Vince

OK, lets compare our knowledge of the situation. I was witness to the original agreement between Sam and Nick Mallett that took Sam to Newport in 2009. Since Sam didn't return there this year I have discussed the situation with both him (Sam) and Steve Mallett and have correspondence to back that up. I can't (and wouldn't anyway) reveal details of who claims what is owed because it is an ongoing legal matter. You know what the Malletts have chosen to tell you. Of course they know full well that anything they say to you is likely to end up on here and therefore you know part of one side of a story. I never wanted to be yet another person on here having a pop at Newport, however since you can't stop talking about things you know little about and understand less here is a 100% definite, provable fact for you that would have little or no bearing on a court case. The last time either Promoter of Newport Speedway spoke to Sam was on the 31st of January this year. Nick, who was then still Promoter told a large crowd of people repeatedly that Sam was riding for Newport this year and he couldn't wait for him to return. He told the same people that he was very pleased with the work Sam had put in and the equipment he had bought in the off season (money spent because he had been guaranteed a team place). On the Thursday we read that Mark Jones was the final signing for the Hornets and Nick Mallett would not answer his phone from that point on. And then an idiot comes on here and says Sam threw the Malletts help back in their face!

I have stayed out of this topic because it involves Newport but that is an outright lie.

The track will never be great all the time it has to run in the daytime but it generally used to produce decent racing. I also can't say anything about this year as I haven't been near the place. However when the Mallets took over they got new shale in on advice from Colin Meridith and it seems clear that the shale didn't suit the track. Dixie told them that before they got it. Dixie and Peter Brooks have been there and doing the track for a lot of years. they know what works best and what doesn't. Last year everybody from the Promotion down were allowed more input into how the track was prepped than Dixie. he just eneded up doing the work to try and repair it half the time. Dixie can prep Newport as well as anybody and far better than most. Too many chiefs and not enough indians by far imo last year.

Newport Speedway have people who can prepare the track. Unfortunately these people are never allowed to do the job without interference from assorted 'experts'

BFD, as far as I can tell I didn't insult you. If I did it was far less that you are willing to dish out to others with the tiresome racist chant. I know you about as much as you know me, doesn't stop you giving your opinion! Absolutely clear to see here that posts from those who are or have been actually involved with young British riders are saying pretty much the same thing. It's not fatuous to point out that many of the posters on this topic have far more first hand experience of what is happening than you do.

How many up and coming Aussies won't get to ride because those lads are there for a few weeks? The Aussies that come over here are welcomed and helped a huge amount by the British Speedway community. Nobody has any issues with the lads themselves and many of us have helped them any way we can. It is the system that is wrong. If the British system encouraged Promoters put the time and money into local kids that they do into foreign (not just Australian) riders then they would progress far more quickly. If saying so makes me racist or xenophopbic in your eyes, tough, my opinions are in line with the way the majority of Brits that I know think. Having spent countless hours grafting in the chase for sponsorship money I suggest you teach your granny to suck eggs on that front. Nobody is asking for anything for nothing for British lads, just equality. If you were over here and involved with British youngsters trying to establish themselves in the sport you would understand where we are coming from. You aren't and with all due respect you don't have a clue how all this works in reality.

That's all very well when you don't actually see what is happening over here. How many of these Aussies would develop into good riders if the British lads that came over took their places in meetings instead of just rode alongside them? Most clubs are not going to pay out good money and help with sponsorship only to drop a rider at short notice. How often do we read that a rider should move nearer his home track? How about offering him the same help to do that with regards to living allowance etc? However when he cost nothing in the first place and had to sort out his own equipment there is no problem dropping him, it costs the club nothing. Many of the foreign lads are given years in the PL on low averages before going on to make decent riders. British lads are lucky to get weeks let alone years. British lads very often are not even being treated equally to foreign lads let alone given preferential treatment. If the situation was reversed you would be very quick to defend Aussie riders rights I am sure.

Team MotoX on electric bikes??? Just realised - it's cycle Speedway!!!

