Speedy swindon pete

Hope for the sake of the paying customers there that they give it a few minutes for the shower to pass and do some track work cover up the slick wet stuff. Way ahead of schedule so no need to be hasty and call it off now.

KL rider to fall, cause a stoppage and a call to the ref to call the meeting off?? I'm too synical

Great meeting last night, some cracking racing from both sets of riders. The track has produced some pretty decent stuff in most meetings this season so far, will certainly be sad to see it go. Nick is really starting to show us what he's capable of now. We know he's got the track craft and bravery, he just hasn't always had the bike setup underneath him to utilise. He was electric last night, you could tell he was on it as soon as he got stuck behind Harris in his first heat and was hiving to coast round to not run into Bomber. If he could gate more consistently that will certainly help his scores out, not quite as fun to watch that way though. Isn't it GRW that says you don't know what a good track is unless you're a rider or track staff??? They are consistent...if nothing else.

I thought the racing was ok, some decent tight races, but the track did seem hard to make a pass on, especially compared to the other meetings at blunsdon this season so far, where there's been plenty. Don't think you can say Morris was too over eager, just was following Scott through on the inside underneath Lawson(?) and hit a sticky bit of track mid bend which caught a couple of others out early doors too. Completely surreal hearing speedway fans of all people, moaning about the music being too old! I think you underestimate the taste of alot of today's 'yoof'. They're probably having pap like Jessie J and Taylor Swift rammed down their throats every second of the day...a bit of Deep Purple is probably light relief for a while! (I do say that with tounge slightly in cheek). The point I'm making is there is variety there which is what it should be...it's not a school disco and it's not a nursing home....play a bit of everything. Atmosphere was probably on hindsight just down to being one of those classic early season meetings against a fairly non description opponent. Not much on the line yet and no great rivalry between the two teams.

You get 3 points for home win anyway...no points dropped. Rosco has already admitted he dropped the ball on that one. Odd meeting, always seemingly in the balance, decent sized crowd considering the Poole match just a few days before, not much atmosphere, reasonably close racing but not much in the way of passing.

If you look at the wider picture, you'll see that the meetings from Lynn on sky over recent seasons have been absolutely dire. This is despite lots of people claiming at certain times that conditions are perfect for racing. We've seen plenty of good racing over the years in crap conditions or with rubbish teams at different tracks when you really weren't expecting much entertainment. So what's the common denominator recently with meetings at Saddlebrow?? Judging how good a meeting is by how few riders fall off? Imagine the high-5s dished out amongst the sky production crew last night. Yeeha.

What really worries me is that promoters at tracks these days have this exact same attitude. You're right, the fans and paying public do have a choice. Quite clearly, they're not choosing to attend meetings at the moment and seeing matches like that last night isn't going to help the problem. First match of the season on sky last night, casual viewers may have noticed it was on, no interest in the england friendly and think they'll have a look to see if its worth watching. After seeing what was served up last night, will many bother looking out for further fixtures? I highly doubt it. Yes I know Lakeside were god awful. If that was the first quite crap meeting we've seen from KL recently, I'm sure people wouldn't have been so vocal about the track at all, but unfortunately its not the first time at all. It seems to be a recurring theme and the thing that irks me the most (and this is the same at all track/events), is that there always seems to be an excuse. Rain, wind, crap riders, sky schedule, stock cars. The sport cannot afford to be making excuses for its self these days, it needs to get its act together now. The track wasn't particularly dangerous/choppy/grippy/slick/wet/dry last night, we've all seen far far worse, it was just so so boring, and it has been at KL for a while now. Im sure Buster is a great track man and does wonders in adverse conditions, but theres just something in the way that that track is prepped at the moment that is really not conducive to close racing and passing there at the moment. Most seasoned speedway fans know that Saddlebrow has produced some great racing over the years, I wonder if the techniques or materials used there are just not suitable for the way the bike are these days. We've heard many times that the new, quieter silencers these days don't respond particularly well to deep or grippy tracks, maybe thats a problem that needs to be looked at from a track prep angle. Just sticking your fingers in ears and pretending everything is fine, isn't going to work. Rob Lambert was superb last night, credit to him, but…and i say this whilst reaching for my tin hat…When you see a world class rider with the experience of AJ, seemingly completely unable to mount any sort of challenge, or try any different kind of line to attempt to make up some ground or a pass, on a 16 year old kid….that does indicate to me that something is not quite right with the track conditions. This isn't a problem just with Kings Lynn, its a much wider problem with the sport in this country at the moment, KL just happen to be providing more evidence of the problem at this particular time. People seem to attend speedway meetings or watch meetings on the tele these days on the off chance that they'll see something entertaining. People's patience is clearly running thin, so the problem needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.

I've been banging on about this for a couple of years now, but the BSPA and tracks should be focusing massively on producing consistent, smooth surfaces that all riders can "have a go" on. The Bombers and Barkers of the world are a dwindling breed and bemoaning the fact that riders don't have any throttle control these days, isn't going to change anything at all. The track at Brandon is another one that seems to be rougher than a buzzard's crutch every time sky appear. I'd go as far as fining tracks that produce overly rough or tricky tracks, without a suitable excuse, for bringing the sport into disrepute. We've heard it so many times that conditions are "perfect for racing" and chapman has been working his magic on the track....only for the meeting to be total guff. That is totally unforgivable, especially at a time when paying customers seems to be at an all time low. Pearson assured us that there was in fact a decent crowd there tonight, but it certainly didn't sound like it and the pictures of the crowd looked pretty damning. Yes Lakeside were terrible, but there's a common denominator in all meetings from Saddlebrow lately. You can bleat all you like about the quality of the oppo, but that won't cut it with the paying customers and potential customers watching on Sky. I can't imagine any casual or new viewer to speedway, will have been left wanting more from that showing tonight.

