mikebv

I think you would be surprised just how important EVERY sponsor is to balance the books... Attendances alone at the vast majority of tracks simply don't cover the costs.. And good crowds sometimes only go to offset the poor ones (how much did Poole lose in the Ipswich match alone, was it over £20k that was quoted..).. Hopefully all recouped last night, but it shows that getting weekly (guaranteed) sponsors money, means a constant income stream, which supports the club when the fanbase can fluctuate so wildly week on week..

Things are going so well down on the South Coast now, it looks like Poole will 'Hoover up' another title... Unless of course, something pulls the rug from under them.. I'll get me coat..

Got to hand it to the Poles... NOTHING gets in the way of their Leagues.. They know who holds the real power in the sport.... He who pays the piper calls the tune.... The FIM look quite spineless against them don't they?

The car is currently parked outside Tescos... He's setting off as soon as he can find 50p to put in the slot... Bit of a decision to be made though whether to drive the Postman Pat one or the Fireman Sam one.. The Postman Pat one has the better accompanying song but the Fireman Sam one has a big bell... (Which is more appropriate maybe?)...

Wow.. Didn't know Bruce was such a cricket fan..

Now I don't believe you are being quite honest with everyone on here with this posting JCF are you? Personally I am quite happy to give you the benefit of any doubt that you could make it at 'close of play' from Birmingham to Poole for the start of the meeting at the required 'light speed'... However... Your travelling through the required 'wormholes' of deeper Space to reach your destination, I can accept... But a girlfriend? Really? Come on JCF, what do you take me for?

Spot on... When riders rode in both of the top divisions it was to give them a chance to develop their ability against better riders, to see if they could make the leap into the top league permanently, and then further into international class, once they became established top division standard riders.. Now it's simply done to allow riders without Polish and Swedish contracts to make money, and all it has done is result in some clubs racing on nights they would prefer not to, to accomodate these riders' earning potential and deliver a fixture list driven by when the riders are available to ride rather than when the customers will be available to attend. .

Finals now are contested without a track grade in the GP's, as those who run it finally realised that most finals when given a track grade before they are ran, became a gate and go non event on a smooth one inside line track.. And we hear time and time again on commentary that "racing will improve" as a dirt line appears... Therefore, as you suggest, make that dirt line appear from heat one..

Interesting to see the new BSI Boss at the NSS on Monday... Maybe with Cardiff running in September, if a success, then could there be another GP in the UK? Maybe the first one so a large gap between them and it would set the series off with a cracking start as we know the racing will be "out of the top drawer"... With the additional seating I would think around 8000 -10000 would be possible, wasn't it 7000 at the SWC?, and I am sure more seating or standing could be added to that.. I think September might actually benefit Cardiff given school holidays have finished and it's the penultimate one so, hopefully, everything to race for.. Be good to see two GP's in the UK to raise the profile of the Sport further, and the NSS and Cardiff would give a perfect balance between one delivering superb racing and the other providing the 'flagship event'...

Saw him ride at the NSS against the Colts against Bewley, Smith, Bickley.. Great to watch and also a great showman... Just simply one of those 'old school' riders unfortunately the sport is now devoid of.. Still plenty of years ahead of him too, even given his age..

The vicious circle of riders needing more rides to pay for expensive equipment and the maintainence of it... Which then means they end up riding here, there and everywhere for everyone and anyone who requires their services.. Which then renders the competitions they compete in devoid of credibility... Which then reduces the fan base further year on year.. Which then means admission costs that many who still believe in the Sport find prohibitive.... Which then reduces the amount of teams financially able to continue in the Sport.. Somebody really needs to stop this circle before it reaches its inevitable conclusion, but who will it be? And ultimately you have to ask, is there a will to do so?

Not a tartan flask to be seen... Not even a camping chair... And I presume no chance of a tartan blanket (with or without tassels)... What sort of Speedway are they running in Poland? It will never catch on, you mark my words...

I think Poland have it just about right. Whilst U21 you can stay at reserve.. Then its over to your capability.. If your not cutting it at reserve in the Championship then, harsh reality that it is, it may not be the sport for you if you have designs to make a career out of it..

Racing is cracking every week from Poland isn't it? Top notch riders, riding under pressure for their place every week, in front of ultra passionate demanding fans, delivers great, on the very edge, Speedway.. Brilliant sport when done this well..

