mikebv

Because it does.... And looking at the crowds this year at the meetings the TV companies (and more importantly maybe), the sponsors, will be delighted with their huge investment.. Regular full houses regardless of whether Friday, Saturday or Sunday, top names on view, and hard, intense close racing from first race to last... The hard and intense standard of racing no doubt down to the money that these lads are on, the pressure to keep that position in the team that brings the riches, and the fervent tribal fan base generated in Poland.. The Speedway World now does revolve around Poland... As those who pay the piper, calls the tune....

This to me is where Speedway loses its credibility through having needless guests.. They should just run with six riders, Max Fricke allowed to take one ride and the riders below Bjerre being allowed to take as many of them as Mark Lemon wants up to a maximum of seven rides per rider.. eg Worrall could take all the other three but would need to miss HT 15.. Name a number eight to give cover if any other rider gets injured (eg Kyle Bickely as he is a Colt?), and I am sure the racing wouldn't have suffered, nor the contest be imbalanced. (And let's face it that can happen anyway at anytime)... I can only presume guest riding is now such an integral part of a riders overall package to make the sport pay, it gets used time and time again as the first and only thought..? Be better off giving the extra rides and earning potential to the team mates of the missing rider I would say..

At least 52 - 38... A three man Aces team again I would say.. Fricke, Bjerre and either Worrall or Bewley (but invariably not both)... Four riders took 15 rides between them at KL and got six points.. Can see a similar occurrence tomorrow..

Hope these two teams reach the play off final... Would be a cracking two legs I reckon.. Was great to watch two teams going for it with real intensity at the NSS and the score on the night belied how close some of the races finished... On another night Kent could have been so much closer going into the 2nd leg.. Great to see two evenly matched teams full of young lads giving their all.. From reports, both sets of fans at the two legs went away with nothing but a positive outlook on NL Speedway.

I know what I would do if I had two jobs and one paid me several thousand more than the other.. Especially when one of the jobs is only yours as long as you perform due to the 'waiting list' for the role, whilst the other is pretty much yours until you decide you don't want it any more.. And even if you do lose the lesser paying job, someone else will give you some work on similar money with pretty much an immediate start.. As I say, under those conditions, I know, what I would focus on, even sub consciously...

Most tracks are 'large' in the Premiership now so he really should be used to them having spent plenty of weeks riding in Poland... Get out of the start first, go down the straight and then turn left, is pretty much the same at every track.. Seems to do it in Poland and the U21 World Champs against better opposition quite well.. If he genuinely is 'a talent' he should be doing much better over here.. Really talented riders,over the years have delivered pretty much from the off 6 to 7 a match, regardless of whether they have seen the track before...

It was really. .. Both Shanes and Castagna should have been available for one of the domestic National Titles up for grabs in British Speedway.. The reality is, on the day, Birmingham had FOUR fit riders to take up FOUR places. Good odds that.... Letting riders, and other federations, dictate to British Speedway when it can (and in this case cannot), run a credible offering to the public is a large part of the sports malaise... And shouldn't be accepted..

Anecdotal and subjective evidence obviously, but... The racing in Poland (at all three levels not just the top league), does appear to be closer, with much more aggression shown.. I saw many races yesterday, with many not involving the out and out superstars, which had riders 'throwing bikes at each other'... I can only assume the financial rewards (and the pressure to remain in the team and keep them), must play a huge part in the decision making process of the riders... Doesn't seem to be anywhere near the same intensity in the UK which probably mirrors the racing... Maybe more performance pay would encourage more intensity? And maybe even include crowd numbers within that pay structure? ie double the crowd and double your money...

To be fair to Falcon1983, 600-800 crowds are being delivered now at the top level.. Which does suggest a 'broken' operating model.. Something needs to be done to improve things.. Doing the 'same old, same old' can only end up one way, sadly.. It's not 'selling' now so won't miraculously start doing so..

Nicki as single minded as ever...

Not a bad shout... What BT currently often shows won't grab many of the watching nation and give encouragement to attend any tracks local to them, that's for sure.. Therefore, maybe only show meetings that have credibility and, hopefully, a crowd level that reflects well on its brand.. Credible, well attended meetings being watched may make the viewer at least curious to find out more about Speedway.. And the clubs could maybe then start to grow their own crowds on the back of it....

Magic from Majic...

It will scrap itself... Those who say they wouldn't go if team speedway was scrapped surely cannot take what they watch now (masquerading as a team sport), seriously can they? The sport should just try and sell the spectacle in whatever guise it can do credibly.. If it can do Team Speedway 'properly', then go for it, if it can't then try something else to get the punters interested.. I went to the Colts v Kent meeting in Thursday and I would say the crowd was around 400, yet hardly any of them were under the age of 18... And it is completely free for them... Yet the crowd was made up of literally hundreds of Mum's, Dad's, Grans, Grandads, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters etc etc with relatives under 18 years of age Yet they cannot seem to get these relatives to come along.. The racing is great at the NSS, therefore is it the concept that doesn't interest the younger generation? My lad watches with pretty much zero affinity to the Aces or Colts, as even at 16 he finds the rules used ridiculous, but loves watching Speedway both live and on TV.. Presume there must be similar of the younger generation out there who would follow the 'sport' if ran from 'event to event' but not necessarily bother about following a team? If even free entry doesn't get them in to watch 'their team' then maybe it is time to try something else..?

Berntzon always worth watching... Gala has impressed too... The '2nd Division' in Poland is certainly a very high standard..

Hope it isn't too sunny... It can play havoc as it goes down...

Three five ones to draw... Wow... Edit. Great piece of team riding by the Holders, keeping the Lublin riders in front of them... A massive three points tonight for Lublin.. Torun shocking....

No really, not a clue what you are going on about..

You've lost me....

But it helps... A lot.... Manys the time a rider gets nailed, fights the bike and stays on, loses ground and is effectively out of the race, and the race continues... Cue, plenty of hand signals to the refs box at the end of the race.. Took a calculated gamble I reckon did Miesiac, nothing to lose as he had lost too much distance to Holder... Fair play to him, forced the ref into making a decision..

He did go down in instalments didn't he? Fair play though, his race was pretty much run with Holders contact and staying on wouldn't have got the rest stopped..

Big call here for the ref!

Whose side is Trofimow on? It really is tough racing out in Poland... Proper no quarter given, and no reputations cared for.... Love watching it...

Got to love watching Pawel Miesiac... Riding against him might be a different story.. All action style to say the least.. Torun in trouble here...

Particularly impressed with the way after every heat the riders from both teams were congratulated or commiserated by their colleagues at the gate.. Same with the reactions to defeats by individuals as they crossed the line.. Looked like it certainly meant something to these lads.. Maybe these lads would even know what the score was if asked by an interviewer?

Seriously, Speedway should compile a book of quotes for all the different situations that happen every week of the season and flog it at Xmas... It would be a comedy classic... Michael Mcintrye would be getting some of the Speedway fraternity in as his writers.. Speedway and Credibilty in the same sentence? Its got so much credibility that the venue and day has changed a few weeks before the event..! My lad has his 'prom' tonight (bloody yanks), it was known last September where and when it was... A National Sporting Championship? That you want an ever decreasing customer base to give support to? Not a chance of being that detailed..