Leaderboard

With that attitude it certainly will be. There are however, people who still believe in the product (Richard Coleman the latest) who are trying hard to pull the sport up by its bootstraps and get it upwardly mobile. Your club and others like it, may well be happy with their slippers on, reduce costs annually and see the sport descend even further in to the abyss as an amateur sport in front of a couple of hundred people. Mr Campbell and the rest of the OAP dinosaurs are entitled to have that mindset. Others, like the mentioned Coleman and Mark Lemon, would prefer to at least try and get the top tier moving back upwards as a serious sport. You may think they’re wasting their time, but they obviously don’t so let them get on with it. Enjoy your thriving product in the lower league.

Exactly the sort of mindset Coleman & Lemon are up against…..no idea about how the modern sporting world works & what today’s consumers want. As Coleman said they can all argue about the time line but the current path leads to extinction of the sport.

Will fit in well with the rest of the pensioners in the stadium 😜 hope you've got him a rug 🙃

To be fair I get why the Ford's are cautious they have proven multiple times they can replicate what they have done at Championship level also in the premiership. They currently operate on roughly 30% lower operating costs and by all counts crowds are comparable to the top league days. If they did go back up to an eight team top league the speedway bosses need to somehow avoid a repeat of the Sky days where the number one's hoovered up all the extra cash with nothing left over to reinvest in the clubs. The risk is we tempt 5-7 top liners back over for 2027 who get paid huge wages crowds don't go up much and rather than eaking out a small profit your looking at a 50-100k loss for the season. I still think Richard is the best chance of saving the sport in years and he seems to have his eye on making the sport financially sustainable but I do get why the Ford's are uber cautious, equally if they came back up I don't doubt they would put a great side together.

My own thoughts are what a waste talent and a life ,Jason is not alone in his chosen path his crime was deplorable to say the least .Whilst many on here feel he should never darken a s/way track again it would appear to be the only thing he is any good at and he has been punished for the crime .Would it not be better if he were able to pursue a career that may help to keep him on the straight and narrow ( the rehab of offenders leaves a lot to be desired ) if for no other reason than the financial burden on the state .

Don't let Burnham here you talk about bbq's

If its true that they are looking to increase the points limit All clubs must run an U21 British Rider at reserve All clubs must also run a Foreign U21 Rider at reserve If they can get the ITV4 deal over the line which sounds like the more lucrative deal being worked on Perhaps that's enough for the likes of Glasgow to give the top flight a chance, and I think if the TV deal goes through, you may see Oxford move up again but obviously not do the Championship aswell this time around. Could see the following strength sides, put together for example purposes

You go to a pub on Friday night. You walk to the bar where the barman is in conversation with three other customers. What is their history? What have they done together? Have any of them been to prison? You don't know them or anything about them but you stand next to them & drink your pint without question. The difference is Jason Garrity is someone who's name you know & you didn't like him before he went to prison. if you want to use him as a reason not to attend speedway events thats your choice but you don't need to share your hateful message with the rest of us. He done the crime & he's done the time. Now live & let live

Non British riders should be min 6 in 2nd tier and not slotting into reserve berths

What about Mondays? The football season finishes in May and Bournemouth will no doubt be knocked out of European competition by the time the Speedway season starts in April. Stop making poor excuses, put your big boy pants back on and start behaving like a big club again and show some ambition.

I think you might find that the local residents behind the pits area of the stadium and East Suffolk council who are very strict objecting to music and bars added to which the curfew which in itself is amusing. The bikes can race but I believe they cannot use the tannoy system to announce results. Years back the meeting overran and while they raced to the end of the meeting no announcements. It is amusing though that the bikes noise lasts minutes whereas a stock/banger meeting races go on relentlessly for several hours(with short breaks to clear the track) but it always seems that the complaints are about speedway. The plus points are the planned changes to the stands and track and historically the fact that the speed weekends have regularly attracted thousands of supporters, so a GP can easily be accommodated albeit hotels may be an issue for overseas travellers as most are in the centre of Ipswich and i don’t believe that they have direct public transport links to the stadium so that is something that needs to be considered for punters staying in the town centre or arriving at Ipswich Station. I believe that it can be a decent venue for a GP and those who have a downer on Ipswich holding the event should wait and see. Don’t base views on what has been, RC has ambitions and he has a point to prove so let’s give him and his team a chance. Remember he only rents the stadium from Spedeworth and if he has convinced them to make the changes then don’t under estimate what can/will be done.

