weatherwatcher

Hopefully, next seson will see the new stadium opening at Bel Vue. not sure what the seating capacity will be, we will have to wait and see, I just do not like the tempory tracks, the racing is terrible, good to see the crowds, but can't say that the product is great. It just goes to show how far behind the times British speedway has gone, we are now in the 21st centuray and still have tracks from the dark ages. When or if ever will we get a track that is good enough over here without having to use the one at Cardiff. From what we saw at Warsaw it may not be a bad idea to use the old track at Newport, the trailers and lorries would add that extra bit of excitement, just the sort of things, the paying public crave for. Out of all the people who go to Cardiff, how many of those go to regular speedway meetings, or do they just go for all the razzle and dazzlle, that they get at the GP's, even if nothing works on the night..

It would be nice to see him make a statement along the lines of the one above, all we now have to do is wait until his ban id finished, I just hope that when that time comes that he dosen't come out with some utterly stupid remarks and spoil things, he did enough of that months ago. I still feel that a wild card would be the wrong way to go, as it would then look like he had done nothing wrong, he should have to re qualify even if it meens waiting untril 2017, he is still young enough to become world champion, that is if he can keep his dirty washing aired.

I agree he should have to wait until he gets around to quilfying again properly, because if they give him a wild card it will be another mockery to speedway, but as speedbee say they are not interested in morals or scruples. All they are interested in is making money and lots of people out there in the speedway world, can see no wrong in Darcy Ward or what ever he does, they just look at the way he rides on the track. If they can make a few more bob out of bringing Darcy back they will do. Post haste.

I was only trying to find a list of world tracks, little did I know or read that it was done by Humphry many years ago, sorry for that, but what I am saying is if they keep rolling out thetrash like they did in Warsaw, you will be able to put the GP's in a stadium with a seating capacity of about 200, because that is about the total number of fans that will bother to show up for them and half of those will be on free tickets.

Iused to cycle there from my home in South Derbyshire, when I was around 14 along time ago now. It was in the 60's, it was a crying shame to see it close and always loved to see all the posters on the fence outside for all the speedway and stockcar meetings. Long Eaton are still riding be it in the MDL league but still going strong and track share at Leicester, I know they are trying to get their own track, hope it happens for them and they make a step up in the leagues. What I would give to see them one day come back to ride in the EL.

