Sings4Speedway

Apologies Tsunami if that came across wrong i wasn't digging the NJL i was actually praising the fact that the majority of sides bear the main club name which indicates a level of support from the main team despite the dreadful lack of NL teams further up the country.

Now i certainly agree that the BSPA take very little responsibility in this area and in fact actively work against some of the development league setups. The slide in standard of the leagues has largely coincided with the shrinking of teams. When there was a league of double figure teams and riders actively battling to get team places the standard will obviously be up, some of those who competed last year (age irregardless) were far from the standard that should have been appearing but that is a sad reflection in the number of riders actively interested in the sport these days.

The first part of your statement is why the sport has a very limited future, because everyone views it as someone else's responsibility to keep things going. Why should clubs take an interest whether named as their own junior team or not? Because there will be no riders in the future if attitudes don't change. I certainly won't argue either against the sensible choices that Eastbourne have made regarding Uk based riders and riders who have an affinity with fans (thats something the Eagles have always excelled at). Providing all the fixtures get completed on Sundays this year and Reading are able to continue into the next then there is no harm done but that still has to occur. Development league riders want track time yes, but also to be treated with a level of respect as they are putting the same levels of dedication in as the professionals are and in many cases more.

Im certainly not going to argue against the pre-meeting rides as everyone knows these carry an element of risk, even if its laps completed by a sole mascot. If those are Jon Cooks views then he is fully entitled to them, however derogatory they are towards the Development league matches. I look forward to the further developments regarding exactly how Eastbourne will be bringing riders through? Maybe they will be subsidising the track rents on the training/amateur Sundays or re-building the training track?

The main team paying for the medical cover & referee's are precisely the reason why 2nd halves take place after a meeting even with the risk of curfew being hit. Medical cover is expensive, Referee's are expensive and only willing to officiate over another 6 heats before they classify the event as a double header and demand double the fee. However there will be no saving to the Eastbourne promotion in terms of costs. If Reading run on Sundays medical, referees and track hire costs will need to be covered with no actual income to offset those outlays. Whilst teaming up with other events is a financially sensible way of reducing the outlays Reading will still be occurring substantial costs (costs quite likely Weymouth couldn't equally afford). From the releases i have seen its basically Eastbourne joining the ranks of others who care little about the future rider development.

Whilst good news that they are still running i always thought the benefits of running as a 2nd half was to save on track, referee & medical costs? I know Kent had those additional costs to cover last year when running from Iwade and the result is no Kestrels team this season.

Do you think any current promotions genuinely give a toss about bringing on young uns? The vast majority of M/SDL teams are all organised and run by devoted individuals despite clubs/BSPA best attempts to hold them back (i agree the NJL is a little different). Until everyone stops thinking about the next meeting and has a genuine view to the future there will be no future.

Providing the spectator numbers are not skewed by those attending with / because of particular competitors then its fairer. Without straight up polls its not easy to determine how many attend due to being fans of each sport rather than to watch certain friends/family members? However probable large factors for increased interest could feasibly include the additional number of races, flow of meeting, contact between competitors & fewer medical delays after accidents.

Out of interest (and i may regret this) how many of those involved on the stock forums / FB groups are competitors vs supporters? Not sure how many car competitors there are that frequent Buxton on a regular basis but i suspect its far more per event than Speedway competitors. The only "fair" way to make comparisons would be if there were forums from amateur/open speedway meetings where large numbers of competitors opt to compete in.

Enthusiast: I wonder if at some point Gustix will say something positive about current British Speedway? Realist: Not a chance.

I can't say i have noticed a band of Weymouth supporters but suspect they must be there. Have noted Reading, Exeter & Milton Keynes all having a dedicated band of travelling support so its clear the love for some is still there. On a slightly separate not i hope / prey that Weymouth can find a home venue for the upcoming season, surely Swindon would be able to accommodate them? Its only half a dozen 2nd half meetings a season but means a lot to so many.

