Vince

I hate that saying ever since I first heard it from an ACU official who had never sat on a bike in his life. It's crap when applied to most motorcycle racing and hardly applies to Speedway at all. If Holder had shut off everybody would have been down. I already said that I first thought Holder should have been excluded and seeing it again I still think he could have been but all 4 back was also a fair decision in the circumstances. In my opinion it was nowhere near clear cut and obvious who was at fault. The only reason to exclude Holder would have been that onto the run into the corner he could have predicted what was about to happen and the more I have seen it the more I tend to think my first opinion was wrong and the ref right.

I thought Holder should have gone (and I wanted him to be champ) but my son thought it was the correct decision. Difficult call and nowhere near as obvious as some on here are saying imo.

OK, I can't resist asking why you brought him to the UK instead of Denmark or whatever?

I think I get it perfectly well even if I don't agree with your obviously superior view! I didn't know that the Russians, Poles and Danes allowed 14 year old riders to compete in their adult leagues. Do the Danish youngsters even get to ride 500cc bikes at that age? I also disagree that young Mr Lambert is at the correct level, as far as I have seen I would consider him to be an exceptional talent at age 14 - for any nationality. Ideally he might need a higher level of competition but it is my opinion that putting him into adult leagues is not the way to do that. As for everyone else being below par - perhaps the continual criticism and lack of support for British youngsters by people like yourself is another reason they take longer to make the grade. Finally Robert Lambert is a young lad who needs time and people to get behind him. If topics in this vein keep appearing other people will be getting him a reputation for being full of himself that he doesn't deserve. The rules are in place, they might not be perfect, or even close but you can't start allowing exceptions (unless he signs for Poole of course )

I have seen Robert practicing a few times this year and he is a very, very good rider wih a lot of potential, he is also a kid. In my opinion whether he is good enough to compete against adults has very little to do with whether he should be at his age, especially in the PL or EL. What do riders who have to compete against him do? rough him up into the first bend and take the flack for being hard on him - after all 'he is only a kid' would be the cry the first time somebody put him into the fence. Alternatively they could take it easy on him and get hammered by their own fans for not being hard enough. There is also the possiblity that being in the adult leagues at his age could result in problems and injuries that kill his passion for the sport. He can practice, he can compete in the U16 Championship and probably win it without breaking sweat, he can then take part in the NL when he is 15 where he will get to race against some experienced riders and he will do very well in my opinion. That might not be stiff competition for him but at 14 & 15 years old it is experience and then when he is 16 and has matured a bit he will be allowed to take on the worlds best if he is good enough. The final problem is that if you make a new rule to allow him to upgrade to adult racing early what happens when Joe Bloggs wants to do the same and he is nearly as good as Robert then Fred Smith wants to upgrade because he is nearly as good as Joe?

Sorry to go off subject but I wanted to mention the actual track at Leicester Only time I have been there was a few weeks ago and for flattrack not Speedway. I thought that the track is an unusual shape with the bends too tight for the straights (or the straights too long for the bends!) however the problem when I saw it was that the surface wasn't binding together to produce grip. This is something I have noticed elsewhere, especially with new tracks, presumably in the 'good old days' all the oil being dumped on the surface quickly stuck everything together nicely but things take a lot longer with only water doing the job. The surface appeared very 'marbly' as though it could do with more fines to pack it down, however that may well not be the case as there might have been plenty of fines packed underneath. Maybe working with the surface could produce an improvement more quickly and less expensively than changing the shape although changing the shape would be the ideal. Too much grip though and it could be a nightmare I should think so it's a very fine line. Then again maybe they have already tried everything they can with the surface and I am talking nonsense!

On one hand we have a couple of newspaper reports, on the other a forum member who has discussed the exact situation with the event Promoter. Why are people forming their opinion on newspaper reports coupled with a bit of guesswork?

Personally think transponders would be bad for Speedway. It wouldn't be long before people were asking for the figures to be made available to the public and I have a feeling that the speeds advertised and those proven by transponders at various points of the track might be a bit different. Could be one of those cases where what is believed or accepted is more impressive than the reality and all for the sake of something that happens extremely rarely.