Here is a list of the worlds speedway tracks, if they can't pick the tracks that are suitable out of these to stage a GP then there is something wrong. So why do they keep struggling to put on a good show at the tempory tracks. Can,t say I have seen one good meeting on any of the tempory tracks they all start to break up to soon. They just don't have enough time to bed down, with hardly any racing on them before hand bar a few practice laps .ARGENTINA Speedway tracks: Bahia Blanca Carhué Huanguelen - Buenos Aires Pigué AUSTRALIA Speedway tracks: Archerfield - Queensland Ayr - Queensland Barleigh Ranch - New South Wales Bibra Lake - Western Australia Brisbane - Queensland Broadford - Victoria Broken Hill - New South Wales Bunbury - Western Australia Cairns - Queensland Collie - Western Australia Darwin - Northern Territory Gatton - Queensland Gillman (Adelaide) - South Australia Gladstone - Queensland Grafton - New South Wales Horsham - Victoria Kadina - South Australia Kalgoorlie - Western Australia Labrador (Gold Coast) - Queensland Mackay - Queensland Maryborough - Queensland Mildura - Victoria Mount Gambier - South Australia Murray Bridge - South Australia Myrtleford - Victoria Nepean - New South Wales Nowra - New South Wales Nyora - Victoria Parramatta (Sydney) - New South Wales Renmark - South Australia Rockhampton - Queensland Roxby Downs - South Australia Shepparton - Victoria Sidewinders (Adelaide) - South Australia Swan Hill - Victoria Tamworth - New South Wales Townsville - Queensland Wayville (Adelaide) - South Australia Whyalla - South Australia AUSTRIA Speedway tracks: Mureck Natschbach-Loipersbach St.Johann/Pongau Wiener Neustadt* BELGIUM Speedway track: Heusden-Zolder* BULGARIA Speedway tracks: Sofia Targovishte CANADA Speedway tracks: Erie Ramblers - Wheatley, Ontario Niagara Raceway - Welland, Ontario Paris Speedway - Paris, Ontario St. Alex - Saint-Alexis-des-Monts, Quebec CROATIA Speedway track: Prelog* CZECH REPUBLIC Speedway tracks: Brezolupy Chabarovice Divišov Koprivnice Liberec Mšeno* Pardubice* Plzen Prague* Slaný Svitavy DENMARK Speedway tracks: Brovst Copenhagen Elling Fjelsted* Fladbro Glumsø Grindsted Holstebro Holsted* Korskro Munkebo Outrup Slangerup Uhre Vojens* FINLAND Speedway tracks: Haapajärvi - 5 kms from city centre at Kauniskangas Hyvinkää - Few kms from city centre Kaanaa - 50 kms north of Tampere Kuusankoski - Few kms from town centre Lahti - Few kms from town centre at Pipoo Pori* - 10 kms from city centre at Yyteri Seinäjoki - 10 kms from city centre at Routakallio Varkaus - Few kms north of town centre FRANCE Speedway track: Marmande* GERMANY Speedway tracks: Abensberg* - Bavaria, about 5 km west of Neustadt a.d. Donau Brokstedt* - North, A7: exit Neumuenster-Wittorf Diedenbergen* - West, A66: Frankfurt-Wiesbaden Dohren - West Güstrow - North-East, about 40 km south of Rostock Homberg/Ohm - Hessen, A5: Frankfurt-Bad Hersfeld Landshut* - Bavaria, A92: Munich-Deggendorf Leipzig - Big Town, you can find it on every map Ludwigslust* - North-East, B5: about 120 km east of Hamburg Meißen - East, B6: about 20 km north-west of Dresden Moorwinkelsdamm* - North-West, A28: Oldenburg-Leer Neuenknick - North, B482: Minden-Nienburg Neustadt/Donau* - Bavaria, B299: about 80 km north of Munich Norden - North-West, A28: about 70 km west from Wilhelmshaven Nordhastedt - North, B204: Itzehoe-Heide Olching* - Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich Pocking* - Bavaria, A3: about 20 km south of Passau Pfaffenhofen* - Bavaria, A9: 50 km north of Munich Stralsund* - North-East, about 70 km east of Rostock Teterow - North-East, B108: about 50 km south of Rostock Wolfslake - East, about 30 km north-west of Berlin GREAT BRITAIN Speedway tracks: Armadale - East Scotland, A89 Berwick - North-East, A1: south of river near town centre Buxton - North Midlands, A515: about 2 m south of town Coventry* - West Midlands, A46: about 5 m east of city at Brandon Eastbourne* - South-East Coast, off A22: about 4 m north of town centre Exeter - South West Coast: near city centre Glasgow - West Scotland: north of river at Springburn Highbridge - South-West, M5 exit 22: about 1.5 m north-east of town Hull - North: near city centre Ipswich - East, A12: about 3 m east of town centre Iwade - South-East, A249: about 2 m north of Sittingbourne King's Lynn - East, A10: about 3 m south of town centre Lydd (unlicensed) - South-East, B2075: at Belgar Farm near Lydd Airport Manchester - North, A57: about 2 m east of city centre