FAST GATER

I do think in Doyle's case he is making" hay while the sun shines " late developer at this level and not in the first flush of youth plus a shed load of injuries that will come back to haunt him I am sure .

The numbers just won't add up due to the limited capacity which there is nothing that can be done about from a practicial point of view ,typical we have " gem " of a track limited space all around it !

Not read all the thread but one big factor is the roof at Cardiff ,temp tracks may not be perfect , the NSS just will not hold enough ( I would love it there just 40 mins away) so I think that there is little or no chance of moving the British GP .I was not thrilled with last weeks offering but maybe that's because this year we have recently had a number of exceptional GP's and a new wave of riders coming through as well ,still hope Greg gets W/card though ! .

Have to say that to come back at 50yrs old will be a big ask but if anyone can do it he can and do love that style of his which many moan is boring but IMO merely super smooth armchair style makes it look easy .

I do hope that is the case as IMO he deserves to go out of the sport with his" boots on " as it were .

Got the impression that we may have seen the last of Greg Hancock as from what he said or didn't say tonight about riding again but was good to see him back even if it was as a pundit .

Well just like to say i am very sorry for the loss of the Potters just like my own Gunners and the Kings we will never sadly see the the likes of them again ,they were all IMO victims of a changing world and culture .There are things the sport can do but I do feel in this day and age many extenal things have/ are conspiring against it and there has never been the robust support that football and alike have enjoyed from outside parties but has been seen as a blight and antisocial activity by non followers . I think that the NSS will be the last pupose built track in this country and the best we can hope for is that demise of the remaining tracks can be avoided for as long as posssible !

I remember Jack once taking Ivan Mauger's carb apart at B/vue while Ivan was getting changed to see any mods he had ,when Ivan returned someone informed him of what Jack had done to which he replied at least he will have put it back together properly !

Once a riders head goes normally that's the end of it for them as in any sport a strong mental attitude is vital and the last thing you need is to be distracted or not fully committed ,you just become a danger to yourself and others.IMO( other than phyiscal injury) this is the main reason for riders retiring from the sport you see it so often when they are no longer committed at the starts ,they are almost frightened to make too good a start preferring to see how it pans out IMO this what has happened to Scott Nicholls watching him on TV recently .

I think you should swap Scot for him but i think you would have to put a few bob to the deal as well

I think like a lot of riders at the end of their careers he has to pick the right time to stop and IMO in the PL that is now ,as I said a year maybe two in th CL to ease out of the riding part of the sport and earn a few bob if I were him .

Have to agree either find a small home track in the PL then again perhaps it's time drop league (for one last season) or hang his helmet up , no where near the rider he was sadly .

Not a huge Rosco fan myself however like any team sport you have to have the right players/riders to win ,the last SON showed how poor the standard of British s/way( Tai aside) is compared to other nations harsh but true ! and not his fault .

Remember him" blowing his top" with Gerry Smitherman who was riding at number 2 (GTS Products) at the Port in the mid 70's ten mins later they shook hands and wtched the next race together. A hard but fair rider from my recollections of him , he had a Mini Clubman estate with the bike in the back and the doors held shut with a bungy strap.Happy days no fancy van and an army of pit crew for him , I think it may well have been right at the end of his career .

Cyril Francis & Ivan Mauger the two extremes of the sport , journeyman rider and Mr speedway himself IMO

I still have one and in reality they offered very little protection but they did give much better perifheral vision which many riders prefered against full face helmets of the day .Mauger used to modify his mask as did Joe Owen in that he put in the biggest piece of lense material( came on a roll like clingfiim only thicker and you used the old lense as a pattern cut out with sissors ) that would fit ,you can see this on many of his action shots .

I did touch on this in my earlier post people don't even leave home to shop so when you consider the excellent presentation ( IMO) of s/way available on TV/Net it is quite easy see why many no longer go and there is little new interest .There is also the fact that there are fewer tracks and more travel is involved if you wish to watch the sport live,I have found that any Poles I have asked are not followers of the sport but older family /friends were or are still going to watch it live .

I think in some respects the sport suffers because of modern lifestyle ,that is we want everything at our finger tips internet shopping being a good example of one of the reasons the highstreet retail is dying on it's feet. I watched s/way live for about 8yrs solid untill the end of the 70's sometimes 3/4 times a week, then marriage children etc came along.My wife will watch s/way but is not an avid fan by any means ,during this time away from the sport I started eventually watching the GP's once they started and have continued to do so ever since .I eventually started to go to Stoke( as the Port Gunners ceased in the mid 80's) on an infrequent basics until they dropped to the NL league . My point being am I typical of many modern s/way fans in that except for the British GP I watch literally no live speedway but watch via tv and the internet ,because unlike some I really enjoy the commentary and the presentation is improving all the time .When you watch a GP like the last one( the recent SON also) you also realise that the gulf between the British league and GP's is massive and growing all the time sadly .

I will say again it was one of the best speedway meetings I have ever seen and I for one think KT and NP are out of the top drawer at what they do ,I believe Tai has said they are the best in the world so that's some endorsement !

Out of the top drawer for sure the very best in the world doing the sport proud ,well done to every rider ,the organisers and the fans who as always behaved impeccable . On the note of modern machines against 2 valves etc IMO the GP's should be treated like F1 and the rest of the sport ie British leagues don't need this type of machinery as almost all the riders capable of handling it are no longer racing there and the tracks are not suitable because of their size .

I have one filled in your welcome to FOC if you want to PM me

Sadly no PK to pick up the pieces anymore either !

Ellesmere Port was round a footie pitch good track some decent racing created by non other that Mr"Magic" Thomas !

I think Ledwith deserves his chance like any other rider after such a long time away from the sport he could have been a total waste of time but he would appear still have it and be prepared to have a go .The league has lost Atkin and Armstrong over the last couple of years so the "Vet" balance IMO is about right , he may do a season another match or god forbid is a broken bone from retirement again .There are so many other issues with this sport that a few older riders in the NL is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things.

Tom & Joe Owen ,Tom was a little too ruthless for my liking IMO it was to make up for a lack of skill against better riders where as Joe was just superb an artist on a bike what a cruel end to brilliant career.