davidncohen

Thanks

Anyone know of any pubs / sports bars etc. that have showed SGP / SON during the last couple of seasons on a regular basis?

>>> "...and the majority of the UK does not know it even exists..." And this is very possibly the single biggest issue in terms of the sport's decline over recent decades.

I suppose, as you reference, it's a debate in itself - whether a rider does / doesn't need to try their best in every heat.

I was at Wembley today for the women's FA Cup Final. Early on, not long after the gates opened, they showed a 100 Years of Wembley film on the 2 big screens. This featured various clips from the many different types of events held at Wembley over the years. Included, albeit flashing by very quickly were two monochrome clips of speedway at Wembley. One featuring a close up of two or three riders riding close together, and the other of a rider riding down what looked like the back straight. Hard to say what year but it looked to me like 50's or 60's. It was nice to see speedway get a mention, although how many people in the stadium would have known what it was, especially with many children attending, is a moot point.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - The sight lines are far better than at Wembley, and you are much closer to the action. Been there for Rugby League Challenge Cup Final and better viewing than Wembley National Speedway Stadium - The sad thing is that, for me, there was a lack of ambition in terms of the capacity (but I would imagine there were constraints). No spectators on the bends, and you have to have temporary stands for a really big meeting. Shame, as a 20,000 capacity would fit the GP bill I feel. 3,700 capacity going up to 6,500 with temporary stands - Not enough by a long stretch.

The points system as it is now is pretty much in line with other major motor sports (MotoGP, F1), i.e. you get championship points for your placing overall in the meeting. I think this is OK. The only thing that's out of whack with the others sports is that the difference between the winner and the runner up / third should be greater - you should be rewarded by a higher increment if you win.

They could do with showing a 'virtual leader' board at any time during racing, like they do in other sports such as MotoGP, then you would have a better idea of the standings at any time, and a rider would know what they have to do in order to challenge for a better place in the standings

Very good GP I have to say, some great racing, great atmosphere. Dan Bewley comes from nowhere to win, and all of a sudden he's 3rd in the standings, and he wasn't even on the original starting 16 before the first SGP!!! Really amazing effort by this young man. Defo big things for this lad. Lambert also did very well to get on the podium.

Congratulations, Dan, a future World Champ in the making. One question about the crowd - The whole of the lower tier was closed off, but I'm sure that wasn't the case in previous Cardiff GP's. Anyone know why? It means that fans are a lot further away from the racing action.

Seen this thread and also the 'Why Speedway is failing" video and subsequent comments, the latter of which is quite nuanced as it looks at specific issues and how the way they inter-relate cascades throughout the various levels - a neat way of looking at things, instead of the usual 'tinkering' that most people put forward. Everyone seems to have the answer, everyone seems to know what can save the dirt track game etc. etc. There's a whole generation of the population that doesn't even know what speedway is, for pity's sake. Plus it's _very_ poor value for money. You use to hear a lot the phrase "It's dead... but it won't lie down". It's had it's time in the spotlight, and it was big, but it just hasn't kept up. Probably needs an independent view to go anywhere, but I can't see it recovering, really. Hope I'm wrong.

A significant part of Jeff Scott's "Hitchhikers Guide to the SGP" is all about the impact that BSI has had on the sport during their tenure, from the highest level(s), right down to the personal. It's quite nuanced, goes into plenty of detail, and leaves the reader in no doubts about where the blame for the current state of speedway might lie. It also touches on the impact all of this has had on the domestic UK scene. And, certainly, the same agreement above, was the basis for the initial BSI tenure - new markets, global reach etc. etc. etc. so nothing really new there. It is really hard to imagine exactly where / how Eurosport can make a difference. The SGP universe exists in a kind of 'bubble' on it's own, so I can quite easily see it continuing as is, and maybe consolidation is the best we can hope for. Of course, the post-Covid-19 world will have an impact, as it will for many sports. As an example, an almost sacrosanct view was that football without fans is _nothing_, and that has been turned on it's head.

From what I saw of the highlights, a thoroughly enjoyable Grand Prix, and I agree that having 2 meetings in one weekend might just be worth carrying forward into future years.

