Malcolm

Phil Collins lives near me in California. I have a brief video of him at a local practice track on my RTS Viper. Check it out. http://xtremesport.org

The GP would only disrupt every 4 years and with no point limit, teams would have the ability to be pretty strong even missing one or two riders, it's their decision to live with. WTC only lasts a week so who cares. Speedway depends on many factors and without a points limit a team could be built with a very strong across the board rider base. Combine that with engine hp restrictions, more dirt on the tracks plus real team riding and you'd be in for some classic team competition. I believe if the WC was only every 4 years BSI would fill the stadiums. Makes it more special. Right now they can't even fill Cardiff, but a bet they could if it was a one night WC. Manchester United can still win the odd match without Beckham. No restrictions on team building period. Real training and real team riding. Maybe add a fifth lap or at least 4 or 5 more heats, however that works out.

Speedway needs to get more inventive when it comes to tracks too. So a community does not want a 400yd track and well 1000-1500 look pretty sad at a big track, so offer the community a rodeo arena. The same arena can be used for horse events, swap meets small concerts and so on. Currently there is a race series in such an arena Stateside, Chowchilla. This track is even covered, even better. Other examples include Costa Mesa, Auburn etc Check my site for a view http://xtremesport.org Another great spot would be an area for business, car and bike dealers, D.I.Y. stores. These stores would be built around the track, a 2nd level would have say a pub and then the seating overlooking an arena where speedway could run along with other events. The businesses being part of the building would help pay for the damn thing and get extra advertsing by being involved with an event centre. imagine going to your local and walking outside on the balcony out back too see some team practice going on or a race. Ultimate theme pub. Also the fact that the riders would be below the crowd in a Roman arena type situation, this should help cut down on the noise outside the stadium. Adding to the Conference League section of my first post, I'd have the hp of the bikes at a level to make numerous makes eligible 400-500cc single cylinder 4 stroke being the size limit. Say 50hp this may mean restricting even the new 450s. I say good. Multiple makes bringing in new blood that may end up bleeding upwards into the other divisions, sure has hell these manufacturers are not going to get involved in speedway as we now know it and trickle down. Think about it a local bike shop could possibly sponsor a whole team with engines.

The GP Individual Championship should run every four years like the World Soccer Cup or Olympics. Same for the WTC only not in the same year giving a two year gap between championships. No expense should be spared on machinery in the WC just like F1. The GP series should try and mirror what F1 has done except running every year. The GP needs to grow in statue as a truely world class event and run in exotic places like Brazil and Japan, not just Poland etc. There is alot of speedway going on and there is no need for a yearly WC of todays GP proportions. Gets boring and screws up the team racing. The year of the GP when certain riders will be often unavailable, tough it's only once every four years and the exposure the rider's team will get at the time of the events and in the years between will more than compensate. WTC is only a week so no problem there. There should be engine hp limits for the WTC as this is a different style of competition. TEAM racing not individual. Instead Benfield for the rest of the time needs to invest in its base support. The speedway clubs and promoters. I propose a yearly European Team Championship. It would draw the crowds when a Swedish, Germany, Polish, Russian club came to town and vica versa for said countries. This way Benfield could help and train clubs on promotion without getting involved with domestic racing. They would also benefit by having their GP riders seen all over the continent while keeping the GP itself fresh and exciting. Riders would also get the extra money they need to live without riding for a second club which is just plain silly. Riders therefore will only ride for one club period and the points rule would be scrapped. Speedway riders and clubs would follow their once second string sporting neighbour soccer when it came to team building. This would give the fans a chance to grow supporting a team they can see grow and change by hard work and luck not stupid rule changes. Teams I believe could then go out and get real solid sponsorship as sponsors could rely on who and what they were sponsoring instead of a "who the hell knows who's ging to be riding for us next week" guarantee. Only the Elite League would be in the European Cup and there would be a horsepower restriction on the Elite League bikes. The cost of tuning a 500 is out of control. We need more money in the riders pockets not a bunch of pro riders who also work another job to survive. Team racing is team riding not oh so-and-so will win this because he has the fancy tuner. Therefore teams should train together, work on fitness and promote themselves, just like soccer does. Riders need to be available for self and track promotion at non-speedway events, we need celebrities. Track size will follow current guidelines. British and foreign riders allowed. At least one Brit should be in the club. Premier League will have more restrictions on the engines, no fancy carbs for one. Reliability will be key and a horsepower limit. Track size will have the lower limit dropped to 200yds allowing for clubs to operate in smaller markets, lower costs and open in areas where a 1/4 mile will not fly. No more than three foreign riders will be allowed. Costs should be such that riders who are not daft should be able to make a living riding in the PL. No need for any other job unless the want to, to have a higher standard of living. This is a gray area, but we need riders focused on riding not working a full time job, trying to get time off and rushing tired to the track. Conference League. Less horsepower again, semi-pro, in this league an upright Weslake should be competitive. Track size lower limit 150yds and no foreign riders. Speedway clubs need to ally themselves with Grasstrack clubs, a primary supplier of riders. They should co-promote and help run the big internationals that once included line-ups stronger than any WC. This is an easy way to bring the sport to places where it doesn't normally run. In the past GT internationals have run at the Britsh F1 GP and Isle of Man TT, they need to again. This would not only be a big GT spectacular but a speedway promotion event too. If there is no room for a big event then speedway needs to look at going to one of these races or any event and grading a small area for a "California Speedway" style race. I.E. Belle Vue and Lancs GT club co-promote a SoCal style event at the Manchester Show. Grade a small track and run speedway bikes and the Lancs juniors can run their grassers. Malcolm http://xtremesport.org P.S. And the current team race format sucks especially with no second half. The least that could be done is throw in a few more heats for the fans.