Great Central

Certainly a post from the heart of a very passionate SPEEDWAY supporter which should bring lots of responses, some will be cynical, but there should be a lot of positive support for your comments. Of course it is not only the league's credibility that is affected by the reduced number of teams but a drop of 4 teams in 2 years means 28 less places for riders not only from Britain but also the Commonwealth(with restrictions). One can dream and think that at the BSPA AGM before Christmas to which NL promoters are not invited, one of the agenda items would be how the BSPA can take the sport forward in this decade and increase the number of tracks running in all leagues. People will obviously say that we have been in this position before in the NL, and yes we have, but a decline in the sports' grass roots should not be brushed over lightly. What is the answer - leave it in the hands of the BSPA and hope that they have it in hand? pcnorwood who I don't know and I haven't any idea about his personal credibility, talked about opening 4 new tracks around the country, an idea which was immediately laughed out of court but whilst the Government and relevent sports authorities see speedway as a totally professional sport, I don't think the sport will ever get access to land and funds to develop the sport. As an observation, there seems to be a lot of money, or used to be, swilling around sports like football, cricket, and rugby and it doesn't all come from the ruling bodies. Denmark has a lot of tracks, possibly more than Britain, for a population significantly smaller than ours and I think they are run on a club type basis but I don't know how the professional teams run out of them and what level of funding they get but the tracks do seem to attract a lot of sponsorship. Is that because they are classed as "clubs" rather than businesses? Perhaps someone in Denmark or who has experience of the set up in Denmark could let us know their secret. I am slightly involved with trying to get Long Eaton going again so there are efforts going on all round the country. You name three but added to that are Halifax, Bodmin, Bristol to name three more. I know that you hate the word committee but what about kicking off a forum/meeting with interested parties?

I think you meant £10.80 per litre. If you use Race Lubricants on www.racelubricants.co.uk it is £31.75 for 4 litres and free carriage on orders over £150. Excellent company to deal with. There might be cheaper companies but I haven't found one yet.

What is your version of a proper second half??

Excellent post from a passionate supporter of speedway at all levels.

And I thought speedway was expensive!!

I am fully aware of the situation that prevails but what I was trying to say is that the sums being used were not accurate and therefore if Nathan's "supporters" advised him against joining Buxton(and we aren't sure this was the case), then it was based on inaccurate figures for the actual costs involved. Also it would not be every week because Buxton wouldn't be running every week. Note with fuel costs being so high, I can't break even on 10p per mile even at the MPG I get from my vehicle but the gap is not as big as being claimed. If the funds are not there, there are only three alternatives: sponsorship, increase earnings or give up. I know that is a hard message but the promoters in the NL aren't making massive money out of their NL teams

It is splitting hairs but you did say that you loose £120 per week on travel expenses. Travel expenses don't include methanol, oil and tyres. I make the following comments. Unlike a number of other teams, Buxton have in the past been in the habit of providing a gallon of methanol and a litre of oil per home meeting and you are buying the wrong oil if you are paying £12 per litre. Diesel isn't yet £7.50 per gallon and if you were to get a more economical vehicle, you would get more than 32mpg. And why would you need a new tyre for every home meeting? Yes speedway is expensive but don't make it more expensive than it is - buy wisely and travel sensibly and my final comment is that if you turned down a place at Buxton based on your sums, I think you were misguided. Buxton do a fantastic job with limited resources bringing on young riders - they are not a hire and fire set up.

Thanks to the generosity of the Long Eaton Invaders, and the website skills of Phil Spence at Spensites, Chris Widman has a new website at www.chriswidmanracing.co.uk.

Yes it is now confirmed that BV Colts are on hold for this year which is indeed very diisappointing after a good comeback year in 2011. Really gutted for Steve and Graham who put in so much hard work running the team. It has a knock on effect for all NL standard riders with only 8 teams running and team places at a premium. Let's hope the new stadium progessses well and 2013 sees a comeback for the Colts.

I find it sad that Nathan cannot get a team place this year but with only 8 teams running now and the current points limit, somebody is going to miss out. There aren't enough NL tracks but I think somebody needs to rethink the sums. The travelling expenses aren't great in the NL but loosing £120 per home meeting is stretching the imagination a bit far. He must surely have the wrong sort of transport.

Don't worry - your track will be waterlogged or there will be a power failure to cover the occasions when the PL boys are not there!!

A bit of a mixed message though. A slight bit of doubt in the piece that you quoted, but more positive in the paragragh above however it looks like rent for the stadium for NL meetings is still an issue to be agreed.

Unfortunately you picked on the wrong track with Somerset since planning restrictions rule out any practice sessions. Scunthope falls into the category you mean.

I know of two fans will be extremely pleased about Byron's move to Dudley - they will save them a fortune in diesel!!! To John and Andy, all I can say is that you got your wish, and you know that Byron is a far better rider than his current average suggests.

The final averages are now on the BSPA website. A huge improvemnt on previous years I think, so well done.

