Grachan

The rule book states nothing of the sort. The part about the inner edge of the white line being the infield is your own interprestation. I never said Wikipedia was accurate. I said that I'm not the only one who thinks it - as Wikipedia is not necessarily proof. I chose my wording deliberately with that in mind. I've watched the video now. It's been posted on this thread. It changes nothing. This post states it clearly. In case you need a link, here it is. SGP - FIM Speedway - Rules If a rider crosses the white inside line fully with both wheels or leaves the circuit, they are adjudged to have retired from the race – unless they left the track to take essential avoiding action (e.g. to avoid a fallen rider). Or are you all going to say that FIM rules are different? In which case, I give up!! Now, who's got a link to the cheating Pirates and their tyre warming?

Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks it. This is from Wikipedia Motorcycle speedway - Wikipedia "Track boundaries are marked by white lines or barriers on the inside and outside the track, any rider who crosses this boundary with both wheels will be disqualified..."

I'm not adding it - I'm using it to help you understand what crossing a white line means. I have no comment on any tyre warming for the simple reason that I have no idea what that is all about. I never watched either match. I just looked at the photo on the Scunthorpe website after reading the comments here. Let's see if Google can help. Ooh, look at that! Same analogy as me. Same word - "completely" - as me. And they are not even Poole fans. And neither am I.

It was you that quoted the rule that said it did. From your own post earlier: "rule 012.1.11 a ride whose machine crosses the inner edge of the track with 2 wheels must be disqualified. 05.1.4 infield a) a continuous line to define the inner edge of the track circuit."

Incorrect. It shows that I do understand. To cross a white line, you have to be completely over it. That's literally what it means. If you haven't gone completely over it, you are touching it. You haven't crossed it. Not sure what else I can say about it really. No idea on the tyre warming thing and what that was about though.

You have literally just explained why the rider should not have been excluded. If you cross a line, you are going over it, not touching it. The only logical explanation from that quoted rule is that the bike/tyre has to be completely over the line. that's what "crossing the line" means. Take football as an example. If the entire ball is not over the line then the ball is still in play. Same principal. Same with tennis. If the entire ball isn't over the line, it's still in. Congratulations to Poole Pirates on their legitimate title win. This has even less legs than Don King's "long count" invention when Mike Tyson got hammered by Buster Douglas. Anyone else got any other sporting examples to add to the "bad loser" file?

Just reading about this "controversy", so I had a look at the Scunthorpe website. This is the picture on there: Being the Scunthorpe website - and along with a claim in the match report that the wheel was over the line - this would, presumably, be the most "over the line" point in the race. And the whole wheel is quite obviously not entirely over the line. So where is the controversy?

I wasn't there but saw it on World of Sport. I have never seen a replay of it, although I did see an advert for a DVD on 70s speedway and it showed about 2 seconds of it. Even that traumatised me!

Awwww. Martin Ashby. What a rider. I was totally obsessed with the guy as a teenager. I remember the first time I ever went to Swindon Speedway. Swindon v Wolves in 1974. I stood on the apex of the first and second bends. First race I saw - Martin Ashby of Swindon beating some foreign bloke called Ole Olsen and breaking the track record. Amazing. He had the best style of any rider. Take any picture of Martin Ashby riding, and you could put it into any other picture of him. He always looked exactly the same in every picture. So stylish, but possibly not aggressive or ruthless enough sometimes, which probably cost him a place in my first ever World Final in 1975. That race with Ray Wilson was over 50 years ago now, and I'm still traumatised by it! I even took my FS1-E to his garage once for a service - just so I could say my moped was serviced by Martin Ashby. After he retired, he was regular supporter at Blunsdon. Always in the same spot - near to the tea hatch going into the first bend - as though he were just another supporter. No heirs and graces at all. RIP Martin Ashby. What a guy!

I was at work having my lunch break yesterday so thought I'd read the Speedway GP website. One of my colleagues walked past and said: "Speedway? How very 1980's".

I seem to have vague recollection of them doing the voting thing a few years back. I can't remember how it worked exactly, but it was another of those "try it for this season and the scrap it" things.

Anyone else think Lambert should let Lebedevs win this heat?

I have no interest in buying a stream. I've no idea what is going on any more so why would I? When there were matches on TV, and I knew the teams, I might occasionally have enough interest to buy one - but even that has gone now. No speedway on TV has killed it off to me. It's hard for me to believe now that I was once obsessed with this sport.

I can only speak for myself, obviously, but Speedway is pretty much off my radar now apart from the Grand Prix - and my interest in that is nowhere near the level it once was. The two main reasons with me are pretty basic. 1 - I'm a Swindon fan. I don't have a team any more. This probably applies to fans of many of the once great sides like Coventry, Wolves, Reading, Cradley, Eastbourne, Hackney, Exeter, Arena-Essex blah blah blah. 2 - League racing is no longer on TNT/BT/Discovery or whatever you want to call it this week - so I have absolutely no idea whatsover what is happening any more. I don't even know who is doing well the league any more.

Fascinating video. Interesting that they kept the shape of the track with the road layout.

What a disaster this meeting is turning out to be all round.

I would say that he's a rider of similar ability to those riders, against a group of riders who aren't.

I don't follow all things Speedway as closely as I used to. Interesting that they are new. There is a definite downgrade in race coverage. It seems harder to follow how the meeting placings are going this year too, although that might be down to TNT going to adverts every 4 races.

Not sure who they are, but they could do with some coverage training.

Who is responsible for this coverage? Zmarzlik stalking Holder and they are showing the 2 riders at the back!

Yeah. That was the point of saying they'd get a bonus point for winning all their races. Although, thinking about it, there are no points for the LCQs and if you scored 15 you wouldn't be in one so you'd only get 18. I think leave the points scoring as it is. It's fine.

I actually don't have too much of a problem with the scoring as you need to look beyond Program Board nerds to attract a wider audience. If they did do that, though, I would go for 20 points for the winner, with a bonus point awarded for going the whole meeting unbeaten,

A good meeting. So, why was Madsen put through to the final instead of Holder? As someone who has become something of a casual follower of the sport, I don't know. But how on earth can you have 2 commentators, neither of whom know the rules on qualification for the final. that is seriously shocking. They really need to be doing their homework, or get someone in who has. Too often, situations arise and they quite happily admit to having no idea what is going on. Not good enough. With Bewley out, I'm struggling to retain interest this year. I really thought he was in with a shout this year, and with Zmarzlik still not 100% I think he may have gone into the lead last night. Zmarzlik, however. What can you say? The guy is well below his best so far, yet still top of the score chart. At least Kurtz looked more on the case yesterday, so could still challenge.

I've never heard of her either, but all you have to do is look on Youtube and there is plenty of stuff on there. It looks like she has done mainly football coverage before, and she looks like a good presenter - a proper professional with a very natural delivery style. Abi did well, but this does look like a bit of an upgrade for a change.

Thanks Rob.