tyler42

He's got two bikes there. Whats the point of having two if he's not going to use the other??

and this is why the GPs are not a true world championship. Its a commercial venture/circus. Score 4pts from 4 rides and you still have a chance of getting into the final! as Kurtz nearly did and Kubera actually did after scoring 6 pts. Would it be too much logistically to have a one off world final like the old days and keep the GPs as they are. Be an interesting line up if everyone had to qualify. I suppose finding dates for qualifiers would be the main problem.

Alfie Bowtell (G) - 0, 0, F = 0 Francis Gusts - 0, 0, 1 and yet Schroeck didn't bother giving Killeen an extra ride until heat 15!! but he gave McDiarmid six rides!! Last week at Redcar he should have replaced Hagon with Mitchell McDiarmid in heat 11. The man is a liability and yes and I agree the worst manager. He's the only manager I know who when he has a reserve on fire, he don't use them!!

No mention for the 15 year old Rushen?

I thought the same when Kubera scored 6 pts in the previous GP and walked away with 14pts to his name. Yes it's the system, but its a stupid system. Like tonight Kurtz had 4 from 4 rides yet nearly made the final. As for the wildcards, the last two GPs have showed that Morris, Castagna and co are just woke and have no idea. It's suppose to be a world championship, so why leave out riders of the calibre of Madsen and Dudek for Kai Huckenbeck and Kvěch!. Both Madsen and Dudek have scored more in one meeting a piece than the other pair in three GPs!!

Yes some of that camera work was absolutely appalling!!. Great racing from the young lads. 100% commitment. Louis corrected Tatum in the run off, when Tatum said Rushen had pulled out. You could see it was Rushen as he was wearing the red helmet, but Tatum was having no of it. He really needs to show a bit of humility does Tatum. i suppose it's the public schoolboy in him. He thinks he's never wrong. Unfortunately for him though, 9/10 He is 😂

And their lies the problem. When riders did work and ride, the crowds were far bigger than today. Riders in this day and age have got to have 2/3 bikes. The big van and full time mechanics. In the 70s/80s. Riders in the second division would mainly have one bike, The top riders would maybe have two. A mate would dope and oil and get paid a fish supper. How can you expect to be a full time rider. Riding in a front of less than a thousand people? If the second division does not go part time then its curtains in my opinion.

I have posted about Killeen in another post. He's not a shadow of the rider he was last year. The RS system is not working out for some of the lads and Luke is one of them. It must be effecting his confidence because his scores in the championship are suffering as well. Boughen and Joe Thompson are in the same boat. Take Hagon as an example Leicester took him out of the firing line and he's now slowly getting his conference back. If he were still at Leicester struggling to score would that be the case? Yes the RS system has had its successes. Tom Brennan, Dan Thompson and Anders Rowe. All three climbed out of the RS birth and got into the main body of the team. Flint has been a RS since 2021 and has not yet managed to progress into the main body. The same with Edwards and Jenkins, but these three boys have a lot more experience than young Killeen, Boughen. I think its just too much of a jump for some of the younger boys.

I agree 100% of course he deserves his victory. That is the way the system works and its winner takes all, but the comment that he was the "best rider on the day" is totally is a different debate.

How you can say Hagon was the best rider on the night. Yes he won the meeting, under a winner takes all system. Both Thompson and Cairns beat him in the heats. He lost to Harrison in the Semi. All three rider in the final outscored him in the actual meeting. Thompson only dropped on point with Cairns dropping just two. Hagon scrapped into the semi as the lowest qualifier! having to win his last ride to do so. The original line up for heat 19 had Dan Thompson in it. Hagon was quite fortunate on the front. For needing to beat Thompson to squeeze into the semi would have been a tall order. So congratulations to Hagon for taking his chances, but best rider on the night! No not in my opinion. Would you have said said Kubera was a better on the night than Lebedevs, Lambert and Lingren? in last weeks GP. I would suggest no. The system played into his hands. Should he have deserved a chance of getting in the main GP final on six pts? I would say no, but just like it was for Hagon it was the rules. Stupid but still the rules. Could you have imagined the uproar if he went on to win the final and was awarded 20 pts after only amassing six in the actual meeting.

Even though Lambert has had a bad start to the season. I think riding at reserve should get him back amongst pts.

