the only 2 riders that have a chance of beating BZ not allowed in the series its been a shambles. The business model is be propped up by Polish money and therefore they dictate what goes on. There will be a minimum 3 permanent Polish riders from 2026 onwards, will be 3-5 Polish GPs minimum, the PMZ will block Artem and Emil ever getting back into the series and unless a very wealthy individual decides they want to stage a GP in another country we will see no new venues. WBD have delivered on pretty much zero that they promised and its not a great surprise as I would assume none of them had even heard of speedway pre 2021...

Yep. And a difference of just 0.2 inches of rainfall between Manchester in June and Wroclaw in August.

Don't age him he only celebrated his 40th birthday on Dec 6th. I think the main reason for his dropping average was the major surgeries he had on his broken hip injuries.

100%.... And come first, second or last, it will resonate only very slightly on anyone else's radar if they don't follow Speedway... MSM especially included .. If the racing is decent, go and watch it... If not, then don't bother... Still some decent riders in Div 2 to watch, so, most weeks, one of them will be there whether for the home or the away team..

I didn't say anything about spitting my dummy out, did I? I think Cook would've been the better number 1 but the point of my post was to spark a debate amongst us all on why they went with Batch over Cookie.

Edinburgh and Redcar please note.

I think Belle Vue (Manchester) will do a fine job weather permitting. I think 2 GP's in 2 days is probably a reflection sadly of how to make the event more viable, as the reality is the Sport only appeals to Speedway Fans. It also provides a backup plan should it rain. Undoubtedly the track is conducive to Racing and therefore you know it will be an entertaining GP if it is dry. Personally think it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

Nearly every promoter says it's the "numbers game" to give them an excuse when dropping a rider / deflect from any criticism the move has made. Poole did the same when dropping Foord, he would've fitted instead of Starke.

With more disposable cash?…..surely affordability must come into the equation for many supporters.

I didn't say it was there fault, but its speedway and its in the UK . The sport in this country is a mess and spiralling further downwards season by season. Knee jerk decisions with no long term plan and no thought given to the fans. Now we have to try to attract new fans to watch the sport by telling them that this rider rides for THREE teams….and a certain rider who rode in the premiership last season is now riding in a brand new division aimed at novices !

Plus Wroclaw is in August but you never know Manchester maybe in the middle of a heatwave in June! Cardiff had to have a roof as it is probably the wettest city in the uk.

Sundays last season, i'm pretty sure most NDL teams rode at weekends where possible.

Hes poor everywhere to be fair Hes not even outstanding ndl rider

Coles is pretty poor around the Dale so i'd think it's unlikely.

The cancelled SGP has nothing to do with the BSPL. That’s a Warner/Discovery/FIM competition.

Or it'll be London in Nigeria, where a rich Prince has promised his inheritance to WBD in a no-loss contract to broaden speedway's horizons.

I think the difficulty is more in getting fans to come along to the lower level team when teams have two. If the only option is an NDL team, I think that can work well. It's a harder sell when there's a higher level team competing for tickets. That said, Oxford have all three tiers covered, so I guess it works for them? Maybe they have a secret the rest of us are missing.

thought the poor crowds at the SON looked worse. Always enjoyed Cardiff weekend especially when the Pairs were held at Somerset on the Friday.

Doesn’t mean you need to instantly buy one. Some people will buy them now some will wait till all 7 are announced no big deal.

Smoli's form dropped thru the floor last season. I would advise against.

Due to the capacity limit I would confidently expect both days to be sold out. Need to hit those hotels before they catch on. As Cardiff did after the first few years. One of the major reasons so many stopped going.

Deluded

WBD managed to half the crowd from the moment they took over and then did pretty much nothing in the way of promotion to tempt those people back. Like @flagrag said they need to rent the stadium for a period of time to put the track in and that won't come cheap and then all of a sudden the numbers stop adding up. This time the decision truly has been made for "commercial reasons" but you can't help but think that if IMG were still the rights holders we'd all be off to Cardiff again next summer.