Mildenhall - East, A11: about 2 m west of town at West Row Newcastle - North-East: about 2 m west of city centre at Byker Newport - South Wales, M4 exit 24 Oxford - South Midlands, A4142: about 3 m south of the city centre at Cowley Peterborough* - East, A1: about 3 miles west of town at Alwalton Poole* - South Coast: next to railway station in town centre Purfleet - South-East, M25 exit 30 Reading - South Midlands, A33: about 2 m south of town centre at Smallmead Ryde - Isle of Wight: direct ferry or hovercraft from Portsmouth Rye House - South-East, off A10: at Hoddesdon Sheffield* - North, A61: about 1 m north of city centre at Owlerton Stoke - North Midlands, M6 exit 15: actually at Newcastle-under-Lyme Swindon - South Midlands, A419: about 4 m north of town at Blunsdon Weymouth - South Coast: about 1.5 m north-west of town centre Wimbledon - London: suburb in south-west of city Wolverhampton - West Midlands: about 10 m north-west of Birmingham Workington - North-West: about 35 m south-west of Carlisle HUNGARY Speedway tracks: Debrecen* Gyula Miskolc ITALY Speedway tracks: Badia Calavena (Verona) Castelletto di Branduzzo (Pavia) Castiglione Olona (Varese) Civitanova Marche (Ancona) Giavera del Montello (Treviso) Lonigo (Vicenza)* Montagnana (Padova) Terenzano (Udine)* LATVIA Speedway track: Daugavpils* NETHERLANDS Speedway tracks: Blijham* Lelystad Veenoord* Vledderveen NEW ZEALAND Speedway tracks: Christchurch Ferndene Gisborne Greymouth Invercargill Napier Nelson New Plymouth Palmerston North Rosebank Road (Auckland) Rotorua Stratford Wanganui Western Springs (Auckland) Westport Whangarei NORWAY Speedway tracks: Basserudåsen - Near Kongsberg, 120 km west of Oslo Elgane* - 50 km south of Stavanger at Varhaug Geiteryggen - Near Skien, 150 km south-west of Oslo Gudbrandsdal - Near Lillehammer Kristiansand Kvinesdal - 100 km west of Kristiansand Lunner - Near Oslo Riska - Near Stavanger, between Sandnes and Hommersåk. Vinsvoll - Near Drammen, 70 km west of Oslo POLAND Speedway tracks: Bydgoszcz* - North, about 170 km south from Gdansk Chorzow - South, about 5 km west from Katowice Czestochowa - South, E75: Lodz-Katowice Gdansk - Big town, you can find it on every map Gniezno* - East, E261: Poznan-Bydgoszcz Gorzow - North-West, E65: Szczecin-Legnica Grudziadz - North, E75: Gdansk-Torun Krakow/Nowa Huta - Big town, you can find it on every map Krosno - South-East, about 60 km south from Rzeszow Leszno - West, E261: Poznan-Wroclaw Lodz - Big town, you can find it on every map Lublin - East, A17: about 160 km south-east from Warsaw Machowa - South-East, E40: Krakow-Przemysl Opole - South, E40: Wroclaw-Katowice Ostrów Wielkopolski. - Central, A42: Poznan-Katowice Pila* - North-West, A10: Szczecin-Bydgoszcz Rawicz - West, E261: Poznan-Wroclaw Ruda Slaska - South, about 20 km west from Katowice Rybnik - South, about. 50 km south-west from Katowice Rzeszow - South-East, E40: Krakow-Przemysl Swietochlowice - South, about 20 km west from Katowice Tarnow - South-East, E40: Krakow-Przemysl Torun - North, E75: Gdansk-Lodz Warsaw - Polish Capital Wroclaw* - Big town, you can find it on every map Zielona Gora - West, E65: Szczecin-Legnica ROMANIA Speedway tracks: Braila Bucharest Sibiu RUSSIA Speedway tracks: Balakovo Meleuz (unlicenced) Oktyabrsky Salavat Togliatti* Vladivostok SLOVAKIA Speedway track: Zarnovica SLOVENIA Speedway tracks: Krsko* - 90 km south east of Ljubljana (direction Zagreb) Lendava - Short distance from Hungarian border: Ljubljana - Budapest Ljubljana* - Slovenian Capital SOUTH AFRICA Speedway tracks: Bloemfontein Brakpan George Kimberley Newcastle Rustenburg Wembley (Johannesburg) SWEDEN Speedway tracks: Avesta* Eskilstuna Gislaved Gothenburg Gävle Hagfors Hallstavik Huddinge Karlstad Kumla Lindesberg Linköping* Malmö Mariestad Motala Målilla Norrköping* Nyköping Nässjö Örebro Stockholm Uddevalla Vetlanda* Visby Västervik UKRAINE Speedway tracks: Czervonograd Lvov* Rovno* UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Speedway tracks: Action Park East Speedway - Greene, New York Champion Speedway - Owego, New York Carson City Raceway - Nevada Costa Mesa - California Fast Fridays Speedway - Auburn, California Indianapolis International Speedway - Indiana Lawrenceburg - Indiana Porter County Fairgrounds - Valparaiso, Indiana Square Deal Speedway - Harpursville, New York The Grand - Industry Hills, California Wheel 2 Wheel Raceway - Victorville, California Indoor speedway venue: Rainbow Falls (ice) - near Woodland Park, Colorado

