RobMcCaffery

For me, the day I once too often saw a true racer open the throttle and head for the outside line, only to lose ground horribly. About the late 80s.

I don't doubt that the rest of the meeting wasn't but I am only commenting on the one heat that's available, not the meeting itself. I trust your judgement of the overall meeting but that heat 11 entertained me hugely, hence my comment which acknowledged that there was still far to go. To me the mark of a good track is the ability to pass on the outside but I can still know a good race when I see one. Obviously I can't comment on the other 14 heats.

Brian, you have been a devoted and loyal friend of speedway who has achieved remarkable things for your club, Birmingham. Please don't feel the need to apologise to those who record is entirely the opposite. I do wish you success in this latest battle. Those who never made a mistake probably never tried......

What the BT argument comes down to is "Sky are charging me so much that I can't afford another service. How dare speedway sell rights to anyone but Sky?" Ever thought of stopping Sky bleeding you dry?

Proper speedway. Once the outside line develops fully it's going to be marvellous.

No World Champion? Is he worried about burn-out?

At least David Rowe included the result going into heat 7 which does suggest that either the studio commentary was added after editing or they knew live that heat 6 wasn't going to be shown. Just like any meeting I go to I keep a programme running so prefer not to have to work out heat results from later scorecharts. I just worry about those time slots.

John has brought this on himself with his unpleasant attacks and ridicule on subjects such as the National Speedway Stadium, National League speedway and those valiant people who are running 'nomadic' teams as part of their campaigns to restore speedway to their towns. His constant reference to stock car racing and speedway in the 1940s were tolerable but his insults and childish behaviour have exhausted patience. I tried to sympathise and help him with advice, if only out of respect for his past achievements some time back but it was rejected out of hand. He clearly has no love or respect for present-day speedway and you have to question his motivation for being on this forum. Yes, I have him firmly on ignore but sadly people quote his messages, thus defeating that. I am dismayed that an attempt to voice my frustration with John's behaviour with some gentle satire has been grossly misrepresented by some and what indeed should have been a thread about a speedway reunion so diverted. Perhaps if certain people with Wimbledon connections had realised that the criticism was of the messenger NOT the message we might have avoided all of this?

Eurosport 2 are running just a weekly one hour programme on Wednesday mornings. In the first meeting they at least carried all 15 heats. Timings for the next three weeks are: May 11th 10.45 am (as above) May 18th 9.45 am May 25th 7 am. Not exactly prime time and no repeats.

It's not that difficult unless you have a problem counting to six. Home - Win 3, Draw 1, Loss 0 Away - Loss over 6 0 Loss 6 and under 1 Draw 2 Win 6 and under 3 Win over 6 4 It's scarcely cricket's Duckworth-Lewis method!

Sadly I think the group owner has given up. The moderators seem to have disappeared long ago. It's best to ignore the Polish troll. No, avoiding this section of the forum when a certain Pole hijacks it - and also when I'm relying on watching the Sunday matches midweek on You Tube. I've only just read yours and Pawel's postings and obviously won't read any from May 8th onwards until after I've caught up with the matches staged on Sunday. In the same way I'll avoid Sportowe Fakty until then, so no, not out of the country, just avoiding the results. ;-) (spent Sunday at a vintage vehicle event in Taunton in glorious sunshine - even Polish speedway takes a back seat to that )

It's amazing the contacts you make working on the journalistic juggernaut that is the South London Press (circulation 10,000). The circulation was much better in 1948 though. Bryn, remember when his column in the Speedway Mail were mostly about how Grand Prix Midget cars should form part of speedway meetings? When I later got involved in stock cars there was quite a bit about Grand Prix Midgets in the mags. I think you can guess who wrote those..... It's all so very sad. Belle Vue have opened to great acclaim, people are thrilled at the prospects of so many wonderful meetings to come, except for one desperately sad and irrelevant individual clinging pathetically to the past. For once something wonderful has happened to the sport and all a once-respected former editor of the Speedway Star can do is make senile, petty comments trying to ridicule it. He's become a troll and it's desperately sad to see. Perhaps we can all watch that video, let this thread come to its natural end and move on to the next match, leaving one person to shout into the wind?

Every match originates with C More Sport who are rights holders in Sweden so yes, they show it live. Not everyone is knowledgeable enough to use or comfortable with the quasi-legality of streaming so their only realistic option is the Eurosport coverage. Additionally, unlike Poland there are fewer streamers and you often cannot be sure until the last minute whether any will be available.

After the success of last week's highlights programme here are the British timings for this week and the next two weeks. All are on Eurosport 2. Wednesday 11th - 10.45-11.45 am Wednesday 18th - 9.45-10.45 am Wednesday 25th - 7-8 am. Doesn't even make an afternoon repeat now, sadly. Hopefully things will pick up but it's hard to see with those 'graveyard' slots.

