Jonny the spud

Whether Ben had it coming or not had nothing to do with it. Once the referee gets involved you just say yes sir no sir and get on with it on track. If you were GB manager, would you risk selecting Cook for an important meeting if he can't control his temper ? He'd be an immediate target for opposition riders to wind up a d we've all seen what happens then.

Instead of just big mouthing it on twitter and in the speedway star, Cook should have let his riding do the talking, ditto with the referees fine.... Wind your neck in shake hands and show everyone what you're capable of. Instead he cost his team a place in the final, cheated his own fans ( many who paid hard cash to travel a long way) and made himself look a complete cock in many people's eyes ( GB management included) Way to go Cookie !

Meeting about to start. No thread on here. Nothing on twitter nothing on updates site. Poor show Phew. Finally

Too true. My son (Adam Ellis) is doing brilliantly in the NL, has managed to put nearly 2 points on his starting average of 3 in the PL in his first season of racing in the UK. I pay for his accommodation and supplied him with a van ( two things that foreign riders seem to pick up quite easily) but without some small sponsorship he's been able to pick up in the UK and the fantastic help of Matt Read and his wife we'd be struggling. Just in the last month nearly £2,000 was needed for tyres and a new gearbox on the van and we all know how much engines cost to service etc. there are lots of young English riders in the same position, there doesn't se to be the sponsorship in the UK for them whereas foreign riders seem to be able to demand transport / accommodation etc as part of a deal with ease. For young up and coming riders one engine blow up really could mean the difference between riding and packing up

Adam was struggling all night with the set up on a new clutch. Ended up over compensating while trying to make up for not getting out of the gate and popped his shoulder out in the heat 12 crash

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz And you wonder why we can't attract new people to this sport ....

I'd just settle for some if the island team turning up

Still no Tom Perry and RR for Dan, it's gonna be tough

Because its a well established once a year fixture. The free pens is a little thing but I recall its an insurance company or something that supplies them ( no cost to the club ) They have a big stack of speakers in the centre green pumping out music to get the crowd going ... Commentators going wild ( a la kelvin ) during the heat. ( although I've never heard WWWWOOOOAAAAH SUPER SPEEDWAY. Yet) During a UK meeting there's none of that.

Marmande own their own track, the pens are sponsored, only put on one international meeting a year, revieve a large subsidy from the FFM (French ACU) and entry is €25. I've been many times, once when there was 22,000 spectators so money isn't really a problem there !

Boxhall is riding at Ipswich tonight in a select side at the John Berry memorial meeting. Should be interesting to see how he goes

Adam was signed before the calendar was organised so that isn't the case. IOW just knew a good rider when they saw one and offered him the chance

Not sure whether it should be in here but " happy birthday " to Adam Ellis Today is one year since his first ever competetive speedway meeting at Eastbourne last year Unfortunately our favourite poster isn't here to recognise it but I just thought I'd point it out all the same

All the talk of long stroke / short stroke / silencers / 400cc etc can be overcome by simply having a different rear tyre homologated ? If the tread pattern is right it doesn't matter how much tuning etc you pay out for the speed on the bike will be limited by tyre adhesion No extra cost to the riders, less wear and tear on engines, slower speeds Surely that line is worth looking into ?

I posted something yesterday that got deleted. Big brother is watching you !

Phew. Happy with that

Dirt deflectors.... Waste of time New silencers ..... Same Heat shield for the new silencers ... Ditto If you only have two bikes that's nearly £1,000 there. Don't get me even started on allowing titanium !!! What were they thinking ? This is supposed to be a simple sport

Nerrr nerrr. Fine. I'm taking my ball home I think the moderators son has got hold of his laptop

What keeps happening to Ipswich threads in here ???? MOD NOTE: Is there any point in REPEATING ad nauseum what is on the last post in the thread still visible? Still, the time taken up having to do so takes away from time sorting through all the abuse and unacceptable language on the thread so it will just take even longer

Lets see some away meetings first eh ?

Probably. But even the best businesses can improve. I doubt if any promotors is 100% happy with their set up and would welcome ideas / suggestions. Hence the idea of a questionnaire It's called an internal audit. Once every few months I get a mate to anonymously go into both my pubs and complete a questionnaire on lighting, cleanliness, music,atmosphere,service etc... Then I pay him to have a night out in a few competitors bars. I myself, every time I visit another bar am on the look out at how they're run It keeps me on my toes and lets me know what else is going on out there. I wonder how many promotors visit other tracks as a paying spectator ?

Stop trying to make the sport worth £10, if it's £17... make it worth £17!!! Get in touch with local bands to see if they want to do a pre meeting concert on the centre green, get the presenters to do a mini quiz in the interval, choose 1 rider a week to meet the fans and sign autographs and advertise it the previous weeks programme, stick a questionaire in the programme, get fans to tell you what they think you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, get them to include their email address and you've got a database to inform them of upcoming meetings. Visit other tracks and look at their presentation with a critical eye, if you see something good, copy it, if you see something bad, make sure you're not doing the same. It's not really that difficult to do things that add value to a meeting without spending money. most of it is just common sense.

Why ?

I own two pubs, one has been open for ten years and works very well and the other is a year old and performing above expectations. In the years i've owned my pubs i've realised that just opening the doors and expecting it to be enough to pull people in doesn't work. They can drink anywhere, you have to give them a reason to come to you rather than other bars, cafés, restaurants, tea rooms, etc... What do i do ?? Live music quiz pool / darts competitions promotions on drinks live sports on big screens etc, etc. In short, being just a pub isn't enough, people can spend there money anywhere, I have to make it worth their while to come to mine and provide something other than an open door and keep expecting people to keep coming back. If i had my way there'd be Led zeppelin playing and just motorcycle racing on the giant screens, but i would be probably the only person there . However i employ young staff who keep the music choice fresh and come up with as many ideas as possible to make my bars more attractive than any other local ones. Believe it or not, just the choice of music is VERY important in setting the mood, it can make or break an evenings entertainment, We advertise our local rugby clubs matches , how ? they provide an upload able poster that anyone can print off at home and spread the word. ( I've seen the posters popping up in some of the most unusual places) There is no 1 thing that will change everything but there are lots of small things ( that don't cost anything) that will help improve matters. I hate hearing Gary Glitter, Alvin Stardust, cliff Richard etc at a meeting. There is no need for it and playing it week in week out it's just plain laziness Why do the GP's work and pull in Monster sponsorship ? razzmatazz.... make it enjoyable to go for god's sake,put a questionnaire in a programme that people can fill in during one of the (too long) intervals and READ IT, more importantly ACT ON IT . A business that doesn't listen to its customers is a business that fails

Meeting abandoned result doesn't stand