I think Oxford are asking too much of young Killeen. Watching him in the U21 final on Sunday. He was a shadow of the rider he was last year. His scores suggest that he's really struggling in the top league and you can see in his riding his confidence is low. Just like Boughen. I think he needs taking out of the firing line. i have no idea who could replace him. but the RS system is not working for a lot of these young riders.. Leicester took Hagon out of the firing line because he was not scoring. Look at him on Sunday (Lower Standard) but he looked like he had a lot more confidence on the bike and went on and won the meeting. If he was still at Leicester scoring hardly any pts. Would he have won that meeting?

Even though he was a lap away from becoming British Champion!!

That is not a true reflection though. If you look at his 2025 seasons average. That tells a different story of his poor form.

He couldn't beat juniors on his own track yesterday 4 pts from five rides. Are the management that thick at Lynn? If they had a brain cell between them they would be looking to put Luke Harrison or someone of his capabilities. Boughen needs to be taken out of the firing line. Yes he looks fantastic when he gates. Bloody hell he beat Doyle round Ipswich last season, he looked the real deal. Shutting of going into the 1st bend will get him nowhere. Get him back in the third division. Let him get his confidence back. He might then come back next year a better rider.

I was thinking the same. He most likely had enough speed to pass the other in the four laps. Even if he only scored a point or two. He could have still gone on and made the final, Hagon proved. You don't have to win every race to be the champion! So fair play to Hagon. He done it the hard way. I'm like a lot of people who liked the old system, five rides. Ride against each other once. Whoever has the most pts wins. but the younger generation riders have grown with this system. So it normal for them. It would have been fascinating to look back at World Finals past. Riders who finish 6th would have still had a chance of becoming World Champion. I wonder if there would have been a few surprises. I reckon Jessup would have benefited from this system. How many times was he in contention, only for a E/F to stuff his night up.

Yes but he didn't pull any other races and there was a few races where there was more movement than what Thompson did in the final.

Its not just the West Midlands though Dean. Here In London and the South East. Wimbledon, Hackney, Eastbourne, Canterbury, Crayford, Rye House, Arena Essex all gone. Only Iwade left. The South West. Swindon, Reading, Weymouth, Exeter and Somerset all gone. Plymouth, Poole and Oxford are the only three clubs from that region who are still running. Then you have to travel all the way to Ipswich and Kings Lynn who fortunately are still running, but Peterborough and Mildenhall have gone. This has all happened since the 80s. Very sad, but this must prove, as much as we all love the sport that is not far from dying, certainly as a Professional Sport anyway.

Great racing on a track which is not too grippy or wet and the boys are turning it on. Come the GP, Best riders on view. Whats the betting the track will be overwatered! You would like to think Morris would look at the racing tonight and know this is how the track should be prepared. Lets hope so!!

Yes you're quite correct. Bewley and Lambert are world class. Bewley just passed Ellis. You would have thought he had just passed Bartoz the way they got all excited!!

Did you watch Zielona Góra v Torun yesterday?. You wouldn't get better racing that that. Passionate crown fantastic atmosphere. Last heat decider. Absolute classic.

100% agree. I know he's only 18, but still very petulant. I would imagine putting his steel shoe on is down to him or is he such a star he get's someone else to do it!!!

Common sense says so, but the promotors seem to be happy with the status quo or the riders are holding a gun to there heads. Either way speedway is dying a slow death in this country. There is a combine total of 16 teams. The fans deserve to see all those teams at their local track, not Edinburgh six times a year! If the riders can't make it pay, then they should go and do what most riders did in 70s/80s get a job. Speedway gets far lower attendances than non league football. The lowest attendance team in the Vanarama National League this season was Braintree Town FC, average 1.147 per match. The top team in that league was Southend United FC average 7.339 per match!! I know football is a different sport, but this is semi pro football we're talking about. Who is the best attended team in speedway? Maybe Poole. They might match the lowest clubs attendance, but are miles behind the top team in that league. Yet the riders expect full time professional wages! It's crazy they either become semi pro or the sport will give them no choice but to.

Thats a bit strong. I don't recall Gladhill shutting the throttle off like Boughen. In actual fact, I have never seen anyone shut off going into the 1st bend like him. It's a pretty dangerous thing to do. As for Gladhill he won the National League Riders Championship, when it was worth winning. So to compare is a little bit unfair.

If Gilkes is out for a while (hopefully not) Who would they bring in to cover for him? There doesn't seem to be a lot of options out there?