New Science

Think riders at all levels will be earning significantly less when the much championed £10 speedway comes to fruition !

You're fed up with people moaning about the Eurosport commentary team then you go to slag off the err Eurosport commentary team (Pearson and Tatum) Go figure !

Been looking at some figures recently and in my area the only sport I can find that is cheaper to watch than speedway is Bet Square Premier league football(footballs 5th tear)Other sports(cheapest ticket price)include Premier football £25,Championship £21,League one £18,League two £17,Ice hockey £17,county cricket £20,Premier rugby £26,Rugby league £20.Don't get me started on international sport,tickets at Wembley,Lords,Twickenham etc cost between £40-£80 cheapest.Sure we all want cheaper tickets but speedway tickets(league and GP) probably have not risen as significantly as other sports.I think the issue people have is maybe not the cost but the value for money,for most of the sports I've listed you could argue that the entertainment value has never been better,don't think speedway can say that !

Why have the final in Czech republic if your relying on Polish fans to fill the venue not the home fans.Would have been more sensible to seed the Poles to the final not the czech's .Seems the Poles are a little bit fickle,wont support the race off if their team aren't in,wont travel if Gollob's not riding because their team might not win,what was the excuse in Czestochowa this year when their team were guaranteed a win and they still didn't show

4 man teams (1 reserve available in case of injury on doctors decision) 20 heats Last 4 heats,4 lowest scorers in heat 17 up to highest scorers in heat 20,(no rubics cubes,no putting star riders in weak heats or off best gates simply riders of equal ability racing each other. Double point joker at 10 behind Tactical substitute at 6 behind If the need to seed the hosts then race off only

BSI will have no scruples about dropping Bydgoszcz again if the PZM come up with the money for a Warsaw GP(still have my doubts as its a massive financial risk)Bydgoszcz has probably produced the best speedway of any venue on the GP calender but was dropped like a stone when big money and long contracts were desired by rich promoters at Leszno,Torun and Gorzow.When Leszno decided they didn't want to play anymore reliable old Bydgoszcz were begged back on the calender.It wont be much of a shock to see Bydgoszcz being the fall guys again,if Warsaw is a goer,probably with the excuse that Bydgoszcz need to redevelop their facilities(same reason given 3 years ago !)

Has to be Manchester,after team GB performance this year cant see us challenging for a final place unless we get the seeding as hosts.

Poor track,poor crowd,poor racing,no outside passes,poor referee and scores artificially adjusted to make it close.Lets not forget KK pulling on to the centre green to massage the scores so the joker could be played in the next heat,the last available heat they could play it.If the joker is to stay please increase it to 8 behind before it can be used.Not sure after all this how speedway can be the big winner.

Apart from seeding the hosts to the final the format is near spot on,its only the injuries and disputes with governing bodies that has watered the product down to what we see this year.Full strength teams on good racing circuits with 2 qualifying from the race off always makes this one of the best events of the speedway season.This year i have real sympathy with the organisers especially witnessing that crowd for event 1,thought tracks in Poland were desperate for these events,someone should tell the Polish fans

Think it would fit in ok,most tracks have in the UK have no atmosphere

Usually on Sky on a Monday night anything over 500 is described as a good crowd by Nigel,so compared to that is probably is a great crowd !

Suppose when tracks with lengthy motorsport history like Western Springs are forced to close we just have to say "well thats the way of the world" If it happens there it can happen at any track in the world,what do we do then ?

It wouldn't have taken that much more expenditure for Swindon to have retained all of last years team(Doyle,Stead and Lampart)although it would have given them a large advantage over everyone else building to 41.

This practise has got more common as money has got tighter !

Interesting to note Kelvin's Tatum commentary last night on the difficulty riders are having controlling their machines with the new silencers.2nd time in a week Kelvin has mentioned this,last night it was after the fall suffered by Rohan Tungate.It may only be one voice but someone of Kelvins experience and technical knowledge should not be ignored.If the risks to rider safety are increased this issue needs to be addressed.