Not seen it advertised by the club yet, but seen on Niels Instagram that his testimonial will be the season opener at Lynn on 16/03 (3pm start). Well deserved for a Stars legend. Hopefully the weather is kind and I imagine he’ll assemble a good field considering his standing in the sport. Sure they will be plenty of GP boys looking for track time at the start of the season.

Was strange at the time always used to announce the date and ticket's on sale the next day

Could the British Grand Prix not have gone to Plymouth after all the track work? Surely they have a FIM status air fence

As an aside - I still much preferred the one off 'World Final'. Speedway as it ought to be.🙂

Agree with a lot of that. Shouldn't have been on the calendar. BUT...what I strongly suspect is that organisers have to get the calendar out early and Cardiff was dependent upon funding from Welsh Govt. I expect that has been pulled, after all, if it's not attracting numbers and doing good business, then why would you invest tax payer money in it? Once that went, it's not viable. As for Poland, well, that's the reality of where the sport is. It's the only lucrative market for speedway on the planet. He who pays the piper calls the tune. Let's not forget there was a time when the World Final was held in the UK every year and riders qualified for that direct from the British Final. Same situation, different country. I think the best way to process this is to be grateful for the 20 odd years we had at Cardiff. Few of us imagined speedway ever getting back into a major UK stadium after Wembley. It did and it was a joyful experience - particularly 2007.

Exactly. Often it's much cheaper to pay up front, with the no ammendments,no refunds option. Obviously it's a gamble and if something goes wrong in your life, meaning that you can't go, or a natural phenomena makes travel impossible, that's the chance you're prepared to take when you choose that option and you suck it up. With the Cardiff GP though, it's not going to be a rain off, so I think someone would have a legitimate complaint when the rug has been pulled by the organiser in this fashion after they had announced the date when they must have known it wasn't certain to happen.

WBD have done very little to promote the event since taking over.

The decision itself is not a huge surprise. I went to every Cardiff GP from 2001 to this year's, and 2024 did have the feel of a final visit. However, the way it's been handled stinks. If they had doubts about viability, then drop Cardiff when they set the calendar. To put it in, allow fans to arrange (expensive) accommodation etc, then move the goalposts three months later is a huge own goal.

Help me out here, because I've seen this stated a few times. I've been to, & stayed in Manchester many times and I will be there again on Sunday for football, so I'm familiar with the geography. Manchester Piccadilly is pretty much as south of the city cente within the ring road as you get. Google maps says its a 2.4 mile walk and 57 minutes from there to the Speedway stadium. I walk pretty quickly (for my age) but I reckon that's a 45 minute walk for me, so where in the city centre is it a 20 minute walk from?

It’s a sad day for UK speedway & a measure of how the sport is failing over here. The attendance has been poor since Covid & to be honest embarrassing when on live tv so probably the right decision.

Great news... Two days of cracking Speedway, seven miles from my door.. Just need to make sure the missus doesn't book any "surprise" holidays... Or she will be going by herself...

He'd be most welcome over some of the names being mentioned! While they're at it, can they check Phil Herne's average too!? All my prayers answered!

I can't help but feel sorry for Cardiff, especially all of those good folk who have already booked up accomodation, transport etc. Bit of a kick in the teeth really. As a Belle Vue fan, I am, of course, very pleased a Grand Prix has been given to Belle Vue, but Cardiff has really done very well for Speedway over the years. We should be very grateful to them. A very sad decision for me.

An old favourite set to return? just awaiting Arthur Browning's average to be re-assessed.

Increased his CMA by 2.81 this year, super enthusiastic personality, interacts well with fans especially youngsters, captains the side again in 2025, presents himself well in tv media interviews e.g. BSN et al, and now asked back for his fourth year such is his perceived value to the club. A very positive character is Paco whose influence is bound to rub off on younger riders. If Paco is an example of an overrated rider by some, then others may say we need more Pacos in the sport.

For the past few years, there's been an early bird discount for Cardiff tickets and that was a good reason for purchasing in advance. I'm assuming there will be no discount this year as previously they have been on sale by now. As to those who buy their tickets on the day and sit where they want, don't sit in my seat!

To pick the seats they like