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Have a look at Ashtons social media posts. How many bike issues & mechanics were blamed for his struggle in form ? You can't sort a problem if the problem is denied ,and are you telling me Oxford would have kept a rider who signed on a 5.07 and was due to drop to 3 in his new average ? Every man and his dog could see there was serious confidence issues, even when practising with a team mate, the issue was glaringly obvious. Everyone wants to see the lad succeed regardless of what team you support as he was a talented British rider but pushing for some sort of success when his mental struggles were starting to not only cost him in results but becomes a danger to other riders there is no other option than for a big time out. Hopefully he will return at some point but not convinced he will.

Bravo Shroeck

Even Shawn Moran, a true top level great of the sport, quit due to not "having the bottle anymore" as he described it... Let's hope the kid can overcome his current problem... But let's not criticise him for it... Most of us on here, can only dream of doing what this lad can do... And, if he doesn't come back, best wishes to him for giving something so incredibly dangerous, a go, and I hope his future is a positive one... For some reason, this country seem to inflate levels for any kid with even a modicum of talent.. Just let them evolve, without pressure.. It's not as if there are 100's queueing up to be decent Speedway riders..

Knudsen missing all of Oxfords league meetings so far is farcical and makes the league look even more tinpot than it often is. A rider should only be allowed to miss so many meetings due to other commitments, this I believe will be his 5th meeting missed due to foreign commitments and I’m sure Oxford probably knew this when they signed him. The club is as to blame as the rider imo, neither of them should have agreed to this and Oxford should be made to us an NL guest or replace him instead of getting guests who may improve Oxford chances in certain instances.

While I don't disagree that riders are under more pressure at Glasgow, his problems stem from his big crash and he would have suffered the same loss of form loss of confidence downward spiral whatever Championship team he signed for.

He did a few unwise thing tbf

Did you see him limping back to the pits after ht13? No chance he was fit for ht15. Great win for the boys. Thomson was the correct choice for ht15 given he’d made some passes. Like the balance of the side now - Grahn growing in confidence with each meeting too which is great to see.

Spot on. It’s painful how British speedway is frequently compromised. Once again, Oxford fans are witnessing their side not at full strength. They - and the rest of British speedways followers - deserve better. Who knows what the solution is? In most other industries, including other sports, they’d draft in a consulting body to evaluate challenges and implement improvements, like a KPMG, Deloitte, Accenture, etc. However, I doubt the SCB have that sort of capital. Speedway taking place at Oxford and it being live on BSN are two huge positives, but long/short term, the sport is facing longevity issues.

A lot of people have a BSN season pass, so will now watch it at home getting there moneysworth rather than attend the meeting. Probably be a different audience for the live stream.

May be you don't sign a Dane when you've got a Wednesday racenight, nor a rider who has a contract with a Danish team.

Neither am I. As soon as he was backing off going into turn one, lap one, you knew this wasn't bike problems or injury issues. When he is in fresh air he is dynamite. Hopefully we're wrong and we see him come back.

That was handy for Tom Brennan ! What did Adam Ellis earn ??

With a professional promotion staging of the event, a London GP would have a great chance of succeeding. A few things to consider. The London Stadium is in Queen Elizabeth Park which those who have been there know it would be a perfect venue to hold the fans zone and more similar attractions. The cost of "hiring" the stadium for a week is circa £180k - £400k all food and drink is licensed so no revenue from that source. There would be the cost of laying a temporary track, which because the stadium can accommodate an athletics track could be much larger than Cardiff and closer to that at the NSS Dates would need carefully sorting given the requirement of the resident football club. London holds a significant attraction for visitors from both home and abroad being the third highest visited capital in the world As such tour operators from all speedway nations would jump at the chance to create packages to London. An anticipated attendance of 40,000 for a summer meeting would be on the conservative side and additional revenues could be created from holding SGP2 meeting the day previous - the stadium holds 60,000 and the athletics meeting being held on the 19th July is sold out Any sporting event held in London attracting 40k + attendance is a magnet for sponsors especially if it is a one off & TV coverage is planned. Revenues from title and other sponsorship packages would comfortably cover stadium costs. I started this post with "With a professional promotion staging of the event" & this is an issue. Unfortunately whilst many folk involved in UK speedway understand the sport, they appear not have similar levels of knowledge or means/contacts to successfully promote an event of magnitude. That said, third party independent sports promotion companies can help. And Benfield Sports did a fantastic job of realising the vision which became Cardiff GP.