Col, Shamek got lots of drive coming out of bend four and sent Milik into home straight fence.. Wrecking his front wheel spindles with his foot rest and causing a headache or two.. In the re run, Milik rode Buzz hard on same bend four and Buzz had front wheel touched by Milik dirt deflector and lost control and fell on home straight, with Fricke taking to the air after riding over Buzz's bike.. Eventful heat, to say the least..

Great race Kenny Bjerre...

Take a bow Master Drabik... Huge future that lad I would suggest..

Even more so if there is a crash now..

Don't think he did too much wrong.. Maybe the dirt deflector touched his front wheel?.. He took his foot off the foot rest and brought the back end round on the straight which caused him more issues than Milik

Bloody Hell... Going down like flies this weekend.... Not sure why Buzz came off, plenty of room left..

Ouch! Milik a very lucky lad to walk away from that.. Think Shamek owes him a new front wheel at least...

Obviously a business plan would need to be gone into much greater detail than a very high level proposal.. However, I am sure there are are good few clubs who get no extra income and currently smash 800 punters a week, just as there will be clubs who own everything and wouldnt get 800 through the door.. My team for example if they ran on a Saturday night with a quintet including for example Craig Cook at one, Kyle Bickley at four and Leon Flint at five would get 1400 minimum I would suggest, which at £14 in would deliver well over break even I would guess if they were 'only' paying out a max £7500 in total for effectively the home and away matches in that round.. Getting 100 riders in the first place may also be a stretch, and the bottom rung level will need to NL reserve standard I would think such is the talent pool that currently exists.. However, from small acorns and all that.. Bottom line is, British Speedway needs credible competitions which it currently doesn't possess... Riders pay out stupid amounts (incredibly as they are just running to stand still as everyone does the same), and need to earn almost every evening to make it pay, therefore more meetings are required for them to do that... And to keep fans interested these meetings need to include different teams, with different riders, rather than the current same old, same old visitors, sometimes coming two or three times a season within just a couple of months.. And to ensure the fans can get there, meetings need to be ran on nights when each promoter believes it his or her best crowd level opportunity.. How we get to 'utopia' is open to conjecture, but one thing blatantly is for sure, and that is the current operating model is simply miles away from being fit for purpose, therefore it needs a Nationally joined up collective fix which includes all the teams working together for the greater good... It cannot keep up its current failing plan and let any more tracks close I would think as it will become eventually untenable..

Some food for thought Brian.. I would go one step further and run initially with five riders per team.. Graded A to E with one rider from each grade or two from a lower grade if you don't want anyone from the grade above. Eg you can have two B grades rather than having an A rider.. To take subjectivity and criticism away from any third party arbiter just use averages to determine the grades with an overall mean team average set to ensure no team can cherry pick the best rider from each grade.. Twenty teams would mean 100 riders needed, race home and away once and that's 38 matches.. Teams then split into groups of five for the play offs. 1st to 5th, 6th to 10th etc etc Home and away means another 8 matches to determine the winners of each group.. Give each group a trophy to ride for named after past iconic riders.. Maybe for the top group add in a 'play off final' to be raced by the top two teams to determine the overall seasons champions? Seems to bring decent crowds in and TV like them.. Strength of league would need to be Championship Lite I would suggest... To make it more interesting I would run with a prize fund rather than points money and suggest £7500 a night be up for grabs with £4.5k to the winners and £3k to the losers. This gets shared as seen fit by the teams dependent on rider level but it would deliver an average £900 per rider for the winners and £600 for the losers.. A prize up for grabs will give credibility and context a meeting too in a way that just paying out points money doesn't, and can form part of any marketing to attract attention and give it value in the eyes of the wider public.. And you can then do a presentation each evening of the 'cheques'.. £14 an adult and free for U19's in Education.. 800 punters would bring in £11200 without any bar and food take, car park, programmes or merchandise income.. A ridiculously low number of punters used as an example but I would suggest where most clubs currently are in terms of attendances..? Overall, It would bring a variety of teams rather than the same visitors constantly coming which should stimulate interest and the final groups should be close as they will be against teams of around your level.. And of course a big finale should deliver well above 800!

How very dare he? He should be ashamed of himself... Dribble, Dribble, Dirty rider, Dribble, Dribble, Should be banned, Dribble, Dribble... etc etc etc..

And we finish with a "Veeona".. Fair play though, easy to criticise.. He got Leon Madsen spot on all night..