mikebv

Correct, he's becoming very much an also ran with regards to actually winning the title.... Enough natural talent to pick up enough 'easy' points from favourable gates to stay in the top 8 comfortably, but definitely seems to have lost that fire in his belly to mix it the same as he used to, especially when he doesn't make the start or gets passed.. When behind it seems to now be a first lap attempt to pass which if it doesn't happen he spends the rest of the race riding almost quite ragged trying different abstract lines, rather than the way he used to build momentum by smooth clinical, almost calm, riding to enable a succesful attack later in the race... Never seen him make so basic mistakes like he has this year, eg taking completely wrong lines into bends whilst leading and getting passed, or like last night lifting constantly in the same places to halt his progress losing him points.. Maybe two titles (a magnificent achievement) has made Woffy slighty lose that 'edge' and in Speedway, as everyone knows, that split second decision making is often the only difference between success and failure.. A test of his inner drive I would say the rest of this season. No one on track has more discernible talent than him that's for sure, but just maybe these 'new kids' have more desire to get to that top step he has graced twice already..?

Best year ever for me in terms of racing.... What a Sport when done this well... Must be someone out there who can market it to the masses and make these guys household names.? Love watching Jason Doyle, something 'old school' about him... Loads of skill but a ferocious will to do whats needed to win.... To paraphrase Kelvin "a proper Speedway rider Nige"...

18,996 posts and you say Shaun must have plenty of time on his hands!?... Even a Yank would spot the irony somewhere in that...😁😁

Great post.... Sadly the sport is too far down the line to ever change in this country.... It's now purely in survival mode only.... Literally tens of millions of pounds of Sky money thrown away to deliver what we have today, ie. Mickey Mouse meeting after Mickey Mouse meeting masquerading as a Professional Sporting League.. My 14 year old lads local Football League has more credibility and integrity that any of the British Speedway Leagues, and they don't charge me nearly twenty quid to watch their fixtures....

BV did but they had that many guests it was a bit like Triggers brush in Only Fools where he proudly boasted that he had used the same brush for 20 years...... It only had had 17 new heads and 14 new handles! 😁

It was based on the Maracana...😁

What a sport this can be.... Shame no one can harness the incredible raw material of it in this country....

Phil! Schtum! Schtum!! Schtum!!! The gates haven't opened yet....😨

The Aces (strangely for a Speedway team) are vulnerable at home given the fair nature and excellence of the track, but very good away... Tungate will have been bought simply for his scoring around the NSS and with one eye on the Play Offs... The Aces just don't win "big enough" at home against certain teams to miss out on the opportunity of giving themselves effectively five heat leaders around the NSS... Away from home, their top four have delivered virtually every match and also deliver a fairly high proportion of race wins, which keeps the team in the meeting by preventing heat advantages against them and also means the scores of the other three are less impacting the overall match position.. Sedgmen has done his job so may feel justifiably unlucky but will be picked up I am sure and showed his professionalism last night.. Tungate literally has the beating of anyone around the NSS whereby Sedgmen doesn't, and in head to head play off Speedway that may prove to be the difference if the Aces are chasing down a ten point or so deficit at home, or looking to take a ten points or more advantage to an away leg....

Or Abbott and Costello... Whose on 4.3? Watt? No he's on 2.86... What? Yes Watt, he got a 2.86 riding for Rye House.. Who? No Watt, who does 'Who' ride for? One for the teenagers there.... However not sure about about Abbott and Costello but I wouldn't be surprised to see that the Three Stooges may have played a part somewhere...

I think the issue is "it's the wrong type of Sun" nowadays.....😂😂😂

However, having an injury which means you are out for a month in Poland and Sweden will mean just three maybe four matches missed. Over here you could miss over 20 when riding in two or maybe even three leagues, hence guests (and lots of them) become inevitable.. Poland and and Sweden live with exactly the same issues but still retain credibilty in their Leagues..

And also the main contributer to the No1 issue why it cannot be taken seriously ie guests.. Guests are needed virtually every match due to some fixture clash. Poland and Sweden can work without them in the same sport, with doubling up being used, yet this country cannot.... Simply with the guest system everything is far too easy so no need to work out a plan to fix the issue.. What really is the point of getting teams together pre season when the moment the season starts you can use basically who you like as long as any random average fits..? Craig Cook as an example could ride at No1 for Workington and BV. Say he rode at Wolves on a Monday for BV and picked up a knock and was out for two weeks. Potentially he could miss Championship and Premiership meetings Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday before being fit to ride on the Monday. . 11 guests needed to replace him... In Poland and Sweden he would miss just one match for his team and be covered by a squad member or RR.. Too many teams, with too many team places (seven) per team simply means not enough riders of the required level to make it work... And rather than face that and run the sport with quality rather than quantity, those in charge continue with a make do and mend operating model. And it will never be fit for purpose if you want the sport to be taken seriously by both fans and non fans from a wide sporting audience..