After Warsaw, They will be able to race in some of the worlds smallest stadiums if we have another repeat of that fiasco

I was only repling to this post. Even if it was a 20 seater private stadium for the President, if they made another repeat of this fiasco, I would bet he would reply that he was sorry but he had other business to attend to. It was a very sorry night indeed for our sport and one I hope we will not be seeing again, in a very long time. With that said though if they knew what they where up to in the first place then there would not be another, night that will ever compare to Saturday 18th April 2015. I posted that why to they need to use these temorary stadiums, when there are plenty of good stadiums with proven racing tracks that should be used and this was the reply I got.

I really don't see the point of having a stadium that can seat 15,000 spectators, if the meeting is a total farce and has to finish before the end of the meeting. Far better to have the meeting in a stadium that has a proven track record, than to have a super glorified 15,000 seater one, with a covered roof, with the pits at the side of the track and no one can hear anything because of the noise, plus gates that fail to work. Give me a stadium, that gives good racing and a posative to all the points above. For the sake of a few thousand less seats. If they keep putting on meeting like the one at Warsaw, then they won't need a stadium, with any seating, because no one will bother to go to see the GP's any longer.

I don't think that that was the way that Humphry ment it to come over. What he was getting at is that maybe the only way for British speedway to be able to continue, is to go back to how it was many years ago with riders being mearly of amatuer status, with no big money being paid out for top riders. Bring the entrance fee down, have teams of British riders, may not be what people would think is the best for British speedway to go, but at the moment it is dying on its heels. I can see something along these lines happenening in a few years time unless the promoters start to get their act together. Poor stadiums, over paid riders and entrance fees that are to high for the product they are giving us. There must be an anser, before all is lost.

It all depends on who the guest is on the night, should see the Lions get another home win on Monday night. Hope it all goes well for them and that the team are now starting to get it together.

I think the only thing they can do is put Garrity etc. into the main body of the teams. I thought that they would have given them that chance this seson, instead of holding them back, to ride as a reserve agin this year. If they stay as they are for another year then there is no way that these lads are going to get any further , than they are now, then we will be seeing a bunch of young talented British riders, following along in the same mould has quite a few British ridefrs in the past, who would have gone on to better things if only they had been given the chance. There are around 6 or 7 young British lads who deserve a full team place, but it seems that the promoters will not take the risk. Shame on them, these lads are the future of British speedway and the future of the British team squad.

How can a company that is putting on the top meeting in the speedway world, who are using stadiums that are not fit to be used for the meetings, be called a profetional company. From all the mastakes that we saw happen last Saturday, it is well time that the company was wound up and a new one took over the running of the GP series. A company that knows about speedway and knows how to run a speedway meeting. A company that would use modern technoligy to let the riders know what is going on and also the refree. What we saw was a total shambles, from a company that only goes out to make as much money from the events with little or no thought what so ever for the the paying public, to see top class racing from some of the worlds top clas stadiums. Or haven't they got any stadiums in the world that are good enough to use, without going to the expense of wasting money on these useless tracks that are laid a week or less before the meeting takes place. I am sure they are far better stadiums out there than having to have to put up, watching meetings from the total rubbish tracks that they are putting meetings on from. They should know better.

Really good to see them win, and win convingly, at the moment I can't see when I will be able to come to a meeting. If I go out just walking in the garden the pain in my left foot is just terrible. Waiting now on x-ray results got to have 2 more this month to see if the infection in the bone is clearing up, if not then I am afraid that I will have to have my toe or toes amputated. I have had an open infection on my second toe that was around an inch by three qurters of an inch and it was right down to the bone. Been having it dressed twice a week and lost count of all the hospital appoibntments, all this started from a broken toe 3 years ago. Good to see the Lions have moved up 2 places and are not now holding all the teams up in the league. Lets hope now that the team starts to get it together and starts putting in some good impesive wins at home and away. Hope to see you all soon, but have a long way to go yet, before that happens, my granson is also waiting for us to get to a meeting, as he loves his speedway.

