enotian

Sounds decent enough. Not my cup of tea but more importantly clearly not the TV viewing publics either. Don't get me wrong TV companies love filling their schedules with content... ...if people are watching and clearly they're not. Highlights show is fine but it will end up being on the graveyard slot and as someone has said what's the point if someone likes the highlights show enough to turn up to a meeting and it's nothing like the highlights! Everything now is in short bites. It's why nobody watches Match of the Day anymore. The goals from other games are available on the way home from the match. You've see everything you need to see in 10 minutes and you haven't had to listen to Alan Shearer waffle on. Speedway heats are ideal for that just not if you have to wait 10 minutes between them. Speedway was always a family sport but families are a different animal now where the kids call the leisure shots and they just don't like waiting for anything.

It's absolutely possible. everything is possible. you're viewing it from a rider/machinery perspective. that approach has got us this far. it's time to start to think about selling the public a product they want not what the makers of the product want to provide. I can guarantee you riding or being a mechanic or a TM/Promoter at a speedway meeting is way more exciting than it is attending one as a supporter. these people probably sit there and scratch their heads as to why nobody turns up as they probably all have a great time. race finishes 2 minutes on next heat starts. have a 5 min grading break after heat 5 and 10 if there's been no natural stoppages. make the participants adapt to that. will it effect the quality of the on track action? I doubt it.

exactly this. the product is poor. aside from the standard of on track action it's 15 minutes of action dragged out over 2 hours. it's supposed to be a high octane extreme sport. unless you're into tractors then it's dull. if the endless track grading improved the on track action then fair enough but invariably it doesn't seem to make any difference. 15 heats is a 60 minute job 20 heats 90 minutes. Stats are huge in all sports now. they even create stats in football to make it seem more interesting or fill more TV time. speedway is made for stats yet there's zero content. make the match format more flexible. people love watching live sport and having opinions on what subs to make, or what tactics to use or who to bowl from what end etc. just say everyone has to have a min three and max six rides and let the team manager work out the best line up. let the trailing team select the gates. you know stuff that would add to the interest. you still need exciting on track action and it doesn't get much better than at Belle Vue but if you're waiting 5 , 10, 15 mins between heats with nothing to discuss then you lose all momentum. It's like when you go to a gig and the set list gets the crowd singing then the band play a new one and everybody goes for a piss. speedway is like that but with 5 minutes silence between each song while the band tinker with their instruments and some random person in overalls sweeps the stage.

certainly has the potential to resolve the lack of riders problem. you can imagine a few 'retired' racers would consider comebacks if they aren't required to take the risk of investing in a bike and engine. could even reduce costs if the procurement is centralised. ie for the bikes engines and tuning. got to be cheaper than individual riders each agreeing their own suppliers. also you could share the equipment across a number of tracks ie Edinburgh Friday, Berwick Saturday and Glasgow Sunday. this is also how someone makes money out of it. ie instead of say 10 tuners profiting from 10 riders each you get to say 2 tuners profiting from 50 riders, standard scale stuff. same with engine suppliers, tyres, mechanics even etc etc. you potentially move the cash outlay for the promoters to pre season when they've not had any (maybe sponsorship?) income but as I understand it plenty of riders receive a sign on fee for these purposes anyway, which would no longer be required. it sounds a bit like the sustainable future for a 2nd tier does this and don't they have a load of Gerhardt engines just sitting there collecting dust? your problem would be how do rider progress from using supplied equipment and support to being able to compete internationally or in the top league but I guess that's no different from a rider deciding if they want to invest in top level equipment now. at least they'd have a choice having perhaps impressed and earned some money from 2nd tier racing. it would also definitely facilitate the use of top tier tracks in an expanded 2nd tier. happy to help if you need any help on that procurement generating value for money point.

The split of opinions here is exactly the problem that needs to be solved. One big league (any race night therefore no star names or enough riders but otherwise sustainable). Or A Premiership (Mon & Thursday with star names but not enough teams). As per my previous post I think you can have both. But the Premiership needs to be slimmed down. 8 teams 7 home and 7 away. Get it all done over June and July when the sports channels have no football. Like The Hundred in cricket. Give the broadcaster something they can focus on and market to a wider audience for a shorter period. That probably provides enough fixtures for the star riders and promoters, especially if whatever TV money is for a small number fixtures. Less is more. But not for the domestic riders or maybe the stadium owners or supporters The solution, Premiership teams also operate a 2nd tier team. Alongside the other current 2nd tier teams ie 14 team league. Where the riders come from at this point I don't know so maybe 6 or even 5 man teams initially. You could even have a different promoter running the 2nd Tier team. Yes the 2nd tier teams might not attract the same attendances as the Premiership fixtures but the operating cost will be lower without the star riders. It's basically the franchise cricket model where the top stars move around the globe to play in different leagues for different franchises supplemented by local players who return to domestic leagues once the circus has moved to the next (town) country.

