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I heard an advert on Greatest Hits Radio that covers Northants,Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire last week for Northampton Foxes and there has been a couple of mentions on the news as well. I would imagine that they may up the output more once they know they are open and any gremlins are sorted out so on opening night will just be happy to Speedway fans in and then will target others which may work as Football season will be finished and Rugby Union not far behind

Based on my 2025 world rankings (which include both his Torun and Pardubice high points) I had him at number 37 in the under 19 rider rankings just above Luke Harrison and Jody Scott (who are both a year younger). He's no Mitch McDiarmid (17th in under 19s), and he's not even the highest rated German (Tyler Haupt and Janek Konczak are the names to watch out for). On that basis I think a 4.00 average is a reasonable aspiration for Hausl, and given the need to settle in to a strange environment even that may be a challenge.

Clouds of dust and a blue groove just aren't acceptable, any track serving that up (however good the racing) needs to do better I'm afraid.

As much as I agree it was very good racing, you can't just gloss over the fact the levels of dust were totally unacceptable. I love Oxford and it's not going to stop me going, but any new fans attending that and getting literally covered from head to toe in dirt, aren't going to be coming back. I was standing on the fourth bend and knew it was going to be a long night when the dust was being kicked up in the warm up before the first heat had even started. By about heat 10, I literally couldn't see through the levels of dust to know what was happening on the first and second bends, and spent most of the races looking away as it was bordering on painful to the eyes.

No one on here is getting their speedway opinions from a Camikaze comment on a press release, surely!

Mario is not even close to one of the hottest prospects on the international stage. He's a decent rider and if he's hitting 5-points regularly at the end of the year, he's doing his job. The level of expectation here is bonkers.

Thanks for the update and for being so open. From that it sounds like you received no explicit guidance about the change in insurance levels, and only as a result of the annual licence application - and because Luke hadn't previously had a specific deduction to cover insurance you didn't know what the difference was between the insurance cost in 2025 and the extra licence cost in 2026 - I've seen a figure of £28 mentioned. On the face of it, and unless Luke has had an uplift in his points money to reflect it, then it seems like the club is making a saving ( if it is no longer making insurance premium payments), and Luke has incurred an extra cost as he has had to take out an additional policy to provide a level of income protection against loss of income if he is unable to do his scaffolding job. I of course do appreciate that you can only comment on Luke's position and not on others, but if we assume a lot of riders are in the same position then it is understandable that Ben Barker is really pushing this. By the same token, were I a rider, I would not ride without taking out a personal policy as Luke has done, because the risk is too great. I very much hope that BSPL / SCB issues a much more transparent statement, with a chronology of events which can be substantiated with evidence - and that this dispute can be brought to a conclusion that sees riders in a comparable position to previous seasons without any significant cost issue. Thanks again for taking the time to provide some clarity, albeit as you rightly say, with the caveat that this is how it applies to Luke

Is the ref Christina turnball ?

Yeah like my elderly parents who upgraded their TV to a smart TV and also upgraded to superfast fibre to be able to watch BSN when it first came available 2 or 3 years ago, and now their stuck unable to watch it after paying out for a yearly pass, piss poor if you ask me, yeah its fine telling people they can cast/mirror it from a phone/tablet or HDMI cable it from a laptop but my parents who are 85 aint tech savvy and it is beyond them to figure out, even if i showed them how to do it they'd of forgotten by the time the next meeting came around, and i aint local enough to keep popping round every meeting to keep getting it set up for them🤨

I agree the racing was great, but the dust was awful, just like last week. It’s not a pleasant experience for spectators; firstly, there’s nowhere to park, and then get covered in dust. This isn’t good enough, and something needs to change, or people will just drift away and not return.

Excellent, we need more of that!

Pedersen and Malkiewicz have done a right job on Gora tonight. Always good to see the youngsters shining and having their moments just like Pollestad last week v Wroclaw.

It’s like watching a development league match, incident in every race on a rough track and a ref who flips a coin to make decisions

Kubera should've been excluded because he stayed up and continued after contact, Only fell when he hit the rough part of the track.

I'm all for progress, but if it wasn't going to be ready for the start of the season, they really should have left it until next season imo... or at least signalled the change before selling season passes.

At least when they have to postpone it they won't be disappointing any locals.

Looking forward to Friday's match but Edinburgh Monarchs Academy captain Connor Coles is uppermost in our thoughts. A gofundme page has been set up for Connor and his family. Link below: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-connor-coles-and-his-family?modal=share&source=fundraiser%20sticky%20footer&utm_source

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/rowe-motor-oil-premiership/northampton-update-opening-home-meeting/ NORTHAMPTON Speedway can confirm tickets for their eagerly awaited opening home meeting are expected to go on sale next Tuesday evening at the earliest (April 28). The Foxes race for the first time at Northampton International Raceway on Thursday April 30 when they take on Ipswich in the Premiership Knockout Cup. The decision to delay ticket sales until 48 hours before the event has been taken because the club’s Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) track inspection is scheduled to take place next Tuesday. The venue must satisfy the requirements of this inspection, including a track test with four riders completing racing laps, in order to be signed off to stage a meeting. Since the announcement last month that speedway would be coming to Northampton this season, exceptional efforts have been made to complete the work required for the stadium to become dual-purpose, running speedway as well as its existing stock car use. This includes work on the stadium infrastructure, electrical upgrades and additional safety measures specific to speedway, and the track work itself is now complete. However, launching a new speedway venue in a very limited timeframe does bring its challenges, and there have also been unavoidable delays with the manufacture and delivery of other safety barriers essential to the running of speedway. This explains why the SCB inspection is scheduled for the week of the opening meeting, when the original anticipated timeline was for it to take place this week. We are very optimistic that we will be able to satisfy the SCB’s requirements by Tuesday; however, we feel it is prudent to not put tickets on sale until after we have received the green light, and we hope supporters will appreciate this move. We will communicate the outcome of the inspection as soon as possible, with an expectation that tickets will be on sale by Tuesday evening should we receive a positive verdict.

