ouch

Given Dan’s showboating after heat 15 I’d guess the communication between manager and riders was sadly lacking. You hit the nail on the head about letting Emil go and concentrate on Jason, a tactic that I think would have worked if attempted. It’s always been a bugbear for me when riders are told the score and they say they had no idea. If I was manager I tell all my team that I could ask them the score at any time and I’d want a correct answer. Sure, riders want to win but the team must come first so why jeopardise a needed safe position with an unnecessary risky passing manoeuvre. It’s very different these days as it’s a group of individuals riding for a club and not a team in the true sense of the word. If a rider doesn’t know the meeting score how will they know if Jake is have a bad time and needs some assistance?

I think we spend as much time on here discussing what might be prior to a meeting as we do discussing a meeting result. We use past performance as a way of formulating our predictions and I feel this predicting is right and proper on a speedway forum. We predict what Dan and Jake will likely score together with all those in between and we do this for both teams. Using this method we can arrive at a likely score for any particular rider and base our assumptions on this. If we are to stop doing this then pre meeting discussion will be less than it is now, which is down greatly from its heyday. On the Jaimon scores we need to remember he would have been partnered by a very effective Zach Cook so we can’t just willy nilly add 4 or 5 points to our total. Using the previously mentioned method of predicting scores I’d have us finishing on 48 points with Jaimon in and it would still have been a last heat decider. As I posted before, not a convincing win and not one to inspire an aggregate win should we meet in the play offs.

I use to live near Stuart and a few years ago my ex organised him to attend an It’s a knockout event, at her school! A while after a friend of hers bought her a lovely painting of some giraffes. I came home, admired the picture then noticed the artists signature. It was Rolf Harris! Like I say she’s my ex so I dodged the conversation when asking how the kids are, “They’re fine, Gary Glitter has taken them to the Jimmy Salville appreciation society where Rolf Harris is doing portraits.”

That would unfairly amplify the home advantage imo. 1 lap dashes are a great concept as almost completely at most tracks the other three laps are redundant.

Depends on the meeting. For more years than I care to remember the governing body have been lenient when riders are chasing world championship individual glory, often making use of the column inches that follow with the true grit stories. The fans also rally around such riders. If he was to ride in a foreign league, completes that fixture and does not aggravate his injuries then action should quite rightly be taken. I hope he returns, especially if we end up against them in the play offs as two fit teams would be a great spectacle as our A fixtures demonstrated.

That happened to us in the KO cup last season. We drew with Sheffield over 30 races then they had the home advantage when it came to the decider. We always have the second leg for this very reason.

Good meeting for the tele. A few too many follow the leader heats for me but given their popularity it was nice to have for viewers at home. No Jaimon meant we missed out on a narrow and not convincing victory. Brady scoring 11 from 7 rides can - we hope, only be a blip. I think it’s taken him the whole season up to then to drop that amount of points around the NSS. Norick a bit off his usual scoring but nothing to write home about and once again when our reserves contribute little then we cannot seem to compensate and tbh any points they get it a bonus so we NEED to compensate if we are to succeed. Zach is riding over and above and the reality is we should be reaping the benefits from his performance and not be using it to help us scrape home. A few tactical gaffs from Mark did not help the cause either. Pulling back 14 points over nine races gives me some heart for the play offs as we will no doubt need that level of performance but over the full 15 when they arrive. Lots for both sets of fans to feel good about and with a satisfied armchair audience it was overall a great night for the sport.

Max Fricke Jack Holder Jason Doyle These are the ONLY three opposing team members currently riding that have a higher 2025 away average than Jaimon. https://britishspeedway.co.uk/2025-rider-statistics/

With talk of a potential abandonment, I had a look at dates going forward and noticed the last PL fixture currently is just four days before the play offs. As we have been told previously this isn’t enough time to promote the events so will we see Morris & Bates picking again for commercial reasons?

Their current deceleration has been accepted & published. To get Kerr & Sedgeman in puts them over the limit at 40.91 so wouldn’t be allowed. If Jye is injured they aren’t allowed a facility as he hasn’t ridden for them yet. All the above is per the rule book which we know is rather fluid so whatever Bates & Morris cook up again is what will happen.

