AndyM

Sadly there seems to be a very high incidence of suicide among speedway riders, which I guess must be related in some degree to the high stress levels, lack of security and lonliness of a life spent travelling without family and without much psychological support. Could there be any other reason?

Does he have any regrets? What would he do differently if he could have his time again?

Yes, there is nobody currently within speedway with the ability to see big picture. Everybody is so involved in the day-to-day running of the sport or individual clubs they can't see the wood for the trees. Besides which, this process needs a different skillset. Bringing in outside skills is arguably the only way we're going to get an aggregate view about which direction speedway needs to follow. Certainly thinking of season-by-season survival only won't help - we have to make assumptions along the lines of what proportion of clubs will keep going, which will fold and which new ones will replace them, if any.

Then you're condemned to make the same mistakes repeatedly. Incremental changes need a medium or long-term vision just as much as radical shifts - even more so if you want to avoid the sort of aimless knee-jerk approach we know so well.

All excellent points, Tony. For my own part, I'd want to start with that step back with a 10-year review. That is: 1) conduct a thorough 360-degree review of the past 10 years of UK league speedway management and use honest appraisal to complete a SWOT analysis to pick up the best and the worst 2) develop a vision for how speedway should look in 10 years time, covering all aspects of how it is run at every level, how many clubs will operate, how financially viable it will be etc. 3) use scenario analysis to review what must change to get to that point, and what external influences will impact on the change process. Only then can you start developing realistic solutions without the usual knee-jerk reactions. Take that long-term review process and you start to realise how much needs to be done and how we can only win by being much more ambitious and radical than we've previously considered. Let's be blunt about this - the survival of domestic UK speedway is at stake here and we have to take it very seriously.

That's the point. Sooner or later Nicki will have a brain seizure and do something rash. When things aren't going his way he's unpredictable, where Crumpie can gain through greater consistency. Very few riders can keep it going for a whole season, if any.

All things are relative. The margins are small, so machinery may make a material difference... but at this level I think it's all in the mind - if you truly believe you're going to win, you probably will. Crump may be having a few doubts, and it shows...

Can't vouch for Sub, Lindback isn't but I am. Allegedly!

Ahhh... he's quite cute and cuddly when you get to know him!

Not even one-timed, sorry. Just world class!

Sorry - did someone call?!

He's shown flashes of brilliance, but to be truly world class you need to do it consistently under all conditions. That's my definition and I'm sticking to it.

He was even reminiscent of Peter Collins, and I can offer no higher praise than that.

I bet he did!!

In which case, shouldn't a fall be awarded minus one point?

Perhaps Andersen made it because Ole likes him better? The rules seem pretty arbitrary anyway so your guess is as good as mine.

You can't stop there!! Do tell all...

Nothing wrong with the scoring system, only the decision to use places in the final to determine the overall positions in preference to the points totals.

Not as desperate as Mort and Booey, anyway!

Sure quite a few of us would be grateful to share a hiding place with Ewa!

...except Zagar!

Lindback zero? Ah good - doing his chances of an Aces team slot no harm at all!! Seriously, it shows that he's an all-or-nothing rider - needs to get his mind in order to win races when the chips are down, but doesn't seem to have the toughness to do it at the top levels. Might get there but needs a cool head to guide him... a Briggs, Mauger or Rickardsson, maybe?

Can't last - he's bound to crack eventually and tell the ref he won't be his friend any more!!

Semi-final 1 was the finest individual heat of speedway I've seen in some years - great race and a superb performance by Harris. Greg must have been totally bewildered about how he came to be eliminated. Brilliant stufff - give us more, guys! And to finish with a couple of bonus points in the final ahead of Crumpie - the best we could possibly hope for from a Brit

Agreed. Fine performance. Well done, Chris.