In one sense that's the ethos of sport. Doing everything you can to win. But you're right it has to be something worth winning. Modern audiences and importantly sponsors are no long impressed by a title alone. Many sports now think about the product. They realise the sport itself is in competition with other sports and other leisure activities so it has to be entertaining. It's all sports entertainment now not just wrestling. I don't think UK speedway has caught on. Win at home and everything will be alright is some of the most short sighted strategic choice of all time. Set the track to benefit the home team doesn't matter if it's entertaining the masses just need to see the home team win. Then rules which favour teams who can afford the best riders then complaining about how much the best riders cost. Of course they do you've made them invaluable. Of course home spectators want to win but if there's no jeopardy where's the joy.

Ask the broadcasters what product they'd be willing to pay to broadcast or what would attract sponsorship/advertising and try to provide that. I suspect it's not a league of less than 8 with half the teams uncompetitive/made of guests and loads of meaningless fixtures. I suspect less is more in terms of fixtures. 8 teams (say Belle Vue, Glasgow, Ipswich, Kings Lynn, Leicester, Oxford, Poole & Sheffield) facing each other once home and away. Top 4 play off semis and Grand Final. With two race nights (Monday and Thursday) it could all be wrapped up in two months. Those sport channel summer schedules are thin with no football and rugby union in June and July. They should easily have enough slots to show two matches a week, cost of doing so permitting. Maybe that level of fixture commitment over a short time span is attractive to more of the worlds best riders? Use rankings for the top three for each team. There's about 40 riders you could consider or at least market as world stars (current, former or future GP riders) can you attract 24 of them across the 8 teams (there's already about 14 this season)? To do a maximum 18 fixtures over a short time span? The other 4 made up of 'domestic' 'doubling up' riders with the reserves 1 U25 and 1 U21 British riders. Should allow enough surplus of riders to avoid the use of guests. But how can a club run on only 7 or max 9 home fixtures a season? Some might prefer it, say a Bradford? I suspect most wouldn't. So why not have a 2nd tier tournament. Akin to the championship level, sustainable providing a pathway for younger riders to progress and to make it worthwhile for older domestic riders. Add 8 teams (the current 6 stand alone Championship clubs plus two new/returning clubs) gets you a 16 team league. Once home and away. On their preferred race night. With the top tier teams fielding 2nd tier standard teams. ie without their top three from the top tier. Here's the clever/controversial bit. Maybe the top league teams don't want 22 home fixtures (7 top tier + 15 second tier) so let their top tier results count towards the 2nd tier league table! A bit daft but who cares at that level? Maybe the attendances for a top tier team at home to a 2nd tier team (ie Belle Vue v Plymouth) are much lower but so should the cost base. Of course the current problem with a 16 team league is where do the riders come from at present? In the interim 6 or even 5 rider teams might be necessary. Although as a side point there's a load of Polish kids who get shelled every year. Not good enough to keep place in the Polish leagues but could be used to make up the numbers? Or has Brexit scuppered that? Surely if there's not enough riders there's a reason for issuing work permits? I wouldn't know. It's a hybrid solution to ensure a televised product is attractive to broadcasters, sponsors, fans and riders alike. Hopefully the success of that filtering down to help grow the sport.

Inevitable when there's no pathway in which you can progress sustainably. If you're in a Championship team you've got to invest as if you are riding in the Premiership because you're mostly up against riders who are riding in the Premiership and so on.

