Bagpuss

Presumably the rules were changed in response to the Cradley team of a few seasons back?

Was that Burgergate? As I remember the insinuation there was that Wolbert’s food poisoning might have been made up, whereas in 2010 every EL team had an official number eight who could ride as often as the team manager wanted them to which contributed to Pawlicki riding so few meetings. It was a massive loophole and for a change Poole got shafted rather than doing the shafting which I’m sure the vast majority of those watching thoroughly enjoyed

Astonishing that in an age where health and safety is generally so strict that something like this can happen.

It may well be 2+2=5 but when you think about it I reckon there is a good chance it could be true. Just riding 25-30 meetings in a league where he could hold his own and where he will be based anyway for most of the year makes sense, plus there is obviously a desire to race there as he does so in Oz. Also seeing Pedersen and Hancock still competing in their forties must encourage him that he can still do it. It would certainly go down well with British fans.

Come to think of it 1990 is probably the year I’m thinking of.

Would that have been 1991? I can vaguely remember him assisting Mark Loram into the back straight fence at Lynn on a Bank Holiday Monday morning that year.

I expect they have offered terms to riders which have been turned down and are playing a game of brinkmanship to see who cracks first.

Can’t possibly be geoff has told us so several times

You are right but I wouldn't have thought that’s the kind of situation the curators will be most interested in, they will be looking primarily at tracks with poor equipment, bumpy surfaces, holes, dangerous conditions etc. Seem to remember Plymouth as well as Poole having their issues last year but essentially every track needs to buy into this idea and take the advice on board rather than pretending everything is perfect. As a footnote Lynn have said publicly that the track will be less grippy next season which can only be a good thing, as long as it’s not so slick that it’s bald.

£19 will be more than some Premiership tracks. Speedway is just too expensive nowadays I’m afraid.

The last line of the statement is the key one - having the correct equipment. Absolutely vital for everyone track. One assumes their first visit will be to BH15.

If there are folk on here who know Keith Chapman I’d have thought it would be far more beneficial to create dialogue directly with him on this subject rather than venting on here which ultimately achieves very little.

Exactly. Every single winter several people get their knickers in a twist over a thread which is just a bit of fun. Bonkers.

Horrendous news, difficult to put into words. RIP.

Very often, he is the misery guts of the Championship section.

I don’t think people are unhappy with Poole necessarily, more the system which allows them to have two Aussie reserves while there are equivalent Brits unemployed.

They absolutely should ahead of Australians. If they are for example under 23 and have Championship experience and / or have excelled in the NL then there must be a system to allow them to get a team spot ahead of foreign riders.

Greaves perhaps but the others especially Kinsley haven’t been around that long. These riders should be guaranteed spots if they want to ride up to a certain age.

Absolutely, it’s long overdue. Riders like Hume and Greaves shouldn’t be without team spots while there are Aussies at number seven in some teams IMO. But you are right, teams build as strong as they can and have no obligation to develop Brits while it’s not in the rules.

Looks like a long tail to me, can see changes to this team within a couple of months.

PL = Polish League?

Maybe not on the world stage any more but still a GP rider and in the context of Britain he’s still a big name I’d argue, albeit one coming to the twilight of his career.

Are there any other sports where cup draws are tinkered with after they’ve been made?

That’s something else you’d think the speedway promotion could arrange with the minimum of fuss.

Is this not a wider issue though with the Showground as a whole? Surely if the designated disabled parking spaces are used for every event there then blue badge holders are being shafted every time the place opens its doors. The bottom line is that for speedway the EoES has acres of room to park people with mobility issues much, much closer to the track and the main stand and there must be some way of doing it while weeding out the mickey takers and stopping people from parking where they shouldn’t.