WembleyLion

Gelsenkirchen?

Thanks for the response Phil but I feel at the very least there could have been more help for those stranded in Riga even if it was just information. I am well used to getting myself around Europe for Speedway but I have to say that Saturday afternoon challenged me somewhat to come up with a solution for myself and six others travelling with me. Thanks to some help from our Hotel we did source a minibus which is not an easy thing to do at the best of times especially at a weekend and when there is a very short notice period. Unfortunately many were not as fortunate as me and there were many disappointed and upset fans I bumped into over the weekend and on Monday.

I agree to the above post and when I visited Saturday morning the Stadium had clearly been improved. The track preparation was a shambles but pretty much down to a failure to clear blocked drains earlier in the week. BSI were clearly trying to deflect blame onto the local promoter but in my view it was largely BSI's fault as they failed to properly oversee matters. It would seem BSI were also hoping they could blame the weather on Friday and Saturday. Well I was there both days and on Saturday they were watering the track in the morning. There is no way a few cloud bursts on Friday or Saturday should have had any impact at all. It doesn't at Malilla or Vojens and other GP circuits. I suspect BSI were really hoping Saturday's weather would be so atrocious they could then hide behind that as a reason for a call off. Well they came unstuck! I wonder when they decided to actually call the meeting off as it was certainly 'off'' well before it was officially announced. It would have been better to have known on Friday thus affording those in Riga more time to make plans to go to Daugavpils. Also it would have prevented many from needlessly flying out on Saturday morning. No thought at all given to the fans. As oleoleole says surely it would not have been too difficult to give some help or guidance to those fans in Riga in terms of laying on a few coaches or even just providing some information on the possible alternative ways of making the trip. I was fortunate enough to be able to sort out a way of getting to Daugavpils but speaking to many in Riga and at the airport on Monday it was clear a large number didn't even entertain attempting the journey. Finally, to make matters worse the Darcy Ward situation then deflects much of the heat from BSI and overshadows their incompetence. Now awaits post(s) in defence of BSI

The Darcy Ward story has also taken the organisational shambles out of the limelight!

Big downpour recently but now lovely and sunny. If it were Malilla or Vojens or Terenzano or ... it would be all systems go! Maybe if they had unblocked the drains earlier in the week it would have helped.

Lovely day today in Riga just as it was yesterday. The current weather has little to do with this being off. They were watering the track when I was there a few hours ago just before calling it off! Heads need to roll on account of this shambles !

Not a great forecast tomorrow so is Sunday an option I wonder?

Bob Dugard?

I'll watch them both, the Swedish match should be virtually finished by the time Berwick starts so not too much channel hopping I hope!

must have heard Peter York!

Lots of riders names are pronounced differently outside of the UK. The H bit in Thomas H Jonasson for instance is pronounced Ho in Swedish but I've never heard anyone in the UK pronounce it correctly!

When the World Cup final was at Reading in 2006 (with TeamGB in the final) Len ran a home meeting against Glasgow!

Yes and Mr Nimby was/is a fireman!

I don't actually disagree with most of what you say and there are certain tracks I avoid if there is any chance of a spit of rain. These promotions do a lot of damage to their businesses but I also believe Len doesn't help his own business either. He has certainly helped to convert me from a regular to an occasional visitor at a time when my attendance at Speedway overall has not declined (usually about 80 meetings a year). I just go tend to go to tracks where I feel some effort will be put into getting a meeting on.

If you make little effort to run Speedway then do not expect the fans to bother that much either - reaping what you sow.

I agree with many of the previous points. The crowd levels have gone down a bit in recent years and it's also worth remembering they run comparatively few meetings when compared to most UK tracks.

I agree with the above posts. Ordering the tickets this time was a much better experience than last year.

Tickets available online from 7 July.

170 SEK at Kumla which is about £17!

Anytime soon I expect re. tickets. Does anyone know of any Speedway meetings taking place in Poland on the day after the Torun GP?

http://www.vargarnaspeedway.se/om-vargarna/klubbens-historia/ Some history here Tony - they were running Norrköping in 1947 it would appear!

I agree Tony and this kind of caper does a great deal of damage to the sport.

R.I.P Simmo

I agree with the above - no real urgency to get on with the meeting today. Much of the fault lies with the referee who could easily speed matters up if he could be bothered. Nonetheless I enjoyed a nice afternoon out watching Speedway.

Heading off to Stansted soon for a flight to Tampere later this afternoon - really looking forward to the GP!