Jim Lynch quoted as saying that "there is no doubt BV have a good team"... Which aint bad considering we only had three riders there...☺

See, I think they could.., Its just that they would only organise non alcoholic beer to be available..... 😂

As missing riders is the main issue to the credibility and integrity to the Leagues couldn't the GP qualifying, World U21 qualifiers and Finals all be done and dusted by the end of April? Many riders do 'pre-season' in Southern Europe now meaning weather is ok, so couldn't the FIM just use these tracks in March, and say the first two weeks of April include the more North European tracks to clear the decks for League racing around Europe? Six weeks and all GP qualifying set in stone for the following year meaning that years GP riders know their fate if they tried to qualify via the challenge. More time for qualifiers to gain Sponsorship and be prepared for the following year too.. U21 World Champ crowned with no impact to League racing and he can milk any Sponsorship opportunities for the rest of the year. We stop League racing for the SWC so why not dedicate time to do the same for other events that drip feed sporadically through the season? One week Team U21 World Cup could also be included in the six weeks prior to League racing commencing around Europe... Some good ideas on here, however you can have as many permutations on Leagues, Team Strengths, PPV TV coverage/streaming etc etc as you want. If riders do not turn up because they are 'elsewhere' and can get replaced by 'ringers' then there is simply no credibilty regardless of what good ideas may exist..

Well done Craig Cook.... Slowly but surely moving into circa world class level.... Reputation globally also starting to develop...

Went a few times early to mid nineties and it was a fantastic race track... Rose tinted glasses maybe but it seemed every heat was in doubt till last bend last lap... Sad to hear of its demise...

3 when you include the one at Leicester..😁

Good ideas.. However, over the years those who run the sport have had thousands of pieces of unsolicited feedback via forums and printed Speedway media.. The outcome? We are where we are, nothing has changed, but to be fair, why do they need feedback from the fans and ex fans?. Such are the glaring deficiencies and flaws in the operating model only a blind man could fail to see the issues... Those who run Speedway in this country are acutely aware of why people don't attend in the numbers that they used to, hence Buster had a mission for more integrity, credibilty and cost cutting to be brought into the Sport to reduce outgoings and ultimately maybe reduce admission costs.. Knowing the issues and then solving them though are two very different things.... On the very slim chance that those who run the sport do not actually know why crowds are down, maybe instead of the onus being on fans to tell them off their own backs, some kind of BSPA commissioned market research could be done to find out why?.. If my business was failing, the first thing I would do is seek feedback as to why.... Ultimately, I really do think the Promoters have given up ever turning the Sport around in this country such are the issues and the incredible adhoc decisions made daily and weekly to get round them... Cobbling together any old 'Barry White', using any abstract selection of riders, on any random evening just to complete a Speedway Season, is truly the best they can come up with I reckon...

It is often mentioned that 'new' fans are key to the future of the Sport in this country.. However, I would suggest just getting those of us out there who give Mickey Mouse meetings a miss to attend far more regularly, by running the Sport properly, would also deliver some very good turnover and growth.... I, like many, used to attend my home track every meeting, around 50% of the aways, and would quite often go and watch a couple of meetings a week elsewhere across all divisions.. Now due to select teams in the majority of matches I will get to around ten matches a season tops... The irony for British Speedway is the money I save (circa £100 with petrol and admission this week by not now going to Leceister) I put towards the 'Cardiff Fund'... The 'GP devil that has destroyed British Speedway' in the eyes of so many... A lot, lot closer to home lies the problems the Sport has I would suggest..

The more circular rather than oval so straight line horsepower is less influential, and the wider the straights and the bends so there are more entry and exit lines to be taken, is usually the key to those tracks where racing is considered the best.. In Britain obviously many are inside Greyhound tracks so the footprint is often defined by the space available, however I often think track designers when building inside Greyhound circuits often make a mistake by following the same shape as the Greyhound track itself. Many clubs could still have a smaller more circular circuit with much wider straights and bends than the often long and narrow ones we end up with..

It happens so often you can only assume that those running the sport have effectively 'given up'... They must know attendances are affected. They must know meetings such as this are 'Mickey Mouse'. They must know these type of meetings can't be taken seriously in a professional sports context. Yet they still run them... Strange world they live in.. Must be living in the 'speedway bubble' that makes successful business people take leave of their gut instinct business senses....

Don't worry... Lots of Guest Riders are available so no need to plan a fixture list to avoid FIM meetings... Or indeed any other Countries national Championships, other Countries League racing or indeed clashes with other domestic meetings in other divisions using the same riders... Lots of Guest Riders available, (always helps that, makes everything ok)... British Speedway...😂

Me and my lad were also going to go as I have a rare weekend off.. Not paying to watch a select meeting... With admission, programmes, food and a few drinks Leicester would have had around £60 off me... Reaps what it sows Speedway, plenty of potential fans out there if it was ever ran properly. Maybe one day this will dawn on those who run the sport and they will start doing so..?