RPNY

I hope I'm wrong too sir. Great memories of Rye, hackney & Arena as a kid.

WK thanks for your reply. I do understand where you are coming from & yes league racing, where the riders have to come up through to get to the GP's has taken a battering. However I'm inclined to agree with gustix that between the stupid rule changes, lack on continuity with team building & the general ineptness of the BSPA, team racing in this country is on the way out. It's sad, but can't see how it can survive. Looking likely it won't be on sky after this season, that will be if not the final nail in the coffin, very close to it.

Well I don't think they woulda sold that many more is my point. I doubt there were 1500 effected by the restriction of discounted tickets. Also, why do you think we will regret BSI ever being involved? This is a genuine question not a loaded one.

Like I said Dave, I know it's not right it's just the way it is. And especially with 45k already sold, they won't give any late ticks away at a discount. Not saying its right, just that from a business point of view I understand. Yes there were a lot of seats free, but they won't (have never) filled them even at a discount. So I guess they try and maximize revenue with a "This is your only option, take it or leave it" attitude. As I said before, same usually goes for any tickets bought late for any concert/event/travel

From what I can gather if you book well in advance, then you will avoid these problems and you'll be able to buy tickets at the rate you think is acceptable. Now I know this isn't always possible, but when you do book things up & pay last minute, whether it be speedway gp tickets, flights, football tickets, theatre tickets, you run the risk of paying more. Not saying its right, but it's business, they all do it. Not trying to annoy anyone here, just giving you the view from a business perspective.

Bit of humble pie for me, this has turned out to be an alright GP!

Blimey whats the crowd there 5000 if that?

I don't think it's a particularly good idea to take away the carrot that was being dangled at the last few British finals. However, I do try & see both sides of every speedway argument & I honestly think this time round, they just want a Brit in there who's MOST LIKELY to score some points. If memory serves me correctly, even when Bomber wasn't doing well (ie most seasons) he generally scored ok and made the semis at Cardiff. As I said, I still think the highest non GP rider at the BF should be the Cardiff WC, I'm just saying I understand BSI's thinking here...

No sir they are not, he was penalized for avoiding a pile up - but they are the rules unfortunately.

You're correct that Niels did the right thing, but it's not Phil's fault that the rules are what they are.. From my memory there was (post 1st bend) over takes in heats 4, 9, 18, 20 & 22, photo finishes in heats 11 & 18 plus a few crashes (which I'm very happy as always that no one was seriously hurt) That coupled with the fact that everyone was taking points off each other says to me it was a decent meeting. Those of you moaning that it was boring & that the commentators didn't pronounce names how you think they should and any other trivial examples really need to stop watching cos you'll never be pleased.

Its so sad listening to people complain on here. It wasn't the greatest meeting no, but was by no means awful. There was a sprinkling of overtaking, some close races & everyone was taking points off one another. I bet if you were there live it looked pretty special the way they were motoring around that big track. As for the coverage, those of you moaning about that, well I'm lost for words. I can only assume you try and find fault with every situation you come across. It was more then fine. I say well done to all and look forward to the rest of the series.

Are you serious?

Morning all from NYC. Not a bad meeting so far. Everyone dropping points. Come on Tai!

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but is it time we did away with Wild Cards and just had 16 regulars? I know the occasional rider springs a surprise but often they score low or zero!

I’ve been going to speedway since 1985 and I don’t think the product is any worse these days. We can all look back and say it was better way back when, but we do tend to get selective memories when reminiscing. Maybe in EL the racing can be a little bit too spread out as the gulf between heat leaders & reserves is so wide, but even that I can’t comment on really as being a Rye fan I never really watched top tier league speedway. I think the decline (if we’re talking about shrinking crowds) is 90% down to there being much more choice in what people (and their kids) can do for entertainment. 100s more channels on TV, video games, more bars restaurants in local/small towns, other live sports/entertainment, the list goes on. Also, generally ‘big’ events in any sport tend to draw large crowds, as the GPs do, while ‘regular’ (in Speedway’s case league racing) tend to not be so well supported. England Rugby tests will sell out but league game will be a relatively small crowd. Cricket ditto, same for big events in golf, boxing etc I can go on. Even in football, below the top 10 premiership teams, they aren’t all sold out stadiums. Certainly not once you start heading down the leagues. I know our sport tends to shoot itself in the foot at times, and I do believe the BSPA are amateurs and by that I’m not just being rude, I genuinely mean that although for the most part they want what is best for the sport, they are not qualified in how to run a professional sports league. They don’t have the business acumen or know how to create the best way for British Speedway to prosper. But I still say our sport is for the most part a good product, it’s fighting the tide for the reasons mentioned & as it’s no longer the no.1 Speedway league in Europe. But it’s still pretty good in my book… Oh and belated happy new year all, hope its a great one for you.

You make a good argument but will agree to disagree I'm sorry

Riders often say they know where others are on the track just through hearing them. I think it's quite naive to think Nikki hd no clue AJ was there. Maybe I am wrong, but this is not an isolated incident is it?

I know NP creates a fair amount of controversy/debate, but my GENUINE worry is that he's going to seriously injur or do even worse (I don't even want to type it) to one of the other riders. It can't be coincidence that it's always him either taking someone off, crashing, trying to start a fight after the race (I really don't like Crump but what Nikki did after the race in Cardiff was pathetic & totally unwarranted) moaning at the ref, saying that the other riders 'jumped' off the bike, which according to Nikki they all do. As for the incident with AJ, well I saw it a mile off & him saying he didn't see him is total BS. To then say AJ laid the bike down, when AJ has no history at all of that kind of behavoiur is a terrible thing to say. To not even say I hope he's ok is even worse.

5000 my backside surely! i would have though the grandstand alone holds that? Its at least double that capacity I think. Jepsen Jensen racing, if you dont mind, please dont reply to any topics I start in the future dude. You seem to just want to wind people up and that's not why I come on here. Nothing personal sir...

I just read that as the new stadium in Manchester is unlikely to be finished in time, the SWC final is going elsewhere, with possibly Prague being a host venue next year. Couldnt we keep it in the UK and use Coventry? Good stadium, middle of the country and (lets face it they want us to be competitve) a lot of the GB team have good expereince of the track. Although at the moment I don't think even that would help us. It does baffle me at times that Coventry never stage any big meetings anymore. Maybe because I remeber as a kid traveling up there for Test Matches, British/Overseas finals, NLRCs etc... Its a great track (when prep's properly) good stadium and perfectly located. Why isnt it used more?

Now I know this is a bit of a moan up, but after seeing on the KW website that the team GB and Czech suits are quite similar, I wish each nation were given better guidlines on how to colour code their team suits. I say this because although hardcore fans can distinguish and of course there is the use of helemt colours, the new or casual fan wont be able to tell the difference from say Poland and Denmark with their colour clashes. Seems little point in having team suits to me if you can't easily tell who's who... Same goes for the EL too.

Hahaha easy buddy!!

Yes but it does at least mean a 'form' rider goes to Cardiff. I do kind of see where you're coming from but I do also like the fact that the Wild Card slot makes the British Final a bit more worthwhile again. Man I used to love those British Finals in 80s/90s at a packed Brandon.

I was watching the Lezno GP on stream and just before the telecast started, it was interesting hearing NP say to Tatum that there definatly not as many people here this year (obv didnt realise people could here them..) How much lower was Parken this year? Lower then 20k?

Edwin Starr still the best entertainment they had!