Leicester Lion

How worthwhile is it for the regular meetings? Incidentally, it was interesting that Hemsley said anyone who wants to alter the track could buy it from him for what it cost to build, not what it is worth now.

Hemsley's intransigence is the problem. Riders, seasoned fans and experienced observers all say the track needs major surgery, but Hemsley is blinkered. Incidentally, in the subject of riders and contracts, does anyone know if Leicester have paid Swindon for Jason Doyle, either on loan or on full transfer?

If it's true, then it isn't a factoid. This is the definition of factoid: An item of unreliable information that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact.

By the sound of it, strung out races, persistent rain, I'm glad I stayed at home.

Not as good as he seems to think he is, and only scores well when he gets away with rolling at the gate.

Pedersen wasn't ahead, he was alongside if he was able to touch Hancock's front wheel. It's a speedway myth that the rider who is leading can do whatever he likes.

Poor Nicki. Always misunderstood, always the victim.

Pearson and Tatum have been giving us clues for years... telling their viewers about Charlie in the pits (who seems very popular with the riders).

It was like Ward was briefed prior to the interview, but only took half of it in and didn't know what to say. He forgot his lines about what he’d learned by watching Greg Hancock and blurted out the obvious thing, the gating. Pearson and Tatum gushed all over him, making it all as easy as possible, but he even failed to take their blatantly obvious prompts which would have helped him at least indicate some contrition, genuine or otherwise. Instead there was no hint of regret, either in his words or his manner. His confidence about getting the wild card at Melbourne betrays his sense of entitlement; that speedway owes him opportunities and status, regardless of others who might have emerged to stake their own claim while he’s been serving his ban. The interview was a great chance for him to show he has grown up, has a fresh approach, feels repentant for his misdemeanours, and is determined to turn over a new leaf. None of these came across. While there is no doubt about his talent, he did nothing to change peoples' minds about him as a person.

No, I definitely understand SCB's point.

Point spectacularly missed. Look at the bigger picture, and think about at the whole point being made rather than selectively jump on one snippet. There could be far more to punishing the miscreants than stopping them having access to a few minor riders who can indeed be easily replaced. The penalties for breaking these laws can be huge. If the V&I had chosen to prosecute rather than educate, fines or worse would have hit the promoters much harder than losing a few riders.

Those poor promoters who have enough to deal with running their day-to-day businesses. They can't possibly be expected to know how to run their speedway businesses properly too. It's not as if the same rules apply. (I'm being sarcastic) Clearly the problem is so widespread in the sport that the UKV&I have taken the pragmatic view that education is better than a raft of punishments that would irreparably damage the entire sport in the UK. The promoters will have to be fully compliant from now on though.

It makes me wonder about their degree of compliance with health and safety and tax/NI rules.

I live fairly close by. I think the track area was around what are now Braemar Drive, Braemar Close, Strathaven Road etc (I drove along part of Braemar Drive earlier today). This would place the western end of the track opposite what was the Speedway Hotel, now Indigo restaurant. There are allotments alongside and behind Indigo.

Otto Walker.

There is more to making commentary interesting than merely describing what is happening using a bunch of clichés and spouting nonsense about shopping malls and Abba.

They're on for far less than three hours though. Anyway, as esteemed professional broadcasters, don't they spend many hours researching and preparing for their programmes?

I am finding the Pearson/Tatum bromance rather tedious.

That thought did cross my mind as I made my post!

Shouldn't it be called the Fans' Trophy (with the apostrophe)?

How can it be an unsatisfactory start when the race hasn't actually started?

I can see both sides. A system that keeps matches alive isn't a bad thing, but if it gets too complicated to follow fans can feel detached. Ideally, I think basic rules should follow common sense; it shouldn't be necessary to refer to a long list.

Same here. It was authentic bread and butter speedway. Great viewing.

Great news. Make sure the track is a good shape for exciting racing.

You would think so, and you'd hope the rules cover the eventuality of a rider not randomly selected but still be made subject to a test because of the reasonable suspicion that he might fail it. But this is speedway... The FIM and the promoters surely have a duty of care to all participants; failing to test a suspect rider would be neglecting the safety of the others. Of course, ideally they should test all the participants, but randomly testing a few is regarded as an acceptable shortcut.