Jonny the spud

Who says there’s no money in British speedway? after last nights performance it looks like Laguta is on a grand a point …

I don’t profess to knowing everything. But I do know that most riders continue to ride injured. As someone pointed out above, if all injured riders stopped racing there’d be no speedway for you to moan about.

Check out his Instagram post from may 29th. His hand went into the back wheel of another bike in a crash. He still can’t move his some fingers properly.

Said someone who knows nothing about speedway …..

Adam is still carrying a hand injury from a month ago.

Brilliant. Finally a racers track.

In principal Adam is riding in Poland on Sunday.

Once you take out Adam, David Bellego & Dimitri Bergé, there’s not enough depth in French riders to fill a 7 man team. The riders here are amateur and all clubs are near Bordeaux so travel would be a massive problem

Ok grasstrack not speedway but …. 1994 I was racing sidecars at a meeting in a certain club in northern Germany, (1,500 kms from my home near Bordeaux). We arrived after a near on 24 hour drive.. not a very fast van and avoiding most autoroutes to save on tolls, set up van & awning in the pits, got bike out and ready for scrutineering - set for 6:30 pm. It was raining so the organisers delayed it an hour, then another hour, then till the next morning. ( more about that later) The following morning the rain had let up a little but was still coming down. Scrutineering was further delayed and we had an ominous feeling. Around 10:30 they cancelled the meeting. Bins were opened and the caterers threw away lots of food, piles of programs were dumped and we started to pack up. I went to race control to pick up our start money. (About £600 back in the day.. it covered diesel tolls etc) and was told that as the bikes hadn’t been scrutineered the meeting hadn’t officially started, therefore no start money was paid out. 20 minutes later the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. i had to hang around for a couple of hours as Mark Loram was bringing me two new race suits from the UK, over 10,000 spectators were turned away and Loram couldn’t believe that it had been cancelled. ( I bet he got his money though!) Another 24 hour drive home, hugely out of pocket and never raced at that club again.

Of course it’s a speedway issue. Clubs are forever going tïts up and it’s always the riders that get screwed over. Until the powers that be sort out some proper rules, a major league sponsor ( been promised that for years but it’s strangely never materialised) and produce and stick to a long term plan, it’s always going to be looked upon as a micky mouse sport.

Maybe if they paid the thousands of pounds owed to the ex riders they might talk …. But this is speedway so that won’t happen.

That depends which sidecars. 1000cc ones run clock wise and ruin tracks. They’re only found here and in Oz. You get the odd old one that’s been sold abroad they use it to be able to write “international “ on the side of their vans, whereas the 500cc ones use the same engines / wheels / tyres as speedway bikes and run in the same direction. Also there’s riders from many European countries so you could invite foreign teams to spice it up a little. ( they’re faster too most of the time than the 1,000’s )

Yeah. Those two league titles with Swindon and British individual title …. So much losing.

Maybe a ref with two eyes ?

Stevie wonder in the Refs box tonight ?

That’s ridiculous. Does she also let them off if they “only just” touch the tapes ?

Thé track presenter is a leftover from 1970’s Butlins holiday camp. It’s embarrassing

Not blasted. Just pitied. You tell me any other rider who wouldn’t have tried ?

By birth …..? so no Mark Loram ? no Adam Ellis ?

Forgetting that 8 days previously he’d scored a 4 ride maximum in the European semi final ( which Team GB won) while Harris was replaced in two of his rides after scoring only 4 points. It pîsses me off that I even need to point this out but it seems that the numpties online spout cråp with impunity. i know I shouldn’t bite, but when I get personal messages slagging him off and read some of this on here I just like to put the record straight. it’s no wonder 99% of riders and officials in the sport avoid this site like the plague.

He doesn’t deserve it and is not a genuine competitor …. yet 8 days previously he rode to a 4 ride maximum in the European pairs semi final while Chris Harris only scored 4, being replaced in two of his rides. You really have some serious issues to bring up school sports days and parenting. I don’t make up the rules, I flew over to watch my son race. Nothing more, nothing less. if speedway isn’t considered a serious sport , maybe look at the kind of people that follow it and how unreasonable they can be when things don’t go their way. ( clue, you’ll find him in the mirror) I’d love to discuss it more but you seem so angry and looking to blame Adam / me / anyone it would be a waste of time. I’ve met some great people in speedway. I’ve also me some idiots who spend so much time being so angry with everything it’s a waste of energy trying to engage. guess which ones I don’t waste time on.

Well… you seem like a nice level headed kind of fella.

Apart from Adams retirement in his first race last night, he’s finished either first of second in every meeting at Sheffield apart from the season opener. just saying.

It’s hard to convince world speedway that Britain’s a force to be reckoned with after this debacle

Shiiiïït. Embarrassing from start to finish. From presentation, to air fence, to Sam, to the delay. How the he’ll go you expect to be taken seriously when you finally get a platform to show your sport worldwide and serve up this?