Humphrey Appleby

I believe they actually were, at least according to the FIM records. In the WTC, it would seem the qualifying round involving England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand was to determine the ACU representative (although Australia became affiliated to the FIM in their own right around 1976, although NZ not until 1984). In the World Pairs, it's true that both England and Scotland appeared in at least one World Final together, but one assumes they were considered GB 1 and GB 2. A number of countries entered multiple pairs over the years, so it's not an unreasonable assumption. Certainly the records I've seen listed 'England' as Great Britain, and then Scotland separately. Of course, this being speedway, the rules were probably made up as they went along and trying to make sense of it now is probably futile...

Can't swear to it, but I seem to remember hearing that BSI were discussing a GP in Las Vegas some years ago.

Simmo really provides the highlight of the magazine (I do hope his column isn't ghostwritten ). I actually didn't know a lot about Don Godden, but I thought his tribute piece was excellent.

It's already been tried in the WTC, circa 2000 and 2001. I personally thought it was a better format because it allowed for team riding, but it seems it was perceived to be open to manipulation. The current format isn't too bad, although I'd prefer 4 rider teams + 1 reserve as it would probably make for more competitive racing earlier in the competition.

To be precise, Northern Ireland technically isn't included under 'Great Britain' in speedway terms as the whole of Ireland is separately affiliated to the FIM. In years gone by, the ACU also covered much of the Commonwealth, hence why Australian and New Zealanders rode for 'Great Britain'.

Because even if you could persuade the MCG to lay a track on their hallowed turf, you wouldn't get anything close to 90,000 people...

As with all these sorts of bodies, some delegates will be clueful and even hard-working, whilst others will just be in it for the jollies. I guess the main problem with the FIM though, is that track racing falls a long way down the list of priorities; behind the likes of MotoGP and Superbikes Only compared to the rest of the sport, which does not set the bar very high. The SGP and SWC still seem to have failed to capitalise on the corporate market in the way that other motorsport disciplines have. For example, the list of sponsors remains distinctly minor league, and whilst we'll no doubt be told they're actually paying loads of money, it doesn't really matter if they are as little of it accrues to speedway itself. The FIM sold the golden (or at least the bronze) goose for a relative handful of beans, and the sport itself doesn't even get any of those.

I seem to recall Carl Blackbird having a bit of a hoodoo over Hans Nielsen for a while, for some bizarre reason.

Hmmm.. small envelopes thrust into big hands was how I think Brian Glanville described the stealing of the FIFA Presidency in 1974, which set the scene for the current crooks in charge. Not sure that BSI or even the FIM are anything close to that league, although they possibly wish they were...

Doesn't matter to IMG/BSI, provided they cough up the rights fees. Not sure what the exact arrangement is in Italy, but GPs at the smaller venues are usually subsidised by the clubs, local authorities and/or tourist boards. That said, doesn't Terenzano stage fairly regular speedway, so it's not like they're having to build a track for just one event.

I actually have a bit of sympathy with respect to the problems of track preparation. With the best will in the world, BSI are dependent on the quality of materials and pre-existing preparation when they front up for a GP. Sure given enough time and expertise they could produce a decent surface, but a couple of days isn't enough if the groundwork hasn't been done, and undoubtedly it's logistically impractical if not cost prohibitive for a curator to turn up much more in advance. In an ideal world they'd boot the poorly performing tracks off the circuit, but equally they'd need to find a replacement track/promoter to front up the money...

It's not about sharing the GPs around, but who's willing to stage them. AFAIK, Daugavpils and Krsko relied heavily on local authority support and have 'done their wedge' which is why they're now off the calendar. Russia is simply a nightmare to organise anything in, and as Mr. Rising pointed out a few weeks ago, promoters there have the unfortunate tendency to be assassinated...

Sounds like an Old Firm Derby.. Bila Hora I believe it's called in Czech...

I think he wanted to...

Anything else...

Depends entirely where you go, and much of the States is safer than the UK. I suspect there's also more to that Sarasota story than meets the eye - two young lads without a car turning up in a ghetto well away from where they were staying. Very strange... No money in it for them...

Can only remember a couple of occasions in recent times where the pitch was unfit, and both were in the West Indies which is well-known for having a totally incompetent governing body. By contrast, the likes of the ECB have put a lot of effort into giving matches the best chance of going ahead even after torrential downpours. Speedway admittedly doesn't have the same money to do this, but I'm still a bit surprised that no-one really seems to have investigated more robust materials or even something as simple as cricket style covers (i.e. with pitched roofs). It's not a matter of what anyone thinks about him (and who incidentally I have no particular views on). It was his company though, and he was ultimately responsible for the show.

Whilst I appreciate it happened under the 'previous' regime, the weather in Sweden is unpredictable all the time, yet even the smallest clubs there generally know how to get meetings on. That an organisation running the sport's premier competition could not manage to do the same was an absolute embarrassment. All speedway fans understand that even with the best track preparation, the weather can sometimes intervene and most are accepting of that. Nevertheless, despite the propaganda that attempted to divert the blame to everyone but BSI, most fans recognised the Gothenburg fiasco was down to sheer complacency. Yes, the locals undoubtedly stuffed up, but BSI were responsible.

Agree that Stockholm is infinitely more attractive from a tourist perspective, but what were attendances like in Stockholm last time GPs were held there...?

Who the best 16 riders are, is another one of those things that's a matter of opinion. I also think having qualifiers is necessary to ensure variety, and that the whole thing doesn't become stale as it did a couple of seasons ago. Whether a distinct qualifying competition is the best way of doing it I don't know, but if those that just missed out on the SGP knew they could still get a wildcard opportunity, it might add more interest to the whole thing.

Think it's fair enough to have a local wildcard where the host nation has one or no regular GP riders, but otherwise it should go to the next available standby rider.

You tell us! I imagine it again comes down to finding a promoter willing to stand the readies, or BSI actually putting up the cash themselves. If someone in Stockholm is willing to pay more though, then Malilla is the obvious candidate for the chop unless someone imagines Sweden could somehow support three GPs.

I really enjoyed this issue.

How hard can it be in this day-and-age to run a few thousand race cards through a colour laser printer before every GP...? Ermm.. isn't that called the heat format which has been pretty much the same since the 1930s? Whilst I'd agree the absence of rider names is no big deal if one uses the Continental (German?) style for the layout, with modern technology it's hardly impossible to do the draw and publish a complete race card in time for the GP itself.

Again according to the BSI's own accounts, the FIM can terminate in the event of late payment or a change in the legal control of BSI. Would have therefore thought there was the opportunity to re-negotiate when IMG(UK) took over BSI, but the takeover seems to have passed unmentioned at the FIM.