oldace

Well his other argument against a GP system surely has some merit. That is the one about the underdog, rank outsider, young guy not having a chance to be world champion as in the old days. Just hold fire on that one while I check some stats from this years GP!

Air fences are in essence, crumple zones, it is exactly what they do. Are they better than a collapsible fence. Well Ipswich had one of those and it was safe enough to finish Mark Lorams career Of course there are still issues with the securing of the air fences, issues which to date have inflicted multiple injuries to riders but a properly functioning air fence, for certain, would be the safest using technology as it is today

I can only assume you are on a wind up. Absolutely no one in their right mind could question the safety of a "softer" landing area over a solid one in the event of impact. Have a look round the swings in a public park or any school yard. Even on the streets you find scaffold tube now covered with foam. Plain old common sense can be research enough in some cases

Not really sure to be honest. you would have though there might have been the odd mention over the last fortnight regarding it wouldn't you. I could just look on the SGP site but I really can't be arsed doing that FFS

Is that a real question or have you had a bang to the head? Have a guess what you think the outcome of a two rider run off where 1 rider doesn't make the start inside the allocated 2 mins, assuming he hasn't officially withdrawn already.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the crash at Edinburgh that 4 days later would claim the life of one of Englands finest RIP the original PC

League speedway in this country has gone downhill since the advent of X Factor but that has nothing to do with it either

Smolinski came on quick once he got to 550!!!!!!!!!!

You could maybe try your own research if the answer isn't blindingly obvious. Run as fast as you can, face jutted forward, into a brick wall. Then try the same thing into a kids bouncy castle. Let us know which inflicts the most injuries

It is neither right or wrong, just the way it is. A world championship should find the best contestant and be commercially viable. The system as it is now ticks all the boxes. The lack of seeding, albeit in a different competition, cost Britain dear in 1976/79/82 when potentially massive money spinning WTCs were staged in front of a deserted White City. It is why the Poles, Swedes, Americans and Dutch wouldn't stage a world final without the guarantee of home participation

It isn't something to agree or disagree on, its fact all logged in the sports history Craven was seeded direct to the 1956 final Fundin was seeded direct to the 1957 final Briggs was seeded direct to the 1958 final (which he won) Briggs was seeded direct to the 1959 final Moore was seeded direct to the 1960 final That is before you get onto the Poles in the 70s, 6 seeds in 1970, 5 in 1973, 4 in 1976 and 1979. Then you move onto riders being seeded straight into the later stages like PC in 1977, or Countries give a number of seeded places to decide as the saw fit. You had situations like Wembley 1978 when the Brits were guaranteed 4 places, but only 4 meaning that a host of more than capable riders could not possibly be there You need to do some research before screaming "RUBBISH"

Even the mighty Ronnie Moore/Barry Briggs/ Peter Craven/ Anders Michanek didnt There are plenty more if you want names and years

You keep banging this drum and the argument is as flawed now as it ever was. Tell me one sport where your eutopia of qualifying only exists for major events Golf/Tennis/Snooker etc all use a system of seeding where previous performance is the criteria. To your way of thinking no one "qualifies" for the UEFA Champions League, they are gifted places based on performance the previous season What about the main aspects of 4 and 2 wheel motorsport. Does anyone qualify for the Moto GP/Formula 1/ WRC etc. Are these sports not taken seriously because every single competitor is hand picked. Even going back to your beloved old World Final plenty of years had more hand picked riders than any GP system has had, All this has been gone over many times and you are entitled to your opinion as to how the riders end up in the GP but what is undeniable is the current process gives the sport the best possibility of the best rider of a given season being crowned its world champion and surely that is what everyone wants

You think so?. What other minority sport can a competitor earn $12,000 dollars for a nights work. It is certainly, even in real terms, far in excess of what a rider earned from the old world championship when speedway was more mainstream Of course the £12,000 is nothing to do with BSI. It is the FIM who set pay scales and them who are responsible for the payments. On your other point of BSI making money, whatever next, a commercial organisation trying to make profit. If the UK leagues were run the same way rather than the attitude of "everythings a bit sh!t but everyone is doing their best" then the the sport over here could be looking to make profit

Phoenix Nights fan then is he

Oh right, well that blows my point right out of the water then!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hence Man Utd get 70,000 crowds plus at upwards of £50.00 a ticket and Sunday League football gets a few dozen at FOC tickets. If Sidney was correct it would be the other way round

Within certain parameters it makes little difference. A riders will set his bike up with this in mind. Possibly somewhere between 8.5 - 9 stone as a minimum and 11 - 11.5 stone as an upper limit. Outside those parameters then a rider may well be hampered. We have of course seen successful riders from the other side of both those limits but not many.

Superb explanation Arthur

To be honest you are quite right. I am going back years with the assertion of C2DE types following speedway. That said though it is unlikely to have changed because the sport hasn't. Back in the 60s and 70s football was mainly C2DE demograpgh supported but I expect that is now not the case because to a large extent football has changed to attract more ABC1s.

I expect SKY, using the BARB statistics, do lots of research into the type of people who view different broadcasts. This information is vital when selling advertising. Speedway gets low numbers and they are "mainly" not all but mainly C2DE demographic. Despite the Jimmy guy getting his knickers in a twist it is in no way a slur to categorise people in this way

Have you had a bang on the head or have you just had 1 over the 8 last night Either way I haven't a clue what you are on about.

Well it's not just because i don't go anymore

It isn't an insult to label people into their demograhic. People seem to be insulted because I suggested speedway fans are mainly C2DE. OK so my explanation was tongue in cheek but the fact remains. Hence you wont see Mercedes Benz clamoring to advertise in an Elite League ad break but you may well be bombarded with discount sofas on easy HP type ads.