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I refuse to ignore this subject. It’s one of the more interesting topics on this forum

the failures at Northampton began long before a wheel was turned ,, it was almost a secret except to speedway fans ,that Northampton were opening . lots of potential fans not even aware there was going to be speedway ,,it was a massive investment to get Northampton up and running , and IMHO some of that money would have been better placed elsewhere , bribing a current championship team to step up . and investing in Northampton to start in accordance with the bspa rules and run in the championship , A championship season would give newbies a good few new teams to watch ,not the same 5 over and over , and championship fans a new venue to see , seems like a winner to me , a successful first season ,building and retaining their own fanbase ,and revenue from away team supporters while a home fanbase built up ,,season 2 a step up a league allowing the bribed team to step back down

Ford last seen chasing klindt to van with pen and paper and big brown paper bag

The Poole track is back to normal I see gate and go and no passing …. Tells you all you need to know when Klindt is unbeaten

Long term future secured, as is a new deal with Unipart. And the icing on the cake is the impending return of Riss. Mega news!

Excellent statement from the club tonight, all good news around the future of the team, car parking and Erik Riss.

Hausl is young. He should improve. Lambert's scores are heavily padded by beating very junior reserves in heat 2. You don't get to do that riding at 2. His Scunthorpe performances have not matched his guest appearance at Ashfield.

Was there last Thursday. Not giving up after one home meeting. Already have tickets for Thursday meet. Sure one or two riders not coming up with the goods, but lets give them a chance. Took my daughter & granddaughter last week. Though my daughter had been with me before (to MK), my granddaughter was completely new to this. she thoroughly enjoyed it and is looking forward to this week. Speedway can hardly afford for such a facility to fail, especially with people giving up so soon!!

I know it would be a bit of a faff but couldn't NKI use the train, its a couple of hours from Brussels to St Pancras, walk to Euston approx 10 minutes, train to Northampton takes just over an hour. Get him a railcard to save some money.

..as opposed to the usual Ipswich suspect talking his usual b0!!○<ks.

Poole will absolutely walk the league again this season

Excellent news on the speedway front.

If Klima goes well then Mayfield need to sign him tomorrow night permanently, Simply can't afford to let him join a Club like King's Lynn or Sheffield if he goes well. Foxhall wouldn't be a problem for him considering he's a Plymouth rider.

Poole fans trying to downplay their chances as usual it’s just comical Barrmg the number 4 position each rider in the Poole team should outscore their opponent Poole by a minimum of 10 points

A battle of reserves should be close. But I think the pirates have too much fire power in the 1/3/5 positions. And Lawson and Zach in H13/15 will be too strong for Klindt and Co to live with. Lawson might be unbeatable again

I thought so to, and also thought it would be a great idea... World No2, pretty much guaranteed to hit you 12 and over at home, so would "protect" races, thus keeping the score close at worst, and do it from the back if needed... A "new hero", for the kids in particular, to latch onto... I thought, given it was a "collective", who made it clear how important it was to launch a sixth team, that they would have sorted them out a very competitive team.. They seem to have settled on two number 3's, three second strings, and two reserves...

Bandits need to win big, to ensure bonus point next week. Aggregate wins will be required to qualify for playoffs this year

Track shape looks good, just more of an outside run needed, and I am sure that will develop.. They could do with a couple of "racers" in the team I think to utilise the whole of the track... I thought maybe Kurtz or Bewley would have been allocated to them... Two riders happy to use the boards, and two of the best three in the world, so something to sell to the locals if either had ended up there...

I would suggest most fans in the country support a "losing team" given the same teams, in both leagues, seem to reach the play offs each season now... "Winning at Home" being the priority for most promoters, and is the key to their tracks being able to ensure their "die hards" come back regularly... Enjoying the racing, and the social interaction... Northampton have only really been seen to have been beaten "once" in the eyes of most of those attending that first meeting so far, given their away following will have been minimal at those defeats... They will also be paying out lots of points money from their one income so far to pay for the several away meetings the imbalanced fixture list set them up with, so will need a decent few consecutive crowds at home to help balance the books... The next few meetings will be very important to the success of the venture... Opening a new team in a sport with such a small national following, with minimal public and media awareness, and making it work, is a massive challenge... So, best of luck to all involved, let's hope most of their opening night crowd (the locals within it at least), stick with them.. Edit. And as for needing 10 wins for it to not be a "one season wonder", even if the crowds settle to around not too many below 1000, that would run a decent level Championship team next year.. The landscape of UK Speedway could be very different next season.. The success of the long term venture is very much linked to the next few home meetings...

