Sir Sidney

I might well agree with you, but I was only responding to another poster who suggested BSPL was negligent in some way, without saying what they should have done

It demonstrates again what untapped potential there is when so many people don't know what speedway is

Yes. It's obligatory to provide a certificate, I did query it with SCB a while ago when someone didn't turn up for a meeting after it was highly rumoured on here that they were just giving a meeting a miss. It's approach is that the SCB is in no position to doubt or challenge a medical certificate, but imposes a 7 day ban regardless. The 7 days commences from the day of the first meeting missed, not necessarily from the date of the illness or certificate.

Kurtz will have been required to provide a doctor's certificate to miss a meeting in the UK for illness. The Regs state that you get a mandatory 7 day ban even though a certificate has been provided 010.5 Facilities h) sick or carrying a non-speedway injury. The rider must immediately inform the SCB and their club. A Medical Certificate must be supplied to the SCB within 48 hours of the sickness/injury occurring in which case the rider will receive a mandatory 7 day suspension of his SCB Registration from the day of the first meeting missed. This facility will apply automatically for a period up to a maximum of 28 days. The Promotion may apply to the SCB Co-Ordinator for an extension

What do you suggest the 'powers that be' should have done to cater for a rider incurring significant damage and cost in his first race of the season? - signing on fee? - higher points money? - increased admission charge?

https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/blog/latest-news-2/preview-atpi-aces-v-leicester-481

Of course the riders should read it and assure themselves. But, why in the 2026 Regs does it say riders are advised to take out additional personal accident insurance when it didn't say that in the 2025 Regs? That suggests a change or reduction to me

What that doesn't make clear is whether the same level of cover is still provided, nor why the 2026 Regs advise riders to take out additional personal accident insurance when the 2025 Regs didn't. Further clarification required I think

Twenty 20 cricket rules change during an innings ( power play, fielding restrictions) Rugby Union rules change , depending on where you are on a pitch ( avoiding a tackle, 50 / 22's for example), or depending on which players are on the pitch ( uncontested scrums) Curling allows players to deliberately not score on an end ( blanking the end) People accept it, as long as it is in the rules. Have the KO Cup rules changed since the competition started this season, or are they in accordance with the published rules? I don't know because I haven't looked

There isn't much logic or consistency in the SCB Regulations in a number of areas. We all know that any decent lawyer ( or indeed any sensible person on here) can drive a coach and horses through them. We are just aware of them because we follow British Speedway. Other sports have similarly inconsistent and apparently irrational rules - we are just not really aware of them unless we follow that sport It's certainly not 'only in speedway '

For example: Replays up to, but not including the first round and any rounds thereafter VAR in some games and not others Plenty of sporting competitions have group stages followed by knock out stages. Speedway's only fault here is to use the term 'knockout'.

Only on speedway? Try looking at the FA Cup, possibly the most famous knock out cup in the World, for different rules in different rounds

And let's hope for the sake of British Speedway that it is a success and drives new investment in the sport over here. It's obvious that 2026 is a year of compromise and survival at Premiership level. Of course, things should have been done differently and more transparently. Perhaps things have not panned out as expected. I hope Northampton gets enough support from the existing speedway community to get them to the point of generating sufficient ongoing support.

Just a quick update as a Sky TV and TNT subscriber. I was prompted to add HBO Max today. I can see all the SGPs from last year available to stream, and have watched one to test it. I can also still see the TNT channels in the usual channel guide. So, as long as TNT is still showing the SGP series this year, then I expect to be able to watch it from either location. Obviously, if you subscribe in a different way you will need to check your own options.

Just a quick update as a Sky TV and TNT subscriber. I was prompted to add HBO Max today. I can see all the SGPs from last year available to stream, and have watched one to test it. I can also still see the TNT channels in the usual channel guide. So, as long as TNT is still showing the SGP series this year, then I expect to be able to watch it from either location. Obviously, if you subscribe in a different way you will need to check your own options.

Is it possible that Ipswich speedway is no longer being run under that company name, but has been incorporated into a Mayfield company?

Same place as me. I confess I didn't notice the pallets at all. I think it is really helpful to clubs to have someone go over all these things with a critical eye. Many changes require little cost or effort to improve, even if only a few people notice. One of my roles in my career was process improvement, and although I am now retired, I can't help assessing and thinking about processes - whether that is in a shop, business, sports event or even just on holiday - so I understand where you are coming from

I'm intrigued. Which bits were different colours, and where were you watching from?

