Bavarian

But don't forget that Poole Pirates (Matt Ford) were instrumental in getting this Mickey mouse competition invented. They, along with some guys in Sweden, were behind it from the start. Now they realise they can not run it at their own track, they can not win it with tehir own team, and all of a sudden they do not want it anymore.

Not so. They all WANT to ride for Russia and for the MFR (Russian Motorsports Federation), but they don't want to ride for peanuts. OneSport pays more money in the 'unofficial' SBPC, than what the riders can earn from riding in the BSI/IMG organized official SWC. Laguta only tried to get a Latvian passpart a few years ago, as it would have made it easier for him to travel across Europe. I think Emil got a Polish passport for that purpose. None of them want to give up their Russian citizenship.

why would that be?

Thanks for this info, Jacek

Where can I find the final offical league table of the 2014-15 New Zealand League? I think that in the New Zealand League they have bonus points for losing a match with six (or less) points difference, and also for the winning team for scoring six or more maximum heat wins (5-1s) in a match, is that right? One other question - I wonder why Sean Mason was missing most of the meetings this season? Was he injured?

What is the situation with Bradley Wilson-Dean? I thought he rides for the Eagles this year. Why isn't he mentioned?

Patryk Dudek already has #69

Absolutely agree with that. For team events points should only be awarded for beating opposition riders, not your own team mates. Heat results would be 4-0, 3-1 or 2-2, and it would not matter at all if a rider finishes ahead or behind his team mate, and bonus points are not needed anymore.

I remember those England v Germany test matches at u16 level. I attended a couple of them, at Landshut and Abensberg. They were of great benefit for the English and German lads, and they were quite entertaining and competitive matches. Why can't we have them once more?

The Argentinean speedway season went well, but the attendances for the meetings at Bahia Blanca were not quite as good as it should have been. No doubt, the two British lads have spoilt the party for the Argentinean promoters. They had advertised the two British riders, and the fans were looking forward to see tehm in action, and were of course disappointed when Barker and Worrall did not show.

The track at St.Johann was in much worse condition than the one at Almaty. Racing on the second day at Almaty was not as bad as on the first day. There were some overtaking manoevres and close battles for positions, and some spectacular crashes, too. The racing, though, I admit, was not as good as it should have been. But except for the problems with the ice surface of the racetrack, the organisation of the two-day event in Kazakhstan was first class. The Ice Speedway Grand Prix Series will be back in Kazahkstan next year, and the year after. Almaty has a 3-year contract with the FIM. Next season the ice racing world Championship may even visit another Asian country. Accordng to the F.I.M., a Grand Prix in China is still on the cards. And then, why shouldn't they be thinking about a revival of the sport in Mongolia as well? Let's hope that Ice Speedway can be established in Asia. It would be a much needed boost for a Sport that seems to vanish more and more in Central and Western Europe.

Darrin Treloar and passenger Blake Cox have made it two from two in the Oceania Sidecar Championship with another victory at Mildura’s Olympic Park on Wednesday night. Meeting report here http://www.ma.org.au/index.php?id=12&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=14609&tx_ttnews[backPid]=6&cHash=f80dd69e29 The final round 3 is tomorrow Saturday night at Loxford Park in Kurri Kurri, NSW.

F.I.M. Oceania Sidecar Speedway Championship 2014/15: Round 1 - 07.02.2015 - Gillman Speedway, Adelaide, S.A. Round 2 - 11.02.2015 - Olympic Park Speedway, Mildura, Vic. Round 3 - 14.02.2015 - Loxford Park Speedway, Kurri Kurri, N.S.W. Report of round 1 at Gillman, here http://www.gillmanspeedway.com/news/treloarcox-the-leaders-after-round-one-of-the-oceania-sidecar-championship/ Results, here http://www.gillmanspeedway.com/results/results-gillman-speedway-meeting-number-9-saturday-7-february-2015/

Here is hope that one day soon, other continental federations, such as F.I.M. North America and F.I.M. Oceania organise their own continental speedway championships, just the same as the FIM Europe already does. For a start, the F.I.M. Oceania already run their own 1,000cc sidecar speedway championship in Australia. The next step is an F.I.M. Oceania Solo Speedway Championship.

