Hawk127

Just look at the event from the 10th to the 13th September at the Northampton track and see how the whole period is organised with the punters in mind whereas speedway is organised around the participants and the punters are not even considered. Agree that the drivers pay to compete but you give a good few hours of entertainment that appeals to a whole range of ages and Spedeworth go out to treat the punter to an event. Speedway does not even come close in this country and until the views of the a few change and the promoters get an idea of what it takes to promote, it will continue to attract less and less punters. Speedway is not value for money from an entertainment perspective and is run by fickle promoters who have fickle riders who dictate what when and how things go on in terms of the track. I would rather pay £20 on a banger/stock car meeting knowing it will be on then rock up to a track for speedway only to find that a cat has pissed on bend four and it is not suitable for racing according to the riders. Chalk and cheese when it comes to entertainment and value for money, hence the only speedway worth watching at this time is the Polish scene who know how to put on a meet.

It will not happen. Those that run clubs and decide when to race are in control and the punters can go screw themselves as not one promoter or club owner gives a fig as far as supporters are concerned. It will not happen but clubs like these second rate businesses deserve to be boycotted and frankly UK speedway is not what it was when clubs were run by professionals and not the cowboys who seemingly think they are the future of the sport when in reality they are bringing it to its knees. To every promoter, the message is ‘you are shisters’ and you would not have survived back in the day when the sport had a modicum of respectability but each one of you have brought the sport to its nadir. I hope you are all proud of your efforts because few if any supporters believe you have the sports interest at heart. Thankfully real supporters have credible options to follow and the UK features way down the rankings when it comes to following this once great sport.

Sums up succinctly why the sport is not credible in the UK and it needs to reinvent itself and stop pretending that it should be a full time occupation for riders when the club owners treat it as a hobby and it is about time some riders got the message. Most are not good enough to justify it as a full time job where you want to earn over six months an annual salary. Those riders gracing the UK tracks are simply not good enough to qualify as speedway professionals but are OK to race having honed certain skills but that does not justify the riders demands. Go back to part time and stop expecting everyone to owe you a living.

That was a decent meeting. Never let the fans down and off track entertainment allegedly. Almost up with WWE😄 . Thanks to both sets of riders for putting on a good show. Hopefully the supporters continue to follow the sport and that does not fade because if the Polish supporters get bored because of the lack of big hitters coming through to take over from the Dudeks of this world then speedway has a problem. Onward to the next round.

In the company that team GB are riding it is unfair to criticise the riders. Yes they could have pulled a few different moves to gain points but they are riding the machines not us punters. I am not disappointed with the performance and Robert has shown that we can produce top quality riders. Special mention to Leon Flint who has put his heart and soul into the meeting. Overall a good contest and the guys have not let team GB down. Perhaps Scott should be the next manager of team GB.

In the company that team GB are riding it is unfair to criticise the riders. Yes they could have pulled a few different moves to gain points but they are riding the machines not us punters. I am not disappointed with the performance and Robert has shown that we can produce top quality riders. Special mention to Leon Flint who has put his heart and soul into the meeting. Overall a good contest and the guys have not let team GB down. Perhaps Scott should be the next manager of team GB.

More interest in repeats of Neighbours as opposed to a league meeting from the upper echelons of the speedway in the UK and to put it on an entertainment channel where on fools believe in the outcome of a competition with so many flaws is tantamount to deception. Those who take part believe that they are doing the punter a favour yet ask the terrace personnel and they may say otherwise. The feel good factor does not cross the broader spectrum of entertainment and each promoter or owner fails to understand this and the chances of reaching the appeal of the likes of WWE are a pipe dream with the current custodians running the sport into the ground. It is never going to happen. At best it is a ‘has been’ sport and no one seemingly wants to know how to get it up the chain of notable events. You can but despair.

Unfortunately those that run the sport and the club owners have no respect for the punters and call off matches to suit each one’s financial agenda and the availability of riders who may or may not want to ride on a particular evening because it interferes with one’s personal life. In years gone by with regular weekly meetings it would take a monsoon to call off a meeting yet today if a cat pissed on one corner of a track it would be abandoned. Speedway is not a credible sport in the UK and those in charge wonder why the numbers through the turnstiles are falling. Each one of you ask yourself this, would waste your hard earned money (does not apply to the gifted tax payer money to migrants or asylum scroungers and the hard done by illegal visitors to this country ) on the probability that a meeting may be on. When you have a number of factors that weight heavily against the chances of it going ahead, why would any one waste time effort annd hard earned money to venture out to any track that simply could not care less about the punters. On many occasions I have driven up the A12 in rain at around 18.30 to Ipswich and phoned through and on some occasions the meeting has been on and others because of the down pour it was called off and that was justified Today no one gives a fig and that is because the sport in the U K is no longer a serious contender for spectators and those in charge have brought this on themselves. Top league racing in the UK is a joke. One piece of advice to those in charge, take a look at Poland and work out where you U K promoters got it wrong

Back in the day riders turned up with bikes strapped to the boot of the car and poor Terry Stone regularly turned up at Rayleigh with dirty bikes seemingly having some sentimental value for the dirt of Bradford, Canterbury, Eastbourne etc. Eventually he took on board the point and eventually turned out for each meeting with spotless bikes, you could eat your dinner off the mudguards. Those were the days because as you said they rode in addition to the main job and it could earn them good additional money. For anyone old enough, after a meeting at Rayleigh the riders all met up at the Blinking Owl Cafe on the A127 and many a supporter joined them. It was a better time for the image of the sport and while the racing may not be as fast and furious as today, it was competitive and young riders were given chances that only today’s youngsters can dream about. Some made it others battled through but you got to see an aspiring young newcomer take on a heat leader and my abiding memory is Rayleigh versus Boston and Ivan Miller a grass track rider beating Arthur Price a heat leader for Boston. Compared to today’s homogenised offering the sport in those days offered opportunity and a chance for success on a level playing field with bikes that were basically the same and anyone old enough will remember riders winning a race on the ‘track spare’. It just would not happen today and more is the pity.

