oldace

Indeed they did, and Steve Weatherley is also a regular in the pits at Eastbourne. From a riders perspective though, they are trying to put the risk to the back of their mind and the last thing they see before they go out to race is someone paralysed from a racing accident.

Without wanting to sound harsh a person in a wheelchair through a racing accident is probably not what a rider wants to see just before he goes out for each race.

Indeed. Sadly the houses wii also be the death knell for speedway in swindon.

I have seen all the videos, and like I say it was Carter's fault. He was always going to run out of room and he knew that. Even more so as a rider who raced the Shay regularly. That was also funnel shaped and you had to be aware that you would run out of room on the outside coming off the bends

Carter though put himself into that position. That track narrowed up massively coming out of the bends and Carter knew there was going to be no room. He simply ran into a dead end, his fall was entirely of his own making I am afraid. The biggest loser in it all was Les Collins though. As was the way back then (and particularly with Tore Kittilsen) if the guilty party was clear of danger the race would continue, this would have happened here but the inexperienced American track staff didn't wait for any red lights and ran to Carters aid forcing him to put on the red lights. With a lap to go Penhall had no chance of catching PC so their actions cost Les a run off for certain

Accepted.

Have you ever heard the phrase "tongue in cheek"

Do a little research pn the state of the bdo pre 1994. The formation of the wdc actually forced olly croft to grudgingly move the bdo on, albeit on a much smaller scale ghan the, by now, pdc. Had the breakaway not happened its a near certainty that pro darts would not have existed as it does today I would suggest that the old world finals were akin to the bdo, a reiic of a bygone era dying on its bacside. Bsi did for the sgp what hearn did for the pdc but on a lesser scale

Using your logic bdo darts is more succesful than the FA premier league if we are using respective tv audiences as the yardstick

And the good news for you is that if you agree with me it means you are right

I always find that if you know jack sh!t about someting its best to keep quiet. It can save you looking stupid. Obviously too late for that post but for future you might consider it

Well take a look for yourself over the course of the season. Go to cardiff for the gp then follow it up with a trip to a typical elite league match. Then let me know whether the presentation is any different at the two

In 1993 when the top dart players formed the wdc (at the time) it was because the bdo, run by olly croft, was in serious decline. No tv tpurnaments and events run in the same tired old way. The top pros along with barry hearn knew with the right presentation they could turn the sport around. Bottom line is the darts is still the same but the package is totally different. The GPs show it can be done with speedway.

In 1993 when the top dart players formed the wdc (at the time) it was because the bdo, run by olly croft, was in serious decline. No tv tpurnaments and events run in the same tired old way. The top pros along with barry hearn knew with the right presentation they could turn the sport around. Bottom line is the darts is still the same but the package is totally different. The GPs show it can be done with speedway.

If your saying the name team GB is stupid the fair enough, I expect a few are in agreement, however the St Georges Cross wouldn't be appropriate on the race jackets for the reasons above

The England naming came about to distinguish the team from the ones that went before which included New Zealanders, at that time affiliated to the FIM through the ACU. Great Britain is the nation represented at the FIM by our ACU, not England

I have explained to you already why it is great britain. If you want to stick your fingers in your ears andvscream "not listening" like a little child thats up to you but the fact, thats fact. Not opinion, is that the team that takes to the track are representing great britain

No meeting in Britain has ever attracted 6 figures. A few times into 90,000s

I usually am!!!!!

SKY have had no input as to how the money was used. The fact is British Speedway has had a glorious opportunity to advance over the last 18 years, an opportunity other sports had and embraced, sports like darts, Rugby League even cycling. Has being on live TV for the whole 3 weeks affected crowds at the Ally Pally or the Premier League of darts? In the early days they played in smaller venues but packed them out, encouraged the party atmosphere and created the impression that this is a must attend event. That is what speedway should have done. The fact that British Speedway is in the mess it is lies solely 100% at the feet of British Speedway. Not SKY or BSI or anyone else. With a new TV deal now is the time to change things around

So lets get this straight cos I am a little confused Plenty of people on here, you amongst them, have alluded to the fact that the sport needs to market itself more, create awareness, that kind of thing. Yet for 18 years the sport has been able to showcase its Premier competition directly into the living rooms of between 60,000 and 100,000 people each week, It has had millions from SKY to show league matches, this money should have been used to give free entry to all tv matches, make a big crowd, make the thing look exiting and hopefully a % of the people will come back and yet all it has done is stuffed the money into the back pockets of a bunch of mercenaries and carried on with the same tired old presentation in front of one man and his dog. Still we can blame SKY or BSI and carry on with the tried and tested method of sending a rider and bike to a WI jumble sale, thats the kind of exposure we should be looking at isn't it

Its called "dressing the house, the art of making a venue look full with only two thirds capacity in there Its no secret that attendances were always inflated in the press releases. It is where the 92,000 in 1981 came from when the real crowd was only 72,000

Wouldn't swear to it but i am pretty sure LA didn't get much over 35,000 and a lot of them were just freebies given away at the last minute so as not to make the venue seem deserted. At a guess I would say 1986 in Katowice was 60,000 plus (It is just a guess though) so probably that would be the last time a one off was anywhere near Cardiff