Vince

As close to being official as makes no difference. The supposedly much missed second half where the points money was generally divided up before the racing started and everybody knew it. The promoters making no secret of chucking a rider a few quid to not make the gate and disappear, the riders doing favours or taking a bung to not take points off somebody in a qualifier or even a World Final. These things all went on and people knew it and accepted it. Wasn't it your favourite era when the News of the World had a huge effect on the sports credibility? The joker and double points rule I can't argue with, to my way of thinking they should never happen but then I don't think the original tac sub should either. It's still the case that neither rule will keep newcomers away. Speedway is 4 blokes on a dirt track with no brakes going as hard as they can to win races, that's what it is and that's all it ever has been and it's brilliant.

You enjoying your Speedway isn't the same thing as it being better, just being younger means you were probably less cynical and any sport is usually more exciting when it's new to you. That's why I have a 'thing' about this! It's not a simple fact that Speedway is not as good as it was years ago, it's an opinion and one I mostly disagree with. There's nothing truthful about it in any way, it's an opinion, no more or less than that. The only thing I think was better was the atmosphere because of bigger crowds, in my opinion the racing today is the best I have ever seen in my 40+ years of watching Speedway. If you and I could take the same newcomer to his first Speedway meeting he would quite likely enjoy it with me because I would tell him what I think is so fantastic about the sport. On the other hand with you he would come away disenchanted because he hadn't seen the top riders and every race wasn't exciting like it used t be when you were a lad. I just watched what was a pretty average GP these days, it was far better than most of the one off finals I ever saw and the best GP's are fantastic entertainment and better than any racing I saw in previous decades. You can claim that's untrue if you like but it's my opinion and a look at some Pathe reels will suggest I may well be right. Somebody else claimed that the crowds have dwindled as the top riders left British racing, I wonder if that's true or if the riders have left because the crowds and the money have dried up.

Those lost thousands drifted away for a reason, tempting them back will be a short term fix at best. Whatever the reason they drifted away will resurface before long. If the price to do that is bankrupting clubs by employing riders they can't afford I can't see how that could be justified. Much better in my opinion to concentrate what are very limited resources on trying to create a new generation of Speedway supporters. It's never going to be easy as there is so much they can do without investing time or much money, including watching Speedway on TV or Youtube. I'm not even convinced that Speedway can do much other than shrink down to a very small professional sport with the majority of clubs surviving like most motorsports clubs do by running events for paying riders with one man and his dog watching. I do know that continuing to tell everybody who looks on the net that modern Speedway is crap compared to what it used to be in whatever generation you happened to start going is doing nothing to help and probably a good deal of harm. So far I've heard that the old days are better when standing on the terraces in the 60's, 70's, 80s, 90s, 00s and up to very recently. I'm not sure exactly when these golden days were but for sure they were never in the now!

How does having the big stars riding rejuvenate the sport when the non Speedway fan, the one's needed for increased attendances, have no idea who they are. Run an EL meeting tomorrow featuring 14 GP riders and you won't attract any newcomers to the sport, you will see a good crowd because current fans will turn up from further afield. However that's because it would be an unusual event, if that was how it was every week you would very soon be back to the same supporters you have now. Speedway has to attract new spectators and that is everything to do with image and value and nothing to do with riders they have yet to hear of. Whoever happens to do well their first night will be a top rider until somebody tells them how much better it could be if only they rode Douglas' in black leathers and leg trailed.

He doesn't have tattoos so must be the perfect role model, possibly wouldn't want him opening the fete at the local girls school though!

Personally I would say the exact opposite and that the riders of today are the best ever. You can never know for sure as so much has changed but I have many more 'how the hell did he do that?' moments now than I used to. Perhaps one of those who maintain the racing was so much closer in the old days could explain why they needed to handicap 5 riders in every race at one stage. Not only that but they could still win their fair share of races. Speedway has always gone through it's ups and downs and I suspect the current number of clubs is at the upper end of the scale (though I haven't bothered to check). There are nowhere near so many people attending live sports these days with the exception of top league Football and the major annual events like the F1 GP or Wimbledon. Even Football has suffered in the lower leagues so Speedway is not alone. Maybe we just have to accept that league Speedway has found a level that hopefully won't go too much lower and just like in the past will benefit from periods of increased popularity.

One thing that is absolutely certain and that is that modern Speedway no matter what the rule changes, how deep the tracks or how team minded the riders can ever hope to equal the sport of some peoples rose tinted memories! Just perhaps if people looked for the positives in what is a bloody good sport newcomers would read something good on the net and take a chance on spending a few quid to see for themselves.

A couple of pages about the subject then loads of pedantic bitching, just a normal day then!

He became World Champion by beating the best riders in the World over the course of a GP season. I doubt any rider ever became Champion without any of his rivals being injured and there were top riders not injured last year as well.. You are right it's not like it was years ago when good or bad luck with your gates in the final could decide who was Champion, or when a one track wonder could win a Championship. In the GP series you have to be the best throughout the course of a season on a variety of tracks. Tai was World Champion, he worked hard for it, earned it and won it fair and square and nobody can ever take it away from him. Is there anything you actually like about modern Speedway?

