Roger Jacobs

Not a ringer - a legal replacement for an injured rider. Certainly more credible than a guest. Unless you know otherwise?

Definitely him, so maybe “only” Gold Cup matches … and I had no recollection that he then rode at Hackney! They only managed a handful of League matches before folding. Edit: just saw Mau’s reply - thanks for the confirmation

Brhel always rode Foxhall well - with or without a dodgy silencer

That's an error. "Vlad The Impaled" only ride for Ipswich in early 91, and then disappeared never to be seen again. Tesar of course battled on establish himself as a very popular rider. Kalina's best effort at Foxhall was Good Friday against the Deadbeets, scoring 7, including a splendid heat win against Michael Lee (who was making a short-lived return).

No, I wouldn't fall off the chair because, looking at those accounts, it's obvious there has to be an opaque market of cash doing the rounds. They should have used those skills to become PPE suppliers - the profits generated would have funded the sport for years!

Indeed, the difference in prize money makes it all worthwhile

Do you keep falling asleep on the Return key?!

Still all rumour and guesswork. Take a look at the last accounts filed by Ipswich: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02362212/filing-history Virtually no assets. 1 Director. Not a lot of tax paid. Essentially not really worth anything.

Why too early? What else could they achieve in the Championship? They made an ambitious decision, and are absolute proof that simply by signing a "big name" doesn't guarantee increased customers. I bet that even now, if you walked in Ipswich and asked passers-by who Jason Doyle is, a very high percentage of people wouldn't know. Somerset still kept going after that failure, it was the lockdown that ended their existence earlier than it might have. The owners themselves said it was a huge effort just to keep the club running, so they probably (rightly) thought it would be a massive and thankless task to get the Rebels up and running again, especially with a shedload of dosh on the table for the land. They would have been daft not to sell.

I love it how you state "anywhere between £70,000 - £100,000 a season" with such confidence. Does sponsorship really start at £70K? LOL! I stand by my point that there's no money in the sport - the clubs are heavily reliant on cash flow from paying customers, but continue to treat those customers as a source of income to be used, rather than as customers who must be entertained and, at least, retained.

Compared to what, though? If we had any idea of pay and costs, we might be able to make our own "value" judgements. 200 season tickets at £250 nets Ipswich £50,000 up front. Maybe as many as 700 adults paying £22 admission nets £15,400 per home match. Concessions (£225 & £20) not counted in either of those guesses. 13 guaranteed home team fixtures gives roughly a total of £250,000 income for the year. Stadium rental, wages for Chris Louis - at least costs and expenses (and for Ritchie Hawkins?) - plus seven riders (at £30k each that's £210k!) and miscellaneous costs (maintenance of track equipment, safety fence, etc.). Everything else, voluntary and good will ... I've never tried to do these sums before - obviously it's all guesses - but it's clear that there's no money in the sport ...

4 meetings ... And I'm sure BV covered it with the prize money

Why? Existing and lapsed fans either love him or dislike him. Can't see why he's even attempting a comeback after such a horrible injury, so adding extra fixtures with random hops over the North Sea wouldn't be of any benefit.

Fair enough, although would his signing attract lapsed fans? On the Witches Facebook page, there has been a range of views from people waiting for news of the signings - the most likely outcome is that Worrall & Batchelor (example only, I haven’t looked at averages) might result in more people giving up, or only picking and choosing. Thus, a “big name” is more likely to shore-up existing support, than have hundreds flooding back. I continue to stand by what I’ve been saying for years - make it an entertaining evening all round, and people are more likely to want to attend, because they’ll feel like they’re getting value for money.

Why? Non-speedway fans don't even know the sport, let alone the "top" riders - I would have thought that if there's lots of marketing for Sayfutdinov, it would generate more protests than additional support.

Not sure that it had much value last season, with variations of pairings, and no-one even knowing the Regulations ...

The race format doesn't work with a "balanced" line-up, unless you've got a guaranteed high scoring reserve. Two big name riders will cover a majority of the heats, especially 13 & 15.

BSPA Office has confirmed that the 25% reduction works the same way as the 5% reduction, i.e. it's for team building. Therefore, Hume starts the season on 4.09, which would put him in the 1-5 ... he also needs to be at reserve.

Not all of them, and the smaller tracks are more regularly shaped ...

LOL!! "The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 116 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions."

Interestingly, Mountain’s Owlerton average was about 0.6 higher than his away average. Hume’s Foxhall average was some 1.6 more than away. However, I hadn’t realised that Hume was stronger in the Champ, which is fascinating. To me, Hume never really looks in control, whereas Mountain seems more complete.

For me: Mountain is high above Hume, both in talent and consistency. Heeps wouldn't even make it to the list.

John Louis rated Tomasz Gollob as the most naturally talented speedway rider he had ever known, and Gollob didn't like Monmore at all. I think he won one race there, in 1998, when the Wolves were one of the few teams to beat the rampant Witches, on 20 July (47-43). It was a very rare occasion that I got quite drunk (a couple or three pints of Guinness), and managed to upset some people (a few more than usual!) - they all looked so miserable as they left the stadium, even after defeating the mighty Witches. I recall there was a BDL match between the junior Wolves and Buxton. I also was quite unwell by the time we got to Corley Services

It’s their fault for wanting a 2 or 3 point non-Brit on a 4. I can’t see how the 25% reduction can be used as a genuine MA. Hopefully, the BSPA will clarify the situation … without careful rewording of the Regs, they’re in danger of creating yet more ambiguity.

The Rising Star list: https://britishspeedway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2023-PL-Rising-Stars-1-1.pdf