2.19 LEAVING THE COURSE/CUTTING THE COURSE This rule has been completely reworded. Last year it read as ‘The Clerk of the Course may exclude a competitor(s) who permits a wheel/wheels of his/her motorcycle and/or sidecar to cross the defined edges of the track, or who displaces marking flags with motorcycle/sidecar or any part of the person, unless such action was taken in the interest of safety or due to the action of another competitor.’ Any competitor(s) whose motorcycle crosses the defined edges of the track markers/white line – with any wheel – will be disqualified unless, in the opinion of the Clerk of the Course, the action was taken in the interest of safety for other competitors, or the competitor involved was forced ‘off course’ due to the actions of another competitor ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Probably long overdue but is this a heavy handed approach? How consistent are Clerks of Courses going to be? Is everyone subject to this ruling of just lesser riders? How long until a final finishing order is affected by this change?

Much appreciated although not sure how accurate it is? Stoke valued at a whopping £580 is clearly a huge over valuation or some dodgy accountancy!

Track is certainly better at Kent than it used to be but does largely favour the brave who are prepared to go out to the dirt and go round the outside / find the drive off the bends. very easy to defend going into a corner and without mistakes its incredibly rare to see an inside pass.

I have to agree that a switch to Saturdays would most likely increase crowd levels at the start of the season but could well see them tail off as other competition for things to do increases. The same as the very competitive Kent side that has been assembled this year will keep some fans flocking back week on week but if they start hitting 60+ points against most teams there will be several that slide away again as the level of entertainment drops (that said everyone's views of what makes the sport entertaining differs hence its current woes).

Certainly a very sad outcome and whilst the reasons for not running are various the over riding fact is that largely clubs don't want to host these teams. This is shown even more prominently by Weymouth having a promotion, naming half a squad and then having no available track. With so many midweek tracks it makes a league even harder to be sustainable and despite the willingness of many riders (which is often over looked when NL team selections are considered) this year will see another mass of cobbled together away teams and ultimately more riders lost to the sport.

The latter makes sense (as i see no sense at all in anyone signing Hurt-all). With the points left its seems almost certain to be an assessed foreign rider....wonderful for British Speedway

Better off without him as is the whole of Speedway, if you don't like it Berge then begger off. Got enough problems as it is without the incredible sulk kicking off every year.

Huge thanks for the list (who would have suspected Liam Carr would have been bottom). Plenty of long forgotten names in there along with loads of established ones too. By my quick rough count there are over 90 riders in the list that have been declared in full league 1-7's at some point. Think thats very impressive.

Taking the early part of this comment, some of the "best" / closest racing i have seen regularly features 250cc speedway machines, the lack of power actually enables the riders to take a few more liberties and are forced to look for additional grip from the track. Given the nature of UK tracks these could be a much more practical solution however they wouldn't resolve the cost reduction element.

Fortunately Stoke host an MDL team (although not overly cooperatively) so the opportunity is there IF the reserves take part in it. They will always have the advantage of getting dialled in to the track already so should be capable of taking care of any challengers but often hide from it as they are not brave enough to risk losing their place.

Certainly commendable but lets be honest Drew was already good as a 14 year old, if he was average / bit better than average would Ipswich have been so accommodating? Its not a jab at the Witches alone, the majority of clubs wash their hands of any level of responsibility towards the future of the sport.

But at least everyone will know where they stand. Pay up at the end of each meeting and a rider will turn up for the next (considering how easy it is to do via bank transfer these days). Should never be situations where riders ride for 9 meetings without getting paid. No pay, no ride but no risk of being banned.

When it comes to local riders clubs need to do things for the future and then there will be some local riders available. However everyone looks to someone else to do it and then moans when the pickings are scarce. Why does Ipswich not run competitive second halves any more or a development league side? They will host a youth round this year because they were forced too (along with all top flight clubs). Who was the last local rider that Ipswich genuinely went out of their way to help out?

The current crop of wasteful riders cannot but there are plenty of future riders coming through who can and would.