Try here I am sure you are right about who owned the site, presumably he would know where the picture came from even if not where it was taken.

I am sure that the guy who ran that brilliant site with the picture on was (probably still is) a forum member but I can't remember his name. Surely somebody can remember who it was that ran the Exeter site with the workshop pages. If nobody comes forward try Nevs on here as if it involves Exeter he will certainly know who it is. Presumably you have tried the email address on the homepage chris@exeter-falcons.demon.co.uk as the site owner would know where he got the picture from.

This is disgusting, running a rained off meeting in the morning when I have to work. What am I supposed to do, accept the world doesn't revolve around me, record the meeting and watch it later? How dare they fit the meeting in around TV schedules and other fixtures without checking with me first.

I was one who didn't understand the appointment of Rob Lyon. However this week it has been clear to see that it was a great choice. The result might not have been good but everything else about Team GB has been improved incredibly since last year. It has been clearly stated that they are building for the future and that is exactly what this week has started to do. As a bit of a fan of Scott Nicholls I would have liked to have seen him there last night. It is understandable that he wasn't when given his current form and how his obvious lack of confidence may have affected the team as a whole. Through good times and bad his heart is on his sleeve for all to see, great when things are going well but could be disasterous for team spirit in a bad night. Hopefully he will soon come through this bad spell and an in-form Nicholls will again be an automatic choice. I thought Team GB were going to get hammered last night. Instead they were in contention and even Bridger and King were on the pace and will have learned a huge amount in two nights of racing. Maybe in 2011 or 2012 we will be in a position of having enough riders to make selection very difficult if Lyons is allowed to keep working away rather than sacked for not being instantly succesful.

I just think that the vast majority of young riders who leave the sport do so because they can't afford to race competitvely any more. This way at least those who get to the top league would do so on riding ability rather than the good fortune of having money available to throw at the game. After all as things are the under-funded riders are penalised heavily by having slower machinery. The £500 should make sure that people are not claiming bikes just because they are well set up. It would lead to lower costs to riders who would need less wages and could mean more clubs surviving as well.

I know it will go against most peoples opinion but here are my suggestions. Accept that British Speedway cannot afford top line riders until fans are attracted back to the sport in decent numbers. Have two full time leagues, the top one set between the current EL standard and PL. The second to bet set between current PL and NL standard. The leagues to have a strict and low points limit the first year (38 maybe). All British riders to get a 10% allowance. Year two onward averages set to league winners including any allowance deduction. Riders retained from previous year to have a further reduction to encourage long term stability in teams. Any foreign licence holders not allowed to drop under their assessed averages. Foreign riders taking out a British licence and agreeing to put British fixtures first allowed to ride at their real average. Half of Sky income allocated to tracks on the number of second half, academy, training sessions that they run. Do away with loan fees, all transfers to be permanent. Clubs will own their team and look after them for the future (hopefully). Do away with the tactical rule, tac sub etc and run to the program unless injury prevents it. Clubs who cannot afford to compete at new league level to be subsidised by the others as development tracks where riders can be trained properly. Second division to have a rule where any bike can be claimed by any competitor at the end of a meeting for £500 more than the cost of a new machine. That should stop super expensive engines, clutches and carbs being used and level the playing field while reducing costs. I just can't see the sport surviving unless fans are given the opportunity to bond with a team over the years. This way would also encourage the development of young, British riders. Hopefully in the long term fans would come back in sufficient numbers to allow the gradual re-introduction of the sports superstars. I don't believe for one minute that many new fans are kept away because Nicki Pedersen etc aren't racing here. Just perhaps the chance to see local lads making the grade will encourage them back. For sure there needs to be a radical change and soon. I am equally sure my plans have lots of holes in them that will be quickly pointed out but just maybe there is something worth debating.

If you want to PM me some more details like make of bike, year, and exactly what you want (recoil spring means nothing to me) I can probably point you in the right direction.