Can̈ really only see a Poole victory , it would need a big upsurge in form from Jordon Jenkins and (possibly J̌ason Eðwards) for Redcar to get more than̈ 40 points

Disillusioned is the wrong word. It was always going to be this way. I've been through this before, at Elfield Park with a Milton Keynes team that was never competitive and crowds drifted away as a result. A winning side is paramount for a successful endeavour, especially with newer fans yet to see the intricacies of good racing whatever the result. 5 meetings is almost 1/4 of the season. I get it, it is what it was always going to be, but it needs more to be worth £25 a ticket.

Think Harris is working on getting his average down under 8 to guarantee a Team place next year.🤔

Klima the guest at reserve. Interesting choice.

Left field shout but I was quite impressed by Ukrainian Stanislav Melnichuk who rode in the WC the other week might be worth a go. Glasgow keep signing these ringers year after year, More clubs should try it, he certainly couldn't be any worse then Palm Toft. Vuolas, Kemp or Stevie Wonder he'd be just as useful

Did same thing last year, but that rider now can't score many points now 🤣🤣

Ok fair enough. It was very dry tonight, not sure why they couldn't have prepped it like last week. With regards to Ipswich, didn't really mean about the track as last meeting i would have seen there was prob covered by sky sports! So have no idea how good/bad it is. One thing that doesn't change though is Ace's attitude. I won't say too much because he is still a teenager. But feel like it is holding him back a bit. All this revenge talk because he doesn't like being passed is a bit ott.

Think it would have been harder with Lambo still there,the problem with R/R is if someone has mechanical issues, don't think there's any footy on but the shows will be taking up half the carpark

Line up for R1 Toruń:

Confirmed line-ups and live updates Holsted v Esbjerg https://rs.dmusport.dk/loeb/7441 Slangerup v Fjelsted https://rs.dmusport.dk/loeb/7443 Region Varde v Brovst https://rs.dmusport.dk/loeb/7442 Vojens v Grindsted https://rs.dmusport.dk/loeb/7444

That'll be the final.....

Who knows Taps but he has his big chance to impress here. If he does well, that will certainly give them something to think about. Might need to be quick though because he’s already catching the eye.

Agree with a lot of this... but I would suggest that they would need to have at the very least a competitive team for their home fixtures to keep the interest going... and without a proper facility for Iversen... and now needing a decent replacement for Zagar... it's going to be very difficult for them to be competitive... I do remember one season at Eastbourne where we were fighting at the bottom of the table for the whole season... in the end finishing second bottom above Swindon... but the majority of the home matches were close and exciting, and we did manage to win a fair few... so the home support was kept at a decent level...

I thought Kurtz was on his way during the winter the longer he wasn't announced by the Aces... I wonder if that was ever on the cards (especially with Lemon being involved)?

Round 7 timings announced Sunday 31st May Rzeszow v Bydgoszcz start time 12pm UK time Rybnik v Krosno start time 2.15pm UK time Thursday 4th June Poznan v Pila start time 5pm UK time Lodz v Ostrow start time 7.30pm UK time

they do seem to have some decent facilities at that stadium, more than most tracks and that makes a difference to make the night more enjoyable.(as long as they are not rip off prices) ill be going down when Bellevue are there,

This one has the potential to go all the way to Heat 15. If Sheffield top 5 all don’t fire then can see another away win on the cards, as with his experience of Owlerton you’d expect Edwards to clean up at reserve with extra riding Klima doesn’t hit the ground running. Is this last chance saloon for Etheridge and Kileen? Etheridge harder to replace on such low average but likes of Mulford and Joe Thompson available as Rising Stars Kileen need to turn effort into points.

I would absolutely disagree that success or failure on track is a moot point. No-one wants to support a losing team. And while I'm a speedway fan first and foremost and can get enjoyment from meetings even as a neutral, I'm not the 1,000 new fans they'll need to make this a success. At the very least, the league table at the end of the season should show 10 wins if you want this to be more than a one-season thing, and this isn't a team capable of 10 wins. As for who could come in, I'm sure there's riders out there who would welcome another 20 meetings, especially if they're already based in the UK like Jason Doyle, Tai Woffinden, or even Robert Lambert. And then there's Rohan Tungate, Keynan Rew, Luke Becker, or some promising young Danes? I don't know, I've not followed things closely for a few years so I might just be being unrealistic.

