FAST GATER

Sounds far too sensible for s/way sadly

Sadly I think that the riders need to accept change and they are often reluctant to do so unless it involves greater speed which is the last thing the sport needs .

Riders can always find the money to go quicker now they need to realise they need to invest in their futures and accept they may have to write off some of the cost of current machinery .

ts My previous post proves Mr Berry correct and Havelock wrong as we left the sport from a sponsorship point of view because of the costs and that was in the late 70's!!

we spent 5yrs sponsoring riders and one in particular in the 70's ,the main reason we stopped was the arrival of 4 valves in the last 2yrs we spent twice as much per year than the first 3yrs .All we got was unreliable engines and bigger servicing bills the racing as a spectacle IMO was overall no different as the best riders had the best engines .It is my belief just like football agents speedway has tuners in both cases they are an unnecessary and expensive parasites of their respective sport.

Or use throttle control and not just hold it to the stop for four laps , and not become a race of the best tuner which is happening more and more by the day .

Let's see what tonight brings as for Doyle hats off faultless performance just hope it doesn't end up a battle of the" rocket ship" engines tonight but suspect it will.

The track was TOO GOOD smooth ,grip and every rider loved it so your saying that when they get the racing surface they all ask for it is no good to race on ,this could only happen in this sport !!!!!!!!!!

Let the rider skill be the difference not what is done in the workshop

My brother's favourite Rod never saw him sadly (too young ) but Pistol Pete always seemed to have an extra gear just at the right time and would break his opponents heart in the process. IMO if a rider makes the gate without breaking the tapes or moving the race should be his whether he has guessed right or read the Ref's starting routine so be it

Imo the rule was brought in to try and level the field( in fact it had the oposite effect because top riders would often get caught out) because some felt that Ivan &co would not win as many races as they did but cream will always float to the top and Ivan ,Ole and the rest would have adapted because were great riders .

In my own case I love the starts I believe they are as entertaining as the races and love the different methods and ways in which each rider sets himself up ,from my own point of view this has been wrecked by the strict and IMO boring robotic rules implimented today .I believe Colin Mererdith is to blame sorry one of the main reasons that we have gate and go s/way today would not mind but if my memory serves me correctly he was at best a very average rider perhaps this is his revenge on Mauger & Co .

I have been to about 18 mens finals ( my brother was an LTA concillor ) IMO the two stand out player were/are Sampras and Federer ,it is no accident the number of titles they have between them and Roger shaves it by the sheer grace he plays with .In recent times I have only missed the finals because a certain Scotsman was in them and I refuse to watch him under any circumstances because his contempt for the English which he barely conceals .

Good meeting worthy winners great racing have to mention Hancock who was more than a gater tonight and just can't believe he rides at this level consistently at the age he is amazing really .

Years ago most but not all riders( the likes of Kelvin Tattum , Andy Smith and Joe Screen went in BL straight off) started in the second half of meetings in those days the old NL and the Gulf British league ,firstly in the NL s/halves making the team then about a season later having ago in the s/halves of the Gulf league .From this position they were then offered BL places to cover injury etc before D/U on regular bacis ultimately moving up to full time BL after about 3yrs.This seemed to work quite well IMO as a general rule of thumb a NL number 1 was the same level as a BL reserve of course you had riders that never left the NL or never made the grade or could not make a living in the BL.

I saw Michael Lee doing a few laps as 15yr old at Boston you could just tell he was a star in the making ,but that can be said for most riders IMO if they have not made it within a couple of years in most cases they have reached their potential be it NL ,PL or EL .

Indeed that was so many Gulf league teams ( as it was in the 70's) put their juniors in the NL for 12mts or so we had Chris Morton at Ellesmere Port who in one season went from reserve to main team .I do think that the lack of second halves today in both PL and EL make such a difference to riders progressing to the EL rather than the ridiculous FTR we endure today .

For some reason his Swedish scoring has been erratic for a number of seasons ,I accept that the standard his higher now but his EL scoring even when the league was stronger always seemed so much more consistent .IMO British tracks demand a greater level of skill rather than the raw power of the continental tracks and are more suited to his style of riding .

I for one am so glad that he is here this season ,really thought we had seen the last of him in the EL but if this is his swansong then we could not ask for more !!!!

We need that format in the PL like a "hole in the head"

My daughter( 25yrs old Tai fan ) and myself were at the GP on Saturday but yesterday she said the runner up at Wimbledon behaved in a manner and conducted himself in such a way that he made Tai look yobish and foolish to say the least .

Great GP winner deserved to do so perhaps Peter Karlsson( probably the one of the most respected riders in speedway today ) can have a word in Tai's ear and we should leave it at that !!!!

I can't think why anyone would not be impressed with the NSS , IMO it ticks all the boxes and is a great testament to the B/V promotion who are rightly proud of it .All of us should be pleased that the sport has something to be admired and I am sure the crowds will increase and the track will become a favourite with all riders .

Sorry can't resist "tape touching" and flying starts being let go rather than 4 or 5 goes to get a race done

Think if they made a Sour Grapes flavour it might be popular with some posters