Isn't it strange how people post what they assume to be the case as if it were fact! It is very difficult to get lottery funding for motorcycle sport. I don't know if anybody has tried with CL Speedway and been turned down because they were claiming to be professional but I doubt that would have been the sole reason - it may not have even been a factor. From previous experience I am certain it doesn't have to be an olympic sport. It will help any application if you can show how it will benefit the wider community. If you can make that wider community appear to be the main reason for the application your chances will be much better. What is certain is that the application is a long, drawn out process and as ever with Government money those who already know the system have the best chance of success. We started the process a few years ago to help fund a MX track but in the end decided our time and energies would be far better spent getting investment from other sources. There was precious little of that and your most likely source is yourself! A priority in my view would be to find land where a planning application stands a chance before worrying about too much else. This is becoming more difficult as time goes on. Funding from any source is much easier for an established project anyway. PS: I believe the reason that Olympic sports have achieved so much success with lottery funding is that they have what amounts to a professional team making the application. They know exactly what works and how to work the system to their advantage.

The sad thing is I contacted Motors TV about 3 years ago about televising CL Speedway (as the rights for that haven't been signed away). I sent them a couple of discs of meetings and they were very keen. I then spoke to a Promoter and a video production company. The Speedway you have seen on Motors TV the past two years shows how hard they pursued things!

Rostrum: Pedersen, Andersen and Crump. Could be in any order but got a feeling Crump will up his game enough to take the title this year. 4th to 6th: Adams, Gollob and Hancock, again in any order. Then I think Holta, Nicholls, Lindgren and Sajfutdinov will be competing for a top 8 spot.

I really hope that Lunchy hasn't gone on account of somebody who thinks himself highly intelligent yet is completely unable to see two points of view on the same subject and then resorts to insulting those who dare to differ from his infallible opinion. What Lunchy said one time was nowhere near as bad as Subedei has spouted on this thread alone. Could be that he has some valid points to make but I can rarely be bothered to read past the self praise or abuse of forum members and riders that start virtually every post. It would be a real shame to lose a single decent forum member on account of that eigthwit!

But we are not talking about expertise in filling a programme or rules and regulations in this case are we? We are talking about expertise in riding a bike and understanding what has happened in a racing incident. As for knowing one end of a bike from the other I would consider that I do having ridden competitvely in various disciplines for more than 30 years, as a rider though I was never at anything like Tatum's level and would bow to his vast experience and knowledge in situations like this. You never did tell us about your riding experience in comparison to Tatum's I never told you to go to specsavers I just pointed out that your statement that Crump was proven to have cut across because he came off the fence was completely wrong.

If you paid attention you would see that Crump hits the fence with his back wheel at least 50% of the time before he turns in, nothing to do with cutting across. Perhaps you could remind us of how many Speedway and Longtrack titles you have before you expect us to accept your 'expertise' rather than Tatum's. When you say the 'minority who are correct' I assume you mean like when your Mum told you that you were the only cub scout marching in step

Talking of nonsense, don't know if you noticed but that wasn't Bydgoszcz last night. It was a track with long narrow straights and tight corners where the riders have to turn a lot harder. Therefore where a rider can take a knock at Bydgoszcz and stay on at Lonigo where there is no grip and he has to turn in harder he will go down. Certainly a classic Gollob move - works a treat on big open tracks ut you would have thought he had been excluded for it enough times now to know it's not the answer on every track! There have been some terrible decisions by refs in the GP's this year but I thought he was spot on in both cases last night. Despite my usually siding with the commentators as I think they have a very difficult job I must admit that Tony Millards comments about Lindgren were terrible.

