The Dog

Yes but I only heard 1 Poole rider saying that he wasn't going to ride. The rest were unhappy but suggested that after a bit of grading it would be alright. Harris and Thomas were 2 that were happy to just crack on at the time

Grobauer had a huge crash last night and was carried off the track by his team-mates with a heavily strapped ankle. Was brave to carry on but is suffering today hence the reason he's out of this fixture

This is correct. Only heard one Poole rider saying he didn't want to ride and was moaning before the track walk... All the others were happy with regular grading which would have happened if it wasn't for the delay early on. The track needed to be attacked and the likes of King, Riss, Harris and others did this and had some good close racing. The track was well watered to combat the dust problem but with lots of cloud cover it never really dried to produce the excellent surface of recent weeks. Poole are safely in the play offs and were never going to put their necks on the line with bigger meetings coming up. I thought some races were good, some not so good, a typical speedway meeting that you find at every track up and down the country, not just Birmingham!

The problem is now is that some of the stronger, well ran clubs are only a few poorly supported meetings away from going under. If we had less clubs, do you think supporters would travel long distances to see speedway? Maybe a start would be to tackle riders wages tho I know they will hate the idea. Would it work if riders were paid a standard rate across the board? ie: your highest averaged rider gets £60 per point (just for example before people shoot me down!), your number 2 gets £50 per point and so on down to the reserves. It might make riders think that every point really does count towards income and create competitiveness within a team. It might encourage riders to go out and get sponsors and look after them too for any extra income. The BSPL could offer bonuses to league winners and prize money for being the British Final winner. Try and create incentives rather than guarantees. Let's help track curators a little bit by having wet weather tyres instead of calling off a meeting because it looks like rain and go back to making bikes more user friendly so we can race in most weathers. Their must be a few things that can be tried to make it sustainable for clubs as a starting point.

A lot of clubs don't give the chance for riders to develop like they did years ago in the search for instant success but is that because promoters know that fans walk away from an unsuccessful team rather than just enjoying their speedway? I don't know. I'm in the minority in the respect that doubling up/down doesn't really bother me, I support the 7 riders who ride for my team irrespective of where else they might rider. We don't moan if they ride for another team abroad do we? It's a necessary evil that I accepted years ago, riders need as many meetings as possible to make it worthwhile or they quit, if they quit then you run out of riders anyway because youngsters don't aspire to being a speedway rider anymore. I also think that there's worse things about speedway than doubling up that tend to make the sport taken less seriously too...

Yes you can Diamond

Given the amount of peace and quiet the residents of the houses behind have had over the last 18 months I can't see them welcoming speedway back with open arms any time soon...

If you feel that strongly about it, pop along to the pits tomorrow night and have a word with Shanesie about his scoring then. Then go and see the promotion and get their thoughts about calling it a day because we lost away from home after all their hard work in trying to put things right and make things better. What harm can it do?

Absolutely, they've done well under difficult circumstances and apart from Scunthorpe at home, have either won or lost on a last heat decider if I remember right. Home entertainment has been good and this is important for any club and the fans have been brilliant too. We might not make the play offs but it's been nice to have racing back at Perry Barr and hopefully next season will be even better!

A few tracks seem to be suffering from a track that seems to have turned to dust /powder and doesn't react well to watering. I know Birmingham and Eastbourne had the same problem and shale does seem to be hard to find. I'm surprised that the shale at Somerset, Swindon or even Cardiff hasn't been investigated as a short term solution tbh

Best place for race times might be on speedway updates tho there was one heat with no time because it was awarded.

I have to say that from Gary May through to every rider last night they were all very polite, well mannered and a credit to their club. They had all the time in the world for autographs and photos and were very happy and approachable. Crumpy was very busy with fans and never turned anyone away and chatted to everyone. I could think of a few that could learn a lot from his professionalism and down to earth approach. Obviously enjoyed his night too and his battle with Riss, laughing and joking at the end. For all the negativity in speedway, Plymouth are a massive breath of fresh air.

Was a superb Brummies performance with an excellent track and a large crowd. Kids races at the interval with lots of youngsters and happy faces. All done by 9.30pm with a 2nd half afterwards. Absolutely nothing to criticise about tonight and I'm glad because everyone concerned with Birmingham deserved a night like this.

I know I know, was just hoping it wasn't all down to the Speedway side of things...

It's an idea similar to the Super League that Matt Ford spoke about years ago which was met with a lot of negativity, but yes, why not give it a go? What has British speedway got to lose?

Have just read the last dozen or so posts on here and they all pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think the riders in the GP saw themselves as a big attraction to their club and so did the promotion, so in their eyes it was a probably a win win situation for both, although ultimately its become a big loss for the British leagues and the fans

Sounded a really entertaining meeting with Plymouth showing great character to come from so far back to win it at the death. I'm sure the return leg at Perry Barr now has an extra edge because Birmingham will be seething at throwing the win away. Should be an excellent contest tonight!

Maybe it's Spedeworth that's in trouble...

Maybe so, but as they all develop at different rates you can never tell for sure. Jason Doyle is a good example of this. All I was pointing out is that now we have Woffy, Lambert and Bewley doing well on the world scene, it buys us a bit of time to find the next Woffy.

If you look at it another way Pinny, Bewley and Lambert have made great strides in just a few years and barring major injuries, should stay at a top level for GB for maybe the next 10-15 years, which is plenty of time to develop /unearth the next 'superstar'...

Christ, what a mess. Makes you wonder why a club waits until its 50k in debt (apparently) and can't pay riders before coming to the conclusion that it's in trouble...

Given the current home form and the fact that they seem to have solved the dust issues (dust free last week), lovely weather forecast too, this should be another really good contest and probably the last chance to see 3x World Champion Jason Crump up close at Perry Barr. Be great to see him in person in the pits and get his autograph and a photo. Throw in another GP winner in Bjarne Pedersen and exciting youngsters in Ruml and Keleher and its a good meeting in prospect. I'd certainly be favouring a trip to Birmingham than watching West Brom reserves any day of the week....

A post echoed by all speedway fans Sidney

I think where cricket wins slightly is that the wicket areas are all the same size and can be covered quickly by a roof on wheels. Speedway doesn't have that luxury unfortunately. I'm not sure how cricket has actually re-invented yourself other than team colours and names and numbers but then again I'm not a huge cricket fan.

I think now that Bewley is establishing himself in Poland, he will be the next one to follow Woffy and Lambert. But I should have added Lambert to the list