Vince

I don't think so, quite often see collisions where neither rider could have done anything different and still be racing. Generally the rider on the inside clips another rider and gets excluded. But very often there was a gap there when he started the pass but the rider in front changes line slightly. Neither one is at fault.

Lining 11 riders up and putting 1 on the penalty line takes a couple of minutes. 3 riders would take 20 seconds max

I disagree, we often see a rider go for a gap and the outside rider cut down. Neither are really at fault or could always do anything to avoid a collision.

We quite often see riders disqualified following a crash when nobody is really at fault but the rules say somebody has to go. Maybe an alternative would be to start the rider/s at fault from a penalty line as they do in flat track. Would keep 4 riders in the race and make for more entertainment than a 3 rider race. Could even go the whole flat track route where from the second lap on any crash sees the riders line up slightly staggered in the order they were when the race was stopped and the culprit 30 yards past the back rider.

Moto X, Superbikes, Flat track, Grass track just about any that has more than one race per meeting. Generally the points from two races are added together to give a finishing position from which Championship points are awarded. So somebody can easily win the first race and have 20 points, crash in the second and end up taking home 8 or 10 Championship points. Perhaps the most direct comparison would be Supercross where they have to qualify to make the night show then compete in a series of heats, semis and last chance races but Championship points are only awarded on position in the final.

Personally I never liked the idea of the winner of the GP not getting the most points or that qualifying for a semi didn't gain anything if you finished 4th. I like the new system and it is more in line with the majority of motorsport. Dan Bewley has been brilliant imo, turns up, just gets on with it and is doing very well.

For me it is simple, my working hours don't allow me to. I suspect that applies to quite a lot more people than in the 70's or 80's as well. Additionally for so many it means an hour or more each way travelling although I have to admit that didn't stop us, as a family, going in earlier decades, travel is more expensive now though I think. I can only do weekends but there is nothing local and most weekends I would rather be riding bikes than watching somebody else anyway. Never miss a GP on the TV but league meetings are recorded and the fast forward button used frequently unless it is an especially good meeting. I have never been a typical fan though having always preferred individual meetings.

The amateur meetings with riders paying an entry fee will make money too. Look at the riders competing across the various classes and it is definitely a higher standard than the normal amateur meetings you spoke of. I really don't see why it's a problem!

I think there is a significant difference where most amateur events are run just for the riders where the Isle of Wight meetings are run for paying spectators. National Off Road Association I believe.

That MX bike above looks incredible and it isn't expensive compared to the current top of the range bikes either. I've picked up my electric trials bike and am incredibly happy with it. Probably somewhere about the same sort of power as a 200cc petrol trials bike but incredibly easy to ride and virtually silent. We had it out playing about 20 yards from a school where my Granddaughter was having a horse riding lesson and the horse never took the blindest bit of notice. More to the point nor did any of the horsey people at the yard apart from a couple who came over to show some interest. My horses don't take any notice of it either and if it was 40 yards away in the woods you would never know it was there. Takes motorcycling into the same sphere as horse riding for me, the opportunity to ride every day locally without complaints. Big difference to last year with the flat tracker when I was able to ride just 8 times in the whole year. Might not take over motorsport but will certainly compliment it for many.

I think there is a habit of comparing apples with pears. There are a lot of Speedway meetings every week so you can't compare it to F1, MotoGP or even BSB where there are just a few events available to watch live each year. Personally I'd like to think that with the correct marketing (as an extreme sport that is very dangerous in my opinion) things could improve a little. Otherwise though it is like the vast majority of live sport struggling to attract spectators. We hear that the characters are no more but the more outrageous behaviour has not only been ruled out by referees but also by a more cynical public who are less likely to accept such things as being real. So many of those antics and tantrums of the past would be dismissed as pantomine and fake by todays public with this forum leading the way. I think that gradually the sport will devolve into being a lot more amateur racing where riders paying to race foot the bills and smaller teams of professional racers competing less often to attract spectators. That is the way almost all motor sport operates with a very small minority of races attracting enough spectators to be able to pay the racers.

Who would benefit from Speedway becoming a global money making machine like F1? A very small number of riders, maybe 10 who competed at the highest level without paying for their ride. Grass roots motorsport gets no benefits from F1 so a super high profile Speedway GP series would have no benefits for the sport in the UK apart from 1 meeting a year attended for free by a lot of people with no interest and thousands of others for who it would be the only meeting of the year, just like F1. No thanks!