OK ljh I will try to put my point of view to some of your comments. Firstly the rider who apparently can't handle rutted tracks without resorting to foul tactics. The fact that I can't immediately know who you are talking about indicates that you have seen something to give you this view that isn't necesarily viewed in the same way by others. I have seen so many riders in trouble on bad tracks in the GP the last couple of years that I have lost count. Undoubtedly some of them can handle ruts better than others just as some can handle slick tracks better. All of them handle either better than the majority of riders and are only seen as struggling when viewed against the worlds best. Without a doubt there should be a few deep and grippy tracks in the series and there should never be some of the tracks that we do see. A variety of circuits is desirable but although the worst tracks may provide uncertain results I would rather be entertained by the skill of the worlds best riders than a lottery produced by track conditions. Slick tracks: my guess is that on the 'proper' outdoor tracks this is done so as to try and avoid rain off's rather than a great Danish conspiracy. A slick track may well be able to run in poor weather conditions that would cancel a deep one. Some of the temporary tracks though are just a disgrace imo, they desperately need to get some advice from outside the sport on how to put a temporary surface in. From what I have been told they also need to get their hands in their wallets for the track at Cardiff, as the sports showpiece that track especially should be great but is far from it. Maybe a lesser 'star' entertainer would finance a better track which would be a great swap as far as I am concerned. As for Wembley on World final night one old time rider who competed there in either the late fifties or early sixties told me it was awful for the final at least once when he was there. I can see that the battle for the championship is over but for me personally the GP's are still exciting as people battle for their overall position and for the top few to see if they are improving as the build for next year. Even then we have had several important meetings with the Championship at stake rather than just one. I am also uncomfortable with the GP series being run as a seperate entity to the rest of the sport and feel strongly that the revenue could be used to help future competitors worldwide. As for the wild card entries I can understand your point but personally I think it makes sense to be able to include a rider who had mechanical problems in the qualifying rounds or if injuries kept him out of the top 8 the previous year. Though it might be more often used to ensure riders of certain country's get a place, while possibly not strictly ethical, does make financial sense I would imagine. To me while the GP's are far from perfect they are a little closer than the one off finals. I also thoroughly enjoy watching almost all of them, the exception being when a track is so bad that the worlds best riders are made to look like CL reserves.

I think a lot of us have been around the sport so long that in truth we don't really know what would get new people 'through the door'. Therefore I think you are in a better position to comment than we are. I think some of your ideas have been tried by individual clubs but not properly by the sport as a whole. I know some clubs have had riders go into schools and give away tickets. Personally I am not sure a safety seminar and Speedway sit too well together! Like the 'hold em' ideas. 4 riders 4 laps shouldn't be as complicated as it has got. Personally I would not be interested in a mascot but there might be many like yourself who would enjoy it so worth a go (the one at Reading seems popular). Perhaps local bands or even an inexpensive light show to go with the music being played could be effective between races. I would very much like to see a roadshow with bikes, music and Speedway videos turn up at shopping centres and other highly visible areas throughout the UK. It wouldn't be that expensive in the scheme of things but could reach many thousands of potential fans. I would also like to see a large scoreboard at every track as I think it is crazy that a newcomer could lose track in his program and not know how the meeting is going.

I have seen both systems at work first hand and would take the GP's as the best way of finding the best rider in the world every time. In theory there may have been a chance for every rider to win the World Championship under the old system but as already pointed out you didn't necesarily have the worlds best 16 riders competing then any more than you do now. There was also a chance that one breakdown or bad refereeing decision could ensure that there was no hope at all of winning the title. At least now these things should tend to even out over the course of the series. The qualification system is there to get riders through to the GP's and I can't think of any rider who is likely to be in contention for the title who isn't involved. Many of the tracks are poor now and that is the worst thing about the GP's in my opinion. However anybody who thinks all the tracks for one-off finals were good is wearing rose tinted glasses (more like welding goggles really). Even the hallowed Wembley finals, terrific atmosphere and all, didn't have the best racing track by far. I went to two Wembley finals and thoroughly enjoyed them but they were far from the best Speedway meetings I have been to with regard to the racing. Unfortunately bad ref's, poor tracks, super quick engines and so on have always been a feature of the World Championship. As for a rider with good machinery and little skill winning the World Championship GP series that is utter nonsense they don't even get to compete at that level without a huge amount of skill.