IainB

Does the highest average have to ride at No1 then?

The rider parade at Leicester really does sum the sport up... it's a complete shambles! It's a pity riders don't show this much enthusiasm to get on with it all the time. They're pushing off before the final riders have been read out, which is rude at best and shambolic at worst. What was Charles Wright up to during the parade, went to push off, realised the parade wasn't over and stopped and then just stayed there in the middle of the track while the parade continued. Then there were 5 or 6 burly men stood across the track to stop the riders pushing off before the parade was finished, about as much use as a chocolate teapot as they all just shrugged their shoulders as the riders just barged through them. Then Dave Darcy comes onto the PA to have a snide go at some of the fans! Unbelievable what other sport would you get this in? If he's got an issue with some of the people posting on forums, come on to the forum to address it, don't wash your dirty laundry in public. The guy from Sheffield seems to be doing the track now, it's turning into a bit of a Sheffield lite at Leicester these days. Again there were dust issues this week but at least there was some watering during the meeting this week, although what the point was of watering the track in areas that nobody has ever been to is beyond me but that seems to be something that has always happened in this country... all the riders riding around the inside creating clouds of dust... so we'll just water the very outside of the track. You just don't see this in Poland, they just flood the track, all of it and the riders have to deal with it and the punters don't go home covered in dust. When the dust got too much I moved from my spot on the first bend up to bends 3 and 4 and what struck me was how little of the track is used. It seems if you enter bend 3 more than 2 meters from the line the likelihood is you're going to come off or get into extreme difficulty. Anyway it was a nice evening weather wise, the match was run at a lightning pace, until the sun delay, I wonder if they were trying to get it done and dusted before the sun issues? It wasn't a massive delay like it has been in the past, so thumbs up there. There were 2 or 3 good races but at least the scoreline kept it interesting, Lions seemed home and dry mid-meeting then Wolves put on a stellar fight back. Ricky Wells has certainly set himself a high benchmark for the rest of the season, Kenneth Bjerre's form as a No1 is still a worry though, I don't know why HA isn't riding No1?

I'm not really interested... But I shall pop along and have a look in the hope of some entertainment. I wonder if the promotion can confirm whether there'll be a sun delay or not and if so how long will it be? Also will there be any decent racing?

As is naming him

YES it does if you're running a team sport, because we all know it's not "a rider", how often have we seen teams run r/r and 3 or 4 guests. FRN is the right way to go, it should be run on the night that is most favourable to the club though, if that means do away with foreign/GP riders so be it

I wonder if his sponsor has anything to do with that?

Do they not use the next best from the GP Challenge anymore?

Trouble is with riders if you ask 14 riders at a meeting, you'll get 14 wildly different answers... it's probably just best to prepare it to what you know produces the best racing. Listening to Danny King's interview after the Swindon match he said the track was getting better and better each week and is nearly where they want it... but going on the reports of how the racing was at this match it doesn't seem to be how the fans want it

it's a strange case isn't it...according to this forum he's dragging in £340k a year... so who needs the GP's

yes but it's this year he's probably one of the top 3 or 4 riders in the world... and we keep getting NKI in the GP's

it's a while since he was given the opportunity at this level in the closed shop GP/SoN

The track is garbage, everybody knows it, even those that try and defend it use comments like "it's not perfect". The improvement in racing in recent years coincided with the move to EL, I put this down to better quality riders, but as the EL gets watered down year on year the racing is deteriorating again... add to that the abysmal preparation, dirt not being pulled back in, a total lack of watering during a meeting. As nightshift says I think the straights are too long for the bends, the pits need moving into view, either have a separate area for warming the bikes up (like a smoking area) or have perspex pits like some of the football dugouts, people need to think outside of the box https://www.plasticsolutions.ie/product/3mm-polycarbonate.html

Sounds a bit like a certain "Englishman"... and I'm not talking about Edward Kennett It does seem like the SGP is becoming more and more of a closed shop

NKI?

Come on this is Speedway! World Championships have been decided on rock, paper, scissors before now... Get over it

In that case I stand corrected, I only saw the one. I wonder why the medics would elect not to send him straight to hospital and call an ambulance? I'm glad to hear Ulrich is OK after such a horrific looking crash

2 hours and 40 minutes to run that! Why aren't tracks required to have 2 ambulances in attendance at a meeting? Cost one assumes? ATB to Ully

So far this season Leon Madsen seems to be one of the very best riders in the world... Yet he was overlooked for the SoN and isn't getting wildcards into GP's with the same old faces being named as wildcards and replacements NKI, MJJ, AJ. Why? Has he upset people in high places?

For one wonderful moment I hoped they were ripping the track up and putting a new one in... oh well

That's just the type of lack of imagination that has left us with a track that's really not worth going to , where you can't see anything unless you are up against the fence, in the grandstand or don't mind getting hit with shale and the pits are tucked away where nobody can see anything

Who wrote the article?

Well done Russia, but who cares? If you want to read people giving credit to Russia you best sign up to some Russian forums... As a Brit I'm more interested in seeing Britain win and not come 2nd and to not even try and win the final was puzzling at best and unforgivable at worst... especially with all the work now going into the Speedway GB team, why bother with all that if you're not even going to try and do the basics If Speedway was featured in the papers can you imagine the scrutiny the tactics (or lack of) would have come under? It wouldn't have made for good reading... we may even have seen Rosco with a turnip on his head!

Agreed it is the same shape as last year, it was just about tolerable last year or 2, since they've gone top league in my opinion but has nosedived this year. I'm no expert on what does or doesn't produce good racing... All I know is what I'm watching is total crap. Don't agree they can only move the track out, it needs to be smaller if anything, I think maybe the straights are too long, and what's with the hill on bend 2?

OK, keep them enclosed, did it say they had to be hidden away around the back?

I think it would probably have to be smaller... but any space left over after alteration I would look at moving the pits somewhere in the open, like in Torun for example. Give the punters something to look at during the tractor racing, instead of them being tucked away out of view like they are at the moment. And as for the inevitable question of how it's going to be funded... they're sponsored by JCB, get them involved in some way