Jonimac

I also predict gate 3 to win, and no more than 3 passes at the front all night. Woffy building up points so far to make the gate his? Dont think I will feel guilty about turning on the footie at 745pm and having Speedway Updates on phone! I would have to say hats off to Nigel & Kelvin for making a GP at the most boring circuit on the tour seem semi- exciting. Turn off the sound. I guarantee you’d want to turn off after a few races!

Didn't Glasgow legend Steve Lawson double up at Hyde Road? Derek Richardson too? And no doubt Merv Janke & Mick McKeon would have ridden there when visiting with Halifax? I'm showing my age now !

Is the assumption that the manager will stay? Is he the one that has procured the team for the last few years? Have the Facenna brothers simply bankrolled it,while leaving the selections up to him? I have no idea, just thinking out loud, in the face of what has been a pretty underacheiving season given the resources we apparently have. And what's the thoughts on Greg Hancock redesigning the track?

When I looked at the poor turnout, and when I see Cardiff half full, I do wonder how they come up with the price structure for tickets. Tickets at half the price and better promotions gets people through the turnstiles. And what an atmosphere to go with it ! I can only assume that only the stadium owners get the profits from the increased sales of food, drink and souvenirs? I was glad to watch it on my own, as frankly explaining to my mates why the stadium was empty, while crowning an Aussie world champ, would have been a tough ask !

You might have the voice of reason but you need to use eyes before speaking up. Medicocre World Champion? You shot yourself in the foot with that pontification.

Well done Craig Cook. And I say that as a lifelong Glasgow Tigers fan !

Is the track always this bad? Too much dirt on the track? You seem to have two bites at the corner to get round the first and second bend. Is this how PK made all his moves?

I think it is the level of contact that Holder rightly questioned. Kildemand has plenty of history for taking a dive and who can honestly say that when they saw him enter that bend with Holder, take a slight contact, they didn't think he was going down regardless?

Best rider of the night - Craig Cook

That Kildemand is tedious. I'd love someone to do a video compilation of how many times he has pulled that bail out trick in the GPs alone. Can fully understand Holder's frustration. He's the speedway equivalent of Jurgen Klinsmann.

Best GP for quite some time. There is almost an argument for having less GPs but having them at quality tracks with potentially big crowds. Great racing and a great atmosphere. And a winner on a GTR. Wonder what influence Kylmakorpi had in the pits? He seemed highly emotional at the end. Good to see all the riders sweving when they got to the corners too !

You will find all speedway tracks have corners. Swerving is an essential ingredient.

What a relief. Last GP was the worst I have ever watched, shocking track. This one looks to be setting itself up as one of the best.

Can I ask a question about the Elite Draft system, as I obviously have not understood a key principle? I thought the intent was to bring on British riders? Why is Brady Kurts at reserve? Is it because Kyle Newman was promoted?

Why don't we just retitle this thread as "Is anyone interested in success for British speedway at an international level ?" Some of the negative responses say more about personal dislike than actual reasons as to how British speedway would benefit in any way by not having Tai in the side. While pontificating on other threads about why this is rubbish, and that is rubblish, blah, blah, blah. First day of the new GP series, with our own World Champion defending his crown. With Tai actually taking an interest in bringing on a possible British successor.

Totally agree with the sentiments of this thread. Sad for speedway as it seems to have taken the edge off Nicki. Masters simply demonstarted his lack of experience at this level, and objected to a move which was far less agressive than the some of the other incidents in the meeting. Chris Harris needs to have his peripheral vision check if he didn't see Janowski. And Hancock was certainly the root cause of the crash in the final, albeit it was mainly just first bend bunching. Kicking a former World Champion on track in your first Grand Prix? I'm sorry but that needs punishment. It's so easy to go for the pantomime villain, I would say if some mechanic was shouting in my face after an on track incident, I too would be sorely tempted to lay one on him. If they haven't got the nerve to be out there, they certainly shouldn't be remonstrating with riders. Perhaps due to the number of incidents that Nicki is involved with, part of their job is probably to protect their rider too?

Yes indeed, well done to Edinburgh. Best team over the season, and I really don't understand why we need playoffs when there is no promotion system. What a year for Glasgow however. From Zero to Hero thanks to the brothers and I hope the crowds they are getting re-inforce that they are pulling speedway in the right direction.

