uk_martin

http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.34086 The quote " The rebranded Great Britain Speedway Team has been taken over by VRX Motorsport, led by Rob Painter and Vicky Blackwell, who have set up a dedicated team focused solely on making the national side the most accomplished and professional outfit in World Speedway. " kind of doesn't tally up to only having best pairs meeting though does it? For all the investment (would love to know how and where the investment was made) 5 or 6 minutes of action around Belle Vue had better be worth it. If they want to achieve their "sky high ambitions" and their desire to " re-establish Great Britain as a real force in World Speedway" they will need to prove competitively that they are up there with the best, and that has to mean taking on the other leading nations, and beating them. So how is it going to work? Central Contracts for riders, mirroring what happens in Cricket and Rugby? A test series in the middle of summer and in the height of the season? A test match tour of Europe, taking on Denmark, Sweden and Poland on their own patches? (actually, Team GB would struggle against France Germany and Latvia at this stage, but one must remain optimistic) You can just imagine the uproar from BSPA promoters about having their assets stripped away from them, and their riders needed for internatioinal duty in the middle of the league season. I'd love for this to work, but we've not been given any information on how it's going to work. The http://www.vrxmotorsport.com/ web site will need to be fleshed out with a lot more information about what's happening, rather than just providing a link to their parent Insurance Broking company (other insurance brokers are available)

Can't wait to see what happens if Rob Painter and Vicky Blackwell decide that they want to run test matches during the league season. Which BSPA members will then be supportive if their riders are needed and which SCB /BSPA licensed tracks will host the test matches, if there is an in-house conflict of interest between BSPA members over releasing riders.

And Leon is lucky to have sponsors like balderdash&piffle on board too. As for smart alec remarks about B&P's involvement, how sad that is to see.

And Leon's sponsors logos stay on his Kevlars, even if you've seen them before too.

Not a bad debut. Has started better than Zach Wajknecht did a few years ago so there's hope...

Hells bells, I know most of us are pretty old here, but we're not all clinically blind.

THe BBC should sign Laurence Rogers up to be the new Michael Fish :-)

The top league (whatever they are called this week) had a scheme to promote NL talent in an effort to develop home grown riders. Why can't the NL develop a similar proactive policy? How about any rider aged 15-17 can be guaranteed a #6 or #7 berth, regardless of their CMA? A similar principle (up to age 21) works well in Poland. It would certainly get over this average "massaging" nonsense.

Brummies_Ste is late with his copy & paste of the team line-ups, so here's some other interesting stuff about tomorrow: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/0/2640363 https://www.powerfortunes.com/tomorrows-horoscopes.php Who knows, by consulting with the above you may have a better idea of whether the meeting will be on or not, and what the likelihood will be of your luck being in, and the results being in your favour.

Can we quote you on this later in the season if the results aren't going the Brummies way?

Not going to Warsaw this year, but if you are looking for that craft beer pub, it's on Ul. Marszalkowska 10-16

Sounds like sound tactical planning to me.

The #7 has been announced as Arran Butcher.

He learned his craft on one of the best racing tracks in Germany (Güstrow) now he's at the best racing track in the NL.

The weather gods have smiled. I hope that track thaws out in time and that the riders have a safe pootle around the ol' oval. The race suits that were in Lee Kilby's photo on Facebook look good.

Would naming virtually the entire Stoke Potters 2017 team plus the assorted old crocs scattered around the rest of the league have been necessary to prove the point? I've said before, my opinion is that the NL/NDL should be for kids with potential, and if the old-timers want to have a Seniors Circus, then let them have one, like they do in tennis and golf. By all means bring the senior riders in as coaches at NL/NDL but don't let they take up team places at the expense of kids, that's completely against the "development" ethos, to my way of thinking.

Full of young whippersnappers like Tony Aiken and Jon Armstrong...young guys with potential to go far in this sport!

The previous promotion was only concerned with their impending retirement, and on spending as little money as possible (witness the state of the fixture board in the car park) until Birmingham Speedway's problems became someone else's problems.

Check out https://www.airbnb.co.uk/s/Warsaw--Poland/homes?place_id=ChIJAZ-GmmbMHkcR_NPqiCq-8HI&query=Warsaw%2C Poland&refinement_paths[]=%2Fhomes&allow_override[]=&s_tag=eOI4ZEug There's more on offer than just bog standard hotels. I stayed in a flat last time, that was conveniently on the 2nd floor, with a Craft Beer pub on the ground floor. :-)

There's third party options much cheaper than your high street banks for money transfers. Check out https://www.fairfx.com/product/transfer

And to throw another spanner into the works, with the weather being what it is, unless the track staff can perform a minor miracle, the prospects of P&P and the auditions for the #7 spot happening are likely to bite the icicle.

The first home of the "really British" Bradley Wilson-Dean eh?

Well it looks like the Brummies have failed to get the signing in time of the rider who'd set Dictionary Corner alight on Countdown, and who'd set Rachel Riley's pulse a-racing. (if rumours are to be believed) Still, just a matter of time, by the sounds of it. Auditions will be given at P & P for (young?) hopefuls who can keep the #7 race suit warm, pending the arrival of the Scrabble Star, or even claim it as their own (assuming that they don't fall off too often, tearing holes in it). http://www.birminghambrummies.co/news.php?extend.2584

Ha ha... They're in training already.