moomin man 76

Greg Hancock Select v Billy Hamill Select - Last Ever at Dudley Wood (1995). Not particularly great racing, but poignant for all the wrong reasons.

I think I'll make the trip over the A69 from Carlisle for this one...shoud be a cracker weather permitting.

They could try and do that, but would any Ekstraliga club try to do so if hypothetically a top GP rider demanded such a term not to be in his contract? They know that without the services of said rider there would be a diminishment in points scored per match by their club and potential interest from the terraces if spectators realise that the top names woiuld be missing.

Mind you, if I had enough money and suggested I would become a major GP sponsor (and/or provide live terestrial television coverage in a particular country), it would be interesting to see if my offer to nominate a rider of my choice from a country not currently represented in the GP series would be accepted by BSI/IMG. Just wondering how much money talks?

I would firstly imagine that any rider who is near the top of the GP standings can probably demand the removal of such terms in a contract, as Polish clubs would be just as keen to employ their services as any other club in any other country. As a side issue, I can't imagine such a clause would be popular with riders from Denmark, Czech Republic etc etc where a league also operates, as if I am interpreting the situation correctly it would seem to infer that any rider that rides in their domestic leage would only be able to ride in 2 out of 3 from Elite League, Ekstraliga and Elitserien. In the interests of 'fair play' it seems fair to me that the league that should take seniority should be the league that a rider first rides in, which in most instances would be a reflection of nationality.

Depending on the points limit, as well as conversion rates, I would take a look in no particular order at David Bellego,Dmitri Berge and Erik Riss. I'd also be tempted if I was the Belle Vue promotion to consider Dan Bewley if there is some sort of fast track system at reserve.

A more interesting listing would be based on average attendance figures, which would unfortunately put British tracks towards the rear of any listing. Unfortunately, such a list wouldn't accurately exist, as UK promoters refuse to disclose true attendance figures; perhaps due to the cash in hand nature of promotion in the UK.

I wouldn't wish to speculate on whether the riders are getting paid or not. I'm sure that there are others on here who know the reality of the situation better than I do. The racing last night was entertaining on a well prepared track, so in that sense the product is there. However, I do wonder whether one of the problems Workington have faced is the age old problem of entertainment versus winning team? With the best will in the world, the team that Workington assembled this season was no better than average by Premier League standards, with too many known riders whose averages were unlikely to go up sufficiently to challenge at the upper end of the table. Last night, the attendance was better but it was artificially boosted by good travelling support from Glasgow. Brian Havelock may have developed a Redcar team that is solvent, but I've seen little/no evidence of promotion from Redcar to pull in new fans. Neither have Redcare been attractive visitors to 'away' tracks, so in fielding a weak side, Brian Havelock has arguably damaged other promotions business, as casual fans are less likely to attend meetings when the visitors are weak and have few riders of interest. Indeed, how many Redcar fans actually travel to away meetings, when they know their team is going to be so poor on their travels?

Exactly. The unfortunate truth is that in comparison to other parts of the country, North and West Cumbria have low wage economies. I can't imagine that the closure of the steel works in Workington a few years ago helped the local economy either. Both Workington Town and Workington Reds pull in lower crowds. The situation with the Comets is similar. Further afield, Whitehaven RLFC are pulling in far fewer spectators than ten years ago. Even my local rugby union club at Wigton have far fewer watching.

At the end of the day, the SWC means far more to us fans than it does to Tai Woffinden. From his perspective, the World Championship is his absolute goal at the start of each season. The SWC means little, as in reality as this year showed, it doesn't matter how many points he might score, Great Britain has no chance of winning the gold medal. As fans, we can all talk about the pride a rider should feel about riding for his country, but from a riders perspective if appearing for his country leaves him out of pocket there is far less incentive to ride. I can't say whether that applies to Tai Woffinden, as I wouldn't wish to speculate how much each Great Britain rider earned, but if expenses exceed earnings it is as good reason as any not to ride.

I wouldn't profess to know the inside difficulties that the Workington promotion have faced this season, as in spite of only living 25 miles away, my attendance is sporadic at best. The promotion have tried to promote the club. Even in Carlisle, there is an advertisement for the club outside a major motorcycle dealers on Wigton Road, advertisements in Carlisle 'Life' magazine and a prominent advertisement in the Lanes shopping centre. However, at the start of the season in my eyes, there wasn't any 'wow' or excitement factor about the Workington team. The assembled team was competent, but consisted of riders whose form and abilities were well known. At best, as the league table has eventually proven, they were a mid-table side. There wasn't sufficient potential improvement within the team to challenge any higher up the league. Unfrotunately, I wouldn't advocate the model proposed by Brian Havelock as a model to be embraced by the rest of the league either, unless all Premier League teams were to de-strengthen, thus dilulting the product and potentially reducing attendance further. The Redcar promotion may be solvent, but in assembling the weak teams that they have done for the past few years, they have arguably hindered the business of rival promotions, as they are definitely not an attractive visiting team to watch. I certainly wouldn't pay good money to watch Workington v Redcar at Derwent Park, as the likely outcome is all to predictable. At the same time, I would pay to watch Workington against the likes of Glasgow and Somerset.