Hopefully! Even with some kind of safety net so that if it doesn’t work out, they lose too much money or the crowds suffer because of the loss of local derbies etc etc, then give them those assurances that they can drop again similar to Oxford. At least give it a ‘kin go! The set up there is tailor-made for top flight Speedway.

ARIES, why dont you EFF OFF !!!!

I have no problems with Ipswich staging a GP at all. Quite refreshing in actual fact. I was never a fan of the two GP's back to back at BV, I understand the lack of capacity and cost element etc but thought it was a bit daft. Admittedly, the track is awesome though. Ipswich has a much bigger capacity and hopefully will be a sell out. I'm sure those in charge will do the work that needs to be done. People are saying it's in the sticks/middle of nowhere but aren't the Swedish locations similar? A great climax to this year's GP series but generally the whole thing has become stale and any new track like Ipswich or Glasgow should be welcomed to mix things up and rekindle interest.

Superb coverage of the bunny's invasion! Three local TV channels, and Sarah Cox on Radio 2 (with rated listening figures in the millions) all covering the chase. Greg Blair must henceforth by known as Elmer Fudd.

The difference a few years ago was quoted as £150k to put together a competitive top tier team, as opposed to a second tier one.... Dan T's VLog covered off points money in both leagues, and No6's in the top tier were on not too far off No1's points money in the second.. With RS's on money akin to second strings/third Heat Leaders in the Championship.. Add a couple of top GP level riders, to be competitive, into the mix, and there is a considerable difference in expense... An expense that would need an increase in admission fees, with much less of a guarantee of success which Poole currently seem to have... A potential losing team, with severely increased costs, plus increased admission for the fans, doesn't sound like a business plan anyone with a modicum of a business brain would seek to follow.. And the Fords seem to have more than a modicum of a business brain...

Sorry I just don’t get it. We’re talking about 24 hours moving from one midweek day to another. What is so special about the day Wednesday down in Poole Lisa? Our race night is Thursdays and we’ve been Thursdays since the dinosaurs were roaming earth. If circumstances meant we had to change to a Wednesday evening instead, yeah it would seem a little strange at first but we’d soon get used to it. I certainly wouldn’t huff and puff and refuse to go because it’s no longer being held on my favourite day of the week! I can’t imagine any supporter doing that to be perfectly honest it’s all a bit nuts. As I’ve said I understand more if you’re a weekend track and take the family but wouldn’t then fancy taking them on a school night. That’s a much bigger change and I’d get people’s hesitation. But Wednesday to a Thursday? Nah.

Not true. Two different packages currently being pursued.

Hawk, you can get a bus to within about a 5-10 min walk of the stadium but I expect they'll have some GP special transport laid on from the railway station and town centre.

I was going to suggest camping Mike. The track and car park is surrounded by woodland so perfect opportunity to have an adventure! Forget the hotels. Park up for the SGP 2 on the Friday, stay on site after the meeting, shove up ya tent in the woods and get cooking on ya portable bbq!

The frustration for most of us followers being that all that he is saying is pretty much "bleedin' obvious" .. Hence, particularly on here, the points he makes have been highlighted, and/or suggested, for well over a decade.. Over a decade which has seen a complete consistent regression for the UK version of the sport, led by people simply putting their heads in the sand, doing exactly the same thing each year, but, (I can only imagine), expecting a suddenly completely different positive result!! Madness. And has resulted in many thousand who still closely follow the sport, but not regularly attending... I've said many times, you don't need to do any "magic marketing", (if you don't have the money or skill set), you just need to re-engage those who still keep a keen interest.. And there are many more than 300 of those at every track!! His ideas for the GP at Ipswich should be interesting, especially given so much land around the stadium.. Camp sites? Music? Bars? Maybe?... There might even be riders selling merchandise without the ridiculous costs they get charged...

