mp2

If any club is looking for a solid and most of all loyal rider - keep your eye on Ty. He's a good kid and will be a hit with the fans. He has invested a load of time and effort over the past 2 seasons here in Australia chasing just about every race on the Speedway calendar and deserves an opportunity. Being based in Victoria, he'll regularly travel to Adelaide or Sydney (about a 10-12 hr drive each) or Queensland (about 20 hr drive) just to get competition. Even Mildura is probably about 6 hrs from where he is (closer to Melbourne from memory).

Good event won by Ty Platt. A couple of guys can feel a little unlucky - particularly Tyron Proctor - was odds on for an A-final start until he did a chain in his final ride. Shame as he made the trek up from Victoria for the event (probably 12 hrs drive). Richard Sweetman was in a class of his own and was well away in the final until he broke a primary chain and came off halfway thru the final. This kid is something special. Kozza Smith scraped into the final and went down at turn one, the referee let the final go (the Nepean track has no outside fence bordering the track). Jimmy Bevan, Tim Heffernan and Ricky Wallace were others to impress. New track for all riders and all rated it well,...very fast.

Has anyone got the final from tonight they can place on Youtube?? sounds like an enthralling meeting all round

Look, at least you get to see the Grands Prix, I wouldn't whinge too much, In Australia, currently, we are in the dark and can't follow it aside from (text) updates put on websites (if we want to follow it live) or rely on texts from people watching sky in the UK!! Just watch it with the sound off or not at all!

I would have thought it would be a world feed that would go everywhere and then be dubbed over in another language?? As far as I know, the company who do A1 among other sports are the company who produce it and it would all come from the one production unit wouldnt it?

FAANTASTIC! good stuff Leighroy, hopefully this is the impetus for the rest of the Championship. The result's been a long time coming and what an advantage to gain - over 10 points on Crump, Hancock and Pedersen. Just brilliant. The battle between Leigh and Nicki has been developing nicely through the whole season., I think it just rose to another level!

I've managed to purchase/download a channel viewer from the net with over 1000 channels on it, most of which seem to work pretty well. Pictures a bit grainy, but you'd put up with it! Can anyone shed light on who owns the live rights to SGP on the continent - like in Italy, France, Poland, Czecho etc., as the viewer I have doesnt have Sky Sports on it... Desperate to catch the first GP tomorrow, but need help finding what channels actually host it! Thanks guys...

Downloaded TVANTS - seems a bit hit and miss to me, with the picture not overly consistent. Couldnt find Sky Sports on there, or anything that I thought may carry Speedway/SGP telecasts.

SCB - sorry for sounding like a dunce, can you explain? I dont understand.

If you go onto E-Bay, theres a guy selling a Satellite TV to PC 'emulator' that apparently lets you tune into a heap of stations from around the world. It's only approx $5 Aussie - I have been in contact with a couple of those who posted feedback on Ebay to see whether Sky was on there, as I'd sign up just for the Speedway content. Apparently Sky news is on there, but not Sports I'm thinking of getting it anyway, I might have to listen to Speedway in Polish or Danish or some other far flung language, but sure I could find *some* live Speedway from somewhere!!

Leigh's failures in Newcastle were caused by losing a chain and an ignition box failure. Scott Nicholls had an old-school blow-up in the B-Final in Sydney, in fact a piece of the engine hit Cory Gathercole in the chest!

Rumours I've heard include Wiltshire and Johnston definitely. Schlein, Doolan, Holder. More than likely Adams and Simon Stead returning. It will be a great series either way and if anyone's thinking of coming 'downunder' to escape the Euro winter, it will be a great couple of weeks of Speedway, particularly the Sydney Showground event - already that event along with Crump's confirmation has generated a LOT of media coverage.

Pending a final track inspection, the Sydney Showground at Sydney Olympic Park will host the grand final of the 2007 500cc Australian Speedway Motorcycle Championships, which also encompasses rounds in Mildura, Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Newcastle. The announcement was made today by the Coordinators of the 2007 Championship – Power Productions in conjunction with Motorcycling Australia. This is the fourth time the Championship will be conducted as a Series. “To finish the series at the Sydney Showground will be a superb spectacle,” said Power Productions Managing Director, David Tapp. “With seating for 20,000 people and a public transport infrastructure second to none, the venue will be a great way to showcase the sport. It also gives us an opportunity to entertain our corporate partners with the extensive corporate facilities at the venue.” Tapp confirmed that organisers are in negotiations for current runaway World Championship leader - Jason Crump - to appear, which they are hoping will result in a positive outcome. In addition, two international Speedway Grand Prix competitors – one American, one European – are likely to be among the 16-rider line-up. Organisers have been involved in lengthy discussions with defending and nine-time Australian Champion – Leigh Adams – who currently sits fifth in the World Championship. Tapp says the discussions have been very positive to date. Coming home to Australia is something that Adams rates highly on his list of priorities every season: “Coming home to compete is very important to me and I’m certainly interested in taking part,” Adams said. “It would be a way of saying thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout the year. Hopefully Jason will see it the same way and we can put on a memorable show; it will be a fitting way for both he and I to end what has been an excellent European campaign.” “The 2007 Championship looks fantastic,” Adams continued. “To start off at home in Mildura and finish at a World Class facility like the Sydney Showground, prepared specifically for motorcycle Speedway, will be brilliant. It would really give us the opportunity to take the sport to the people.” Adams’ adversary from last summer, Todd Wiltshire is expected to compete after making a full-time return to the British Elite League this year. The Championship will feature expanded television coverage for season 2007 – with coverage confirmed for Fox Sports. Organisers are currently negotiating with a free-to-air partner. The Sydney Showground event also brings Phil Christensen of Spokes Promotions back into the Speedway sphere – working with a promoter of that calibre is something Tapp is excited about. “Phil is arguably Australia’s best private motorsport promoter through his efforts over the years with the Supercross Masters. He will do an exceptional job of presenting the Showground for motorcycle Speedway and the event will provide a showpiece for the sport.” The Series dates and venues are as follows: Round 1: Olympic Park, Mildura Wednesday January 3 Round 2: Gillman Speedway, Adelaide Friday January 5 Round 3: Borderline Speedway, Mount Gambier Saturday, January 6 Round 4: Newcastle Showground, Newcastle Wednesday January 10 Round 5: Sydney Showground, Homebush Friday, January 12*+ (*Note: This event will go ahead pending a final track inspection from Motorcycling Australia. +The promoter is considering a switch to Saturday, January 13 – the event will go ahead on either January 12 or 13) “There’s a great mix of traditional Speedway venues and venues that are new to Australian Championship competition,” Tapp continued. “It will be the first time that Borderline Speedway has hosted an Australian Motorcycle Speedway Championship event and (pending the track inspection) the first time that an Australian Championship event has been held in Sydney since 1980 when the late great Billy Sanders took the Championship at the old Sydney Showground.” Power Productions has a long history in the sport of Speedway – having conceptualised and promoted the wildly successful International Speedway Masters Series in the late 90’s and is the publisher of Speedway Racing News Magazine, in addition to being one of Australia’s leading Sports Television producers with the company’s flagship program – Chequered Flag. Announcements regarding the rider line-up, sponsorship and the complete television schedule are expected shortly.