PHILIPRISING

HAD lunch with Kelvin yesterday. Has already heard from Bjarne Pedersen who feels he has a new lease of life and is really geared up for the Elite League in 2016. Kelvin is excited about his new role and feels that it will dovetail nicely with his role with Sky Sports. Already has a good rapport with Andreas Jonsson who, he says, had offers from almost every other Elite League team but turned out better financial deals be cause he wanted to ride for Lakeside. Kelvin's mechanical expertise could be of particular value in the Lakeside pits but he is also looking to working closely with the Hagon academy.

MULLER was possibly the greatest longtrack rider of his or any generation. Never really took speedway seriously other than at Norden in his home country for obvious reasons. It was a strong field at Norden and no one handed him the title, he had to win it and did so. It was no fluke.

NOT sure that's true. Believe BSI hold the rights. I am not alone in thinking that they should alternate a pairs and team competition each year. But they have yet to be convinced.

THIS was how John Postlethwaite originally envisaged the SGP when his company, BSI, first bought the commercial rights to the World Championship. Hardly surprising given that he was coming from a F1 background but his idea quickly fell on stoney ground when he realised that there wasn't any companies with the sort of financial resources he required interested in speedway. Not sure there would be for a European Pairs competition either but time, as always, will tell. Have heard a whisper that British Eurosport, disappointed to have lost the SGP TV rights to BT Sport and now having binned the Swedish League, may not show the SEC either.

DON'T think so

MYSTERIOUS heat leader list revealed in Speedway Star this week

ONE SGP rider last season had 14 complete bikes

BERT Harkins told me that Jimmy lived in a castle in Scotland and during the summer months when the midges came visiting he would appear outside in a suit of armour.

No advance tickets for race-off but admission on the day won't be a problem. Dodger Blue would appear to have answered the question. They can add at least 6,000 extra seats there. All the infrastructure has been put in place during the building process.

WILL enquire ... obviously there will be plenty of room on the Friday and no danger of not getting in.

PLENTY of room on turns 3-4

CONFIRMATION ... http://speedwaygp.com/news/article/4611/plenty-in-reserve-for-swc Seems a sensible idea

HOW many more times ... he is British, happy to be so and wears the Union Jack proudly.

TOP riders isn't restricted to those in the SGP ... plenty like Sayfutdinov, Vaculik, Pawlicki, Dudek who might be tempted by a different British schedule.

YOU don't always have to ask a specific question to know the answer to it

YOU can do both. I spend much of the winter in Florida, where the warm weather is beneficial to my health. Have actually been coming here for over 30 years and very quickly slip into American and particularly Floridian lifestyle. When I'm here I actually feel American but that doesn't mean I'm not British to the core, always want to see the Union Jack raised at any sporting event. With someone like Tai, bearing in mind his upbringing, it's not black and white, Australian or British in every respect. But when it actually matters, where he was born, the country he wants to ride for and does so brilliantly, he is British. Anyone who as actually seen him in the pits at SWC events can testify to that.

TRANSLATED by Speedway Star's Polish correspondent... November 23 was the date when the auction for the international TV rights for screening Polish Extraleague in 2016-2018 finished. It is possible that the top tier will be broadcast live by a foreign TV channel. So far the Polish Extraleague campaign has been shown only in Poland by nSport+ channel . Nevertheless, it might change in the forthcoming season. This week the PGE Ekstraliga board of directors launched an auction for international rights for broadcasting the top division meetings. A number of agencies acquiring such rights on usual basis took part in the auction. Wojciech Stepniewski, the PGE Ekstraliga CEO, told SportoweFekty.pl: “We have received a few offers and the auction is over now. For the time being I am not supposed to reveal many details because Extraleague clubs need to be acquainted with the relevant information.” Eventually, international rights for showing the Extraleague will belong to one agency that will later be able to sell them to a foreign TV station. PGE Ekstraliga CEO admits screening the division’s meetings outside Poland would enable a further development of the product. It is believed such transmissions could attract many viewers in such countries as Denmark, Sweden or Great Britain. Stepniewski adds: “Showing Extraleague meetings outside Poland would be a fantastic promotion of the top Polish league. The problem is that in many speedway nations Sunday, when Poland stages its league meetings, is a typical football day, which would definitely attract bigger numbers than our speedway.”

THANKS for your explanation

PRAISE indeed ... I'm going for a quiet lay down

STILL no reply to my question to Colin Mills ... it was a serious one. Personally I wouldn't have devoted eight pages over two issues to Ian Williams but reading last week's edition on my iPad I thought there was some good features.

SORRY no ... kids may not do dvd but lots of the older generation, at which this publication is obviously aimed, do. I WOULD be interested to know why ...

BE good to have Scotty in the squad. Lots of experience that could be invaluable.

CANNOT believe this thread is still drifting on ... can't we think of something new to debate/argue about?

TO be honest, with the current paucity of riders with at least the potential to be a genuine number one, beggars cannot be choosers.