1 valve

There is not a hard allocation of riders per nation. Now the Gp’s are up and running the qualification process is established via previous season finish/Gp challenge & FIM nomination. The question people are asking this year is why the Russian born riders were not nominated. And so the circular argument begins.

Yes the ban was introduced after the invasion. To compete in race events,All motorcycle racers (not just speedway) have to be in possession of an appropriate license issued by a national governing body affiliated to the FIM. As such there is no “neutral” body in existence to issue licenses. The FIM are happy for the Russian born riders to compete under a license issued by PZM who in turn choose not to nominate/endorse the Russian born riders ahead of Polish born for inclusion in events associated with GP’s. Incidentally, The ban extends beyond riders to also include officials such as referees, machine examiners & suchlike.

Because the circumstance leading to the FIM introducing the rule (the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine) is still in situ.

The Chinese Communist Party? Most probably not that interested in such matters. Meanwhile, Croatia could be dark horses for SoN😜

Gary Gugliemi was a headcase . Period!

Are you sure? When he joined the Stars in June, the announcements only mentioned he was doing so "for the remainder of the season". Whilst it would be good to see him back in the UK, it's looking unlikely.

They could, but will they?

Absolutely "spot on". Although it is fair to say, two of the "picks" for next years GP are far away from being the best available, and that's aside from two riders of Russian decent.

Surely all tracks are gate n go given none are “gate n stop”. And despite popular opinion, at all tracks, the rider who leads the heat after the first lap actually does go on to win the race.

To ride for KL if he rode in UK?

Kvech apparently saying he will not be in UK next year. Thursday night meetings not giving him sufficient time for travel & preparation for Gp’’s?

1. Fricke 2. Lawson 3. Masters 4. Becker 5. Lambert (Robert) 6. Mountain 7. Thompson (j)

Not sure FIM need approval from the Russian governing body to recognise PZM membership for Russian born riders to ride under Polish citizenship/license so long as the correct legal processes have been followed and are in place. That said, such bodies are shrouded in political diplomacy so maybe the issue is indeed "cloudy" to say the least.

Thanks.

Could you clarify who or what MFR is. thanks.

In the article, which is mainly about a look back at the 2024 GP and look ahead to 2025, Manchester and all that. Phil states that it is his personal opinion re Emil & Artem being allowed access to the GP's (a view that many folk would agree with) and that he has no involvement in deciding who the wild cards will be.

As previously stated. PZM have not issued a threat to limit 1 rider per team in Poland They have said that a number of options will be considered for 2026 if they continue to be unhappy with only having two Polish riders in the GP series. Of course, the concept of riders having a choice between riding in Poland or the Gp's will not end there. The choice would be Poland and no where else, as the FIM would definitely revoke all international licenses. Something which the national bodies might actually welcome. Maybe PZM need to be careful on what they wish for?

Which is good news. But as the promotion has recently stated, the overall level this year, although better then in recent times have still not been at a level to meet the running costs. If there is to be a 2025 season at Perry Barr, the promoters (and everybody else) know that it will be the last season due to the unavailability of the stadium and in which case, is there a worthwhile reason for running a team with the prospect of losing more money and with no chance of recouping that loss in future years?

But to be very clear. PZM have made no such threat as per your latest "False news".

Taking the opportunity of reducing their costs and capping the chances of a single team "buying" success. seems quite logical. - But doubt it will actually happen as no threat has actually been made.

Why the inclusion of Lawson? Apparently he is quite happy at Poole & Leicester being based between the two locations and well looked after by both promotions. Lions manager even went as far as saying as such last week.

Do you mean in addition to those that current do ride here?

If every team had two "big hitters" then the current "big hitters" would not be as successful simply because they would be beating each other. The three teams you refer two had a competitive advantage over most of the other teams this year, most of the time, so long as all of the big hitters remained fit. However, in the case of one or more being unavailable, as was the case then there was a scarcity of RR availability unlike for "middle order" riders. Thus there is an argument for a balanced approach across the team such as at Leicester, who finished second in the league, runners up in the play offs (to a great BV team) and actually managed aggregate wins in the league v BV, Sheffield and Ipswich. That all said, If every team did have two big hitters, heats 13 & 15 would be something to relish and would be great entertainment, Entertainment? now there's a concept for the promoters to consider creating more of!

The season did not run according to the original fixture list due to home postponements which when eventually staged, were run with lower attendance than was forecast/expected. They also (most probably) had to meet extra cost than budgeted for the new no. one drafted in at the latter stages of the season. The issue facing speedway promotions in running teams is, as we all know, dependent on home income funding not only the cost of those meetings but also the primarily riders costs, for away meetings. Thus if there is a prolonged run of away meetings the promotion has to rely on reserve funds/overdraft/loans/own money to meet those costs not covered by expected income. In Birmingham's case it would appear that when the home meetings subsequent to the away run were held they did not recover the overall cost previously expended. Fairly clear and obvious that Birmingham, from a financial perspective has had to run as close the bone as possible during 2024 and on top of this unfortunately factors transpired against their best intentions and hopes resulting in the current precarious position the promotion finds itself in.

The Aussies have a lot of (none Australian) fans across Europe. Just attend a Polish league meeting to witness that. As for Gps's, when Doyley won in Warsaw the Polish group a few rows in front of me sporting JD and Grudziadz colours were going barmy for him to stay in front of their countryman Zmarzlik in the final and as for 2025, good bet that there will be many many folk supporting the four at Belle Vue & Cardiff - assuming that Doyley is still in one piece that is🤞