How do they decide who gets the No 3 R/R rides? Is it based on average? Was kinda hoping Lawson, Morris and Summers would get a ride. Mind you, my knowledge of this hasn't been enhanced since Edinburgh raced at Powderhall !!!

I think the R/R for Glasgow at number 3 will make a significant difference.

Well done to Poole. A superbly entertaining final over the two legs. Gutted for BV, as they've always been a favourite of mine since PC's days. Just to draw attention away from Gogglegate, there is one aspect that is worth mentioning. Did the BEST side win ? The big difference between the two sides was the performance of the reserves. Otherwise Belle Vue would have won by a stretch. Surely situations such as this show the weakness of the NL draft, where depending on who you can get your hands on, can have a big say in claiming the title ?

Just been over in the States for a couple of weeks. Went to a baseball game, second tier. Struck me as another family friendly sport. The big diffference? Facilities. Compact little stadium, full of seats, kids play area, bar with live band, it was Star Wars night so lots of kids dressed up, etc. Even if you were not a big fan, you can understand why so many turned up as it's a great night out. Admittedly, the sunshine did help. However, having been to Swindon, Eastbourne and Rye House recently, you can see that major investment is required in thise stadiums. Stadiums of enthusiastic fans, spending nearly twenty pounds. Problem is, where does the money come from for dragging the stadiums into the 21st century? You will never get your money back. So unless you happen to have a couple of millionaires waiting in the wings (the mighty Tigers), the local speedway track will be caught in a low budget / turnover that worked in the seventies with 2 or 3 thousand people, but now has to survive on a third of that number. Hats off to Nigel Pearson for his unrelenting promotion of the sport but when he was raving about the big crowd at Somerset on the telly, it sounded quite embarrassing when he mention there was "over a thousand" . Having left the sport for nearly twenty years, what struck me most when I returned a few years ago was nothing had been done to take care of the loyal fans, and attract new ones.

Well done Tai. He struggled all night but still managed to make the final on another disappointing temporary track. And his interview was worthy of a world champion, taking on the chin what was a dubious decision to say the least. I would love to know what he really said to Kildemand afterwards. As for the winner, I have always enjoyed watching Kildemand, but I am not sure if it because of his low style on the bike (as Tatum highlighted in the last GP ) that he is more susceptible to coming off. Tonight is not the first time we have seen him bail out when a tussle isn't going his way.

A highly enjoyable night, although the 4 points helped enormously. I explained to my son that I couldn't remember the last time I witnessed the Tigers win away - and it was his first ever Tigers meeting ! I liked the atmosphere at the place, where the crowd applauded every heat winner regardless, and I hope when the development is over they get a stadium worthy of their enthusiasm. The only time I've ever seen Rye House was watching "King Cinder" 30 odd years ago, and I assume it's the same place? As for their team, there does seem to be a lot of inconsistency. Would it be right to say that with a such a small, tight little track, you need to get out of the gate? Kennet was excellent tonight, providing most of the thrills, but Aspegren, Mellgren and Jakobsen seemed unable to make much headway if they didn't gate. And the two reserves had their moments, but again unable to put together two in a row. Highlight of the night, apart from the victory - the announcers numerous unsuccessful attempts at pronouncing Palovaara's name. Even sticking at the same name twice would have been a small victory.

No one doubts both the skill and bravery of Chris. His gating is poor and at this later stage of his career, I'm not sure how he could cure that. However , he quite obviously lacked speed on Saturday, not for the first time in the GP this year (or last year). Poor gating + No speed = no chance at this level. He does have great self belief, but he needs speed. If we accept his gating is down to his natural level of ability, then the only thing that can change is speed. Where is that coming from any day soon? I felt quite frustrated watching him at Cardiff. Yes, he still scrapes in through the qualifiers but then what ? I can't think of the last time I saw him make the semis, and even the lower riders like MJJ, AJ and various wildcards are all capable of that occasionally. As I returned to the sport only 3 years ago, after a long time away, I don't have the same affection for him that others may have. Catching up on all I missed, I just wonder where is the guy who won at Cardiff, or won the league for Coventry? Good guy or stubborn? Badly advised ? Bad gear ? I would love him to compete at the highest level. It would be great to see him show his natural ability on a bike that does his trackcraft justice.

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