Aces51

You do realise that he was 30th in the Polish averages. Above riders like Milik, Thorsell, Kildemand and Sundstrom, who was 46th.

Peter Craven was my childhood hero and a rider now often underrated. Yes, he only won two World Championships but he was only 29 when he died, so who knows what he might have achieved. He could gate and win from the back and his riding style was similar to that used today rather than the stand up style then popular. Best ever rider, Mauger, most entertaining, the other PC , Peter Collins. For those not fortunate to have seen him in his prime just have a look at some of his races in the 1976 world final on YouTube.

This is not a new argument and it's not an anti Poole thing. I and others have raised it previously and it has been discussed on many occasions. The idea of team building points limits is to create a level playing field and the skill should be in selecting riders who are likely to improve their real average not identifying riders who have not ridden here for a few seasons and have an out of date unrealistically low average. To be a level playing field all riders, wherever they have ridden, have to be available on an average that reflects their current ability. It was wrong that Musielak was signed on his old average and it would be totally wrong if Drozdz achieves a 4.50 average for Belle Vue this year, becomes an asset and then in 4 years time, when he is a top rider in Poland, we bring him back on that average. It destroys the credibility of team building point limits when some of those points are realistic recently achieved averages and some are plainly not.

Signing riders on an average achieved a number of years ago, when they were learning their trade and have clearly now improved is unfair and illogical and works against those riders who have progressed and improved during the same period but continued to ride in the UK. It is a problem which is easily avoidable. All riders should be assessed on their most recent performance. If they have not ridden in the UK the previous season a formula can easily be calculated to convert their Polish, Swedish or any other league average to a UK average. It would be transparent and fair to all, so why isn't it done?

I doubt it. Monday and Wednesday, when Denmark have precedence, were chosen to overcome the problem when the Thursday CL clubs either didn't want to join the PL or, to change their race night. I don't blame them at all for that unless they had previously agreed that they would.

So to get Sundstrom and probably Iversen, when other options are available we have created a situation where there is now only one night, Monday, when the UK has precedence for fixtures. Sounds like a good deal.

Cook 8.45 to be added to Belle Vue.

What loyalty does achieve is continuity and many fans like to be able to identify with their team over a number of seasons, one of the reasons why the sport was popular in the 70's. Even better if you can retain a good level of local British riders and especially those who have progressed through the ranks from novice upwards. Of course loyalty has to be tempered with building good teams and fitting into the points limits but BelleVue have shown both historically and in recent seasons that it can be done.

I'm far too busy between races trying to find suitable stones to put under one side of the folding chair to stop it wobbling, rearranging the blanket so it doesn't keep sliding off my knee and trying to get the top back on my flask, never mind trying to remember where I put the sugar.

There's the answer to dwindling crowds and the lost generation of fans, a lending library at every track. Not only would the crowds soon be flooding back but they would have to come back for the following meeting to return their books. Genius.

Tripe with a bit of vinegar, nectar from the gods. Don'tget confused though. Tripe is what we eat up north and what they speak down south.

Like many I want to know the full team but I can understand the drip feed approach. Last week the announcement of Worrall resulted in a sizeable article in the local press. This week's announcements will probably do likewise and so will the remaining announcements. From the clubs point of view that is much more publicity than they would have received from announcing everyone at once.

If you are looking at value I think Tungate is likely to add more to his average than Morris or Kurtz. He was on fire at the end of last season, unbeaten in the Australian GP and now the outstanding rider in the Australian Championship. His confidence is going to be sky high.

Congratulations to Tungate and Fricke, first and third in the Australian Championship.

SCB, even taking your view, don't forget that many pensioners paid into the system and paid the full admission price at speedway throughout their working lives and subsidised whatever benefits you think they now receive for those who were pensioners when they were younger. You can argue about statistics as to which group was relatively better off 10,15 or 20 years ago but the fact is that few, if any of those who are now pensioners begrudged the older generation a few "perks" when they were working. We thought they had worked hard all their lives and deserved a few benefits in their later years. However, put all that aside. The fact is that many commercial organisations offer discounts to many different sections of the community because they see it as sound commercial sense to do so. Teachers, civil servants, members of certain organisations. people who buy certain brands of products, are all offered discounts ranging from buying insurance, to holidays, to purchasing many different types of goods and for entertainment and leisure activities. There's nothing altruistic in offering pensioners these same discounts. It is done for exactly the same reasons as for any other group, because businesses think it commercially advantageous for them to do it. Much as it may grieve you I suspect that as a group we will be offered even more discounts because we shall be even more attractive to businesses as there will be more of us because we are living longer.

It's free for him to watch the Colts. A good way to get him and his mates interested.

Don't be stupid. So every club that uses a rider one year is responsible for giving him a team place the following year or even two years later if nobody else does. If that is true then presumably Wolves have potentially ended Perks career.

I understand it isn't easy for those who have difficulty grasping facts but as Jacobs has said he needs to double up to continue racing it follows that Belle Vue couldn't have had him instead of Drozdz unless he was also offered a CL team slot. My opinion is that the culprits here are the BSPA who have abandoned the two Brits per team rule. They should've instead implemented it in both the PL and CL instead of encouraging teams to sign more foreign riders. That wouldn't necessarily guarantee Jacobs a team place but certainly helps British riders to get places and to progress.

I think you might be in trouble suggesting that Cradley are Wolverhampton's NL team. Belle Vue are the only PL team running a NL team. The crowds for the Colts were decent at that level but way below those for the Aces despite the excellent racing and admission fees of £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and free admission for anyone under 18.

Rightly or wrongly it was regarded as one of the best world finals at the time, nothing to do with looking back. You can look at it now on video and I agree, there are only a few good races but at the time it was the expectation, the hype, the massive crowd, Wembley, the atmosphere, the Penhall races and the Penhall factor. He was without doubt the biggest personality Speedway had and that coupled with the way he won and all of the other factors made it a fantastic and memorable experience for those of us who were there. I attended many World finals at Wembley and they were the only meetings where I always had butterflies in my stomach as I sat waiting for the meeting to start. Wembley finals were a fantastic experience regardless of the quality of the racing which never, ever, compared to what I regularly saw at Hyde Road but as an overall experience there was no comparison. For those asking about the Speedway boom years. The 1930's, the immediate post war years, by far the biggest crowds speedway has ever attracted and 1965 to about 1980. Regardless of the number of tracks the sport has never attracted so few paying fans as it does currently. Even in what was regarded as the poor years of the late 1950's the 9 or 10 remaining tracks were attracting crowds that would now be regarded as massive.

Do what they do at Belle Vue and stream the press conference on Facebook. That enables those of us who have a long journey home to watch it when we get home or the next day.

Celebrating the signing of Doyle.

I thought there was a fixed rate scale for loan fees. I can't think that anyone would want to buy KK.

Looks like our 90th Anniversary Meeting is going to be on Saturday 24th March. The longest continuously running speedway team in the world.

It would be ludicrous to change the assessment now that some teams have signed riders so yes, it probably is true.