The Cheese

If that's just the peak, is there not a chance that was because the programme overran and it was people tuning in at 10pm for the EFL highlights?

Realistically it couldn't have gone much better than that for Lambert. Hope he can go on to finish the job now.

Maybe it was for a longer-term deal and they didn't want that? Figures I can find from 2022 show their subscription numbers as 222k. Unless that has very heavily increased I don't see much benefit from it. Those kind of numbers aren't going to help grow the sport much over time. If they have/had confidence that a deal with Sky, TNT, ITV etc was possible I think it makes sense to wait.

Phil Morris mentioned a few weeks ago in the Speedway Star that they had turned down a good offer from Premier Sports to cover this season. I think their subscriber numbers would be too low for that to be worthwhile.

Agree with this but I think I read that the side had to be named by last Wednesday so this meeting won't have had any impact on selection.

Looks like it'll only be on HBO Max.

Unfortunate the rain came as it had been a decent meeting up to that point, certainly far more entertaining than the one between these two last month. Difficult to understand just how anyone could come to the decision to exclude Cook, would have been a shocker even without the benefit of replays.

I assumed it was down to Belle Vue to promote it but fair enough if that's not the case. Still in their best interests to do so though as they would be the ones benefitting from any new attendees.

Excellent news and well done to everyone involved in securing this. Hopefully Belle Vue can play their part now and get those tickets sold.

If you go down the one league route then I think they should just allow teams to be built to a much higher limit. Obviously not something as absurd as having seven number ones, but if the likes of Bewley, Doyle etc still want to race here then they shouldn't be blocked for being too good. Tweak the race format so that the top riders in sides aren't facing the weakest as often. If a Bewley is missing a meeting at Berwick or wherever because of a GP or Poland then they can be replaced by an unattached rider for the night. You'll have teams that are clearly much stronger but that's sport. Even if you water it down to a slightly lesser Championship that'll happen to an extent. The best riders will go to the sides that can offer them more and the likes of Edinburgh and Scunthorpe will be left with a Palm Toft at number one.

Feels like all of the GP's this year have actually been quite entertaining. Maybe that's the Woryna affect, he's an absolute nutter but you can't deny he makes things a lot more interesting! Great night for Lambert, not just the win but Zmarzlik dropping points has opened up that title race further. You'd think he would need to win at least two of the last three rounds to stand a chance but on current form he's certainly capable of that. A fit Bewley, Holder and Lindgren throughout could have really made this season something special.

Read the piece with Richard Coleman in the Speedway Star yesterday and on paper at least, he talks sense. The problem is that whenever 'new blood' comes in, they generally pick up these issues straight away because they're so obvious but they get met with promotors sticking their fingers in their ears as they're happy to continue as it is. We can only hope that he has more success than those in the past. I agree with his view that there needs to be a greater gap between the top two divisions and I get the impression that with the Poland + 1 league rule next year, he rightly sees that as an opening rather than a threat. If you have riders in Poland with Britain as their 2nd league then surely that reduces the need for fixed race nights so I don't see why Poole and Glasgow for example couldn't step up and keep their current nights. With a bit of co-operation and planning you could avoid the majority of fixture clashes. A TV deal would obviously be a necessity for that but the opportunity is maybe there with TNT again. From May next year they'll be without Champions League, Europa League and Conference League football so there is a gap in their schedule and presumably budget to spend. Go to them and ask if there's anything that could be done to encourage them back on board. BSN do a good job but they're preaching to the converted and having TNT (or whoever) involved as well should open more sponsorship doors.

With a seemingly ever-increasing lack of riders I would suggest removing averages. Probably something that would actually assist the Championship more but if there's even one rider losing out because of it then that is one too many. I presume the reason Alfie Bowtell for example is missing this year is because his home form for Plymouth gave him a false average, similarly for Kyle Newman last season. Go back a few years and Matthew Wethers suffered the same fate when Newcastle closed and there went a solid Championship rider never to be seen again. Eddie Kennett has done okay since his comeback, there's no reason why he couldn't have done that sooner if he hadn't been stuck with his old average until now. And those unattached riders should be also be allowed and even encouraged to take guest bookings. They get the opportunity to put themselves in the shop window and it obviously doesn't look as bad as a rider helping a rival team.

I found it outrageous that they played this during half-time of extra-time in the World Cup Final. Don't they know that British Speedway has exclusivity on it?

His record speaks for itself. Good luck to him for the future.