People are claiming there is less talent around than in the past, I really believe the opposite to be true and think there is a huge depth of talent out there. The gulf between the top few and the rest is so wide because over a GP series experience of tracks and set up's is far more important than for a one off final. Same reason older riders are at the forefront I believe, after all it would be quite possible for Sayfutdinov or Lindback for example to pull of a win at a winner takes all World Final. If there is lack of ability spread through the ranks how is it possible for a sub 5 point PL rider to be all but on the pace at a GP? I don't believe it's because the GP riders are less talented than their forebears rather that the standard in modern Speedway is extremely high throughout the leagues. The likes of Briggs and Mauger would be at the top in any era but I honestly believe that if you take a step back to the 'average' rider the standard today is vastly improved

I would say that Lindback, Sayfutdinov, Holder, Ward easily have the potential to fill the void left by Crump etc. There will also be others along in the next few years able to challenge for honours, no need for doom and gloom about top quality riders for the future in my opinion. Lindgren qualified for the semi finals and was on the pace and Bjerre broke down twice so not sure quite why their future should be in doubt already.

I am sure that The Victor had a Speedway story running for a while in the mid to late 60's, it was the comic I got weekly for many years and I can remember the story being there but nothing about it. I still think that having heroes who were normal people without super powers was good for our generation. Of course WW2 wasn't so far away for us as we all knew many people who had been involved so there were plenty of genuine heroes to go round. The cover story of the Victor was always a truth based story from the war usually about the winner of a VC and looking back I believe they managed to convey the heroism without over glorifying war. Even if it did glorify war that has to be better than the current obsession with 'celebrities' many of whom have achieved nothing other than imbibing drugs and alcohol in massive quantities. I am far from being one to believe everything about the past was better but certainly this is one of those things I would like to see returned to older values.

In your opinion maybe but read your own posts and you might discover just a hint of bias :-) In my opinion it just means it takes far more good races to become World Champion, machinery problems and track knowledge are much less likely to provide a World Champion who is not the best rider in the World that year. They aren't qualifying for anything and every single race counts directly toward their eventual finishing position which is nothing like qualifiers. Something that was clearly not the case under the old system. As for the corruption it is less likely to be effective with the increased number of races. Hancock looked back just after making a mistake, no idea what went through his mind and nor do you. However I have been told by a one day World finalist about his being asked to do a favour for another rider and there are several cases written about in autobiographies so it's your guesswork based on very little against documented accounts by those who were there.

In general I don't think the 'British Public at large' has any idea Speedway still exists let alone who rides in the Gp's. I only know one person who watches the GP's but wouldn't be considered a Speedway fan anyway and he would have no idea how the riders got their place in there and care even less. As far as he knows he is watching the best Speedway riders in the world, same as Moto GP which is generally accepted as being the best riders - and not one of them qualified! I can't think of a single person who hasn't been included in the GP's who had a realistic chance at a championship, at least not under the much fairer GP system

In my opinion not as flawed as a system that can deprive the best rider in the World a championship because of one minor breakdown or one poor start. That can, and did, happen with the old system. The one thing the GP's need to do imo is pay very good rates so that every rider in the world can afford to be there and attempts to qualify. As things are riders can't afford to compete at what is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport because it might well cost them to be there while they can make a profit at their 'day' job. I believe the GP series is one of the best things that ave ever happened in Speedway. Of course it could be imprved but I see it as a huge improvement over the one day finals (of which I attended several, fantastic occassions but 5 or 6 minutes racing shouldn't produce a World Champion)

The problem could be solved by not allowing foreign riders to drop below their assesssed averages and not allowing loan fees for British reserves. That way teams will only use foreign riders with potential to improve and we will see an end of foreign 4 point riders being over here for years. Perhaps not allowing loan fees will encourage promoters to let young British riders have enough time to find their feet. Other things that would help would be only to allow British riders to become club assets after a full season of being in the team ( would have to be some provision for matches missed through injury) Reserve's only allowed to replace other riders when withdrawn through injury. That would avoid the need to have a super strong reserve as a potential match winner. Track time, a way has to be found to get the kids the time they need to improve.

Who is going to pay for all this shale and equipment? I's not like there are 1000's coming through the gate every week.