I was probably very lucky to watch speedway at Hyde Rd with the great racers around in the 70’s. We’d travel to Halifax & Sheffield and they provided great racing to. I remember around ‘76 we went to Coventry for the first time and PC missed the start (as always) and didn’t win. I asked Dad “what’s up with Peter” and he explained about gaters paradise type tracks. They were in the minority back then. It’s my opinion that the Scandinavians preferred gate’n’go tracks and these then became more common over the years. More recently (if 20 years can be considered recent) Poole, Wolves & Coventry made gate’n’go their thing and with trophies following it became an option for others to follow. Add in air fences and new bikes and the trend has now taken hold. I think even with those issues tracks could still be better for racing if prepped differently. Kings Lynn have a very grippy surface and like the WC semi in 2016 when the FIM brigade prepared a grippy NSS, the racing was dull but fast. NKI setting a new track record. Slicken off Saddlebow Road and I believe the racing would improve. Wolves were just short of an outside line and it was specifically made that way when the result mattered. The Olympic was great and a dead rubber meeting in the supporters cup (which we lost) was a great spectacle. I’m sure fans at other tracks could offer up ideas to improve things though unfortunately the cost might be prohibitive. I understand why fans would look to sugar the pill when describing the entertainment at their tracks but maybe behind the scenes you need to do more with regards questioning your promotions lack of interest in providing a racetrack. Maybe then this customer will return and who knows I might bring a coach load with me again.

I’ve watched speedway for 52 years, all over the UK & Europe. I don’t expect Dan or Brady to win and often they don’t. The GP’s in Manchester highlighted this with Dan. I didn’t expect him to pass Holder in the LCQ but when he did, I and most of the stadium were exhilarated. There is a big difference between riders busting a gut and not getting by due to the skill & speed of the rider in front and those who cannot pass due to the track they have to work with. The latter frustrates the hell out of me to the point I no longer attend speedway other than that at the NSS. I check in on updates and watch the Dmax highlights show and I’m of the opinion I’m not missing out attending only 30 meetings a year instead of 60-80 as I previously did. I’m in the British Final/GP’s NSS type race camp and just don’t like (and never have) gate’n’go/follow the leader, whatever you want to call in type speedway but appreciate that some do. The updates site details meetings since 2005 involving Loram, Screen & Ward at Eastbourne, Lakeside etc. I recommend taking a look as the comments are incredibly similar to today’s meetings despite the skill of these riders.

So now and for the last decade or more we have had no really great riders that can pass. Not even Crump was immune to dropping points on gate’n’go tracks if he missed the gate. Instead of making tracks so only really great riders can (possibly) pass, why not make it so the not so great riders can pass and we can all be entertained?

My issue is not the quality or skill required to make a pass, it’s the infrequent or total absence of this at some tracks. I will never get bored of the RACING at the NSS but I and many others get bored with some of the heats that are served up regularly at other tracks. There needs to be a minimum of two racing lines at all tracks that are successful used throughout the meeting and not just once in a blue moon that then somehow is used to “prove” how good a track is. Funny how things change and now throttle jockey is a derogatory term when back in the day it was gating tart. I know which I’d rather watch. Looking forward to this one after a fallow period at the NSS. Two teams tied on 31 points at the top of the table should make a spectacular event with both teams optimistic of a good result. The Aces are slowly clicking into place as the play offs approach. If Norick has got over his niggling injuries and Zach continues his improvement it could be ominous for other teams as we all see how Dan & Brady will step up at the big events. Tate still making baby steps in the top division but with the amount of laps he has I’m expecting the real deal any time soon.