I understand the point you are making Dean, and there are hundreds of small (and large) things that all British clubs could do to improve the whole event. That said, picking on the podium at Belle Vue is diluting the value of your point in my view. The podium will be a long way from the first thing people see at Belle Vue, and they might well be impressed by their entrance to the stadium, certainly from the main grandstand side would think that is a more impressive first impression than any other British speedway track. Anyone sitting on that side of the stadium would be very unlikely to see any issues with the front of the podium as the construction of it is not apparent front on. I suspect that in the South stand a newby is more likely to comment on the toilets and catering if anything.

Just to give a slightly different view of last night from an attendee. Yes, the delayed start was a bit frustrating and clubs should run to time. Yes, the centre green presenter seemed a little quiet, but Chase always makes up for that Given the amount of rain they had clearly had Andy Meredith and team provided an excellent race surface. The first few races did serve to turn the top surface over, but the racing imprived as the night progressed. Some were as good as any I expect to see elsewhere any time this season. I don't remember there being any fallers or race stoppages, other than a couple of tapes infringements. It wasn't apparent to me that there were delays in the meeting caused by catering for BVTV. Overall,I thought it was a more than acceptable first meeting of the season for me. Chris Holder exceeded my expectations, and, being an old traditionalist, I think he should have won with a 15 point max - but then we would have missed out on a top quality final with Holder and Bewley passing each other until Bewley established a lead and won. Could the whole meeting have been run better? Could all the entertainment around the racing have been slicker? Yes to both, but Belle Vue are not alone in being a bit lacking in that. If the remainder of the meetings I see this season are as good as last night then I will be happy

Very true - but given the rain I drove through to get here I'm very glad to see the track looking so good. Let"s hope it performs as good as it looks. If it is too grippy on the onside it can detract from the rscing

Surely it's a BSPA event, not a Premiership event. Given that two of the BSPL directors are Championship promoters, nd that there are more Championship promoters than Premiership promoters then I don't see that theory as having legs

Where does this narative that he has been made a figure head of the sport come from? The only stated aim as far as I can see is that he was going to provide his contact list to try to open doors

https://www.tntsports.co.uk/all-sports/hbo-max-the-new-streaming-home-of-tnt-sports_sto23264114/story.shtml?utm_campaign=UK-TNT-H1-WBD-C20-TNT-CAM-AW-W-AllSports-Undefined-260226-IPP-1&utm_medium=vty&utm_source=tntsports&utm_content=video-owned-tntsports-id1&utm_term=fans-all&af_xp=custom&af_qr=true&source_caller=ui&pid=wbd_tntsports_broadcast&is_retargeting=true&shortlink=7xjobaxl&af_ad=uk-hbo-marketing&af_channel=owned&af_reengagement_window=30d&c=uk_hbo&referrer=af_tranid%3D5IIES8iiWL4EBz8uy0QXKw%26af_android_url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.tntsports.co.uk%2Fall-sports%2Fhbo-max-the-new-streaming-home-of-tnt-sports_sto23264114%2Fstory.shtml%3Futm_campaign%3DUK-TNT-H1-WBD-C20-TNT-CAM-AW-W-AllSports-Undefined-260226-IPP-1%26utm_medium%3Dvty%26utm_source%3Dtntsports%26utm_content%3Dvideo-owned-tntsports-id1%26utm_term%3Dfans-all%26af_r%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.tntsports.co.uk%2Fall-sports%2Fhbo-max-the-new-streaming-home-of-tnt-sports_sto23264114%2Fstory.shtml%3Futm_campaign%3DUK-TNT-H1-WBD-C20-TNT-CAM-AW-W-AllSports-Undefined-260226-IPP-1%26utm_medium%3Dvty%26utm_source%3Dtntsports%26utm_content%3Dvideo-owned-tntsports-id1%26utm_term%3Dfans-all%26c%3Duk_hbo%26af_ad%3Duk-hbo-marketing%26pid%3Dwbd_tntsports_broadcast%26af_ios_url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.tntsports.co.uk%2Fall-sports%2Fhbo-max-the-new-streaming-home-of-tnt-sports_sto23264114%2Fstory.shtml%3Futm_campaign%3DUK-TNT-H1-WBD-C20-TNT-CAM-AW-W-AllSports-Undefined-260226-IPP-1%26utm_medium%3Dvty%26utm_source%3Dtntsports%26utm_content%3Dvideo-owned-tntsports-id1%26utm_term%3Dfans-all%26af_channel%3Downed Latest info from TNT

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1bs37TMRic/ It is featured here and on the Spedeworth site, but not wall to wall advertising I'll grant you