mikebv

Saw them at the NSS many times racing together and Bickley won his fair share... And when finishing behind Bewley was often on a pace with him.. And I would imagine Bickley averaged a fair few more at the NSS than 6 plus? No doubt who is the overall better rider, but Bickley was certainly not "miles behind" Dan in those days to the extent he is today... I thought at the time they reminded me of Screen and Stonehewer riding together in the Colts, with one being destined for big things, but the other definitely having "something about him"...

Bomber must be gutted to not have been born until 1982, as he would have been a shoe in for one of those slots.....

The system would work well if the Poles had no influence on it... The fact they do is 100% down to the operating model that UK promoters have chosen to follow... In the world of bike racing for example, the BSB and WSB exist and both do well, with the reason being the BSB "know their place" and use a level of rider below the level of WSB... They ensure that their operating model and business model isn't influenced by another, (bigger) player in their field of operation... They know that the top level riders in their version of the sport will organically move on to WSB/MotoGP, so have a strong development plan through their running of lower level championships alongside their main one... Ensuring a solid constant stream of participants, whilst also putting out a good value for money offering every other weekend to their fans... The BSP should do the same, and should actually have done it around 10 years ago when Poland started to influence their business far too much.... The fact they didn't, and still don't, isn't the fault of the Poles...

???? If you want to run a national sporting competition with 3 leagues and expect fans to emotionally buy into it, (and if they dont you are 100% wasting your time, energy, and money).. Of course it does..

No it doesn't ... The sport runs Monday to Sunday using many of the same riders.. No other country wants to have access to riders EVERY single day of the week other than the UK.... Hence, so many meetings end up being ridiculous made up "Guestfests" which does it absolutely no favours whatsoever... And does nothing but destroy its credibility... Enjoy....

And you can add that this country is still the ONLY country who want to have EVERY day/night of the week available to them... Simply. When Poland started to take over the UK's place at the head of the table, then this country, (whilst it still had strength and influence), should have just "gone it alone" and set up without needing to rely on so many overseas riders.. Instead. It bent over, changed race nights to accommodate even more overseas riders, and then felt hard done to when the same riders all said "I'm off", and dropped the UK, leaving the promoters with their only route of either bringing over even more overseas riders, but of a much reduced standard from those who had said "goodbye", and letting pretty much every rider ride for two teams. (Which then renders the leagues somewhat farcical).. Too many promoters want to compete at a level that either their purse strings dont allow, or not having enough riders available at the desired level they want to run at, doesnt allow.. When all that gets aligned, (hope springs eternal), and tracks only open for business on nights their customers want, rather than nights their employees want, then maybe recovery and growth can start to be achieved..

Peterborough not too far away so maybe if both KL and Peterborough are at home on any evening, he could nip forwards and backwards and appear for both? .... The time taken between heats for track grading may just allow it maybe?

The (tens) of thousands who make up the "silent majority" and have walked away... Cardiff will have approx 100% more British Speedway fans in attendance than will colllectively attend all UK meetings on any week.. Passionate fans of the sport who, in many cases, have "given up" watching Mickey Mouse nonsense like Bomber riding for heaven knows how many teams, with those who run the sport allowing it and thinking "that's ok that, makes perfect sense".. (At the current rate of guesting, Bomber is going to get "Rider of the Season" at several clubs' end of season awards nights).. Not enough riders of a certain level? Then have less clubs at that level, or less team places per team, thus creating a surplus of riders to replace injured riders or poor performance.. Make the supply exceed the demand by making changes to your infrastructure.. In other words. "Basic business practice"... Run the sport "properly", thus making the competitions actually worth winning, and who knows, maybe many of the thousands of fans who have walked away, but still love watching the sport either via TV, or in person at "proper events", will come back to domestic Speedway? And who knows also, if the competitions became worth winning, the league's themselves may attract headline sponsors happy to be associated with them..? Something that would be a "hard sell" under the current way of running things I would imagine..

Definition of insanity... British Speedway. Repeat ad Infinitum...

I would bet a couple quid you may be correct... I remember thinking that "they may be pushing it a bit" when him and Woffy were sharing... The paymaster generals would have been "not amused" I would think..