Away from the shallow end of the Polish gene pool, some good news. Telewizjada is back. http://www.telewizjada.net/

I am so glad that Belle Vue is up and running and I look forward to the NSS proving the old adage "Great things are worth waiting for". I can't wait to get there, for either league. It's sad that someone tried to poison the well - no, tragic....for them, not Belle Vue. You're very kind and comments like these mean so much when they come from such a respected poster. Despite appearances I actually hate having to tackle people like that - I've always had a real problem with injustice. Now all I have to do is face my old Rye House friends and explain how I had to stick up for the Fen Tigers - I'm already in enough trouble for announcing there. It's just so sad that someone who has made a significant contribution to speedway journalism in the past, far, far more significant than mine, can be trying so hard to damage the sport now. I do hope I don't end up like that in my dotage, which I think is due next week. Anyway, it should be all about Belle Vue here now so I'll shut up. I can't believe that Belle Vue have a proper track again after all these years! Party time!

It does seem that they have a two stage system for team declarations in Poland. While I expect R&R's explanation is correct I've often seen curious line-ups named, amended to a more logical version on the day - then there's the common practice of naming only one reserve then adding the second on the day - usually the one that's been in the team regularly in the past.

It should have been your local highlight of the season so that's sad, albeit understandable. I do suspect there's more to the switch from 'national' teams to sponsors' than has been put into the public domain. I wonder if the FIM were unhappy with the close resemblance to an official revival of the World Best Pairs? Although it wasn't his only passing move I think we can see why Martin Smolinski specialises on the inside line after seeing him on his home track. It always depresses me to see racers bravely opening the throttle and going for the outside pass only to find the track won't allow them. While there was some 'outside action' I felt too much of the passing at Landshut came from riders sneaking through on the inside taking advantage of rivals' errors. It would be unfair not to concede that the final few races were entertaining but it does take much away when you don't care who's winning. eport2000.pl's day will come!

Some good racing compensated for the format/ I did struggle to get into it though. I have to offer congratulations to David Rowe for a valiant and highly professional attempt to convince me that it was important whether Fogo Power or Nice Racing won. I'm sure the Polish sponsors and Monster must be delighted - the riders' names certainly played second fiddle to the team logos on the captions. Ultimately it's really just an exercise in Polish corporate marketing. Thankfully we got some racing as a bonus. Okay, I admit it, I'm devastated at eport2000.pl's failure to make the final.....again Incidentally, you may be interested to know the lines of business that some of these firms deal in: Fogo Power - generators, Nice - Home automation (actually an Italian company), eport2000.pl - automotive accessories, Trans MF - trucking, Boll - car chemicals, - or maybe not. Okay that's my insomonia cured - I hope yours is too zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I take it you are unfamiliar with the modern National League. How about going to some matches (buses permitting) and learn rather than rely on ignorant prejudice? Perhaps you'd prefer a grand EL match with say half the riders away in Poland or riding in the Premier League and using a series of guest riders? The riders taking part in this official league fixture deserve far better than your insulting scorn. What are you trying to achieve except destroy your reputation? I'm sure someone will pass on your regards to the 14 guys racing on Friday night. They had a meeting that would 'befit a so-called National Speedway Stadium' but it was cancelled. John, you clearly despise modern speedway so have you ever thought of taking up another sport? Stock car racing can be good fun, if totally meaningless. This really is getting ridiculous. I wish Belle Vue well with the NSS and look forward to seeing some great matches there in due course. It's about what it becomes, not how it starts.....

IF they continue to show all fifteen heats then fine. They pleasantly surprised me and I hope they continue in the same way. It does make a change.

If you wait long enough there won't be a Coventry Speedway to protest about and then you can take pride in having 'shown them'. Of course you'll have missed every last chance to see a great speedway, even if there are problems with the team. Supporters at tracks like Newport, Oxford and say Wimbledon, Hackney or even Bradford 'really showed' the promotions by staying away didn't they? I lost my track 43 years ago but if by some miracle it returned tomorrow I would love every meeting, win or lose. You really don't know what you have until it's gone. I think your signature needs correcting by the way.

I wasn't aware that Wolves and Somerset have problems with their crowds. Peterborough is a mystery while keeping Scunthorpe alive in a town where the threat of mass unemployment hangs over it with the doubts over the future of the steelworks is a hell of an achievement. Looking at the dismal state of the sport these days I don't think with the current support racing does really matter. I think those that went for the racing have long gone apart from a few diehards, leaving just those who want to see winning left. If the sport is to have a sane and stable future it needs good racing to attract fans back and find new fans, but your statement is rather like saying a patient doesn't need to be healthy - after all they're sick but not dead. I think you'll find if the NSS doesn't provide great racing then it will struggle to pay for itself. If great racing isn't important why was so much effort put into the design of the shape of the track to give such great racing? You also have to factor-in population and catchment area when judging why certain tracks get good attendances, together with the efforts of the promotions. If we don't need or want good racing then why do we bother?

So, we've established that Nokia are responsible for poor crowds at speedway.........

Team eport2000.pl will struggle on without your support ;-)