Deano

Priceless! Thanks for sharing.

I was fortunate to see quite a few of these during the Hancock, Hamill, Cross, Ermolenko, Correy, Karlsson era during the nineties. It always felt better at Monmore as the crowd was more mixed. Two very evenly matched teams on the night could bring on some very heated races. Karlsson sticking his middle finger up at the Heathen faithful on the first turn after a win and usually getting a few waving back in return..

You only have to look at the speedway venues over there though to see the level of investment that goes into Polish Speedway. According to people who have been, a polish league meeting is something to behold and is akin to going to a rugby or football match in the UK. The Poles have created a model that pulls in the riders, riders want to be part of it. The GP's have created a model that pulls in the riders, not so much now, as Poland seems to be the greater draw. UK speedway is just a hindrance to the big riders and a training ground for foreign nationals, most seem to come through loyalty rather than a need. This level is just about affordable for promotions in the UK. Perhaps the new Belle Vue stadium will give the BSPA the confidence and knowledge it needs to start doing more stadia on similar lines in other cities across the country. Better facilities will pull in a higher profile clientèle.

I agree it hasn't helped at all. IMG/BSI looking after their own interests... perhaps they went to the BSPA school of speedway to learn the craft. The rider shortage it generates over here can only be blamed on the BSPA, they should have hatched a plan to fast track youngsters rather than rely on cheap imports that don't give a flying fig about UK speedway. With Wizzer now in place hopefully things are looking up, but it will take time and patience.. 20 years perhaps before we will see any real benefits. Will the BSPA stick to it though?

Speculate to accumulate, the private sector do it why shouldn't the public sector. Perhaps the BSPA should look at the workings of the Polish model and look at the reasons why they have managed to keep speedway up in the top three sports. Instead the BSPA would rather concentrate on their own little world/club and continue to in-fight damaging the sport for years to come. The BSPA/British speedway fans should look closer to home as to the reasons for the state of UK speedway rather than blaming the GP series and a forward thinking international promoting company for it's failings.

Putting it another way Godfrey does say it is easier to find foreign riders of a higher standard, without the hassles and financial burden of running an NL team.

The one off's used to wide me up. If the guy I was cheering for lost out because of a bad decision, I then had to wait until next year.... and he may not have qualified for that one. Secondly, when I sat down to watch it once, it was won by a complete obscure German I thought was a pop singer!

Would speedway still be around at it's current size if the GP's didn't attract the TV audience it does? The GP's have given speedway some incredible television exposure, which surely has some kind of effect on local gates? Perhaps your team could be dead and buried in the defunct section or you could be paying more for the privilege of watching your team with fewer friends.

I still think each rider should get one miniature guided missile. A rider won't be so quick from the gate if he new three Polaris missiles could be aiming at his poop shoot!

The thing is we'll never know if top riders would have deliberately dropped out of the one of world final qualifying rounds. Speedway was more financially rewarding back in the day of the one off final. These days I guess the prize money for a one off final would be peanuts compared to back then and perhaps not worth the machinery investment.

It put it back on the television? Making it more available to approximately a million people in the UK? Created sponsorship opportunities that wasn't there previously? Not one television broadcaster wanted to show speedway until the new era of the GP's came along.

Never give up and have faith, the new silencers silenced Birmingham's critics... perhaps they will help potential London venues too.

How about throwing Martin Dugard into the mix? Never made it on the individual world stage like others, but consistently at the top of the British League and Division 1 and Elite League averages when it was still considered one of the toughest leagues in the world.

I am Spartacus

I think we need to answer the question: Why would any Brit want to become a full time professional speedway rider? Can it support a family, pay bills and pay a mortgage? Until it can where is the incentive? Britain actually does a lot for world speedway... but not for Brits. We bring on young Danes, Swedes, Poles and most of all Australians. So yes I think for that a Brit does deserve a place in the GP's in the current format. If it was done through proper qualifying rounds, like the old one off final, then I can't see a Brit getting through.

It's on the BSPA website builderbob. 19/04/11 1930 Isle of Wight v Sittingbourne Select (Ch)

"Two years ago, finished the job as director of the series and was director of the slag at the International Federation of Sports Motorcycle (FIM)." I wonder who he's director of?

Spot on... what we are up against is Aston Villa and Birmingham City football clubs generate more income in a year than Birmingham Speedway would ever generate. Money and jobs can talk under these circumstances and unfortunately speedway doesn't have much money and doesn't employ a squad of superstars with huge amounts of disposable income.. Yes there is and some tracks have done "the fence" and the "banks of earth" thing, unfortunately (in Birmingham's case) the environmental agency stipulated that the source of the noise must be reduced, no amount of fences and earth would satisfy that objective. Birmingham council was one of the most anti speedway councils... but now, due to these silencers, we have a team. I guess the speedway authorities have seen this as a softening and feel many more anti speedway councils would not object so much. Bristol being another case. I'm glad the BSPA and FIM have finally recognised noise as one of the biggest threats to speedway, it's not the only one of course but goes a long way to sway decision makers.

Yes... For example.. I have two one hundred year old oak trees at the very bottom of my garden. Thirty years ago they built a row of new houses approximately 20ft from the trees (doh!). Four years ago someone bought one of these houses at the bottom of my garden (probably at reduced market value because of the trees).... Would you believe it, every year I get a letter through my front door asking me to reduce the height of the trees due to the fact they get no sunlight in their house. I'm told it's unbearable, they seek legal advice everytime and god help me if anything falls and damages their property or their health, the trees have now out grown their environment and should be halved. At the moment you can imagine what my response is, (the sentence is very short), but any change in the law could change that. Speedway here is no different.

No complaints from fans, riders, promoters, coaches or sponsors etc regarding speedway noise in the UK. It's people living nearby throwing european human rights rules into the air and giving councils a hard time... councils then find it easier to either not allow a new track to open or make it difficult for existing tracks to operated. It is no coincidence that every other speedway nation is affected by noise.... It's not just speedway by the way, it's all motorsport. We want speedway around for a long time, being anti-social and noisy will kill it eventually. I hope a nimby doesn't move into a Polish tracks back yard one day, I wonder how it would stand up in a european court if the Poles aren't using an accredited form of noise reduction.

How long will it be before the noise issue hits Poland.... It will eventually..

Sad news indeed. My gut feeling is perhaps Mr Ribbons's previous attempts at promoting speedway have gone against him. I'm a firm believer in people being given a second chance, perhaps this is the reason for the BSPA demands and late decision? Perhaps mildenhall is considered a higher risk than other clubs... maybe if there were more investors the BSPA would have looked at it differently?

Perhaps a new Weymouth promoter should learn from Buxton, a club that produces riders on what is a tight budget. Buxton have proved it is possible. It would also seem odd, if you were trying to attracted attention to a business you were selling, you would tell potential investors "Speedway just isn't viable in this town".

Switch codes??? Enigma codes... Post codes.... ?

I applaud the effort you are putting in... There was a disagreement on here recently when a youngster complained against his second half ride being canned. The response "It was canned because a genuine replacement for XXXX was given the track time, why would we allow this slot for just a wobbler anyway" sadly, I think the response pretty much sums up what you are up against before you turn a wheel. I personally think every track should pay into a pool and support free track time and bikes for any under 18's interested in Speedway.