Rides in Sweden and Denmark doesnt he? And Poland, so that's his three...

Always slightly strange how he was allowed to in the first place once the initial cover ended and the other leagues started.. Was it the "job share" with Woffy that enabled it? If so, what has changed?

Indeed he did... But 15 others didnt the same year... That is unfortunately the possibility we face today...

Sam Masters last week was No 1 in the averages in Div 1... Sam Masters last week was No 1 in the averages in Div 2....

Poland's rules and wanting to not drop a level over here. .. Riding in Sweden (no idea how they afford it given the teams appear stromger than Poland), ensures Lambert and Bewley have to be "on it" every night, whereas over here they wouldn't get challenged the same... These lads need to continually benchmark themselves against the very best to keep on that upward trajectory....

Having the 2nd Division too strong also stifles growth... At least 3 of the septets per team should be NDL HL level, with one, at most, Div 1 HL level...

He did something similar in Poland on Sunday...

Looking at crowds around a few tracks I would think some are doing ok... However, the bar isn't set very high is it? The Aces seem to be doing "alright" at 1400/1500 I would think (to my untrained eye), however, context that with 2.7 million within 45 mins drive and it doesnt seem so good for a niche, unique business that has a monopoly in the local area.. And you only have to lose a couple of clubs at Div 2 level, through having uncompetitive teams, and 1300/1400 regulars get lost to the sport.. Still... Those in the hunt for winning titles will get another circa 53 (or maybe 54?) a week to compensate for having rivals with no chances of success..

At least ten years too late...

As has happened since the year dot when "5pt second strings" became the "endangered species" each season.. Decent HL's and decent reserves are shoe ins... One lad I used to know well was a master at finishing the season at a "just right" average for the following year.. A "six point man all day long" who always ended his seasons on five point something.... Never missed a season start in many, many years..

"Ricky Wells would be a good shout".. Those words seem to be some of the oft most used on here pre season when fans are on discussing their potential teams.. And I often wonder to myself.. "How? And Why?"....

To be fair... After a slow start to the guesting game (for him), Scott has now started to come to the party.... Maybe the TV work has got in the way a bit "early doors"? Hopefully he can now make up for a bit of lost time.. Maybe now Scott is back in the guesting saddle it will encourage more riders to join in which can only add variety, as we dont see enough of some of these riders sometimes... Some of which seem quite happy it would appear to ride for no more than just a paltry six or seven teams all year... It does make a bit of a mockery of the sport when only a few riders guest, so its important that the likes of Scott start to contribute more to this wonderfully derived system... After all. It helps makes UK Speedway what it is...

Personally I wouldn't have any sympathy for clubs paying out such sums, plus also getting low crowds when 'cannon fodder' visits.... As it was 'bleeding obvious' from the outset what would happen given the imbalance in the team strengths from top to bottom in Div 2.. Yet. They ploughed on regardless... The Haves and The Have Nots.... A quite amazing plan of action which has reached its inevitable only conclusion..... And would have been even worse if some clubs hadn't got No1 riders injured meaning they would have had to run without guests which have often strengthened them... Must be a better way of running things surely? With no promotion or relegation, nor any major prize on offer, you would think that the No1 objective would be to ensure that every team, and therefore every meeting, would be competitive wouldn't you? Allowing such disparate levels of capability ultimately does no business's any good.. And they all need each other....

100%... The compound issue Phil is that what should be the pinnacle of the sport in the UK gets completely devalued by teams deciding/being allowed to not compete in it... And that devaluation is before you add in the odd "made up septets" to devalue it even further... What those who decide to avoid making the top league the absolute most important one to sell the sport with fail to realise, is that their own lower standard of product is also then equally devalued as well.... Simply. If the pinnacle of the sport in the UK isn't worth competing for in the eyes of promoters, then how are any of them worth competing for in the eyes of the fans? They have to find a way of at least 8 teams in the top league I would suggest.... With a similar amount in Div 2, allied to a reasonable level NDL at the top of the team, and development at the bottom end of it, for the rest of the teams...

And every meeting finished 40-38.......