Who wins? Rams: Bartosz Zmarzlik; Jack Holder; Kenny Carter; Martin Vaculik; Matej Zagar; Nicki Pedersen; Per Jonsson; Peter Collins; Robert Lambert; Tomasz Gollob; Bulls: Andrzej Wyglenda; Antonio Lindback; Bjorn Knutson; Bruce Penhall; Dan Bewley; Darcy Ward; Greg Hancock; Leigh Adams; Max Grosskreutz; Pawel Waloszek; Twins: Anders Michanek; Billy Hamill; Jack Milne; Jeremy Doncaster; John Boulger; John Louis; Les Collins; Mark Loram; Ove Fundin; Peter Craven; Crabs: Arne Pander; Bernt Persson; Bjarne Pedersen; Chris Louis; Gote Nordin; Krzysztof Kasprzak; Pawel Przedpelski; Sandor Levai; Scott Autrey; Torbjorn Harrysson; Lions: Dennis Sigalos; Edward Jancarz; Graham Warren; Igor Plekhanov; Jason Crump; Jim Airey; Maciej Janowski; Split Waterman; Tai Woffinden; Tony Rickardsson; Virgins: Andreas Jonsson; Billy Sanders; Bluey Wilkinson; Brian Crutcher; Frederik Lindgren; Kai Niemi; Kelly Moran; Nigel Boocock; Terry Betts; Tom Farndon Scales: Andrzeij Pogorzelski; Boris Samorodov; Chris Holder; Eric Langton; Erik Gundersen; Ivan Mauger; Jack Parker; Jason Doyle; Ray Tauscher; Vic Huxley; Scorpions: Artem Laguta; Emil Sayfutdinov; Gary Havelock; Jan O Pedersen; Louis Lawson; Ole Olsen; Olle Nygren; Reidar Eide; Shawn Moran; Tommy Knudsen; Archers: Egon Muller; Geoff Mardon; Jim McMillan; Lionel Van Praag; Michael Lee; Peter Karlsson; Sam Ermolenko; Soren Sjosten; Sverre Harrfeldt; Tommy Price; Goats: Anders Thomsen; Arthur Forrest; Barry Briggs; Bengt Jansson; Hans Nielsen; Jerzy Trzeszkowski; Konstanty Pociejkewicz; Marian Kaiser; Zgigniew Podlecki; Zenon Plech; Waves: Antonin Woryna; Charlie Monk; Eric Boocock; George Hunter; Jack Young; Jerzy Szczakiel; Kelvin Tatum; Martin Ashby; Phil Crump; Ryan Sullivan; Sharks: Brian Andersen; Dag Lovaas; Dave Jessup; Freddie Williams; Malcolm Simmons; Norman Hunter; Ray Wilson; Ron Johnson; Ronnie Moore; Wilbur Lamoreaux; Which star sign has the brightest stars of all time? Feel free to suggest squad changes if there are bigger stars missing. Make a case for your own sign or wonder why some signs are more prolific than others? Is it all in the stars? Or is that mumbo jumbo 😄

Rather than run the same meeting twice why not use the Friday night as a qualifier for the Saturday GP? Would be a good way of increasing the number of countries involved rather than dilute the field to facilitate it. Would add some jeopardy to finishing down the order in the GP as well. Bottom 4 (or 8 ) have to qualify from the Friday night meeting at the next round. Increasing the total number of GP riders to 28 ( or 24 ) One bad GP and failure to qualify at the next GP and you're totally out of the points for that round and having to qualify again for the next round. I enjoyed the double rounds during Covid but there was nothing else to do so not a good benchmark. Interestingly though I've been to a couple of gigs recently where there have been two shows in one night. One way of maximising sales at smaller (less costly to hire) venues.

it's a no brainer isn't it. The top two get an extra ride (nominated heat 15, plus a potential TR) and they're in all bar 6 of the 15 heats so you need two top riders otherwise you concede 8 points across heat 13 and 15 and can't get a heat advantage in 7 of the other heats. arguably you could go for strength in depth to secure an 8 point advantage across heats 2 and 8 but as soon as you have a 'rising star' restriction or whatever it's been over the years, you nullify the strength in depth option. I've said for years, if you restrict the reserves you got to restrict the top two, i.e. only one rider averaging over 8 or 9 whatever top men average these days. It makes complete financial sense as well, as demand outweighs supply but clubs that can afford two of them will never vote for it as it's a huge advantage. The heat format is so regulated these days there's basically no point in turning up if you've not got two top riders. Especially when you can have guest riders for missing top riders so there's no jeopardy in putting all your eggs in the top two basket. Although Ipswich would argue that point as they'd have walked the title this season if they'd been able to replace Doyle and Sayfutdinov satisfactorily.

There's obviously a desire for Discovery Sports to have a wider range of nationalities represented to appeal to a wider audience. The top 16 riders in the world arguably come from only 6 countries. That doesn't feel like a World Championship. Trouble is how do you spread the allocation without watering down the standard? One obvious solution would be to increase the number of competitors. I enjoyed the covid double header Friday and Saturday night rounds. Why not have at each round 20 permanent riders plus 4 wildcards (or variations on that). Top 8 in the previous GP qualify for the next Saturday night GP, bottom 8 and the 4 other permanent riders plus the 4 wildcards enter the Friday night GP qualifier. The top 8 qualify for the Saturday night GP. Arguably the top 20 riders still come from the same 6 countries but as long as you have the top 16 riders in place you can offer the other four permanent places to a Latvian, a Czech, a German and maybe an American?

I just watched Vojens GP this morning and was of the same opinion as you, don't know why. Just checked the original thread about it on here and it was only ever the two events. I was thinking there was a possibility of Zmarzlik being crowned Champion as a result of the 'sprint' qualifying in front of a mostly empty stadium. Which is maybe why there isn't one. For some reason I was sure there was. Quite bizarre so really glad at least someone else thought the same.

It was. Fired his bike right into the side of Kenni Larsen, outside the pit gate. Banned and never rode again I think. Maybe there was a similar incident elsewhere.

I passed Cleveland Park on Sunday via the flyover. It's now a school/academy and five aside football pitches by the looks of it.