Some interesting and not widely known facts came from Phil Morris later on in the topic, and I wish Phil and Neil all the best in trying to promote British youngsters in speedway. Several people have tried before and it is not easy without some cash and the facilities that the youngsters can use. Having an ex rider like Phil on board is a great advantage because he has been there and done it, and having seen him coaching a few riders, he can put the message across very well. My main reason for posting was in reply to the comment: When did GB have as many talented kids coming through together? Try 2004 and 2005 when we had: Josh Auty, Shane Waldron, Simon Lambert,Gary Cottham, Matt Bates, Kyle Hughes, Scott Campos, James Humby, George Piper, Sam Hurst, Lewis Bridger, Ben Hopwood, Grant Hayes, Aaron Baseby, Trevor Heath, Ben Thompson, Joe Reynolds, Connor Scott, Ben Hannon, Tim Webster, Dean Hargreaves, Chris Widman, Shawn Taylor, Andrew Braithwaite, Gavin Wrigley and Dan Kirkman. Additions in 2005 were: Ben Taylor, George Jarvis, Dan Greenwood, Brenda Johnson, Scott Meakins, Joe Haines, Rickylee Beecroft, Ryan Goodger, Jack Butler, Ben Johnson, Ben Reade, Kye Nortan, Tom Davies, and Richard Franklin added as the older ones dropped out. And now the real question, how many of those have actually made it onto the world stage, or even up to EL standard and how many are actaully still riding. Not that many in comparison to the numbers that were taking part in a very well organised championship and that is why Denmark does so well. Not sure if the numbers have changed this year but they had around 150 riders in the U15 age group last year so it is all about %'s. The more we have riding the better the chance of finding the next British World champion but it also about guiding them from here through to the next phases. Peter Oakes tried it with the Academy concept but it wasn't sustainable. I am ever optimistic and best wishes to all those planning the 2012 Championship and those riding in it but somehow "British Speedway" has to raise the profile of the sport to encourage more to take part, and to get more funding(from outside of the sport) to make it as big as it is in Denmark, Poland and I am sure Russia will be next following their lead.

Tom Wooley is from Burton on Trent so quite handy for Buxton.

I know you didnt and one day hopefully it wont be but while people keep dragging the hopefulls down it wont. Hope the lads all have a good meeting

I do take issue with your 2nd paragraph a tad (but thats is for another day) For the most cracking post Scribbler and I hope the lads riding this afternoon take onboard your thoughts rather than some of the others on here. It would be interesting to see if the, shall we say, less positive people have actually seen the 'wobblers' rideor are they just guessing they cant ride because they have never heard of them. It will be nice to see how Sam Woods goes another lad who has had so little opportunity in this country has had to go to Denmark for the season.

This argument has gone round and round and round. Every rider has to have their first race in the higher league be it in the NL PL EL (I think you will agree some PL riders look like novices in EL racing). The 'Old' generation Scunfield have walked away with the Trophy this season. At Newport this afternoon you could be seeing the 'New' Generation Scunfield, if they run. There is a lot happening second half wise as Connor Dwyer who rides this afternoon will possibly attribute a lot of his progress this season. Give the lads a chance.

In their final match of the season on a cool and windy night, the Belle Vue Colts ran out winners, 57 to 35 against the Hornets, elevating them to 3rd place in the league table. Both sides fielded weakened sides due to various rider problems but there proved to be some good racing all the same, in front of what to be looked a decent sized crowd. Always difficult to tell at BV because so many view from the warmer inside seated area. The Colts suffered from a few falls when in good scoring positions but Scott Richardson rode to a paid maximum of 14 plus 1 with good back up from the other riders. Great performance on the night from Scott and what a way to end his season!! Hopefully the team will be back next year carrying on the tradition of all the previous teams that have carried the Colts name. It has been a pleasure being associated with such a club that provided management support from the top downwards. Thanks to the track staff, and to the spectators who I hope enjoyed their first season of NDL action which contrary to popular opinion in some quarters, can be quite good at times!!! Martin Widman

Nice posting for a nice guy. Karl has not had the best of seasons due to various bike problems and he is certainly a better rider than his average suggests. Great guy to have in your team, and its been a pleasure being in the same team set up at Belle Vue this year. Great contributor to the fantastic team spirit in the Colts team in their first year back, so best wishes go out to him for his future outside of speedway. Martin Widman

Top scorer in the STR v Scunthorpe Amateur meeting(Open Class) at KL last Sunday.

£10,000 is a lot to spend on someone in the Youth Championship and you can do it for much less than that but it depends on where you live, how easy it is to get rides in 2nd halves, what training tracks there are in your area and what you have got already in terms of equipment. You don't need two bikes and there are enough of them around to pick one up relatively cheaply. Don't give up on your goal, but do realise that track time is important and if it is available locally your expenses won't be as much as those unfortunate guys from say the south west, who now have to travel 2 to 3 hours or longer to get to a track. PM me if you need more information.