PHILIPRISING

THE only way riders will drop their "demands" is if the sport is made cheaper for them to compete in. And that is certainly possible, at least as far as league racing is concerned. If some of the rumours about the guaranteed money Rye House offered its riders are even remotely true then it is no surprise that the speedway is not viable at Hoddesdon. And they are not the only ones.

ONE of the major factors why speedway is so popular in certain areas of Poland, certainly not all, is that the big clubs are in towns where speedway is the major attraction, an integral part of the community, clubs (as in soccer) rather than just businesses. It is high profile in the media, raced on big, fast tracks, good and in some cases fantastic stadiums, the top riders, weekend racing, etc, etc.

SOME good thoughts there JC

MY guess is that we are heading for one league ... the question is how many tracks will be in it?

FAT lady not signing yet but she is certainly doing her warm up. Fear there will be more to come before October. British speedway is in a very parlous state right now.

NICE idea but stadium availability as much as rider availability is an issue.

HASN'T stopped Leicester ... racing against Wolves

IT was a generalisation ... tracks have a successful meeting then don't run for two or three weeks. Cannot keep blaming the World Cup. But if I said the sky was blue you would disagree.

UNDERSTAND they sold out of programmes last night. Hope that was indicative of a good crowd. Sadly, no meeting next week. And therein lays the problem... no momentum or continuity.

CERTAINLY has a reputation that he cannot shift amongst his fellow riders.

Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations winner Gleb Chugunov has suffered a suspected broken leg after crashing in the European Under-21 Championship semi-final at Czech track Pilsen. Chugunov took an ugly fall in heat 17, with meeting winner Dan Bewley able to avoid the Russian. But Arslan Fajzulin collected his fallen compatriot. The Salavat-born rider was taken to hospital for checks, but early reports suggest the Wroclaw rider may have sustained a broken leg.

WHAT an anti-climax for Lambert ... hard to see much passing on that track.

NO, sorry

15 points maximum for Bewley

NOT much like Lakeside

BEING able to handle the big tracks will be important going forward ... none like Rye House or Lakeside on the World Championship circuits or indeed in Poland or Sweden.

THE guy who did the interview with Manzares was Speedway Star Editor Andrew Skeels. It was originally about Scunthorpe but when asked about the SON the comments were made. Manzares later contacted Andrew to attempt to deny what he said but when offered the chance to listen to the tape recording of the conversation backed down. A classic case of "I didn't say that" followed by "I didn't mean that." The quotes were entirely accurate. And Manzares said he didn't need to listen to the recording.

DID he not ride in the GP qualifying rounds?

WHEN I was assistant Race Director for a Copenhagen GP at which Madsen was the wild card, he was late for signing-on, late for riders' briefings and late for practice. Remember asking him whether he was on a different time zone. Seemed in a world of his own. Strange character.

KNOWS his way round Rye House

WILL we? What would that be?

I DON"T see the point of this or its relevance but if you object to the rubbish I write don't read it.

YOU haven't read much in the past 10 years either. By the way, Bill Buckley and I remain on good terms and I still think he is a great bloke.

THE question was asked of Tai Woffinden... page 28 in SS this week. Not our fault if you don't like the answer.

I APPRECIATE that you have read every word I have written in over 55 years.