AndyM

Don't agree that it was the best-ever meeting, though it was certainly up there and the atmosphere was electric. I was there too!

Maybe not, but PUK could well develop into one of the best. Who knows? You need to ask whether international riders like those enrich our domestic leagues or not. Sure their fans would think so. As we've discussed in the past, there are various means of addressing the absence issue, though whether you like it or not I think British speedway can't survive as a viable competitive source without exciting new foreign talents, nor even the middle-of-the-road riders who make up the bread and butter of the league. And unless we can fill the void with equivalent British riders to compete with the best, it's not even worth discussing.

By which you mean domestic championship and international elimination rounds to qualify, free of quotas? If so, I totally agree!

Reading this thread suggests we are not capable of fielding a world class team of 6 riders. 30 years ago we could manage two at least!

Thinking about it, there have been many riders so totally committed to their club they've stayed loyal to that club for the duration of their careers, excluding time spent elsewhere as a junior. And doubtless many more who wouldn't have moved but for their club promotion going down the drain. Whatever the duration of their contracts, some riders undoubtedly do have that rare quality. As for your last sentence I don't know quite what you mean by: "a league that stops using over-committed journeymen, even if it means a reduction in so-called quality for a few years." If you're referring to the GP contingent, they should be the cream of the crop rather than "journeymen." Did you really want to exclude any rider who aspires to be the best individual talent? If you mean middling riders who need to ride elsewhere to prop up their earnings because one league doesn't pay sufficiently to help them make ends meet, how will you fill the gap through their departure? Not that you would be able to ban riders from appearing in other countries anyway! Surely any replacements would face the same financial hardship and would probably end up working part time to pay the bills? What sort of league are we aiming for here? The magnet for all the greatest talents or one that drags along the bottom of survival? Shouldn't we raise the ambitions here and find answers to the difficult questions rather than suggesting FURTHER cuts to the quality of the league? With that mentality we might find ourselves with no league at all in a few years' time.

Which probably indicated that Nigel Wagstaff was a teenage Hawkwind fan.

While I have to agree about the D/L method, I think you'll find very few if any regular cricket fans who don't know about the not out innings calculation - though we were only talking about averages, not strike rates or anything else. The fact that speedway can make its one commonly quoted set of statistics impossible to reproduce by the average fan speaks volumes. I was indeed referring to the fact that the method of speedway average calculations being changed at regular intervals, where the cricket rules have been very consistent in that respect.

Speedway fans have always been keen statisticians, and kids certainly like to be able to work out how a figure has been calculated - as I did when I was young. To say, "ah well, it's very complicated so just trust the wise people at the BSPA, they know what they're doing" isn't an answer of any sort - the process must be clear and simple to understand. The more opaque the system, the greater the possibility of rigging, mistakes in the calculations and inconsistency. Oh, and anyone can work out cricket batting and bowling averages from the scores alone. It's followed the same rules for centuries and it's open for all to see.

Blimey! It's simpler to calculate PAYE, judging by that. Millward's rule of thumb: if an 8-year old can work out the rules and calculate a rider's current average from riding stats, it's fine. Anything worse is too complex by half and needs to change.

No idea what would be the most effective way to achieve it, given the politics of the various organisations involved, but I'm most definitely in favour. If it ever came to pass, I hope that would be step 1 en route to a pan-European elite league, which might resolve some of the multiple club allegiances and conflicts, plus adding a whole new level of interest to league speedway.

True. He learned lessons after losing his crown previously, made substantial changes to his machinery and back-up crew, and reaped the benefits - and could well develop the sort of dominance that Tony R achieved, particularly while Nicky Pedersen seems out of sorts. By contrast, while Hans has done very well in the GPs he has ridden, whether he's able to sustain the effort and go through the same learning curve as Crumpy remains to be seen. Sure, he's a potential world champion but winning the GP circus requires a different mindset to winning just a couple of individual GPs. I wish him luck - some competition for the main man is always desirable.

If you're including me in that, excellent idea Shazzy!

Sadly commentators nowadays insist on sitting on the fence - usually via the medium of blathering equal praise about every competitor, no matter how inept their performance - rather than saying anything remotely political or even subjective. Time that boring neutrality changed, which is why I still favour anyone from the Dick Barrie school of speedway commentary and interviewing, those without any fear of legal action or retribution! That truly would add spice. Anyone capable of calling a spade a spade and telling the truth as we all know it, these days?

Several people on this forum were insisting he'd taken Polish nationality rather than just riding on a Polish licence. If this were true, he'd be a dual national and could therefore switch between authorities at will - in theory at least. Don't know whether that makes the slightest difference from a speedway perspective.

Several of us predicted this scenario months ago (including Subedei and Kevin M.) It's a symptom of the lack of time, effort and investment put in by our clubs and the BSPA to ensure that our talented riders are boosted through the system rapidly, get the right support and sponsorship, and have the ambition and professionalism to go all the way. We have just as many decent young riders as any other country, but we don't help them. If anything, we offer more support to young Poles, Swedes, Danes and Aussies than to our own. This cannot go on! In short, it won't be fixed in 5 minutes, nor indeed a couple of years. If this is a wake-up call I hope somebody in the halls of power will realise that unless something is done about it, it's not impossible that we could end up with no riders. Time to make sure our youngsters achieve their potential and don't get trapped in the top end of PL or the lower reaches of EL. Let's start by finding money and sponsorship while earmarking the riders who need to be in the next generation GP circus - Stead, Kennett, Bridger, Auty, whoever it happens to be - and making darn sure they get there.

I've noticed that too - and remarkable how he will suddenly cotton on to the fact that a rider is in a different position about a lap and a half after the change has occurred, but continue his commentary seamlessly as if nothing was wrong!

So there wasn't any whiff of an accusation that this tyre was somehow illegal then? This sort of thread tends to start with an implication that the rider has got an unfair advantage. I take it extra width is OK within the rules?

So will he be sacked from further GP duties, or is competence not among the criteria?

I dare not ask...what could you possibly be up to, Schumi?

Well deserved second championship, showing he's learned the lessons of last year and dominated 2006 like the maestro he is. Superb! Congratulations, Jase - bring it back to Manchester.

Schumi - look here.

It's not Margaret Vardy, is it?

Perhaps he intends to return as a ghost first! Darn it - seen none of this yet, though I am recording it. The kids wanted to watch the X Factor!

Having read some of this discussion, I couldn't agree more with the sentiment - it needs to be run with pairs of riders from each country. If it's so obvious to us, why isn't it obvious to the powers that be? Team riding is the most exciting part of speedway, and if you call it WTC that's what we expect!

That's a misguided rule anyway. And it assumes that if club B didn't exist, supporters of club A would automatically change their allegiance and attending habits. Ain't necessarily so! As retailers like Starbucks seem to have found, the winning strategy is paradoxically to cluster around an area if you want to stir up interest and dominate the competition. Nothing better for stirring up good crowds than a keen local rivalry, wouldn't you say?