Because they know you need that tribal emotional attachment to your team, if you want a team sport to be successful... Injuries happen, and bad luck happens, in all sports... Jeopardy and consequence being fundamental to any successful sport.. Bringing in guests would see fans, sponsors, and TV all disappear rapidly...

Seems a bit harsh on Flint. He missed the gate in heat 1, and couldn't find a way past the fast starting Scott. Always hard to pass in heat 1 at Ashfield but it wasn't for the lack of trying. He then had a win and a paid win in his next 2 rides, and finished 3rd behind Bomber and Pickering in heat 13. Obviously you want your home number 1 scoring a max but realistically Pickering is a level above Flint, so other than dropping a point to Scott he did his job at Ashfield. Ideally we needed more than that, but I don't agree that he was really poor in the second leg. Different story in the first leg though.

"A month ago, I wouldn't have even thought that Robert would clinch the title. At that point, I would have picked Brady. I’m shocked. The performance in Vojens was crucial, as he scored 8 or 9 points more than Brady and Bartosz there," he notes.Lambert’s championship victory marks the end of the dominance enjoyed not only by Zmarzlik but also by Ryszard Kowalski. Riders using the Polish engineer’s engines had won consecutive titles without interruption from 2018 through 2025—namely Tai Woffinden, Artem Laguta, and the aforementioned Zmarzlik. Now, however, Holloway sits on the throne and has no intention of stepping down. "The goal is clear. Beyond Robert, we also have Daniel Bewley, Patryk Dudek, and Brady Kurtz in our ranks. We are fighting for further titles, and we want gold again next year," - said Ashley Holloway in an interview with the Polish sport daily " Przeglad Sportowy"

I admire your glass-half-full perspective, but IMO, you’re rationalising bad performances. How anyone can defend Hausl, Harris or Flint is beyond me. The track is the same for Harris as it is for every other rider. If 16 year-old Ryan Ingram can pass Leon Flint (a disgrace from our number one) at Scunthorpe, then I expect Harris to be able to do the same.

Prem to have 5 rider teams. Championship to gave 6 or 7 rider sides.

You BV posters keep trying to make out that speedway is a serious sport, especially "tier 1". Those days are long gone and have been for years.

My guess not my choice, Emil and Artem would both be my choice but therein lays the reason I will never get invited to join the FIM

All 3 have lower Polish League averages than Emil and Artem.

Oxford's issue (if it is indeed an issue) in stepping up is with the costs and security of tenure of the stadium. Poole's issue, other than those previously aired, is also stadium-related, especially with the passing of Clarke Osborne! Poole Stadium Ltd (plus all the other companies registered at Wimborne Road) now has only one active director - Mrs Susan Osborne! It'll be interesting to see if she wishes to carry on? As I understand it there is still 14 years left on the Stadium lease with the Council so it just means more short-term uncertainty requiring clarification before any major speedway changes or decisions are entered into. All clubs have a different base cost to run speedway - owning or renting the facilities; costs of same; level of sponsorship; attendance levels; other income streams; costs of riders etc etc. Thats why its not a simple question of 'operating at a higher level just to suit the minority'!

Regarding any TV deal. I was very shocked to here Campbell, the Edinburgh promoter say in the speedway star a month ago that even they lost our on TV money as the tv money filtered down to the lower clubs. Wtf. Thats not right. If they want a slice of the pie then move up. So I hope any new TV deal stays in premiership and not touch champ unless they are shown on TV also of course

They don't count no, play offs, KO Cup and BSN semis/finals are excluded.

Wa gonna say Bournemouth are likely to be out by then! In any case its not every Thursday, shouldn't be an issue to keep the fixtures apart.

Remembering Svein on this day. R.I.P. Forever young.

Utter nonsense that Emil and Artem are motivated by money. They are both desperate to go back into the GP Series and challenge for the World Title. The reason they don't want to take a Croatian citizenship is because they have no affinity to Croatia and are Polish citizens. Laguta and Emil both live in Poland and pay Polish taxes, so why would they become Croatian citizens? They are Polish.

I get ya, but it’s so difficult not to root for him cos he’s such a lovely lad. Part of his problem is he’s TOO nice, and that translates on track. He’s too obliging when letting riders through and lacks the aggression needed at this level.