That meeting was out of the top draw and what an away win with Lebedev entertaining as usual. Great afternoon and early evening racing. Thanks to those providing the links.

That meeting was out of the top draw and what an away win with Lebedev entertaining as usual. Great afternoon and early evening racing. Thanks to those providing the links.

Yep so far off the scale but we do have some good riders who in the rights hands will make it. The problems are that we have no one with the real experience to coach them. They need discipline, training and hard graft but no one is setting down the minimum standards to achieve success and you have a few riders whose egos do match the skills and have not done the ground work to see them become competitive. Flashy vans and expensive kit does not make a decent rider.

Yes they certainly have some racers who have the desire to succeed but the rest are really so far behind it is painful to watch. Thankfully we can watch meetings from Poland and see those European riders who want go the extra mile. GB speedway is the dinosaur of European racing. Get rid of those in charge and start thinking outside the box but it won’t happen because to most in charge it is a hobby not a business or a competitive sport it simply satisfies the egos of the club owners.

Yes they certainly have some racers who have the desire to succeed but the rest are really so far behind it is painful to watch. Thankfully we can watch meetings from Poland and see those European riders who want go the extra mile. GB speedway is the dinosaur of European racing. Get rid of those in charge and start thinking outside the box but it won’t happen because to most in charge it is a hobby not a business or a competitive sport it simply satisfies the egos of the club owners.

The GB side really need to have some serious training installed into them and some competitive racing attitude rather than being also rans. The Polish riders seemingly are chasing every point, are disciplined and have a commitment which simply does not exist within the GB camp. Just watch Polish speedway at every level and the commitment at every level chasing points and the appetite to succeed versus the let’s turn up and ride attitude that is predominate in the UK. Time not only for an independent body to run UK speedway but time for someone to get a grip on the entire structure and introduce changes at multiple levels so that the next generation of riders can shine.

Vatcher has and always will be a waste of space. Sour faced representative of Arena Essex he has simply enhanced his reputation as a pip squeak who should step aside as he adds nothing to the sport at any level. Compare him to promoters of years gone by and his contributions are like pissing in the wind.

Yep it is painful but at least they get to practice on a foreign track. Blame the UK domestic race scene for the lack of skill sets. Those in charge hardly encourage the next generation of riders, those who watch the sport rarely stick around and do nothing to encourage riders honing their skills and overall this must have an impact on the youngsters who clearly do have the skills but the system deprives them of track time and proper compete racing. The days of encouraging riders with meaningful second half meets and guaranteed rides have long gone because those who run clubs are looking through the wrong end of a telescope. Think about it.

GB really are not at the right level, Dan Thompson is clearly not 100%, Leon Flint seems competitive but we will just have to see how things pan out. It is a shame that the crowd is so poor. Why can this sort of meeting not be held in the UK. I am sure the influx of foreign riders would generate more interest than is seemingly the case in for example, this venue.

That was one great meeting and oh to have that sort of entertainment in the UK on a Friday night. Hackney fulfilled that role. Zmarzlik excelled as did most of the Lublin team. Cannot knock the racing, the crowd enthusiasm or the filming and I really do not understand why the graphics in the UK filmed racing falls so short of the Polish stream where you have the richness of colour and detail.

Don’t think they would get that. We can but hope.

That is probably why riders should be drawn at the start of each week to ride for whatever team that has matches that week. No longer any reason to consider any rider belongs to a particular team. They are all self employed journeymen and the authorities should stop pretending that it is a true team sport. No it is not the same as it use to be and it is a league with an overall squad system in place. They wonder why you cannot sell it to TV, but it needs wholesale change. This anniversary at Ipswich is a milestone but will not generate the same level of interest it would have done ten or more years back with local people in charge and custodians of a truly local team. The local team support with local people you can relate to has long gone. Good luck to the witches for tomorrow night and those providing the second half racing but sadly it is not the same Ipswich it once was.

I did not mention Zmarzlik, what is your problem? I would never want to see any rider carted off to hospital, I was simply applauding the winner. The sport has inherent risks. This is what makes this and many other forums and platforms a pain in the arse, full of argumentative individuals who think only their views count, they cannot accept a counter view and believes that everyone else is wrong. Part of an effing society who are responsible for a decline in standards and have ruined what was once a great place to live.

No complaints here, speedway on a Saturday night live on TV, Hopefully this is an opportunity that brings forth a new TV era and the powers that get on board and grab what is possibly on offer. It would be so good to see the sport live or recorded in 2027 on ITV 4. Fingers crossed.

Yep agree with your comments. Fingers crossed and I really wish/hope that Dudek makes it to the top because he is talented and what a champion he would make. It would be so good to see him riding in the UK. It will never happen unless they hold a test match. I am so glad I saw Gollob and all the other Polish riders wear the Witches race jacket. Those were the days

Well done to Maciej in Poland tonight fingers crossed for one of the youngsters to fill those positions behind Robert.