I would say pure adrenaline would have got Kurtz through Saturday anyway.It's afterwards when the adrenaline subsides is when you seem to feel the pain.Just because he rode an extra 2 heats doesn't make him fit or else the same could be said about Doyle.

speedway the winner good entertainment.

Oxford should have gone for tatty and neeps

But rode Monday despite clearly struggling. Odd to single out Doyle who always rides if possible,

What a ride from Killeen. Nowhere near good enough from Castagna or Sedgmen. You’re fuming if you’re the Edinburgh manager here. Your second and third heat leaders, plus captain in the last two heats; both of which end in 1-5s. Fair play to Oxford.

Top stuff from Killeen, seems to have turned his form around

Discovery Sports Events (DSE) are the organisation who promote the Speedway GP series and by and large work on organising the actual event and partner ticketing agencies and similar sub contractors to deliver the final product to fans and content to (WBD Sport) media outlets. It was obvious from their initial involvement in promoting Cardiff 2021 that they were on a cost cutting exercise. Smaller flags, less fireworks in the after meeting show to name a few items. Whilst this "saving" was most probably a benefit for that meeting, what the cost cutting did was take the shine off the overall experience which folk actually felt. So with lower crowds attending the following year, more cuts were made to finally deliver the prophecy many felt - Cardiff was doomed. Its a fact of basic economics that costs increase year on year. Sure they can be managed but what you don't do in established sporting events is cut costs and reduce the spectator experience. They simply wont come back... London would be a great opportunity to reverse the trend - and would remain positive for a good few years so long as the eevent continued to provide "quality" experience and entertainment. Unfortunately, it appears DSE are run by accountants which is a shame because as my old CEO use to say "Finance guys should never be allowed to run a business, they simply are too risk adverse to have sufficient entrepreneurial spirit and courage "

I think that the end of Jason's GP days are now fast approaching...

For what its worth, and a sample size of one, i would go to a GP in London but Cardiff returning doesnt interest me at all.

Agreed. Not so much as a discredit to Berwick, but they’ve (Poole) done it again, haven’t they? They’ve built another formidable side. I wasn’t worried by their team building in the winter, but I was so off the mark. Add Cairns to that side and they’ll wipe the floor with most sides.

Jonatan Grahn comes in for Fraser Bowes. After seeing Grahn around northside the other week, I think that strengthens us.

Could have understood Plymouth or Scunthorpe but Redcar & Workington are normally 2 of our better crowds

Sounds like another great advertisement for the sport, thankfully the only ones who saw it are the diehard fans or who paid BSN. I was never going to sub to BSN this season, it’s not their fault but the sport now is just going further down the drain with tracks no better than some grassy field, and I think they will struggle over time as who is going to pay money to watch paint dry?

The first Cardiff GP the attendance was around 40,000 up from the previous year at Brandon Coventry which was around 12,000 and stayed around 40,000 for about 10 years,why ? Because there was a buzz about it, it had a sense of occasion, it was the new kid on the block and we all know not one person there went for the racing as more often than not it was crap and the track was more often than not awful but it didn’t matter and every year we saw people who hadn’t been to speedway for years turning up and it was the same for the Toruń and Prague GP, the place was buzzing with Brits of which many hadn’t been to speedway for years but had heard of the great time British fans were having through mates and went over there, BV is fantastic we all know that and they were the best GPs for racing but as I said at the start of all this it didn’t attract me to go because it felt like just another meeting and not the bombastic all guns blazing social event that it should be and Cardiff for the first 10 years was, which when imo the circus should of moved to a new town but it didn’t and became stale, a new city venue would give a boost to the GP which I think it needs but if discovery think BV every British GP then the sport is done for because this tiny bubble that BV has inflated will burst, there is no easy answer but whatever that answer is BV in its current guise ain’t it

Well said. What a strange thing to try and blame Oxford. His last four meetings riding at number 3 for Oxford before the crash on 15/9 were as follows… Away vs Scunthorpe (13/9) - 0,2*,2,0 - 4+1 Away vs Glasgow (8/9) - X,3,3,3,3,1* - 13+1 Away vs Redcar (6/9) - 3,3,3,3,3 - 15 Home vs Redcar (4/9) - 2,2*,3,3 - 10+1 He scored 42+3 from a possible 57 points.