If you watch the latest Dan Thompson VLOG, which has in my opinion been a very good insight into a young riders life within the sport. He does a Q and A as he does in most episodes. The young folk want Social Media, not newspapers, magazines etc.

I believe a couple of Poole’s 2024 reserves might complete the lineup.

If they were to take out the Croatian licence it would mean them giving up their Polish race licences, and this wouldn't be a one off for just that GP either, it would have to be for the season. And neither of them would do that for one simple reason...money. By racing under the Croatian licence, it would mean that Wroclaw and Torun would not be able to track them as Poles, as Ekstraliga clubs have to pick two senior Polish riders. The pair are far more valuable as Poles, as they can demand more lucrative contracts given the relatively small group of riders at their level than they can as international riders, which they would be if they changed to a Croatian licence. I cannot see either of them wanting to make less money in the world's top league, can you? This is why I said earlier that maybe money is more important to both than the world championship. Darija Pavlic gave them both the option a while back and neither has taken it up. That speak volumes.

well theres so much young british talent about .. plenty of room for the hateful to have their way , and see Jasons go to waste . or maybe just fill the teams with untried aussies making their way to poland instead

😂 I actually wish you were correct because it would mean speedway had a degree of loyalty and passion, but I’m afraid I very much doubt it. If Pickering or Masters were paid enough, they’d be in Tigers’ colours next season. A speedway riders’ career is far too short and nowhere near remunerative enough to hold fantasy grudges over rivals of former clubs.

If you read page 20 of Buxton’s programme for 21 June, Garrity is shown as Leicester Lions 2027.

Ipswich, Cant understand this, not the greatest stadium in the country and very poor racing, a bit of a come down for British speedway. What next WTC at Iwade.

In an interview Coleman has said because of the location at Ipswich there is room to create a festival type event,at last someone gets what the British GP should be, maybe someone has listened to me at last 😜 If anyone has ever been to the Weston super mare beach race weekend that’s what the British speedway GP should be like

Luke Chessell, Mikkel B Andersen and others are far further up the list than Mario. Fault doesnt lie with the rider but those who put him there. We were already gambling on Hagon stepping up a level which never happened and coupled with Freddy's poor form at times we were tracking three underperforming reserves. There were meetings we could barely muster a heat advantage and relying on the other four riders to win the meeting. We outperformed to make the playoffs IMO.

To be fair David Howe is not the only one.....!

Complete delusion, this. Spoke to several people at the meeting last night and have seen several people comment on here since; thankfully none reflect this post. The only plausible justification for Mario Hausl wearing a Glasgow Tigers race suit next season, is if the Facenna’s and Cami Brown suffer serious brain injuries. An abysmal signing.

Agreed. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something deflating about this years’ semi-final at Ashfield in comparison to last season’s against Edinburgh. We were only two points worse off from the first leg this season. I imagine, as you said, it’s Harris and Flint’s performances in the first leg. Those are your top two who you look to for inspiration, but what we got was a disgrace. Add to that, we go into last night knowing we’re getting little from Hausl and Hagon when it matters. I also don’t think KJP is someone reliable when push comes to shove. I feel like Hodder is the only rider who can hold his head high at the end of this season. Major disappointment. We didn’t even put a dent in our aspirations.

Gutted, but what a great night of speedway racing. Massive congratulations to Scunthorpe. Written off by many - myself included - before a wheel had been turned, yet they find themselves the play-off final. An incredible achievement and an outstanding performance across the two legs. Well done David How and co. 51-39 flattered us. They downed tools after progress was secured in heat 12. Bitterly disappointing from our perspective. Flint conceding a 5-1 in heat 1 set the tone. Heats 6, 7 and 8 were disasters. First, Harris losing to Palm Toft in heat 7, then the disaster of heat 8 before KJP’s shambolic contribution to heat 9. Hodder far exceeded his expected contribution, but if we’re bluntly honest, nobody else stood up to be counted when we needed them most. Heats 13, 14 and 15 - when the tie had been decided - were exhibition races for the Scorpions.

Could somebody please check on the welfare of Messrs Godfrey and “Speedway futures” please? They’ve just taken one massive whack in the nads there from Richard Coleman. LOL.