Tinker

They might just listen if there were enough of us. Amalgamation of the leagues please and if GP riders price themselves out then so be it. Oh, and please bring back the Golden Helmet. Forget the nominated rider rubbish and just have the opposition top scorer in a head to head with the current holder. Sponsorship/decent prize money and see where we go. Recap .... tonight's meeting was garbage and I'm feeling pretty annoyed. Something needs to be done!

Hey mikebv, you come on this forum often enough so you must have the sport at heart. Like many others on here as well including myself. Probably total wishful thinking but what if certain supporters like yourself, Iainb and others who obviously care about the sport were invited by the British Promoters to attend a meeting (all expenses paid of course!) to put all views/opinions forward prior to their annual November get together. Providing there was a "full" commitment from the promoters that they would seriously listen to all views put forward and advocate changes where they thought possible, would you attend?

I love Speedway and started off going down the Shay, Halifax at the back end of the 60's. Seen some fantastic meetings over the years but the match tonight is truly dire and is not doing speedway's reputation any good at all. It is truly awful. Probably a godsend that Birmingham are finished at the end of the season but nothing against the supporters (whom I have every sympathy with) and the riders. Unfortunately, it's just not happened for all concerned. A complete reset is required for next year. Seriously! Whether that involves an amalgamation of the two leagues or not, I don't know, but something major needs to happen. A total refresh but a top league with the likes of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Poole, Oxford etc etc would be a start. There has to be more variation with more teams involved and please bring back the Golden Helmet with decent prize money and sponsorship to attract the media's attention. Here's hoping.

Fair comments all round. I watched on TV so can't comment on the catering, queues, organisation etc but doesn't sound good. Such a shame because they've had plenty of time to get it right.

Well said, couldn't agree more. Far too many moaners. Watched on TV, racing fab.

Plenty further north in the Lake District.

Hope Luke Becker recovers asap and my best wishes go out to him but another bad crash/injury in the Polish Leagues. Big fast tracks, lots of pressure to do well and quite probably, some riders trying too hard and over riding.

Leicester for me. Too much firepower to let that lead slip and I reckon they will all be up for this!

Will this be streamed? Could be a good watch.

As a neutral, I really enjoyed watching Workington last year. A new team, some young unknown and exciting riders and to be honest, a breath of fresh air. So what has happened, they look like a team of inexperienced/novice riders lacking any spark or excitement. I don't understand it.

Good final ride by Zach Cook to say he was right at the back early doors. That's what probably swung the meeting in BV's favour.

Beat me to it Steve. British Speedway takes a fair amount of criticism including the state/condition of certain tracks etc but as you say, most of the bad accidents happen in Poland. Chasing the dollar and under pressure to perform on big fast tracks. Also seem to be a lot of inexperienced young riders on rocket ships too eager to mix it.

Heat 2 could be interesting and could set the tone for the rest of the meeting? Riders who could swing the match either way depending on what sort of night they have are Lidsey and Ellis. We'll see.

Think it will be close but BV will win on aggregate. Ipswich seem to be everyone's favourites so the pressure will be on and I think they will ride a touch tentatively in the opening weeks. BV have not featured in the KO Cup Final for some years (I think) and will be fired up early doors.

Just been looking at all the team line ups and if there's one side I had to miss out on watching it would defo be Leicester. Just my opinion of course, but it just looks a very steady eddie type of side with not much excitement thrown in. Rather bland if I'm being honest.

Couldn't agree more. I still watch the GP's, but over the years most of them have become pretty boring and predictable. Give me British or Championship league racing any day of the week.

Thanks for that MP.

Can someone remind me what the Oxford team actually is for next season. Thanks.

I think Birmingham have put a very interesting and cosmopolitan team together and they might just surprise a few people. Hopefully, they can retain all seven riders throughout the full season and they certainly look a much more exciting bunch than last season. Will all the problems Birmingham have recently encountered (finances, crowds, lack of top riders etc), I'd just like to congratulate the management on the team they have ultimately assembled. Good luck and I hope your season is a success!

As far as I'm aware there has been no announcement from the Sheffield promotion that they are going to try and rectify the problem. Indeed, I don't even think they've publicly accepted that there is a problem. Would be nice to know if anything is going to be done before the season starts but all seems to be very hush hush?

Big mistake having two GP's at Belle Vue. Just cannot see the reasoning or positives behind this. One GP is something to really look forward to, just leave it at that!

To visit his gran in Basingstoke and then a pint down the pub.

I get what you're saying but if Phil Morris or whoever else is involved simply let Birmingham go to the wall and become another entry on the long list of defunct speedway tracks, a lot of people on this forum would then claim that PM etc had done nothing to help the Brummies and should hang their heads in shame. At least he's being proactive in trying to remedy the situation.

Hi there lbw. Haven't really chatted with you this season but I've certainly been following your posts regarding your travels and flat whites of course. You've defo had a good season (two trophies so far with a third surely in the bag) so congrats from me and I'm sure you've enjoyed hitting the road and sampling different flat whites along the way. Look forward to your posts in 2025! All the best, Tinker.

Fully realise I'm stating the obvious but just cannot see Poole losing this. Killen will be a huge miss for Oxford and the choice of reserve guests (presumably restricted) are poor. Cannot see either Oxford reserve stepping up to the plate but I'd loved to be proved wrong. Hats off to Dan Gilkes by the way for getting stuck in!