False dawn

Ah. Now if you're saying the Poole riders can't cope with loads of shale, I can start to understand where you're coming from. Do I have sympathy for that point of view? Well that's something different. As a Coventry fan I am hardly in a position to criticise too much. We suffered many years of too little shale. But as a speedway fan, do I like slicks tracks? No.

I thought I was cutting it fine with my last minute change of heart. Don't rule yourself out of the competition by failing to make a bet at all.

Thanks. So if I get my son-in-law in Sydney to edit it for me he can do it tomorrow morning when we know the results!

A question of protocol (Bet365 and Ladbrokes are giving me pause for thought!).... If I want to change my bet before start time, do I edit my original posting or do I put up a new posting?

So this wasn't a daft question. From what you've said, Nicki really doesn't really have his own number? He is just keeping his previous year's finishing position every year.

Thanks for that. The only problem with practice is that I always pick out a rider who looks really quick and then in the meeting can't score point!

Hardly a fair comment. I, for one, am trying to glean pieces of the truth as they are "released". For example. The fact that Brandon Estates were offering (are still offering) significant sponsorship to the speedway operation. This came out when their solicitor was interviewed when the fans met at the stadium some months ago. I only mention this because this is an important fact and changes the nature of events over the past 6 months significantly. Indeed, was this the significant source of funds that were withdrawn just before the BSPA pulled the plug? The BSPA mentioned this fact in their statement. We are trying to pick the bones out of this. Have a care. I am not judgemental and don't want to blame anyone. I do want to know the truth in order to help and know whether my speedway club has a future. Is that unreasonable?

What does that mean? It can't cope? I'm genuinely interested. As I've said elsewhere, at the recent Coventry match there was a fair bit of shale on the track. 7 days later we had a barrage of complaints about the slick track for the U21s. This is a fixable problem.

We'll have grid boys for the girl riders.

Heaven forbid you produce a fair racing surface!

Antonio Zagar?

Interesting. Thank you. But would you choose to redo all your PR material etc. to change from 5 to 12? Seems an odd decision.

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I've been meaning to ask. I thought the idea was that GP riders chose a number and stuck to it. I'm sure I'm right in saying that this is Nicki's 3rd number. What gives?

Now you've got more than half the team, can we re-brand you as the Beaumont Bees finally?

It's interesting isn't it? Having just posted on the Coventry thread that we could run on a Sunday afternoon to do without floodlights, I am reminded why afternoon meetings are unpopular. It has always proved difficult to control the dust throughout an afternoon meeting especially on hot sunny days. But 15 heats on a cool, balmy evening. It's acceptable for the last 4 heats to shower the fans who "sit in the wrong place" with dust? Err no. Put down some shale, water it properly and grade it in a way that truly brings the shale back onto the racing line. And on the weeks when you don't add shale, don't complain about blue line comments. You have one the best stadiums in the country. Why spoil it with a badger's arse?

The police see it as a contractual dispute and as such will run a mile. Leave it to the courts is their stance. The only winners in this dispute will be the lawyers. But let's pick the bones out of this. £1M to restore the stadium? Well maybe to fully restore it. But does that include grandstand facilities that could easily be closed off? Indeed, what about running on Sunday afternoons and doing without floodlights? Given that the stadium only has a limited life (3 years?) why not go forward on a least cost option? Significant sponsorship, by Brandon Estates for the speedway operation? Given a usable stadium, would this sponsorship make speedway a viable business without the stox income? Don't get me wrong. Forget the individuals involved. I would love to see stox get back their iconic venue. But if Brandon Estates say, "No way", is there still a way forward?

I did think someone might wonder who?

You know, I'm not sure you're right. Back in the day, I remember a lot of folks taking foreign flags to White City, Wembley etc. in support of their rider. By comparison, I see a preponderance of Union Flags at Cardiff. The main exception is the Polish flags and they are brought in by Poles.

It never occurred to me before, but what is the technical / speed considerations between leg trailing and leg forward? We must assume that leg forward proved faster. But was this accompanied by other technical changes in the bikes of the time? It might be interesting to see a rider try leg trailing now. Just imagine the effect if he started to do well? Looking at some of the photos above, if someone did start leg trailing, it could be that the authorities might change the rules to say riders have to wear dirt deflectors!

So who is "really" British? Jason Crump? Born in Bristol after all?

This is the first year I've taken part in this. It's good init? We're all bloody experts right? Well that's true till you have to put your money where your mouth is. And it ain't even my money. But you still agonise over those bets. I've been looking at results from recent league results, results from last year and even running analyses off the likely outcome. But it's all theory until Saturday night. I don't know if I'm glad they postponed the Bees meeting at Leicester. At least now I can watch every race from Warsaw with interest.

Take a deep breath...... Mr Zagar £200 more

You may be 100% in your analysis. Unfortunately, I believe Mr Sandhu owns the rights to stox just as Mick Horton owns the rights to speedway (bought for £200K?). If you want to see an agreement forged without Mr Sandhu, you need someone to buy his stox rights. That could be worth a pretty penny.

The worrying fact is that stox at Brandon make money, but speedway does not. Mr Sandhu ran speedway because he loved it, he ran stox because it made money. He ran both because together they made sense. He doesn't have the right to run speedway anymore (I assume he sold that to Mick Horton for £200K). We need everyone to come to the party.

Dangerous territory. PC was seen as a British racing icon in his day. No gating skills and the best overtaker of his day. Something of a racing hero.