My issue is not the quality or skill required to make a pass, it’s the infrequent or total absence of this at some tracks. I will never get bored of the RACING at the NSS but I and many others get bored with some of the heats that are served up regularly at other tracks. There needs to be a minimum of two racing lines at all tracks that are successful used throughout the meeting and not just once in a blue moon that then somehow is used to “prove” how good a track is. Funny how things change and now throttle jockey is a derogatory term when back in the day it was gating tart. I know which I’d rather watch. Looking forward to this one after a fallow period at the NSS. Two teams tied on 31 points at the top of the table should make a spectacular event with both teams optimistic of a good result. The Aces are slowly clicking into place as the play offs approach. If Norick has got over his niggling injuries and Zach continues his improvement it could be ominous for other teams as we all see how Dan & Brady will step up at the big events. Tate still making baby steps in the top division but with the amount of laps he has I’m expecting the real deal any time soon.

Oh no, what’s happened now?

Maybe we could adopt the same thinking the health service used during Covid and entice retirees back. Heat 15 Morton Lyons Dugard Loram I’m sure there is dafter ideas circulating around Rugby.

I think a lot of vocal fans on here are like me and don’t like gate’n’go speedway. I’ve learnt over the last few months that it is arrogant of me to project my views onto others when there is a preference for this kind of thing. Looking at the updates site only confirms this as more fans attend this kind of meeting than not. Also I did buy into the media hype regarding races like the British Final & the recent Manchester GP but can appreciate now it was just that - hype and not to everyone’s taste. Enjoy your speedway I say, however it comes as there are many that can’t nowadays.

Could be that long ago when Andy wasn’t our track man (it was his Dad, Colin). Andy is the best imo, by some distance. If it was 2015 then Kirky Lane at that time was not for the faint hearted, for riders or fans.

When was this?

What you have described happens once in heat 4, other heats have riders of a similar calibre more often than not. We run an RS system to promote British rider development so we will have one or two heats where the standard might seem great. Would it be best to drop the scheme?

7.85 putting him 4th best in the league after Max, Holder & Dan. https://britishspeedway.co.uk/2025-rider-statistics/

I decided to have a look back at the set up for the top league in 1976, I just arbitrarily picked that year from a period when the sport was riding high. Though we had more tracks the issue of top stars not being available to all and the repetitive nature of the same clubs challenging was just the same. It’s easy to name certain riders when harking back to the old days but there just wasn’t enough to ride for each club. In 1976, Birmingham had Alan Grahame, Cradley John Boulger, Hackney Dave Morton, Halifax Christ Pusey, Hull Barry Briggs in his forties, Wimbledon tragic with a number 1 and Wolverhampton Jimmy McMillan. All fine riders but the gap between them and the Olsen & Collins of the time was the same if not more than the gap now. Jettisoning top rides is not going to save our top league, however if they had a 5-10 plan to get speedway back to where it should be and they could prove their reasoning then I’d accept it. I just feel if they did it then we would see no benefit and the sport would continue to die. I not saying this in a holier than thou way but Belle Vue’s operating model regarding team building needs to be adopted throughout. Dan (3.00), Brady (7.50), Jaimon (4.00), Norick (4.00), Tom plus Max (4.84) etc are riders brought to the club that we have invested time and effort in seeing them reach their full potential. This also generates an identity with the club that the fans can engage in. The problem for other clubs in doing this is the fact there is little longevity in top league participation. Ipswich (2019) & Sheffield (2021) are considered top clubs yet only recently did they move back up to the top league, I’ve got older soup in the cupboard and this doesn’t allow the rider development as mentioned above. If we can, we need to stop this yo yo ing of clubs from year to year. Having said that in the past, clubs would move up when ready and not when cajoled into it. When Ipswich moved up in the 70’s it was on the back of a very successful period of rider development with many team members moving up with them. The problem with doing that nowadays is the dreaded doubling up that has been allowed to grow at an alarming rate so you move up into a league where “your” riders are already participating with other teams. The sport once again painting itself into a corner.

The Aces would, just as we have with Max to Leicester when they moved up and it was great to see Tom riding at number 1 last season at Birmingham. We wouldn’t want to and it’s hard to see our lads moved on after the work put in but there is a bigger picture here.

That’s amazing and has to be applauded. When you take into account you had the best crowds in the league back then, to increase them without the top stars, the cost of living crisis and many other factors impacting the sport, Poole really need to be coaching other clubs on how they increase crowds from an already healthy level. Well done.