Dave_minall

It's going to take a good 12-24 months to finalise and move everything over to Netflix (if that's the plan) so nothing will change in the short term. That's if the deal even goes through!

I think it's far too late to switch to one league now. Some championship teams have already named riders, if the BSPA did a u-turn and made it so, it would make a farce of an already farcical situation.

It was confirmed in the comments that it's simply Mark being Doyley's mechanic for 26. Incredibly tone deaf from Jason.

I could be mistaken on this - you could be right! I was of the impression that Chris owned the stadium and everything within.

I have a lot of respect for the late Tim Stone - he was definitely marmite to a lot of people, but he was always very nice, welcoming and respectful to us during my (short) time riding for the Mavericks. You always knew where you stood with him and he never minced his words. Plus the man lived and breathed Newport and it's such a shame things went the way they did there. I'll never forget we used to go down there every Sunday in the winter to practice, and planned to sleep in the van the night before, he offered us the option of putting our van in the pits (there was a lot of travellers in the area and often targeted Newport as a place to pitch up) and letting us sleep in a VIP box with heating - to which we gratiously accepted. He said "under no conditions are you to go outside before I get here in the morning though, the guard dog will have your pants down" - one night someone tried to break in and we found a pair of absolutely shredded jeans in the pits the morning after 😂😂😂

It's been said but every club is different. If it's Sheffield you're basically buying a ticket to put guys on a track, the fence and some equipment. If it's say Ipswich you'd most likely be buying the entire venue with everything that comes within. Privately owned clubs will fetch much more money (Ipswich, Leicester, Kings Lynn, the list goes on) but you'd have complete control. Tracks that operate under a leasing arrangement would obviously be much cheaper but don't come with the freedom to do as you see fit with the place.

I've got respect for Louis for doing this. Whether he did it for financial reasons or because he can't harmonise with what the future of speedway looks like in the UK, this must have been a deeply saddening decision to come to. If you cut him he would bleed ipswich speedway and he's also walking away from the legacy that his dad built. To decide to call it a day must have been the toughest decision of his life. But at the end of the day, if he deems the sport is no longer financially viable in Suffolk, I myself would rather walk away with some money in my pocket than risk bankruptcy at the age of 56.

This signing this early tells me Nicholls knows something we don't. There will either be the same league format as 2025 or he doesn't have a TV job in 2026. I am surprised though that he's not back riding for Oxford next year in the championship.

The news of Nicholls signing for Plymouth in 2026 says one of 2 things to me: There won't be one big league in 2026 Nicholls won't have a TV job in 2026 He probably knows something we don't, but I find that signing to be very interesting.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the announcement, I have great memories of that place and missed it dearly. As soon as I saw they were coming back I got in touch to see if I could help them in any way - to which they accepted! I know the name isn't everyone's cup of tea but I'm the guy who designed their new bull logo (see below) I can't wait til tapes up now - I'll be there!

I actually have a feeling that there will still be the status quo in 2026. I feel like the introduction of Redknapp at this specific time when rumours are rife are perfectly (and intentionally) timed. Think of it like this: Harry Redknapp joins a team specifically built to re-build and improve the profile of Modern British speedway. His influence brings in much bigger/high profile league sponsers to the premiership, bringing in much more capital than we've seen in a long while. I very much doubt a championship team would turn down that kind of income/exposure. I can see 7 teams running 7 man teams in both leagues in 2026. Glasgow have previously said they'll never step up unless it's financially viable for them. With big sponsors involved, I can see them pulling the trigger. We then only need 2 more teams to join in to make this happen. Personally I can see Plymouth and potentially Redcar joining in as well.

Artem Laguta posted this on his instagram an hour ago. Hinting at something, or farming for social media interaction? 👀

This is purely speculation but one assumes that the 2 points were deducted because perhaps that meeting that was conducted shouldn't have gone ahead because rider visa's were not valid at that time? I'm not keeping up to date with this in great detail, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Either way, it's great news they are back. We can't afford to lose any more tracks and fair play to the Facennas for stepping in. We owe a massive gratitude to them.

She can see then 😆

Any bets on Kvech being excluded?

Has she EVER made the right decision? Genuinely struggling to remember a time where she had a choice to make and actually got it right.

Just saw this, the machine examination timetable for tomorrow night, I think it's safe to say now that both Kurtz and Doyle are in attendance now 😆

Agreed, but for all we know the interview with PM could have been last week. The specific date of the interview taking place wasn't mentioned.

Phil Morris said in a podcast yesterday that he hasn't heard from Doyley to say he's not riding. He also alluded to the fact that if Doyley leaves it too late to tell him he's not riding, then Harris and Ellis will take his place as it's too short notice to get Madsen in. He said that "unless Jason tells me he's not riding, I'm going to assume he is" in as many words. Check it out here

Poole have clearly banked their entire season on Cairns coming in in July and reigniting the team, but by then the damage could already be done.

It's basic physics - a lighter rider would increase the power to weight ratio of the machine and therefore SHOULD result in a faster race. The nuance to this is that there is a balancing act between drift and traction that makes our sport as beautiful as it is. I remember hearing Woffy say in an interview about 12 months ago stating that riders like Zagar would never be world champ because of how tall he is, but compare him to Vaculik who is arguably just as tall walk away with a Bronze medal in 2023. I think it's worth investigating, not necessarily implemented, but it would be interesting to see two riders going head to head (for instance Ben Cook vs NKI) then see what the results would be if they added weight to Cook's bike to make the weight even between the two. My opinion on it is that it probably does have an impact, but arguably not as much as some riders are making it out to be. Engines can be tuned, timing can be changed etc to suit riders and their build. Screeny was always one of the more heavier set riders towards the end of his career and he was still dominating at championship level up until his retirement.

One would assume common sense would prevail and the rider on the warning would be excluded and the rider who touched the tapes would be allowed back in the re-run, but on a warning also.

Another reason to give a P45. The track wasn't looked after well enough despite looking alright to begin with. It's a huge shame because the lack of a professional track man is hampering the team performance and therefore the crowds.

Just checked, it's John Priest. P45 please!

Who's the track man at Birmingham? Every time management from Birmingham are interviewed they say the track isn't as expected. Surely they should consider sacking him and getting a professional in. Professional tracks should never see a blue groove - it's abysmal.