Think that's the place inhabited by most motorcycle racers!

Can't disagree with what you say at all but it's not so long ago they used to say you couldn't be a World Champion without racing on the variety of tracks that Britain offered!

We have GP referees who can't work out how long to hold the tapes yet some think they would be fit to make decisions that could ruin a riders career. Hands up all those who want Margeret Vardy to decide whether they can go to work and earn a wage tomorrow! Storm in a teacup that generated some publicity for the GP series.

While I think there's no doubt that Nicki Pedersen rides others harder than the majority of riders do I also think he suffers from his reputation. There are times when he does some pretty stupid things but there are many more times when he does what any other rider would do but everybody rushes to hang him for it. Good bit of publicity for the GP's though and exactly what the marketing people should be making the most of (or making up!)

I didn't remember that! Tai must be gutted that he didn't go on to be a tyre fitter as well

I'd send him to open a school fete without a second thought, he looks exactly like kids expect an action sports hero to. To my mind it would be difficult to find a Champion to represent our sport better, the fact that I'm no fan of facial tattoos or silly ear rings is immaterial. For those of us who think the sport needs to be dragged into this millennium as a genuine extreme sport he looks and behaves the part. He rides on the edge, makes passes and shrugs off injury like it was nothing. For those of us bought up on Boys Own Annuals he has no hint of scandal following him, works hard for charity, has overcome adversity and made no secret that his success can be attributed to knuckling down and working hard. If he comes across as a bit cocky I think he's earned that right and even that will improve with age, he's just a lad remember. His mum must be immensely proud as would his father have been if he could have been here to see it. At this rate I might even end up being a fan!

Me, I didn't think he should be in the GP series last year which goes to show I know eff all. It would be good to know who made the decision to put him in as despite all the criticism of the GP series there are clearly some people involved who really know their business. I saw a lot of Tai when he was first over here and although he clearly had some ability I was never a fan and thought he would end up an EL second string. I was never a fan of his attitude either but the way he has conducted himself the past couple of years has really impressed me. A very worthy World Champion and it seems likely there are more to come.

Won't the inertia of the piston easily overcome the force of gravity and make it behave the same no matter what angle it's at? As far as I know the service limit on the old radial aero engines was the same for all barrels and they point every which way.

Woffinden, Holder, Ward, Iverson, Sayfutdinov, Zagar gating tarts? You really have to be kidding, have you watched any GP's in the past few years?

I thought it was a bad move and he was rightly excluded. The rest of it was just handbags and like it or not people will be talking about it long after the rest of the meeting has been forgotten. Like Boyce / Gollob where everybody remembers a single punch and most would have no chance of remembering who won the meeting including me.

I don't know how far back you have to go to know about this sport you used to watch? I can go back as far as the late 60's and can't say I remember the sport you describe. Sure I can remember some great meetings, some fantastic passing and some brilliant team riding. However I can also remember that these were exceptional and as far as I am concerned, with the possible exception of team riding happened less often than they do now.

I'm afraid it is, all depends how much speed they carried off the corner, the difference in potential straight line speed of bikes is minimal.

The skill of the tuner is being able to match an engine to a rider in such a way that he can make best use of it, outright power is not generally what they are looking for. Can't imagine anybody trying to get away with an oversize engine on Speedway these days. If any rider ever does 10mph more it's because of his skills not the engine, more realistically they are looking for fractions of a second per lap.

When it comes to sport you can drive a coach and horses through the regulations, when I looked into this properly a few years ago it wouldn't have been a problem at all. What the law actually says and what people assume it says are two completely different things in many cases.

You can buy special clips that hold some flat Perspex sheets on the front of the peak, they are still in use by a few riders when conditions are bad.

Roll offs are a bit of a nightmare when it is raining as they tend to stick to the lens, you can run a piece of fishing line underneath the film which helps but it is still hit and miss. You could get a battery powered roll off, not sure if you still can but they weren't very good. Best option in my opinion is still the old fashioned tear off. Speedway is different to most other sports in the fact that it is run under lights which makes a big difference when visibility is a problem. No doubt somebody will point out that Supercross meetings are run in the wet and under lights, while that is true it's also a completely different thing running brakes when you are struggling to see compared to Speedway. I'm not disputing that some meetings could be run if the will was there but the tyres aren't the issue in any way that I can think of. It just strikes me a bit strange that some of the same people who think the sport needs slowing down because riders are too brave and lacking in skill for their own good and getting injured then go on to say they haven't got the balls to ride in bad conditions. Seems to boil down to wanting the old days back and changing the argument to make sure those old days were better. I can tell you one reason that meetings are cancelled more often, the fans will not accept paying to watch meetings where riders can't compete because of a poor track. perhaps in the oh so wonderful old days either the fans were willing to accept less or maybe the riders and promoters cared less for the fans opinion.