We quite often get a MDL meeting after the Main one at Leicester Lions, as you stated White Knight, most people are just not interested in watching these lads racing which is a great shame, these are our riders of the future, after the main heats have finished I would say that about three quarters of the fans leave the stadium. We always stay to watch them, slower and competative racing most of the time, but I always like to see them and to see how they improve as the season goes on, or those that fail to improve at all, They need to put on these meetings so the lads get that extra track time they need. As for the point scoring system, it is just a way to make sure the away team comes away with a point when they have failed to win, which is stupid anyway, if you lose you lose full stop. what would the league table actually look like without these faulsly applied score totals. As with Coventry they gifted Bel Vue with a point, just by putting out 2 weeker riders in the last heat, stupid or what.

Not sure when I will get to see the Lions this year as I have an infection in the bones in my toes, still not sure until the next 2 sets of X-Rays, if they have got to amputate my toes or not. I came to the practice day but had to come home again after less than an hour due to the pain. It has been a very bad year so far, really missing my speedway, so the only thing that has broken down is me, not my chair. Good to see that they managed a win tonight, hope that all the team pulled their weight. Would be really good if they did gel together. If not from what DH said there will be some heads rolling. I am feeling as down as the Lions team must be this year,with being bottom of the league again after the management have tried their best to put what looked like a good team together.

I will start looking at things in a more posative light, when the Lions come to a meeting and start to ride as a team so far this year they have been rubbish. With the performances they have put in so far they desrerve to be bottom of the pile. It is up to DH and Norrie to get their acts into gear and get the team sorted. We have Pederson who may as well not bother being there and one reserve who rode here before, who couldn't handle the tracka nd still can't. Why they chose him beats me.

The cost would work out as nothing to do breathalises at all meetings and it would be no problem to train up someone to use them. Not rocket science is it, blow, suck blow, until blue in the face.

Never mind if all the fans turn up on Sunday will they be anything better to see.

No matter what we say the damage to our sport has already been done and I am sure that a lot of fans out there will be thinking twice about spending their money on a ticket for another GP fiasco. It should never have happened. Why after they had graded the track after heat 12 did thwey not come out and give it another couple of races, but no they all just sat back and spit the dummy. With no thought so ever for the thousands of fans who came to see the so called world top riders perform, they did that alright, and proved just what an overpaid bunch of so called top men of the sport they are, I bet if you had put on a show by some of the National League lads it would have been run until the end.

It now says 26th.

All in all, the whole fiasco has done our sport no good at all. The GP's are the top dollar of speedway and they are making a mockery of it by using these temorary stadiums, just to get the crowds in and make the money. But what happened on Saturday just made the 18 riders look very poor indeed. I know they have to think of their saftey, but the track did not seem that bad. I wasn't riding on it so can't say for sure. How far will they go though, from now, if one rider falls off at the next GP do they all walk out again.

Michelson and Pederson have returned so bar one we have the full team again, just hope that Pederson has enjoyed his rest period and comes back with all guns blazing, if not the Lions will lose this meeting. They just don't seem to gelling together as a team yet,

Shame on you White Knight.

It only goes to show that the top riders in the world, are not cabable of controlling these hugely over powered bikes on tracks that are not as hard as rock and super smooth, with no bumps or ruts. a few managed it, but most of them just don't know how to ride any other way than throttle wide open from start to finish. What would they have been like if they had beenriding the tracks the way they used to be in the 60's and 70's. Would they still be amoungst the worlds top riders or just a bunch of Joe average's. Makes you sit back and wonder. It would be a great nights entertainment, to set up a track with loads of dirt and then stick these same GP riders on an old upright bike and see how they coped, with riding a speedway bike where you had to use your brains a little to win races the hard way.