I personally wouldn't go anywhere near Scott Nicholls. A great rider in his time, but his average is only heading one way now. His limitations were cruelly exposed over both legs of the Grand Final - to be replaced by Joe Jacobs in your last programmed ride, when your team needs a 5-1 to keep the meeting alive, says it all.

There was good racing from all tonight. Unfortunately, Belle Vue left themselves with far too much to do after the 1st leg. From a neutrals point of view, it was good to see Peter Karlsson role back the years and show somes glimpses of what a great rider he was in his prime, with his points proving vital in the end result. He can now retire from British speedway on a high. Thanks for the memories PK.

The problem with demanding exclusivity contracts is the additional financial obligations that will inevitably come from demanding such a clause in a contract. PZM/Ekstraliga may wish to tie riders down to riding in their league and one other, but it will come to a price. Unfortunately, this is the major flaw in the system, as there are already enough instances of riders complaining of Polish League sides not meeting the financial terms of the contracts they have negotiated, before any additional exclusivity clauses are considered.

I can't see how any recommendation to enforce riders riding in two leagues only can be practically implemented, with the amount of doubling up that happens in both Sweden and Britain. If PZM/FIM or whoever want to restrict riders from riding in more than two countries, it has no legal basis, as any such instruction would not comply with 'restraint of trade' legislation, as effectively each rider is self-employed and can choose to ride for whom they see fit. Moreover, it may 'free' up team places for other riders, but outside of Poland, I cannot see where there is a glut of junior riders to fill the team places that are created. Whether we like it or not, the speedway scene in Europe and the Rest of the World is shrinking. There are far less riders than there were ten years ago. One of the more interesting aspects of the ruling is that clubs in Poland who employ non-Polish riders, who would be considered to be outside of the elite of the sport, may suddenly find themselves that they can't fill team places except with their own juniors. After all, why would any such rider consider signing a contract, to ride in Poland when there is no guarantee of meetings and indeed no guarantee that you will be eventually paid for your services?

I think that is a fair and objective assessment of the Poole performance. Big performances from both reserves, a crap showing from Holder and three riders who were out of their depth.

I am certainly no fan of Poole, but to be honest with the 2nd leg at Belle Vue largely being a no event after the large Belle Vue victory in the first leg, I would have made exactly the same decision; especially after Wolves opened up with a 5-1 in the first heat. It definitely will be an entertaining final. Here's hoping as others have mentioned for no guests and no rider replacement.

The best team won on the night and deservedly won on aggregate. Middlo took defeat on the chin, didn't look for excuses - e.g. not protest for Tungate to be put back into Heat Fifteen. For Poole, without their reserves they frankly would have been hammered. Holder rode like he normally does at Monmore - he may not like the place, but his points scores including tonight have been unacceptable for an ex-world champion. Aside from Newman and Ellis who rode their hearts out to keep Poole in the tie, the rest of the Poole lineup were mediocre at best. Onward and upward for Wolves; for Poole and Matt Ford a winter to contemplate what 'advantage' they can manufacture for next season. One thing that is certain is that they won't have the benefit of Newman and Ellis both at reserve next season.

But the question remains on who chose Przedpelski to be first reserve given that he finished nowhere near the qualifying places in the meeting at Belle Vue.

And so we go on...more triviality distracting from the reality that most of what is being speculated on here may not be relevant come the end of the meeting... Irrespective of what may be said about Matt Fords' methodology and how legitimate it might be, the reality remains that if Wolverhampton pull back the deficit and win on aggregate it will not matter one iota... If they don't and Poole win on aggregate what is being speculated and suggested on here both in support and in opposition to Matt Ford and Poole Speedway is not going to make one iota of difference to how the BSPA view the situation.

Hardly an asset to the GP series, but no worse than having Chris Harris in the series.

Many thanks for the clarification, as I was under the impression that One Sport chose the permanent wildcards for the series, wildcards for each round, as well as the supplementary reserve riders (subject to approval from the FIM).

Good to see Nike Lunna get the chance to replace Joel Andersson, as I feared One Sport would find a way to circumnavigate the official reserve rider list and include another Pole as Andersson's replacement.

Interesting - where is this data available? I checked on-line, but couldn't find anything with the usual google search. I'm moderately surprised though that the only Finn mentioned is Nike Lunna, as I would have expected Jooa Partanen and Jesse Mustonen to feature somewhere. All three are still U21, which bodes well for the future.

If Teterow is the best venue that IMG/BSI can secure in Germany, they should be embarrassed. Or, as others have suggested, is it simply down to the promotion at Teterow being the only ones in Germany who are prepared to pay the staging fee demanded by IMG/BSI?