British sidecar speedway pilots Mark Cossar and Michael Stace are competing in Australia in the 1,000cc sidecar speedway Continental Championship of F.I.M. Oceania. The opening round was last night (Saturday, 7 February) at Gillman Speedway in South Australia. Two World Champions, the Oceania Champion, and National Champions from four countries are amongst the riders who will contest the three round series this year, with meetings at Gillman, Mildura and Kurri Kurri. Former world champions Darrin Treloar (NSW) and Mick Headland (SA), and the reigning Oceania Champion, Mark Plaisted (SA), will lead the Australian riders against the British (Mark Cossar), New Zealand (Paul Humphrey) and USA (Joe Jones) champions. The multiple British Champion Cossar will be more than a match for them if he can repeat last season’s form when he became the first overseas rider to win a round of the national grand slam series. Other multiple championship winning riders taking part include former Australian and South Australian Champion Mark Mitchell who finished third behind Treloar and Headland in last weekend’s Grand Slam round; multiple New South Wales Champion Grant Bond; and Victorian Champions Warren Monson and Byren Gates.

Never knew that there is a speedway track at Veddestavallen-Stockholm. Is this a new track?

Here is a link to an interesting Norwegian online newspaper report about their veteran speedway riders. http://www.nrk.no/magasin/gamlegutta-som-elsker-speedway-1.11903160

This amazes me. What did the two Brits expect in Argentina? V.I.P. treatment? A five star luxury hotel? Big appearance money as they deem themsleves as true Superstars of the game? Do the other foreign riders get this? I don't think so. Fact is, that Barker and Worrall have returned home now, after spending ten days in South America, with (as Richie Worrall says) "their money still in their pockets." Fact is, that the Argentinean promoters are well out of pocket having payed for the two riders' air travel tickets and accomodation. Fact is, that Barker and Worrall did not honour the contract, which they had signed, that's to ride in the International speedway series over there. Comparing their behaviour with that of other European riders, who have ridden in Argentina in previous years, I can not recall many, if any at all, who have abandoned their time over there, for the reasons cited by the two Brits in this case. . As I see it, the Argentinean promoters, who are not very rich, still struggle to overcome the effects of that tragic fatal accident of Matija Duh there a couple of years ago. An unfortunate accident that could have happened anywhere else in the world. Yet it is always used as an argument about how dangerous and poorly organised Argentinean speedway is. But the tracks in Argentina are since fitted with air fences. Not different to many of the tracks in Continental European countries.

The National League is the most enjoyable and financially sustainable of the three speedway leagues in the UK.

But it means, that Darcy Ward could not get that wild card , if he has served his ban by the time of the Melbourne SGP.

I'm sure the Polish fans will travel. Even in Poland, a speedway meeting in the National Stadium is something special. A 50,000-plus crowd would make the Warsaw SGP the biggest speedway meeting in the world.

Or stage an England v Germany Speedway Test Match at Wembley - I wonder if that would attract a 55,000 crowd?

Rugby Union's IRB show how to promote the sport. I love watching the Rugby test matches, and the Rugby World Cup. This is what I miss most in Speedway. When was the last time that ENGLAND (not the bloodless "Team GB") rode in an official Speedway Test Match? A long time ago. Why don't we have a proper Speedway World Cup with team vs team matches instead of a four-team-tournament? This is poor. Not so long ago, Speedway used to enjoy the same popularity as Rugby Union, but look at the difference now.

It's only seven Teams in the Ekstraliga at the Moment. Rzeszow will not move up. There is something wrong when the richest teams can have all the top stars and the poorer teams simply are no longer competitive or go bust financially as was the case this year with Czestochowa and Gdansk. Some form of rider control is needed in Poland.