I have never understood how treating people differently can ever lead to equality. To me the idea of 'positive discrimination' is an abomination, if it is positive to one person it has to be negative to another and will only breed resentment.

I don't see that as a fact, in my experience I would say that an interest in motorsport sees you being welcomed with open arms at any event. I have spent my entire lifetime around motorcycle competitions of various sorts and have yet to be made unwelcome anywhere. Whether it be Trials, Speedway, MotoX, Grass track or for me most recently Flat track I have found them to be full of the friendliest most welcoming people of anywhere I go. I only have limited experience of other motorsports but certainly Rallycross and Truck racing are both very friendly. There are not many people from ethnic backgrounds involved generally but when they have been I have never seen them treated any differently to anybody else from inside the sport (fans might be different, but if they don't like you they will find something to ridicule you for, you can choose to laugh it off or take it to heart but it's no different to any other sport in that respect). Generally speaking though I have found motorcycle sport to be very welcoming and to be the friendliest bunch of people you could ever hope to meet.

Personally I don't have a problem with it, better than a monotone lack of interest and enthusiasm.

I think that the Pearson/Tatum combination is great and has got better over time, their enthusiasm makes them better than Dave Lanning in my opinion. I like Scott Nichols in the studio, Chris Louis comes across well and thought Dave Norris was brilliant. Agree that Sam Ermolenko, great rider though he may have been is an awful commentator.

I've only ever seen it in video (On any Sunday has a section about it) however they don't slide like our Speedway bikes do. It can be done though.

Insuring off road bikes is usually too expensive to be practical. A similar problem exists with tools which would often be covered while at home but not in a van which requires an additional, often separate cover. The price for tool and equipment cover isn't quite so outrageous though. Of course it would all be much cheaper if the Police actually followed up the thefts which are now at a ridiculous level. However the priority seems to be kids on electric scooters and name calling online if the different forces FB pages are to be believed. If off road bikes are recovered it is always by the public.

I think with the noise issue dealt with you could easily match the tyres to the track and run on concrete or tarmac. So maybe large car parks or industrial sites, then you have urban all weather Speedway. On the subject of a temporary track though I did know a chap some years ago who produced furniture and was convinced that with some research he could produce a foam Supercross track that could go into trailers and be transported from site to site. He had raced for years so was well aware of all the issues that spring to mind so maybe it is possible. Imagine a couple of artics turning up to a city centre park and unloading a track which had disappeared by midnight.

I've seen electric bikes racing on an oval, including one who would have finished on the rostrum in the pro class with the lap times he was doing. Speedway with a few 1 minute races is made for electric bikes if any racing is, current battery capabilities can very easily cope with that. The spectacle was almost exactly the same as normal flat track but the lack of noise definitely made it feel less exciting, whether you would get used to it and feel the same about the racing in the long term I'm not sure. However the prospect of motorcycle racing including Speedway taking place in inner city areas does appeal a great deal. As does the idea of being able to practice and train without complaints from neighbours. So much so that I am currently looking into the idea of getting an electric trials bike purely for the ability to ride at pretty much any time I want very locally.

I think there is a lot to be said for not expecting our young riders to match those from other countries at the same age. Generally speaking Polish, Danish and Swedish riders that I know of and maybe other countries too can have hours of bike time to every minute a British lad can get. Therefore experience wise they are bound to be behind age for age. To my way of thinking we need to be trying to produce decent league riders in higher numbers and from that will come the odd superstar, much like it's always been. Think how many thousands of kids go through MX where they can ride far more often and we only produce a couple of genuine World class riders each generation. Yet some expect 30 or 40 Speedway beginners who get to ride for 6 or 7 minutes once a fortnight to produce World Champions or they are considered failures. If you got 10 capable of riding in a professional league that would be an incredible success rate.

But is it a breach of any rules, let alone legal ones?

Restriction of trade I suspect but also it has been proven in court that you cannot stop even amateur riders competing with other organisations/ clubs by refusing them entry to your events when the ACU have tried to do it.

Absolutely ridiculous not to mention illegal.

If you talk to the older riders including Briggo they will tell you how they bought in 'special' engines for the big events, hired from the likes of Lattenhammer who had set them up for a specific rider and track. I know the 'special ones' who were handicapped for a season were set against it because it meant they had to spend far too much money on motors. Without doubt the engines they used in the leagues would have been much more standard and for all except the busiest looked after by the riders themselves. Colin Cook told us how he had an 897 Jawa and only adjusted the tappets using it home and away for every meeting of the season.