kelvinht

Simply superb and inspirational

It is very short sighted of BSPA not to allow. The fast track system was about developing young British riders. This is an ideal opportunity to get them experience on the European circuits and that's where we brits always fall down. Have to agree with above comment, it seems more of a cost saving initiative now. Until the BSPA get the bigger picture nothing will ever change. Tbh don't blame Tai for dipping out of the Elite League this year , why should an ambitious 'Brit' have an allegiance to the UK, they certainly won't help you become world champion which in turn if marketed correctly should be a boost to attendances up and down the country so help line their pockets... Without any drastic changes to the way the sport is run in this country we'll rarely produce anything better than good second strings / 3rd heat leaders (King, Cook, Bridger, even Harris). Can never see us getting back to the heady days of the seventies with international quality riders everywhere (Collins, Lee, Jessup, Morton, Simmo etc, etc)

It was the bit about welcoming riders from the 'visiting team'.....could have least have put 'Belle Vue' in there....very shoddy. But overall the programme is a big improvement on last season, but that's not difficult! As for the meeting, it was most enjoyable. Good close racing a bit of passing. Expected more from Stead and if Zagar had come to the races a bit after Frickes tactical it could have been a close finish. Loved Ashley Morris's pass on Nielsen (I think) coming off bend 4 early on and superb move on the bends 1/2 from NKI in his last race after missing the gate. Porsing looked sharp and Lambert seems to be pushing on nicely this season...could be a good season...hope those pesky Pirates (or injuries) don't derail it again

The risk with r/r is how fit is Lewis after his off on Tuesday. If he struggles that puts more pressure on Ashley = more risk

Agree.....and some kind of entertainment other than tractor racing

Changing the subject slightly..... Just looked at the weather forecast, no rain, but if 4 riders can navigate the track without getting blown into each other it will be a miracle. I was planning to go (s0d sky), but not sure a 120 mile round trip with some rather strong winds will be much fun. Jury is out at the moment. On the subject of atmosphere, Buster really has to sort the Mic Man out (no pun intended ) .....he really doesn't add anything to the meeting, then maybe build on that a bit (start line lights and flames that Rory had are probably also a must)

No commentary or shouty man at the Norfolk/Adrian Flux Arena ....hmm...tough call ... (but I do agree with you!)

BBC forecast is dry from Midday on Thursday. Dry all day in Poole on Wednesday, but the track will still be sh** :-)

Thought 'Blockbuster' was being played somewhere going by the title.....

Agree...then we can have Niels and Lewis back off the injury bench. In reality though we can't change last season's results, just need to look forward to 2015

Might be something in this, but rather than the 3 places in the GP using this criteria, expand it a bit to determine the riders for the GP challenge, that way you could expand to other countries (or perhaps for lesser speedway countries allow 1/2 riders from their national championship into a pre-challenge meeting with a couple of places up for grabs in the GP challenge itself)

The two minute time allowance should include all the gardening and messing about riders do at the tapes. If they aren't ready then they should be excluded. Much as I love NKI at Kings Lynn, the amount of time he takes to get ready at the tapes seems worse than most riders. ...and if there is a false start, riders should go straight back round. Although watching races from years gone by, as long as riders didn't cause a tapes infringement the ref used to let it go. Don't see why it shouldn't be the same now. If a rider anticipates the start, then he shouldn't be penalised. If he messes himself up or touches the tapes then its his own fault. Net result is less riders hitting first bend together and maybe less first bend incidents.

Team speedway always wins hands down...but has to be UK....and my team or the league my team is in. Happy watching meaningful world championship type events, but run of the mill filler individual meetings rarely do it for me although less stressful than worrying about how my team will perform

I proper shaped race track owned by speedway people has got a much better chance than most. Look what Buster has done at Kings Lynn...

Dun..

At least you knew where you stood with Frank Ebdon...and meetings were run quickly and efficiently - as they should be!

He does have a dark side...once rode for Ipswich....

Woffy made the start in the first running of the final, so his eventual win was ok with me - although in the 4th attempt it was his worst start. Cooky was playing around with his gate too. IMO the ref should have stopped it, a bit of gardening just before tapes up is fine, but it was a bit ott...but it was amusing....he could have done with a rotorvator as well....

I was only the boss today (fathers day)....

Watched a part of coverage on quest, but then wifey wanted TV back mid-evening. Eurosport did still have gp last night online, but racing only, no commentary.

perhaps more meetings should be run in the wet, and instead of cancelling for rain, we cancel meeting for bright sunlight At Kings Lynn it does seem to have been a more recent thing (5 to 10 years), but my memory is too dodgy to remember when it became the norm. Tinted visors probably help, but once the riders turn to ride the opposite direction then they can probably see even less, especailly into shaded parts of the track. Need react-to-light visors... Necessary safety thing really, unless promoters can put up boards in the relevant places behind the stands to block out the glare, but they'll be as cost effective and never work like track covers and the rain.... the only thing I would complain about is long drawn out intervals. Maybe two 10 minute breaks for getting food and drinks and a good bit of grading, one after heat 5 and the other after heat 10, then unless its really necessary due to poor track conditons, no other grading should take place and two minute warning should go on as soon as riders are back in the pits from a previous race

Agreed, but Buster can still sort a decent track the day after he's had the stock cars on it

The corny banners on the front cover are truly awful, not even corny half the time just bloomin awful...a few small snippets on the front cover to give a taste of what is inside is all that's needed

did anyone seriously expect anything else from Auntie Beeb and her favourite sports. Its a closed shop

You can usually print to file rather than a printer...