SCB

But then Tai would not be heading towards a likely World Title now and Nicki would have 1 less World Title (and be missing a silver medal). Emil got a 3rd from a nomination too. Ok there been some crud get wildcards too but generally they do better than the qualifiers. Last season Bomber, the worst of the 4 wildcards beat 2 of the 3 qualifiers. That said, I would prefer that unless there was good reason too (injury basically) that the wildcard slots generally went to 9th/10th in the GPs and 4th/5th in the qualifier. If that was the case Bomber would have qualified an extra 2 times.

Except thast just not true. On Woffys CL/NL debut he dropped 2 points at Newport. The closest he got to wobbling was when Billy Legg wobbled in front of him and cause Woffy to avoid running into him and got picked off by Sam Hurst as a result.

Yeah, amateur meetings. Maybe you'd be happy to go to your dentist, pay £5 less but have a 15 year old still in school give you a filling? And no, not all NL rider are wobblers and one of my favourite heats ever was between Jon Armstrong and Scott Peglar in a NL (then CL) meeting. Also, the term wobbler doesn't literally mean wobbler, it just a way of describing a newer, less experienced rider.

But that's the point, if people act like they great unwashed going to speedway and enjoy that, they're less likely to enjoy going to the theatre, going on a caribean cruise and driving a Merc. It's not perfect but it's a huge industry, there must be something in it. You and I both know that's no true! You have to remember to wash the blanket you take to speedway, remember to pack the deck chair and you have to worry about putting sugar in the tea in your flask

Reading this makes me glad I've never been one for programmes. I own 2, both that I had some input in. See no point in keeping a programme from 1999 and after about 3 or 4 years of filling in a programme I realised that I could remember the result of 15 heats for 2 hours without writing it down. I do own some terrible clothing though, sadly Anyone want a Morten Risager cap? Im not giving away my Stan Burza calendar though!

I was doing well until you mentioned about the smell. Does make me wonder, have I become a snob and that's why I don't go to speedway any more?

What about changing tyres? Its all about getting traction right? So surely if you changed the tyres in some way it was having a biggest effect than anything done to the engine? Or am I talking rubbish? I can only base it on my car but I had a set of M3 alloys and high end tyres and the back end really struggled to break lose despite the fact the tyres failed an MOT. I put on a set of standard wheels (so narrower) with low end (budget) tyres that were legal and the back end was moving around when I put my foot down. Made me realise the difference a tyre can make, would have been no good making the engine in my car faster as the wheels were sliding around.

Reading that, you're right! I'll give this some thought as it must be possible to do so people know whats going on but works fairly. I guess the handicap points could just be given out every 2nd or 3rd heat, if you get rained off the heat before you're about to get handicap points them though. No different to a rain off now after heat 10 where the away number 1 has only ridden twice but most others have ridden 3 times.

And the response from Russia is, "We don't care, we beat people who get in our way!"

I'd just say if an 8 point man is missing and replace by a 3 point man then you've lost 5 points. The opposition will get 5 more points so a 10 point handicap, take off a point or two from the handicap to discourage the use of riders being missing and you have an 8-9 point handicap. It could be worked. The same could be done if a team decides to build a team 5 points under the limit to save a few £££.

Good idea. They tried it in 2001 and it failed. Numerous teams had illegal guests as promoters/managers were clearly a bit thick. Also, some riders could have 6 averages, PL home, PL away, PL overall, EL home, EL away and EL over all. Can you imagine the green sheets? It comes down to fair and simple. You have this and people get confused and complain the sport is too confusing and their mate Bob whos been going since 1959 won't go any more. Meanwhile, Fred whos been going since 1952 wont go any more because a guest scored a maximum to win a meeting by 2 points at a track the rider he replaced hasn't ever scored double figures on. Damned if you do.....

Leigh finished 11th in 2009.

He's a pariah in Newport now! Nobody wants anything to do with him

If this is the case the EL promoters need to act now. Charge £5 entry to Sky meetings and plug it on facebook, twitter and any other social media. Show Sky they can get crowds in. They may in the short term lose a few £££ but will it add up to whats being lost by the loss of the Sky contract?

I like KK but if you had 15 races each containing 4 of each GP rider then the one with KK would be down the riders of races I'd pick to watch. Yes from time to time you get a "did he really try that" move but on the whole he's not that exciting. Emil makes a fair few moves, probably not as often these days (and its the reason he's 2nd in the GPs right now and battling for the title IMO), Darcy rides up the fence (literally) and gets people talking about that (along with his off track habits). I do agree, we could do with a new, younger Nicki - I need someone to dislike!

That's a very philosophical post!

Not really. Nigel promotes British Speedway well. Im sure if it had been possible he'd have mentioned it. Maybe the situation didn't arise and he has to be careful advertising another channels product. Maybe someone close enough to know they get locked in a room for 6 hours at each GP and not allowed to leave?

Loram was invited to SPOTY but he'd already agreed to ride at Brighton. Maybe that snub didn't go down well with the BBC? Sky have mentioned the GP a few times when Tai has been on tele.

FFS, speedway is speedway. Is there anything different about the SEC Championship and the GPs that would make someone choose to watch one over the other? Its why I don't see the point of the SEC, it's not doing anything different.

Could get awkward when cusp NL/PL riders have a clash. Or if PL promoters agree not to use riders riding in the alternative NL. Might work for "professional" NL riders but wont work for riders on the way up as I see it.

Would agree with a trip down to the Quay where there a few places to eat and drink. Not for from the stadium at all.

It may not have happened this year (rolling averages make it hard) but it has happened in the past.

It doesn't predict anything, it jus evens out the league table. If all team had raced the same number of meetings this table would show teams in exactly the same order as the real table but while the BSPA insist on having teams riding differing amounts of meetings to confuse things! It only really show the points teams have already won/lost.

TBF, Terry Russell for the money in the first place. Without him British Speedway would have 100% of nothing rather than the alleged 80% of something. I don't see how his cut would make any difference to the sport, don't you think the promoters would just buy a newer Jag, or having nice toilet paper at the BSPA offices, or the riders would ask for a few ££ more? It would never have been "invested" would it?

Im guessing this works on the idea that all meetings are 3 point home wins. So for every point away you gain you get +1 and every point you lose at home you get -1.