oldace

Well thats a different thing. Of course speedway should be benefiting financially from the SGP. The 3 main speedway countries could, and should, have been running the series themselves. You said BSI should be helping rider development, I asked how you think they could do this

Why do Poland, Sweden Denmark etc seem to manage to develop riders of their own ? What is it you would like BSI to actually do. Even if the ploughed every penny they make into the four or five speedway nations it would amount to £15,000 or so per track. What part of British development is wholly dependent on the odd £15,000 and how would it help. The promoters of the 60s and 70s are where you should be directing your anger. They were happy to go home in Rolls Royces with suitcases full of cash without putting a single penny onto the infrastructure of the sport that was providing for them.

Of course

I understand averages well enough and I know back in the 70s every rider had an average of 10 plus, I have read it on here somewhere, even Ashby. Did you even see him ride!!!

No, but the 12 good men and women of the jury did and obviously came to the conclusion his side of the story didn't mitigate him, hence a guilty verdict. May not be a hanging offence but a pretty vile crime to say the least. Being involved in speedway isn't some sort of immunity you know Sid, disgusting crimes are the same even if committed by speedway riders. Anyway how are you fixed on Thursday for our fight, not going to bottle it again are you!!!!!

Indeed it was. The race with PC, Simmo and Ivan was a classic.

Very good for you that one Ian

I think you misunderstood what i meant

The decline started in earnest in the early 80s. The GPs and Sky coverage/funding has slowed that decline. British Speedway, free of charge, was being showcased in tens of thousands of living rooms every other Saturday. Advertising like that was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. British Speedway simply had to adapt to a changing climate, as do all business' and adopt a set race day or two days actually, Monday and Thursday would have been good. To be a successful business you really need to be proactive, not reactive, you dont wait for the issues to bite you on the arse, you pre empt them and adopt. A 10 or 12 team Elite League with half racing on a Monday and half on a Thursday racing each other twice over a season could have allowed for weekly speedway. Riders should have been centrally contracted on a set pay scale carved in stone. A 42.5 limit imposed would keep equality, no riders would be forced out of work because they could all be accommodated somewhere, new blood would replace the natural retirements and the league could grow and prosper. It is easier though just to keep upping admission and blame everything on the GPs

British Speedway has gone downhill since the launch of Eastenders but that has nothing to do with it either.

I sort of agree that having a team using the name GB does seem odd to have a rider who isn't actually eligible to compete for GB. That said its no different to a testimonial (for instance) where "Bombers Brits" are a man down and borrow a Pole or "Rorys Roos" borrowing Brit etc etc. The pairs had no official sanction and was in no way shape or form a genuine International competition To be honest, given One Sports seeming remit to take over the world it is kind of satisfying to see this event go down the khazi, with a bit of luck hopefully one sport might follow it there

What, the same One Sport that Trees was telling us last week operate the best model for World Championship Speedway. Surely these couldn't have been the people who billed a meaningless challenge as some sort of World pairs event, couldn't get the programmed riders to compete, served it up on a track resembling a ploughed field in a stadium environment that was a track in a field in front of a few hundred spectators. Get used to it though folks because if the likes of BSI lose interest in the SGP this was a vision of the future

Quite correct Phil. A point I brought up 3 weeks ago. Any ticket refunds will be from the PZM but they won't be happy about giving them out and in turn will seek recompense from BSI. I would imagine the reality is no one will bother pursuing a refund so it won't be an issue. Do organizers not have insurance against "force majeure" in any case. Not sure 16 stroppy prima donna riders with other agendas class as force majeure in any case

None so blind as though that cannot see, very true in your case And why were they happy to race a Mickey Mouse challenge on Saturday on a far more rutted track?

It was apparent to some of us from the outset Phil It would be interesting to hear from the likes of Nicki Pedersen why they deemed Warsaw unfit to ride on yet found no fault in the ploughed field at Esbjerg

Well it wasn't until you came along

No just fact, your post is the nonsense one

The USA didn't pull out, the USA were never riding in any official capacity. Greg pulled out because it was a pairs event and he had no partner, be that an American or otherwise. What is difficult to grasp about it. It had as much credibility as the made up teams you get in testimonial events "Rory's Roo's" kind of thing. Hopefully for next year more riders will do the same, hopefully even declare an intent to ride and pull out on the day and this organisation can be flushed back down the toilet where it belongs.

Correct Rob, not often do I agree with your posts but on this you are spot on. One Sport are nothing but a little wannabe Mafia type organisation who are prepared to do whatever to get their own way. We have already had a Polish play off cancelled on a whim because the owner didn't get his own way. Then we have Emil being used as a puppet and having his career badly damaged by having pressure applied to not ride in the SGP. Lets be clear, these events are there to purely try to undermine the current SGP set up and help one sport get their hands on the big prize. God help us when that happens

Point is though, that track was much more rutted than Warsaw, as are lots of other tracks, yet there was no hint that it should be aborted, even in the teeming rain, until virtually the end. Why then could a challenge match on a horrendous track get through yet a GP on a much better track couldnt

Warsaw was a billiard table compared to the track one sport have served up at Esbjerg. I hope heads roll over this fiasco

To be fair though, at Leicester its the best bit of the nights entertainment

So without actually saying it, and I appreciate your position probably prohibits you from doing so, the real reason for this call off is now clear (it was clear to some of us right from the off). Of course, even in the white hot adrenaline fueled situation of the time everyone knew this could not be cited as a reason to cancel (green light starts are an accepted alternative to tapes as laid down in the rules) and so they decided to play the "rider safety" card. The gullible fans always fall for that one don't they, after all these guys risk their lives for our entertainment and of course we have never ridden a bike, yes lets go for that one, some fans are even stupid enough to disregard the evidence of their own eyes and swallow it hook line and sinker. I suspect Phil Morris struggled with the transition from riders friend to race director, he probably offered a sympathetic ear to their gripes and that weakness would have been jumped on in a flash. With Olsen or Olsson the rebellion would likely have been extinguished before it even got a hold Problem is where do we go from here. As indoor tracks go that was as good as any. Are we to assume then that there will be no Cardiff this year (there isn't for me anyway on the strength of Warsaw) or are the riders going to be complete hypocrites and ride on it as usual.

We are discussing Warsaw, not temporary tracks in general, and that was fine

I posted the same thing a day or two after the GP and I seem to recall you refuting the suggestion back then. It was apparent that Phil, in his inexperience, was taken advantage of. Bottom line is that if safety is the number 1 consideration then shut the whole sport down today. It may have slipped peoples notice but racing motorbikes in inherently dangerous on any kind of track and there will be plenty of occasions where conditions are far from ideal but as an entertainment industry, the show must go on, within reason. If the GP riders want a 100% safe career then I would suggest they are in the wrong job. Weak officials were the problem in Warsaw allowing riders to call the shots, it must never be allowed to happen again