Richard and Jayne provide third tier racing season after season in what must be the most difficult location in the country. They do their very best with what they have available, sometimes the track is not very good but nobody can put that down to lack of effort by the promotion. If, as has been suggested, the base has broken up it is not going to be something that can be fixed mid season. I would also suggest that the weather we have had recently with alternating rain and hot spells with a bit of wind thrown for good measure in must affect Buxton's exposed location far more than the majority of tracks. Give the pair of them a break, nobody puts more effort into grass roots Speedway than they do.

I keep reading how you need the foreign lads to make the NL exciting as if it were the case that every foreign rider is a great prospect and exciting to watch while British riders aren't. Clearly that's not the case, some riders of any nationality are draw cards for crowds. Restricting the league to British riders is not going to create an influx of riders instantly. The U15 and Amatuer Speedway scenes are growing well at the moment. Given a couple of years where people become aware that the opportunities are there to progress from there into league racing and maybe it will attract more riders from other motorcycle disciplines to Speedway. Certainly as things were going less and less British lads were even contemplating riding Speedway, something needed to change for sure.

I would have thought that riding time is limited enough for those in the NL already without sharing it out.

I don't think people went from Grasstrack to Motocross because of the foot and mouth, after all there was no MX running either. In my opinion there are literlly thousands of kids riding MX simply because it is easy to get into locally and it is easy to find practice tracks where you can get hours on a bike every week. If Speedway tracks were to work together with Grasstrack clubs or even buy some posts and rope and run a couple of practice days a month it would be more attractive to youngsters. If you then offered the top four in each class a ride before or after Speedway meetings they would be involved with Speedway straight away. It is always going to be difficult getting people away from MX because of the time they get on the bike in comparison. Without drving for more than an hour I could spend longer riding a MX bike this weekend than a young Speedway rider will all year. That is the real reason riders from other countries are ahead of ours at similar ages imo. Time on the bike - it's more important than what bike they ride or how many races they take part in. Promoters then compare an 18 year old Dane or Aussie with the same age British lad when, in the main, the British lad needs to be 8 or 10 years older to have comparable experience. A young CL standard rider practicing whenever he can over the winter and doing 25 meetings will be lucky to get 3 to 4 hours on track time a year. I saw Kristian Lund quoted on here the other day about development of riders. He once told me that he could practice all day, any day for about £8. He was helping train the Mavericks and pointed out that he would ride more some weeks at home than they would all year. If we can't make Speedway tracks available then fields have to be the next best option.

Just had a qick count up of names I recognised in Malc Vasey's A-Z of CL riders. I would say the 3rd division has been remarkably successful if th yardstick is getting riders into the higher divisions. I made it about 75 riders who have ridden in the 3rd division and gone on to at least hold down a PL team place for a season. I don't think that is so bad. Would be better still if the asset system favoured Brits instead of working against them. The idea of getting kids on smaller bikes is undoubtedly the way to go. Unfortunately I am not sure it is practical in this country because you also need smaller tracks that are able to be used several times a month for practice as well as meetings. With planning and the general attitude to motocycling as it in this country that would be nigh on impossible. I still believe that Speedway needs to get heavily involved in youth Grasstrack because the possibility of getting practice tracks is very much higher. More kids would take up Grasstrack instead of Motocross if there were more practice opportunities and it was recognised as the route into Speedway.

Personally I believe it is equally or even more important that the NL produce riders of all standards for both the EL and PL. That imo is the way that the 3rd division can best benefit British Speedway. Any GP riders should be viewed as a bonus, after all riders of that ability would probably make the grade anyway.

I think that's fair comment and it looks pretty straight forward.

As ever a lot of assumptions are made about EU employment law that have no basis in fact. There are lots of exceptions and the last time I checked NL Speedway would have been exempted on at least two counts. I agree that Henning, living full time in this country, married and employed should be able to ride in the NL. However it would be very difficult to draft a rule that took every case into account. The rule of having only passport holders seemed a logical way to apply the restriction. It is difficult to think of a more sensible way that wouldn't be open to abuse, at least it is black and white and rules out arguments about eligibility that have been going on for years. Henning's current situation is unfortunate but I can't see a logical way around it without opening a can of worms.

I think the should be a big 'IF' when talking of these supposed actions against them. IF they ever happened in some cases, IF any or all of them were intentional and most importantly IF they were the deliberate actions of people who were in any way involved with the motorsport. Such people seem to make many enemies in life and just lay the blame for everything in the place that most suits their current grievance.