NeilWatson

Certainly not, but I accept that certain aspects of the sport can't be changed immediately and need to be worked around to try and save the sport in the hope/expectation of better times ahead. For example (not exhaustive): availability of riders, especially top riders; availability of rented stadiums; rider costs hence pay demands; club owners subsidising clubs rather than making a handsome living from them (anyone remember Danny Dunton's gold Rolls Royce?). Ultimately it all comes down to the (lack of) money in the sport, which precludes a lot of initiatives that might make the sport more viable.; such as cheaper admission, more races, better facilities, better merchandise, maybe even a practical way of covering the track to ensure an advertised meeting goes ahead.

That's cheerful...... Remind me just why you follow this forum?

I think this sums the situation up very well: https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/eagles-v-brummies-postponed/ Eastbourne HG Aerospace Eagles Speedway have taken an early decision to cancel the planned fixture against The Birmingham Brummies on Saturday 7th August. With the sport generally encountering a very difficult time following the almost complete loss of the 2020 season and a truncated start to the 2021 season, which has been exacerbated by an unusually high number of rained off Meetings already, Club Director Ian Jordan explained the logic and reasoning behind a decision, that he accepts won’t be universally popular. Jordan said This is an incredibly tough call to make but as always, I think it’s most important to be transparent and to try to explain the decisions we make. Some will agree, some will understand, some won’t agree, but at least by outlining the facts, everyone can make their own mind up. The weather forecast for the end of the week and the weekend is particularly poor. We do have our own weather expert and she has been incredibly accurate. Only last Saturday, she was confident it would not rain at Arlington and save for a few spots it didn’t. Everyone who lives locally will know that there was torrential rain and flash downpours almost everywhere within a few miles of the track and many who did come, commented on that fact. The latest forecast for this Saturday is that a stronger belt of rain will develop early on Saturday morning through the night into Saturday with a 70-80% probability. This will continue through the day easing only by Saturday evening to around 50%. There is a likelihood of the showers being more thundery and heavy in nature with a risk of lightning from around 11am to 5pm. Given the accuracy of past forecasts we simply cannot ignore that prediction. Our crowd last Saturday was the lowest we have had since the current Promotion took over in 2019. The underlying explanations are not hard to find, the weather in the vicinity, the fact that we clashed with a 2 day Speedway GP Round and the ongoing issue of a significant number of people still isolating due to being pinged by the Dido Harding Covid App. We sustained a significant loss on the meeting and with all of the mitigating factors again in play this coming weekend, it simply comes down to a choice between what the heart says and what the head says. With regards to the Speedway GP series, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, as entertaining and exciting as it is, I believe for weekend tracks like ours; who lose 100-200 people every time we go up against it, it poses the greatest existential threat to British Speedway in general and to Eastbourne Speedway specifically. Whilst our floating supporter base chooses to sit in front of the TV and watch it, the viability and probability of being able to watch raw, exciting LIVE Speedway in the flesh recedes and diminishes and it really does become a choice between pressing the record button or hearing the Arlington turnstiles continue to click. We can try to avoid it, but it has the power to move fixtures at will and random, a luxury we don’t have. The heart will always want to get a Speedway meeting on if at all possible; and hates letting down our loyal hardcore of supporters. The head says, that if in any other form of Business, you were opening knowing you were going to suffer a significant loss of income, you would be barmy to do so. It is a well-known and generational trait in Speedway Promoters and Directors that in 99% of circumstances the heart rules the head, we get pilloried for a lot that goes wrong and some things that don’t go wrong, but right now every team is battling for survival and for once the head has to rule the heart.

I know you have strong views on this but, with respect, you have never run speedway at the Showground. I have, three times, and understand the fixture issues as well as most. Put simply there is only one option for Peterborough. Accept gratefully the dates offered, or don't run. I confess to being surprised by today's decisions, I just spoke to my parents and it's glorious in Alwalton; but I also trust the Peterborough promotion to have done their research and to be doing the right thing based the info in front of them. If the rain doesn't come that's unfortunate and will give you the opportunity to explain how poor the decion was - but it's not your (significant) money on the line. As i've said before, fixtures at the Showground are'nt cancelled without a compelling reason to do so. I have no idea when the playoffs are.

That is a slightly different issue. In 2018 when we ran on a Sunday afternoon we had a reasonable fixture list but still with significant gaps.

Far from ideal but not unusual given the other events at the showground.

To be fair Premiership Clubs are generally closer to Poole and race mid-week, the Championship clubs are predominately northern and mainly race at the weekend.

Yes, what a dumb cluck I am! The 1st August GSAs are: Rory Schlein 8.62 Steve Worrall 7.96 Danny King 7.92 Ondrej Smetana 5.00 (assessed) Stefan Nielsen 4.29 Ben Cook 4.00 (assessed) Danyon Hume *** (Rising Star) http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/championshipteamissues21

Rory Schlein 8.58 Danny King 8.27 Steve Worrall 7.69 Ondrej Smetana 5.00 (assessed) Stefan Nielsen 4.19 Ben Cook 4.00 (assessed) Danyon Hume *** (Rising Star) http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/championshipteamissues21

SGP website shows Janowski first and Laguta second, presumably by virtue of Janowski having a lower GP number?