If the 1998 Ipswich team had been allowed to stay together (Rickardsson,Gollob,Nicholls,Louis etc)they would have been untouchable for at least 5 years.The points limit would have been over 50.The best thing about speedway is that no one team dominates and the honours are shared around.Keeping league winning sides together would create the equivalent of footballs Premier League.

Your team are winning by 10 points at home with 3 heats left.The top heavy opposition get a 5-1 in heat 13,then put the same double tactical in heat 14, another 5-1,low and behold they field the same pairing in heat 15 and achieve a 5-1 to win by 2.Saw Wolves do this to Belle Vue in the 90's,there was nothing more unfair in the sport.At least with the double point ride its a programmed ride against riders of equal ability,the old tactical substitute rule made a formality of weak heats 8 and 14.

So what have the new silencers actually done for speedway ? 1:Increased costs: Costs have increased including the numbers of services required and now compulsory heat shields to prevent burns 2 Increased risks for riders :Bikes are now more unpredictable and difficult to control increasing risks to riders(Kelvin Tatums view) 3 More injuries: More riders are suffering injuries,particularly incidents where riders are suffering serious injuries falling off with no-one else involved (Stead Lindgren recently) 4 Restricted track preparation;The days of tracks heavy with dirt are things of the past as they are unrideable with the current silencers.Preparing the perfect racing circuit has become even more of a science. 5 No atmosphere at tracks;Since the new silencers came into effect the atmosphere at speedway tracks is non existent.The removal of the sound of the has taken the atmosphere and sucked the soul out of the sport. 6 Reduced entertainment:The speedway at smaller tracks,where throttle control is key is not a patch on what it used to be,the outside pass has become the exception rather than the norm. 7 Financial Downward Spiral:Sure speedway may have been in decline for many years but that decline has accelerated in the last 3 years.In the past successful teams used to make money,struggling teams used to lose money,you took the rough with the smooth. We are now in a position where "NOBODY MAKES ANY MONEY" Sure these are my own views and I prepare myself to be shot down and my argument pulled apart by many on this forum; Thats Fine Are all the points I've listed worth giving in for just to appease the environmentalists,the way the world works now this wont be the last change the sport has to go through !,

Sounds like you've got a downer on this years Speedway World Cup Phil Completely understandable thou

Unless my ears deceived me we had a blast of showaddywaddy at the Parken GP last night,other offerings included Elvis,Little Richard and Duran Duran Seems the fascination for playing music from another era is not confined to these shores

Not sure much feedback is being done.It doesn't take much feedback to realise the incoherent ramblings of the guy doing the voiceovers on Eurosport are being ridiculed by er everyone,its embarrassing.Also Charlie on Sky,although she is intelligent and a pretty face,when it comes to live TV with no autocue she is nothing more than wooden,think its her 3rd year and she hasn't improved,there are alternatives but I don't think Sky are that bothered.

Any room for the Elite league boys (Harris,Nicholls,King,Bridger,Mear)who have served British speedway well or will they be surplus in the new £10 model ?

What do you think the price should be for the British GP ? baring in mind this years line up is the arguably the strongest ever, riding in one of Britains best stadia,with a roof,in a major city.

Do we not have this model already ! Its called the National League,majority semi pro and £10 in. Problem is this model is still not attracting big crowds or making profit for promoters.Granted Dudley are an exception but even their promoters were financially not in a position to move up a league and increase their costs even thou their fans wanted the move.If £10 speedway was the answer why is the National League not an unreserved success ? It seems to be the blueprint that everyone is advocating.

Taken from Speedway Star June 8th Gorzow vs Bydgoszcz attendance 9500 Leszno vs Rzseszow attendance 5000 Taken from Speedway Star June 22 Bydgoszcz vs Tarnow attendance 3000 Yes big crowds compared to the UK but nowhere near "packed stadia" Crowds in Poland are also significantly down on what they were some years ago,it is only extensive sponsorship and wealthy owners that prop these clubs up