False dawn

I was there, but I'll admit it; your memory is better than mine. 🤔

Agreed. And a bit of a rarity for a rider to win his own testimonial meeting.

What a week I've had. At Leicester on Monday. The Lions get my support while I wait for Brandon to reopen. And watching them claw their way back to win by 90-89 was sensational. The tension waiting for heat 15 to start was palpable. The feeling waiting for the rerun to start after the Tigers had made the start first time round was almost unbearable. And for Max to fly off gate 4 to seal the deal was truly memorable (apologies to all my Yorkshire pals). Then to sit down and watch Glasgow Edinburgh on BSN last night was another treat. A hard fought meeting which either side could have won. But to achieve a 10 point swing in 3 heats is hard to argue with. So any lingering doubts that the play offs are a good idea have been banished, from my mind at least. P.S. The delight continues. I saw Dougy win his testimonial tonight and I'm off to Torun on Tuesday to see GB win the SON (I can dream).

Are we just looking at the consequences of the decision to have the league cut-off after the play offs have started?

Good to know that the reopening was successful. The continuation of speedway at any venue has to be celebrated. As a Coventry fan and someone that has visited Mildenhall on several occasions, I am pleased that this venture hopefully has a successful future. Well done to all concerned.

Unless the Monarchs go up as well 🤔

Not to mention the loss of all those local derbies with Edinburgh

Yes, I got a similar deal. Actually an early bird deal on a £20 ticket which cost me £18. I never understood the ticket pricing at Cardiff. 20K-30K fans paying a fairly modest GP ticket price (say £30-£40) would surely have made that meeting financially viable? We certainly didn't pay £20 for a ticket to go to the NSS did we? Yes I know all about the quality of the racing and I agree. In fact racing wise I think the Friday meeting this year is up there as one of the best GPs ever. I do worry about the future at the NSS. I can only see them getting one GP next year and to make that pay with all the costs involved could lead to tickets well over £100. Wait for the comments when that's announced. For me, the original plan of one GP in Cardiff and one at the NSS was perfect. A great day/weekend in Cardiff and a top meeting on one of the best circuits (the best?) in the world was something to savour.

So if Andzejs Lebedevs wins the SEC tonight, he'll have qualified for next year's GPs 3 ways. Will he get the full set and be awarded a wildcard as well? 🤪

Respect! Wow. There's a word you don't hear very often. Certainly not in a racing context. Actually, on reflection, I was struck by the mutual respect that Sam Masters and Bomber have both spoken about on air recently. But it is rare none-the-less

And on a related point. If we're getting nostalgic, I don't remember, back in the day, riders pulling up just because they are at back. Bona fide attempt to race? Pulling up on lap 2 and then riding back to the pits after the race has finished! It annoys the hell out of me. There was even examples of this on show last night at Perry Bar. In former times I can remember meetings taking place on wet circuits that would never take place now. Riders would get filled in and then complete their 4 laps, well off the place, without goggles. I think I'm a dinosaur. P.S. I don't watch much league racing in Poland. Do riders "pack up" at the back there? I suspect the Polish managements wouldn't put up with it.

I remember Rick Miller at Coventry ending up in a race on his own when the other 3 were all excluded. He completed the 4 laps but was showboating with wheelies etc. He, himself, was then excluded for not making a bona fide attempt to race. You couldn't make it up.

60th anniversary? You don't look old enough Norbold 🤣 But it's fair to say we don't have characters like that in the sport anymore. Interestingly, the BSPL do list him under G for Gallows in their "ultimate rider index"... Tyburn GALLOWS (Real name: Raymond Sidney Humphrey) Born: 7 September 1934, Willesden, London, England. Died: 1994. Career record: (1965) Oxford; (1967) West Ham; (1968) West Ham, Canterbury; (1970) King's Lynn II.

It's odd isn't it? Simon nearly always looks miserable on TV and at times has that "rabbit in the headlights" look. But he came to the Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club meeting a while back and he was a completely different person. Chatty, friendly, he even smiled a few times. I must admit, I changed my view of him that evening.

So the rule saying riders must sign to say they've been paid for the previous meeting obviously has no teeth whatsoever.

Crickey. That meeting must have dragged on 😁

I think that's what's called "hedging your bets" 🤣 This tie is quite interesting. Both sides have something to prove and there is a fair chance they'll meet in the semis (or the final!?). Can't see Sheffield doing anything but being on top form, but Leicester just don't seem know when they're beaten at the moment. So it could be close. But not to sit on the fence, I think it'll be around a 48-42 win for the home side.

On the one hand, allowing Emil and Artem back into the World Championships would generate a lot of interest. Whether they are real contenders or not. On the other hand, in the current political climate, bringing the Russians "back into the fold" could generate some less than positive publicity inside and even outside the sport. Imagine the coverage if one of them won it? Either way, it's all publicity. And as Barnum (and others) said, "There’s no such thing as bad publicity". And as speedway fans, surely we want two of the best in the series?

I think Stewart Dickson made his feelings about Drew very clear on air on Monday. If Drew doesn't get the message and respond in a positive way I think he's going to find it a bit sore sitting down until he does. 🥾

Always assuming of course that Nicolai has a good night. 🤔

Four points. 1. The rule covering the 2 minute warning has been specifically changed to say that riders must be ready to race within the time limit. 2. We don't have a consistent application of this rule. Did I not see a meeting report recently where 2 riders were disqualified in heat 15 for not being ready? And then clearly, on TV, we see riders pulling up to the tapes after the time clock has reached zero. 3. If riders arrive at the tapes with 30 seconds on the clock, they garden for 20 seconds and then settle to race. If they arrive with 1 minute and 45 seconds on the clock, they garden for a minute and a half. I know it's a bit more technology but can't we have a maximum of 30 seconds once all four riders have entered the "starting zone"? 4. Perhaps when the starting marshal calls riders to the tapes, they should be obliged to comply and not completely ignore him. We could ban all gardening I suppose. Maybe not, eh?

Well I get annoyed when my choice isn't even in the the list of choices. Why can't we vote for any of the 14 riders?

I was there at the NSSC meeting when Phil Morris strongly hinted that there was a brand new club interested in running speedway. The rumours at the time were that this was Northampton but Phil never said that. But if it was and if that is still a possibility it is a good catchment area. Also, if they only entered at NDL level, there would be local derbies with Leicester and Oxford. Ah well. We can dream. The best laid plans of mice and men eh? P.S. Glasgow moving up is an obvious candidate. However, the loss of all those relatively lucrative local derbies with Edinburgh is surely a factor.

The socks are a nice touch 😁

That's an eminently sensible analysis. But it only makes sense in an individual meeting such as the GPs. This was a team event. Ipswich only needed 1 (and a bit) points to secure the victory. JD did not need to get involved with his talented team mate in front. The outcome could have been very serious for numerous competitors including himself. A racing brain would have made a split second decision to hold back.