RoundTheBoards

Doyle and Sayfutdinov both had 8+1, so I think everyone would see that higher than 7+2. Like you say both gave excuses for ducking out, leaving Thompson as next in line.

Think your maths is a bit wrong. Going by Speedway Updates (Ignoring heat 15) the Ippo top-scorers should have been: King 10+1, Brennan 10, Ellis 8+2, and a toss of a coin between Doyle 8+1 and Sayfutdinov 8+1. Brum should have been: Jepsen Jensen 9, Jeppesen 5+1, Rew 5, Vuolas 2+1 So it looks like the pay rates couldn't have been too good as Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Jesper Jensen, Jeppesen and Rew all ducked it. Fair play to Thompson, Musielak, Hume and Edwards for taking part. I'd say it reflects worse on Doyle and Sayfutdinov for ducking out as it's their home club.

Who is offering Ipswich -16 ? Bet365 have it at -28

Not like you to talk sense. I expect you did it by accident. Leicester protected him as their RS so no one else could have him. Then drop him straight away once there's nowhere else he can go.

No doubt the pricing was spot on. The "It's going to be an empty stadium" brigade are very quiet now.

Anyone heard anything about Owlerton Stadium? Apparently Stock Cars have been kicked out with immediate effect due to lack of space, with the stock car pits being taken over by solar panels and their associated storage batteries. Rumours also that Greyhounds are on borrowed time? Where does this leave speedway? Anyone close to the club know anything?

You're spot on. In the early days of cinder tracks it was hard to produce a good starting area, as the back wheel spinning dug big ruts, worse than the ruts dug in modern shale tracks. Also electric cables to operate the starting gate etc often ran under the track and needed protection. In those glorious days before Health & Safety, the easiest solution was to concrete over the starts. Again, as you say, this was dangerous due to a lip being created which would act as a take-off ramp, and dangers due to the increasing grip on change of surface. (As previously discussed with riders hitting a concrete kerb and taking off - the coefficient of friction between a rubber tyre and concrete is much higher than that between rubber and shale). Also, as anyone who has looped a bike will attest, landing on a shale track hurts a lot, but landing on concrete hurts a hell of a lot more. As track preparation techniques improved, with better quality shale surfaces replacing cinders, concrete starting grids were banned.

LOL no. Seems I wasted all those years studying physics, back in the day. Not to mention the 50 years of watching speedway from both sides of the fence. Going to have to recondition my brain now, so that it thinks all those riders that I've seen hitting the kerb and picking up from the excess drive, never happened.

So a speedway bike sliding on shale, suddenly hitting a solid concrete kerb with the back wheel wouldn't pick up traction and be driven forward in a straight line? Well you live and learn eh?

Those averages are correct. Are you suggesting some kind of fiddle has been allowed "in the best interests of the sport"?

Correct. Klindt at 2, Kvech at 3.

Got to be the silliest post so far (and you had competition) No one said it would sell out in 24 hours. It will however sell out. Probably a lot of people hoping it doesn't sell out before next week, since a lot of people only get paid at the end of the month. p.s. Please tell me you weren't sad enough to count the dots on the seating plan.

Nothing has been announced yet. Could use the highest placed non-GP rider from the British Final for both or, since they are 2 separate GPs, could use the first and second highest, and let 2 riders have the experience of one GP each. Can't really make my mind up which I think is the fairest.

The back straight standing is showing a few tickets available for either night now. I suspect some people may have put tickets in their cart when they were released this morning, but not completed on paying for them, so they've been released back for sale. Other than that there's still some in the temporary seating. Looks like it is selling very quickly though

I see Birmingham's secret weapon has just turned up! (Not so much a secret, but he's certainly a weapon)

Klindt is at 3. Iversen at 4 Kildemand at 2 for Oxford. Riss at 4

I'm hoping that Birmingham can win this, simply because we don't need another season with a team cast adrift at the bottom getting thrashed every meeting. But I think Leicester will win. The Lions are generally reasonable around Perry Barr, but the Brummies have no home advantage with a team of practically all newcomers. Zagar wasn't over-impressive at Belle Vue last week, and Jeppesen and Jepsen Jensen will need time to settle. I think Birmingham will get dialled in ok in time, but the opening weeks will be tough.

Your comment was silly. And his analogy with Ferraris was a well-illustrated explanation of the ecomonics of supply and demand. Shame you still don't understand. Thankfully those at WBD/FIM/Belle Vue (whoever set the prices) had a better grasp of economics. Surprised you found the racing at Cardiff to be the draw rather than just the social atmosphere of the occasion. (although I expect you are trolling rather than admitting to having no social life). Racing clearly will be 10 times better at Belle Vue.

So basically we don't know who is organising the events. (Nor do we need to). Could be as it's always been, WBD (with or without BSI). Could be the BSPL/ACU. Could be Manchester Council as stadium owners. Could be the Belle Vue club owners. The only people who know are those who signed the contract. Everyone else is just guessing.

But hasn't the British GP always been promoted by the rights owners, not the stadium owners? Don't think the Welsh Rugby Union know much about staging Speedway.

Won't your carer get in for free though?

Just like the Wimbledon venture which failed after a few months, leaving people like @norbold owed considerable amounts of money?

Just found this Speedway Forum post from @norbold regarding the ill-fated 2002 Wimbledon revival and its promoters: It was definitely Dave Cro ucher and Steve Ribbons who were behind the Wimbledon revival. They commissioned my book "Two Wimbldeon Legends" to launch on opening night. I offered to do it for nothing as long as they paid the printing costs, which they agreed. When I gave them the invoice from the printers, they both said I should speak to the other one about it and both denied ever making the agreement. In fact they both made it as I met both of them to talk about it. It took me over a year and various threats of legal action to get anything out of them and even then it only amounted to some of the cash and a number of complimentary copies of the book. Oh yes, it was those two all right. I'm not likely to forget it!

I would never risk loaning injured riders' money from the SRBF to a certain character involved in this grift. Especially one who doesn't know Colin Ackroyd from Paul Ackroyd.