I am a patient man but there's still nothing about tickets on the Foxes website, a week out from the first meeting. I've also seen zero local publicity. Concerning but not fatal.

Not sure it was an awful track as the racing was good but the dust levels were insane. I came down from Leicester to watch, and I won't be going back in a hurry after that. can't be good for your health breathing that in. My eyes are still stinging today.

We received an email regarding an uplift in the cost of our licence which we queried and were told it was as the emailed stated for insurance purposes the uplift was duly paid. previously he had ridden on a pounds for points contract which included insurance no visible deductions were made from his wage the personal cover was assumed to be in the contract but we felt this had been transferred to the ACU with the uplift on the cost of licence dont know about previous coverage as we never claimed and the coverage taken covers his losses as a scaffolder not as a speedway rider as scaffolding is his primary source of income . Speedway is a paid hobby at his level covering its cost with the aid of our wonderful sponsors. i don't mind telling people what I know from our point of view but everyone has different circumstances and our experience could be a different one too others

I am already concerned about HAUSL, 3 poor meetings, i know Armadump is not a great start to your racing, but Ashfield he was off the pace.We cant have riders not performing like last year,our reserves are slightly better,but must improve. Has Cami 'Useless' Brown got the the Balls to change this before this drags on through the season. 5 point riders are hard to come by, but there must be options in Scandinavia,surely the Management team are already considering changes.amd that includes Brown,his days must be numbered. The Facennas must bury the hatchet and bring back Stewart Dickson for next season.

Until you tell them you ride a Speedway bike.!!

Yeah it will look a lot better with a four/five times as big screen up higher. Prepped for the British SGP 2028 👊🏻

Thomson's been in good form for Edinburgh for the best part of a year now.

No, Usually they have Pedersen in the U24 position (1-5) but tonight they've got Miller and they're just replacing him constanstly whilst allowing the lower order to have extra rides.

I was speaking to someone about this at Shielfield; Hausl next season. I imagine we’re very generous when it comes to riders’ total package; we’ll likely throw in generous amounts of flights, accommodations, transport, per diems, etc. in addition to your traditional payment per point. It’s likely why/how we were able to attract Hausl and Pedersen, or Nagel and Tarasenko before them. So if we don’t resign them, do they now have an expectation for returning to the UK which clubs without multi-millionaire owners won’t entertain? Might be why Nagel isn’t back. Who knows? Interesting discussion while an old guy in a golf buggy did four laps of Shielfield on Saturday night.

That race sums up Gora's night.

This is a bit dangerous now, Hope everybody can come out of this meeting in one piece.

I had to reset my password to get it on my phone and then managed to get it from that to my TV. Working perfectly now.

Ref's having a mare and I get there's been some tough calls. 🤭

I see the polish speedway authority’s are taking advice from British councils regarding potholes, just ignore it and hope nobody notices it

I don’t disagree but how many championships teams are going to take on a foreign based young lad that fits somewhere between reserve and main team. If he achieves a 4 average on an assessed 5 he will be in danger of not even seeing this season out. I think the issue is the assessed 5. If he was a reserve and achieved 4 brilliant. But achieving 4 in the main team not so. Time will tell.

Yep certainly wild in 1.5laps over 2 starts.

Thank you

You just click on the Ipswich v Northampton stream and it’ll take you to the page to make an account and buy. Just put in your email, and full name. I’ll link it directly for you https://witchestv.co.uk/checkout/new?o=228104

I moved after the first race to around the start line but moved back to the beginning of bend 3 after about 5 heats and you missed the dust there so it was a good watch. People will stop going if this carries on as it’s not acceptable.

Speedway? Is that still not going?...

A collection has been set up to support Connor’s family for anyone not on Social Media here’s a QR code hopefully it works !

Good gracious no ones aloud to watch. It’s all behind closed doors. Only able to see them ride away.😂

What does that mean? I have been watching BSN on my TV via a Fire stick without much trouble.

There's a story in the national news at the moment about somebody not being told information and the person who didn't pass on that information has been sacked 🤔

And then his heat 13 ride was a true thing of beauty

Neither Awful track. Plumes of dust on parade and a blue groove by heat 4. It’s April not August with 90 degree temperatures. Some good racing nonetheless but on a properly prepared track it could be so much better.

Might be wrong but I don't believe CB gets to make these kind of calls. Someone described him as the Meeting Manager and that's possibly the most accurate description of his role. As for SD, that ship has long sailed.

Agreed.

I think its somewhat rich of you to criticise the footballs ‘dismal performances’ when you’ve been involved in season after season of abject failure with Berwick Bandits.

Congrats to Drew Kemp for winning the Argentina Championship.Think most fans would have liked him back at Shielfield.