AndyM

Couldn't agree more. Perhaps land is too expensive and competition for leisure time and dollar too fierce in cities these days? There aren't many places where a track is in the centre of town, other than Poole. Great shame in my view that speedway isn't supported in these locations.

Compare the distance and ease of access to Cardiff and to London for most fans. Cardiff is out in the sticks and always will be. For that matter, I'd be delighted if the GP were to be held in Manchester, but I know that the rightful home of our main event should always be London if we want an international following.

Is it me or are the rules are a complete charade when a rider who should obviously be among the top 16 in the world has to be granted a place because his qualification on the track apparently counts for nothing?

I saw a lot of speedway at Thornton Road on Friday nights - quite a lot of it rather poor compared to the fare we got at Hyde Road on Saturday nights, but it's a hard act to live up to! I remember all the greats of Ellesmere, but my abiding memory is of the freezing wind whipping up straight from the Urals, with no protection whatsoever from the oil refineries - it was the coldest speedway track bar none. Used to wrap up very warm and ususally ended up with frozen fingers so my programme looked like it had been written by a 5-year old!!

A better question: why should it NOT count, no matter what his status at any given time?

Don't suppose it will ever be Wembley since the rent will be too high, but neither do I think any fixture is permanent. Speedway's fortunes and those of the Millennium stadium could wax or wane and make long-term arrangements unsustainable. And just because it's been enjoyable in the past doesn't mean it will continue to be. The location is still far from perfect and if the chance to return to London ever did come I suspect there are many in the FIM, BSI and BSPA who would jump at the prospect.

Anyone can make a mistake...as the dalek said, climbing off the dustbin!

...but needs to be more consistent and steer clear of injury. I also think it was a mistake for him to step back from EL racing.

Don't forget that a few years ago we were saying the same about the Danes - but then Nikki Pedersen won the GP, Hans Andersen and Bjarne Pedersen matured fast and suddenly the Danish prospects look bright. Sweden are helped by the fact that their production line of youngsters gain top league and international experience faster than ours tend to, and therefore mature faster. Freddy Lindgren and Andreas Jonsson might not be their best prospects in a year or two... though I wouldn't write either of them off just yet.

Some of it has dated very well. I was only listening to Gary Gilmour's Eyes by the Adverts and Holiday in Cambodia by the Dead Kennedys this last weekend, which tells me that good songs score well in any era. Mind you, kids won't have a clue who Gary Gilmour or Pol Pot were!

Ah, but just as the creative geniuses behind art don't necessarily have to create their own masterpieces, the Sex Pistols were rightly famous for what their iconic status and style! Punk might have been a watershed against the pomp and circusmtance of prog rock and a coutry moving rapidly towards Thatcherism, but it was never much of a musical statement, much more a cultural movement. Discuss!

Best too that he retires too equal with the great Ivan Mauger.

That's called "being contentious" and the ensuing debate is one way to ensure that the readership figures stay high!! Most of the people who regarded the SPs as "awful" at the time were probably the wrong side of 40, but many who were 30+ probably admired GSTQ in secret while condemning it in public - I wonder if that's the scenario here, or whether we're overdue a revisionist view of punk? Maybe time for an ELP and Yes comeback!!

Let's be absolutely clear about this: Scott was not guilty of "dirty riding" and I doubt if anyone could accuse him of that with any justification. He did make a mistake and catch Zagar when he had acres of room to pass cleanly, and for that he should have been excluded. He was very lucky to stay in, though equally I've seen worse decisions over the years too. But he most certainly did not ride with intent to cause the rider to fall - Squirrelnutkins, I think you should apologise for that remark.

So, for example, if a ref showed blatant bias towards a rider of his own nationality, nothing would be done about it? The ref wouldn't be sacked? Would they continue to award him top meetings, regardless? How do they get appointed to ref a GP?

Question: Does the FIM or anyone else monitor the performance of refs and given them an annual appraisal, much as FIFA do to senior football refs? If not, what sanctions (if any) are taken against refs when they make serious booboos?

Now 57 points ahead of Greg Hancock and surely heading for a record GP victory. A stunning achievement, worthy of praise from even the most grudging of fans.

Now there must be forums out there where people are asking how Scott Nicholls persuaded Tony Steele for that decision. Not here of course, because we would never stoop so low as to libel a top-line referee. So let's just say that if he's the best ref out there and has replays of every race at his disposal, how come blatantly wrong decisions still occur, even if it is in favour of a Brit? We need all the help we can get!

Anyway, a great victory for Crumpie yet again when it really mattered. This season he's mastered the art of winning key GP races, and hasn't it just paid dividends. Full marks to Hans for taking him to the wire, and Scott for a somewhat unlikely second place.

Are refs advised to look at replays for all major decisions? Surely it's far better to spend the time and review rather than making any instant decision, as some football refs now know to their cost...

Could you tell me a rider who is genuinely stationary? They are all rolling to a greater or lesser degree. If you applied the letter of the law, no race would ever start without being brought back. Time for the rope at the back wheel?

The title of this thread is a non-sequiteur - under no circumstances do bookies EVER give money away! Better ask yourself a different question - what do they know that you don't?

Jim, sorry for this exchange - I certainly don't want to fall out with you. I hope we can both contribute in our small ways to a brighter future for speedway.

On the contrary, Jim - I'm one of few that offered professional services free of charge to speedway. I was rebuffed too, which says more about speedway than about me. What did you do?