That track was unacceptable and deserves a fine. And the excuse from Tolley doesn't make sense. "We couldn't water the track on Sunday as a trench had to be dug on the start finish line." What about the rest of the track?! Clown show.

Nonsense... Most races in Poland in the top league have at least three riders within 10 yards of each other over four laps and four when a top talent is riding as a junior.. And heat 15's can be truly spectacular, regardless of the result impacting the scoreline.. £1000 pound a poinr, with a six figure up front payment, focuses the mind..

It’s strange whenever safety is brought up like it was in the speedway star the last few weeks, the machinery never gets put under the microscope , a few ex riders have spoken about the tubeless tyres but the train keeps a rollin because the sport is run by the riders for the riders, you only have to listen to the woffy interview about protection under the suits and boots, because nobody reigns them in and when you let children have a free for all in a sweet shop they are going to rot their teeth

MBE's and OBE's mean nothing these days anyway. They give them out like a School Teacher gives out Star Stickers for Primary School kids.

Not to defend Shroeck but wasn’t Heeps limping quite badly after he got off his bike at the end of heat 13?

I don’t think there should be any guests for riders missing due to foreign meetings unless F.I.M..It would be a start on sorting the shambles.

Signing announced on December 3. Not sure we can really use that as an excuse.

Seems to be on the Nicki P glide path... So much determination and will to win, but getting caught up in "unlucky" situations... Situations that they never got caught up in... A proper asset to the GP series, but maybe a year out, and a year where he doesn't pick up any injuries, will help his GP longevity, similar to how Freddie has extended his career... One of those who genuinely puts "bums on seats" is Jason, so hopefully he takes his time, and can come back stronger....

In their situation they aren't going to be spending additional funds on track preparation. Imagine much is the same with not bringing in a MJJ replacement. Feel sorry for the Brummies fans and Midlands area as like the South, the area has been stripped of any speedway. Read in Speedway Star only 15 tracks in the UK.

Don't understand why Berwick allowed those 2 meetings to be on BSN as you say normally 2 of our better crowds time will tell.

Aston has/had talent but seems to have lost confidence or something else going on, I can remember when he disappeared !!! from worky a couple of years ago . At the moment needs time to get things together then start slowly, not riding in premiership and cut down on trips abroad, until he gets his mojo back.

Boughen dropped by Glasgow today, would be a good rider to get to Workington

If that's true Blobby, that Glasgow have a bottomless well of money that they are throwing at riders, then why did Glasgow not meet Peter Kildemand's financial demands last year and sign Ivacic instead? And why didn't they then drop Ivacic when it was obvious that he wasn't scoring as expected/ hoped for?

It's funny that people have demanded for years that PL reserve spots should be for Brits, now we've effectively got that and they don't even realise it. Even funnier is that the one foreign reserve - Gusts - has just qualified for the GP Challenge and yet Oxford aren't absolutely nailed on to win the league. How can your team have a rider of such ability at reserve - at this level - and still not do anything?

If your good enough you just have to get on with it.Pressure comes with the job.Lee ,Collins,Loram and many others had the same pressure.

If your good enough you just have to get on with it.Pressure comes with the job.Lee ,Collins,Loram and many others had the same pressure.

Won't happen. Too far gone to be saved... No wider vision at all from those who run it.. They will, literally, pay millions collectively to riders who put hardly one extra bum cheek on a seat... Yet, Jack "Barry White" to a professional marketing company who could give these riders some profile, notice and resonance.. Imagine Barry Hearn with Dan Bewley? He would have him all over the place... Well meaning amateurs pretending they are professionals.. They have zero skill set for what they do...

The track was much better than the previous meeting - looks as if there was more material on it and well watered on a sunny and breezy day. Hats off to Graham. And what a healthy looking crowd on Fathers Day. Just a pity we have to wait so long to see this side ride again!

Poland's meetings have jeopardy and consequence... Neither is applicable in the UK... Hence, they pay the big bucks, expecting riders to go that extra few yards.. Four riders can often contest a first turn, and even a full race.. Not something so usual, (outside of the play offs), over here...

Championship racing will help him improve imo, rest of the season is more about bike time and getting ready for 2026.