Dave_minall

@Biffa Your eyes are actually bang on. The jaw sits to the right if you draw a line from the top teeth down 😂

Check back. I at no point did I say I was a fan. I love the sport but have no allegiences to any team as mine closed down.

I am that's the funniest thing 😂😂😂

Quelle Surprise!

Funny because if you do the maths, it's not a 30% reduction across the board: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th all get a 30.00% reduction whereas 2nd gets 27.08%, 10th gets 27.2%, 11th gets 27.08%, 12th gets 26.96%, 13th gets 26.82% and 14th gets 26.67% Very bizarre, so you're actually punished less for finishing 2nd than winning.

The news was a new logo. Funny actually because I reached out to them a couple months ago asking if they'd want me to design them a new team logo for the new season (I even suggested it from the perspective of "this could be a fresh start for you under the new management) and they promptly ignored me 😂

He is a commentator yes but has no stake in the business if my memory serves me correct.

Yeah I thought the blue thing was a deflated air fence waiting for a structure to attach it to, but like I said my eyes may be deceiving me.

Northampton posted this image on their facebook recently. It's hard to tell but do I see an air fence waiting to be erected or do my eyes deceive me?

You're bang on with this I'll say that. I rode myself in the early 2000s and would often be in the pits at Wolverhampton for the 2nd half racing - it was 50/50 whether Derek Bodley would allow us to race after the meeting. Me and my dad now have an in joke whenever we watch speedway and quote Derek on the regular when a meeting is dragging on - "no 2nd half tonight lads" would be his phrase of choice. It wasn't so bad for us as we lived 20 minutes away, but my dad would have to knock off work an hour early to get us there on time so I do understand it's not easy.

I notice you're always quick to jump in when someone criticises BSN Ian - you're welcome to your opinion however! I'll say this though - your reply states that the free stream was a lesser quality because it was free? Not exactly a great idea from a business perspective is it?

I don't see why a proper 2nd half can't be implemented at tracks that aren't involved in the NDL. Put together a little (and more importantly) local team of say 4 riders and have 4 races and a nominated 5th race (similar to a heat 15) - keep it fast and flowing with pushing off the next race immediately after the previous race has finished, it could all be said and done in 10-15 minutes (barring tapes issues, crashes etc) Have an overlap of riders in the NDL to give them more experience if necessary. Everyone gets 2 races each + 4 riders get an extra race. I understand that there will be a cost to the rider, which is an issue, but if the riders are local (ish) it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I don't think I'll have much choice this year!

Why not both? The teams no participating in the NDL should be forced to host 3-5 2nd half races really.

I read the press release as that they would be in charge of the premiership in 26 because the powers that be haven't found a commercial partner. I know there's a lot of positive feedback about BSN but personally I think it's still a bit ropey to me. I watched the free stream from Ipswich and one of the races was viewed entirely from the start line cam so you could only see the riders for about 3 seconds per lap 😂

Only 6 teams confirmed is a travesty, but the bigger issue is only 1 home / 1 away per team, a total of 10 meetings per team. This is absolutely nowhere near enough meetings for the youngsters to develop. Why not 2 home and 2 away?! I know this was a very long time ago but in my short stint in the mavericks we rode 24 meetings in one season.

I think that he'll get snapped up. He'll come in on a VERY low average due to the new 8% reduction rule, he's got Sean Wilson & Gary Havelock behind him - he's also lined up bikes, suits, a van, a mechanic etc. If he's not signed before the season I reckon someone will sign him for injury replacement at some point.

Danny King also went straight into the elite league at 16 if I remember right. He didn't do too badly...

I will be very surprised to see Kemp back at Leicester after Stewart Dickson's very public comments about Kemp's attitude towards the tail end of last season.

I struggle to believe that Kemp would be back. I know his average would fit but from what I remember Dickson has cut all ties with him due to some butting of heads late last season.

I always thought the AGM was minimum 2 days? I have a vague memory of them all gathering in spain for 5 days in the past.

Yeah it's a grey area. He's technically self employed as well so it's not even as if he's being "hired" in the traditional sense so I've NO idea what the rules are there.

I know integrity is something that's lacking from the BSPA, but I do believe them when they say "at least 5 clubs" - Ipswich probably tentatively agreed to run if they can't find another team to take their place. That's my assumption anyway.

As far as I know as he has an unspent conviction it IS legal to refuse employment, but I may be wrong.

Lets be honest here, the only thing that really matters with the AGM and in 2026 is which teams are lining up to tapes. Hopefully this is the real rock-bottom and that things can only improve and strengthen from here. It'll be a herculean task with everyone involved pulling their weight. Surely it can't get much worse right? ...right?!