I wouldn't say they are written poorly at all, in fact it's very clear, riders use their most recent average. Jeppesen has a 2026 Champ ave, but doesn't have a 2026 Prem ave, so they use his Champ ave converted. I think this rule is stupid, but also very clear. EDIT the rules are written out in a more confusing manner than I realised. But once you know the rules, it's easy to understand.

Scored 11 from 5 rides at the EWR last year when Berwick were there.

It wouldn't be an upgrade. It would be a facepalm.

Sad state of affairs when a local fan is already disillusioned. TBH i follow my teams in Football and Speedway through thick and thin, it's been mostly thin for both. But someone on the promotion should be speaking to you to try and resolve the issues. You might be full of good ideas to change them, it'll be a first for the BSPL but if after 5 matches only one of which was at home, you're fed up then they need to listen

Mountain next

And snapped up by Scunny

Basically what they are hope that a Top man eg.Smarslik ,Kurtz Bewley don’t make the Top2 on the night and drop points in the Semi like Kurtz did at the weekend.

batch rode better than i thought he `would at bellevue

Good post... EVERY meeting should have at least four races of "development" racing, featuring four riders.... You only need to watch 150cc and 250cc coverage on YT, from five years or so ago, of riders who are now holding down HL positions in the Championship, straight legging into the bends before bringing the arse end round into a skid... Now these lads hit the bends full on sideways and never switch the throttle off.. Lap, after lap, after lap, after lap, after lap, of practice is the only reason they are now where they are... Like anything that anyone has an aptitude for, the more you do it, the more you improve... The practice though will have been driven by them, and their parents, with no clear development structure ran by the BSP... Criminal how many riders have been lost to the sport given the opportunities provided for overseas riders... Who are either no better, not much better, or, when they get good, clear off...

Interesting bit of research. of course there's lots of variables like injuries but I reckon a fair few will just not have been able to make it pay and so you get into this ever decreasing circle where a small pool of riders can only make it pay only by taking all of the opportunities to make it pay. i.e. riding in multiple leagues. I reckon you could do a similar analysis on the Polish U21 riders and lots of them will have disappeared from the sport. Probably more to do with how competitive it is over there though, in terms of how many U21 riders they have. I've said on here before if you want to get rid of doubling up in Britain there seems to be a load of Polish kids who are left without Polish clubs each season. Short term fix and probably not possible after Brexit? whilst I don't disagree about British speedway sorting itself out I do think the world governing body need to do more to both protect the existing territories and expand into new territories. ultimately if everything becomes focussed on Poland that's what the sport will become... a Polish sport that nobody else is bothered about. easier said than done of course but I do think FIM need to look at how they assist the current pyramid and develop new ones. for a start stop dragging all sorts of riders all over Europe for all sorts of qualifiers that conflict with domestic leagues and appear to be costly for the riders. look at the cricket franchise system where those competitors often play of a number of franchises because the competitions are staggered to allow it. Have a month long event with 8 franchises with the top international riders supplemented by local riders. Have the UK one in June after the GP's. Have a Scandinavian one in July and a Polish one in August. Take it to the USA and Australia over the winter. Like a travelling circus just without the clowns.... ....hopefully. Then eventually look to expand it into new territories. Spain, Asia, South America. There's loads of kids into motorbikes in those regions. They can't all make it to MotoGP but some could make a decent career as Speedway rider if the infrastructure and opportunity is there. The raw materials are out there but at the minute the flagship SGP series is reliant on the Poles developing talent which is more and more likely to be Polish... ....and so the ever decreasing circle continues. It's basically a business with zero product development.

Should have gone it alone at least a decade ago... I was bored the other day, (retirement can do this to you), and found myself looking at the British U21 Final Results from around a decade ago, as I was curious to see how many riders are left in the sport... As "there are not enough riders to have one league".... Very, very few from around 2014 - 2018 (I didn't check any further), are still riding.. Some of the names, quite high up in the scoring, were unknown to me, and had beaten some of the riders still riding, and doing "OK" today... These lads would now be 28 - 33 ... Surely a fair % of them would have developed to the required level (they definitely weren't " wobblers"), if they had been given team places, rather than giving those places to journeyman foreigner after journeyman foreigner, who have ridden over here using a "revolving door" system... The GP lads are great to watch, but even that can get boring, and certainly are not cost neutral over a season when you measure the revenue they bring in.. UK Speedway should simply have cut its cloth accordingly and opened their businesses on days that their potential highest amount of punters would come through the doors.. Probably too late to sort it now, ssdly...

The 2nd rookies cup race is worth watching as well, the kids are bonkers

Reckon Gilkes will likely replace Bowes at Poole not Kyle Newman.