The rules are ambiguous and/or contradictory as to what happens once a RS rider goes into the top 5. From SR 012.3.1 : Rising Star riders, who as per SCB reg. 012.3 (Team Line-ups), shall move into a team’s 1-5 will be subject to SCB reg. 012.4 (Facilities). In the event a Rising Star is absent, with a facility permitted, he can be replaced by; i. any guest rider from the Rising Star list, of that teams initial permitted Team Declaration rating or below, or ii. Rider Replacement, at the Team Managers discretion. 012.3 TEAM LINEUPS a) the top rider (by MA) must ride at #1 b) the 2nd to 5th riders (by MA) can ride in any position #2-#5. c) the 6th or 7th rider (by MA) must ride at either #6 or #7 012.4 FACILITIES Absent rider(s) 1 - 3 by MA G or RR 1 absent rider 4 - 5 by MA RR (unless RR is already being used then it’s a G) Both riders 4 - 5 RR x 1, G x 1 at the Team Managers discretion Absent 6 - 7 G No facility G with an MA of 25% lower that the absent rider, in accordance with the appropriate minimum MA for that league. The 5% enhancement for home riders is not Applicable in this situation

We had pretty much that at Peterborough, my father was Start Marshal and I wore the blue overalls. We only had five in the team as 'red' acted as assistant during the race. We used to rake our gate after every race too.

I hadn't grasped that you were suggesting two changes, sorry. From 1st August there is 13.64 available for a double change, or 8.50 to replace Hurry alone. It will be interesting to see who Kent have up their sleeve.

Awarding a race comes under FIM rules rather than GP rules. 70.10.17 Finish of a heat The finish of a heat shall occur in the case of any of the following circumstances. a) when the front part of the front wheel of the motorcycle (whilst attached to the machine) passes over the finishing line after completing the appropriate number of laps provided the Competitor is in contact with his motorcycle. b) when the Referee has awarded the heat as provided for in these regulations. c) If the Referee has cause to stop a heat after the leading Rider has passed the start/finish line to commence the last lap, the Referee has the sole discretion to award the heat based upon the positions of the competitors at the time the heat was caused to be stopped. The disqualified Rider will be awarded no points and any competitors behind the disqualified Riders being advanced one place. d) Where racing incidents etc. have reduced the riders available to take part in the re run of any heat to a single competitor, the Referee may award the appropriate number of points to the remaining competitor without the need for a further rerun.

There certainly is: The 2 Riders who finish 3rd in each of the Semi Finals will be 5th and 6th in the Final Meeting Classification, with the higher ranked rider from Intermediate Classification 5th and the lower ranked rider 6th. This rule will apply if both riders complete, or fail to complete the Semi Final. If only one of these riders fail to complete the Semi Final for any reason, he will be placed 6th in the final meeting classification. The 2 Riders who finish 4th in each of the Semi Finals will be 7th and 8th in the Final Meeting Classification, with the higher ranked rider from Intermediate Classification 7th and the lower ranked rider 8th. This rule will apply if both riders complete, or fail to complete the Semi Final. If only one of these riders fail to complete the Semi Final for any reason, he will be placed 8th in the final meeting classification. As Lambert was excluded first he is deemed to finish 4th, Madsen 3rd in the first semi-final.

Where do you get 14 points from? Kent have 2.78 points plus the average of the replaced rider to use for changes, while Troy Batchelor’s converted average would be 11.10.

It used to be the case that helmets had to be worn if practice starts were to be done, for a slow ride round bare heads were OK. That could have changed though. When I was a Promoter I always insisted that the riders didn't put their helmet on until they'd been introduced.

Speaking from personal experience, going solo on merchandise is a big financial commitment with, overall, a very poor rate of return. Take shirts as an example - which sizes do you stock, how many of each size, what's the minimum order quantity, where do you store the stock, who sells it on your behalf. Then ask the same questions (except size perhaps) about each line of merchandise. A specialist like Johnny can deal with all these points through economies of scale and knowledge of the business. There is a good reason 'iainb' why four of the six Premier League Clubs choose to use Jaybea's services.

With almost every rider in the top league doubling-down at the moment how would you make it work without dramatically watering down the product?

There's always been a rule stating how a rider is to be replaced should none of the other facilities (and that list is long) be appropriate.

Yes

I don't believe that is possible, precisely because the RS riders don't have a Green Sheet average.

He's not Ipswich's RS rider

No, Anders Rowe remains a Rising Star rider, but he isn’t nominated as an RS rider in Ipswich’s 1-7

It is. If Rowe is missing and a guest is brought in to replace him, he is replaced according to his average and the +5% applies at home. Correct, and he can guest for another 4* Rising Star regardless of his own average.