PHILIPRISING

THE greater the truth the greater the libel ... an old journalistic cliche. I'm sure we will get there soon.

AN update on the Speedway Star article on the NSS ... Manchester City Council are still unhappy with what we are ready to publish and making threats through their legal department although we and David Gordon are 100 per cent sure of facts. But our own lawyer has advised us to hold fire until we have resolved this. Despite several emails last week to the MCC Press Office asking precisely what they objected to and why we have had no answer.

IT'S a chance for Gordon to have his say and by no means asserts he or CM are blameless but does lay bare what went wrong and who is to blame regarding the track and the opening night fiasco and the consequences of that.

DUE to some legal arguments, which we hope to resolve later this week, Speedway Star has had to put on hold our feature on what went wrong at the NSS this year. The legal department at Manchester City Council have raised a number of objections but we are confident that everything are ready to publish is both factual and verifiable by documentation that we have in our possession. All being well we will go ahead next week.

NEXT year

EXCELLENT ... you don't spend nine years on a project like this, going through so many setbacks along the way, without a decent relationship. Incidentally, barring any last minute legalities, SS will be publishing a comprehensive investigation in what went wrong at the NSS this week.

PAIRMAN was allegedly (as stated by GP in his statement) the unfavoured option by speedway authorities not Manchester City Council despite having been confident that the BSPA would welcome his virtually seamless takeover of Belle Vue.

FOLLOWING Gordon Pairman's withdrawal things have not progressed quite as well and quickly as hoped but rather have slow progress than none at all. Just be patient. No doubt when everything is done and dusted there will be an announcement but leaking information at this stage will benefit no one.

OR indeed the people responsible for making a mess of the Belle Vue track...

AIRPORT newsagents have never been must use for Speedway Star. Supermarkets, let by Tesco, actually stock most Speedway Stars each week.

BUSTER Chapman has always maintained that they are in unless we hear to the contrary. Rumours of an announcement this week.

IF he is prepared to say why ...

FIND it hard to believe that BSPA would effectively scupper one viable proposition unless they were certain they had another. But, then again, this is the BSPA we are talking about. Not sure my optimism has anything to do with judgement only what I am to told. Also pretty sure that MCC are determined to see speedway continue at the NSS. They don't want a white elephant on their hands and as it would reflect badly on them.

LET'S say I am optimistic although last week it did appear that Pairman was in the driving seat and that given this business background (chartered accountant etc) and with Chris Morton as a figurehead (not anything more) MCC did favour him. The BSPA, however, were not supportive and seem to prefer an alternative solution although at the moment there is no real reason to think that will not come to fruition. Frustrating, I know, but that's British speedway unfortunately.

ALL will be revealed in Speedway Star shortly but not until we are 100 per cent sure that speedway will continue at the NSS.

THINK that the prospective new promoters have plenty of money but their deal with MCC will be very different to that imposed on DG and CM last year. I believe that Mark Hennessy fell out with David Gordon some time ago but has been keen to get involved again and appears to be the preferred option for the BSPA. Its increasingly looks like the new promoters will effectively rent the facility on a meeting by meeting basis or perhaps an agreed rent for the season but nothing like the £300,000 facing DG and CM and that MCC will take over control of the stadium and be responsible for other events staged there.

CHRIS was in the Pairman camp so there must be a doubt about that.

HOPEFULLY in SS shortly when we know that the future of speedway at the NSS is assured, which hopefully won't be very long now.

THEY will be and when it is confirmed Speedway Star will free to publish an in-depth investigation into what went wrong from that fateful opening day in March 2016.

YES ... last week's issue was printed before Christmas

YOU flatter yourself if you think for a second that I need to troll your posts. Nothing wrong with an opinion ... just get your facts right.

ANYONE, including speedibee, is at liberty to design, have homologated by the FIM, produce and sell air-fences. There is no monopoly. And, for the record, Barry Briggs has never had any real involvement with the air-fences manufactured by nonpainbarries, owned by his son Tony who saw an opportunity to design a new type of fence many years ago. Tony has consistently worked to improve the fences and is, in fact, the brainchild behind the new type fences that fsp refers to. As someone who came perilously close to suffering life changing (paralysis) injuries himself when crashing at Coventry while riding for Reading, it is a subject that has always been close to Tony's heart.

YOUR hatred of all things Briggs surfacing again. From memory I think the first air-fence, as used by BSI in the GPs, was produced by Andy Coffey in Australia. The initial air-fences designed and sold by Tony Briggs were not instantly approved without question. Tony went through an extensive testing procedure with people involved with safety procedures at F1 circuits and the FIM set a standard that all air-fences had to meet. Of course they are not perfect but no one ever suggested that they would prevent injury every time a rider crashed into one. The lifting of the fences has been a problem and I think there are new designs coming out which will help alleviate that. But let's not forget how many riders have escaped serious injury because of the air-fences. I can still recall Jason Crump having an horrendous looking crash in a GP in Sweden when the air-fence was first introduced and he simply got up, dusted himself off and walked away. Former BSI boss John Postlethwaite made rider safety a top priority when he first took over the SGP series and there has been huge progress since then. I have yet to talk to a rider who would prefer to go back to the old days when air-fences were not compulsory.

SO sorry to hear that. Bryn was a loyal and valued contributor to Speedway Star for many years. Our condolencies to his family and friends.

VAINITY Fair has proclaimed itself as "the magazine that Donald Trump doesn't read" and added 42,000 subscribers. So, here goes: "Speedway Star, the other magazine that Donald Trump doesn't read." Phone lines should be buzzing shortly