Smooth and slick? Ask Kerr what he thinks about that.

If it's prepared better than anywhere in the country, why do we see, time after time such poor meetings and racing there each time sky visits? Gone are the days when "good preparation", meant lots of dirt on the track. The bikes have changed, the riders have changed and the prep has to change accordingly.

Shocking, shocking meeting. How many times have we seen a heavy surface at "one of britains best racing tracks" in recent seasons?

Why oh why would you chose to have your opening fixture on Sky for the year at Kings Lynn. We haven't seen a decent meeting on sky at KL for a long time now, but not knowing how strong the team you are going to be pitting against them is makes it even worse. It's not KLs fault that Lakeside are total crap, but they always have a strong home advantage, which can be evened up later in the season by bringing along the top/form team. Start of the season where everything's an unknown, total madness.

PK you stupid boy. needs to get it into his head that the meeting is longer than the next bend coming up.

Rosco struggling to motivate his team again I see.

Classic Ward waving his arms about if someone slightly gets their red light out.

Red light causing riders to stop prematurely......what do you reckon Scott Nicholls?

Looking at the replay that does seem to be the case. I'll retract that as a result.

To be fair he has ridden well, the other lad has got into points positions and hasn't looked like being passed though. Awful awful racing. Classic Harris waving his arms about if someone races him slightly hard, still leaving him plenty of room. And why the hell are they using a bodge-job traffic cone with a broom handle stuck in it to steady the tapes...looks real professional. Something to forgot to move off the track, as in heat 10, thank Christ no one was going for the cut back on that 2nd lap. Shocker.

Said it during the KL v Robins sky match earlier in the year...perfect night for speedway, warm, clear, no threat of rain...there are no excuses for once again producing a track so devoid of opportunities to race and pass on. This supposedly coming from the best track and track man in the country. When the reigning world champion and established EL riders can't get close to passing an American junior, something is clearly very very wrong. Lets hope it improves later in the meeting.

Good racing, dire sound. What boggles me beyond belief is that there must be someone at Eurosport or the production company, with some headphones watching and listening to what's going on, seemingly thinking it sounds fine. Do these people not have sodding ears?! Unless Eurosport is actually so tin-pot that quality control is left to the commentators. Even then they must surely have headphones on and be able to notice that Jack's voice is distorting rediculously.

I said after the KL round on Monday things must be bad if people wanted barker to ride in Prague...getting someone in who'll "give it his all" is all well and good, but without any refinement you'll get nowhere on the big stage. It was incredible in those few hours after the second round how many people just completely forgot how poor Barker (and Bridger) are on the international circuits. I can't remember either of them doing anything of note in any meetings on the continent. I wasn't completely surprised to see how bad we were. Sure, at somewhere like any of the midlands tracks those 4 would have probably been taking the Aussies to a last heat decider with the yanks and Latvians somewhere adrift, but on the continent, we are generally absolutely awful. We've no experience on these big, flat slick tracks. Tai seems to have mastered it, Nicholls had it more or less and Harris in flashes (in the past) did and it was Rico's ace up his sleeve most of the time, from a British perspective. People can bang on about opportunities in the British leagues for British riders till your ears bleed, to an extent they are right, but if they are to be expected to perform on the world stage, they need to be practicing and racing on the continent continually. They can look great banging in the points on the heinz variety tracks in the UK, but show them somewhere big and open with a few European juniors and they're completely ruined. Our boys turn up there without a clue how to set up for the tracks and conditions, can't gate and then get the riding style completely wrong. Bridger and Barker are kicking out and all over the bike, wrestling it like its a greasy weasel, as if the dirt is a foot deep with ruts and holes all over the place, whilst all the other riders let the bike flow and keep a smooth line on the slick, sweeping curves, keeping momentum up and the bike pointing forward. People are surprised the Latvians did so well...tracks like that are all they know though! Some have said that some promoters will be getting them in their phone books to get over here. You'd be a fool to think they'd ride like that the instant you get them over here though. Most tracks here would be completely alien to them. Sure a couple might get the hang of them after a while, but it won't matter much to them because they'll be earning the big money and growing their presence on the world stage on the tracks in Europe. Yes we can blood through some talent in the British league, but don't expect them to turn world class overnight by just staying here.

Good god, things have to be bad if people's best bet for a crap, slick GP track, is international superstar Barker.

This year's World Cup has to be the worst as a competitive competition since its reintroduction. Lots of injuries meaning a lot of the top class riders missing, Team GB even weaker than usual and the farce of the Czechs seeded straight to the final. Hope I'm proved wrong but Prague is a god awful track for entertainment which I fear will neuter what little action will be left in the race off and final.

Agree its highly likely that middlo's quote has been snipped somewhat and what he actually said at the time is (hopefully) less alarming . But in those situations you have to question how many brain cells the person in question actually has to not know that the press can twist and extract words to make things sound sensational. Anyone who doesn't realise this when responding to such a serious case can't be very bright, no matter what they intended to say. Rule number one, don't get yourself into a position where you can be misquoted. As for the incident it's self...can't say it's exactly it's a surprise seeing what has happened in the last 12 months. Hopefully this has opened the eyes of some of his talented rider mates too.

Good stuff from noddy...looked very good lately. Very good GP. Shame the track was graded and watered a bit too severely at times just as it was getting good, but still very good all round. Credit to Nicholls for his effort, unlucky to miss out on the semi.