I think the only thing I would change in the new proposed system is the points difference between the winner and 2nd place - it should be greater, as it's the same points difference between 2nd and 3rd. The rewards for winning a GP should be greater. MotoGP / F1 have this increased gap 1st to 2nd, and then 2nd to 3rd etc. Having said that, in the end, this is really all just "tinkering" - The priority areas are really track prep, the right tracks / stadia that will attract bigger crowds, and expanding speedway's reach. There's a whole generation of people in the UK that don't even know what speedway is, but BSI have hardly put anything back in order to alleviate this. BSI's own original remit was taking it to new places, but they haven't really done this, and where they have tried, it's not worked very well. 'Tinkering' is a favourite pastime of many in this forum, and we need to leave this behind. However, this is probably about the level that BSI operate at, so to them it's probably a big deal.

Overall, really enjoyed tonights GP, with plenty up for grabs, and several heats with close racing / passing. The fact that after 5/6 months, the destiny of the World Championship wasn't finally decided until the penultimate heat made for a good finale. Congrats to Bartosz. Thought Tai might squeeze into the final, but looked to throw it away in his semi, so very disappointing, but at least he got better as the meeting went on. As for the GP vs. One-off debate, referenced by chunky, this will no doubt rumble on, but it's somewhat divisive to compare them really, as they are two different beasts, and there's a lot more behind where we are now than meets the eye, i.e. the myriad commercial aspects of a World Championship.

Yeh, *exactly* my thoughts, having just read many of the posts. It's uncanny what a home SGP can do to truly bring out the whole gamut of opinion. We've even had the ''bring back one off World Finals' and 'bring back Wembley' comments - Although it's a little while since I posted in this forum, I thought we'd left all of that behind, but obviously those well regarded old chestnuts have been dusted off once again. I was pleased to see those saying that they'd brought people (especially children) along for the first time and how it wowed them. Great stuff. Lots of NSS references - Yes, a great track, but the one thing that's always puzzled me is... no terracing on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th bends (ok, temporary stands on big meets) - where's the ambition in that? Yes, Cardiff is a world away from UK domestic speedway, but long may this 'occasion' and 'event' continue, otherwise... well, I don't need to say where the old dirt track game is finally heading, do I?

My thoughts on the British GP... Fast racing but most of the action was on the first and second bend. Very disappointed that with 3 Brits in the meeting, none of them made the semis. Congrats to Madsen on his victory.

Yes, fairly processional early on, but some good heats later and close finishes, which brought some excitement. Right now, Craig Cook looks a little out of his depth. Looked like a good sized crowd. First SGP I have watched this year (catching up on YouTube the day after).

I just checked the link (using Chrome web browser) and it's working OK - all photos seem to download onto the page: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pictures/foot-down-turn-left-amazing-photographs-show-biker-culture-in-a-different-light-10443489.html Hope this helps. David

I think this is quite key. You need to be very customer focused (not 'organisation' i.e. BSPA, SCB focused) and ask the question: "What matters (to the customer)?" Just focusing on one aspect - It would be interesting to see the impact of a London GP (doesn't have to be Wembley), but then what happens with the follow up where the youngster turns to their parents and says "can we go and watch some weekly league racing"? Also, there _might_ be an impact on Cardiff - People might choose one or the other, as going to a GP can be costly of you travel far / have a family etc. Poland is a good example of having more than one GP in the country, but of course, the speedway landscape is different there in terms of popularity. Overall, an interesting thread and certainly not the first (and won't be the last) time that someone has asked the question "Where did it all go wrong"? It's probably a combination of factors. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the 70's and 80's boom periods - A generation of the public probably don't even know what speedway is, and that is a hard place to recover from.

Thoroughly enjoyed this GP - it had a bit of everything, and plenty of close racing. Good win for the Aussies and hope this boots the profile of the sport over there. Agree with a few other posters in that GH would have been better carrying on - his non-appearance in the rest of his heats might well affect other placings, and the public have paid to see him race at least 5 heats. His record will say that he won 4 world titles. Remember Mauger's 'protest' at a BLRC at BV when in the race that everyone came to see, him vs. Olsen, he pulled up on the first bend, but he carried on with the rest of the meeting and his record still says 6 world titles. Should be interesting to see the what the fan reaction to GH will be next season.

Excellent GP, made for great TV. How many GPs like this are there in a season? Not enough! Would still like to see them straight back to the tapes on a re-run, or at least 2 mins come on earlier, especially when it's just an "unsatisfactory" start. Battle for 2nd and 3rd place really hotting up now - Hancock coming into better form. Great advert for the sport.

Yes, I take your point about the very specific aspect of your post - noted. I already said you are entitled to your opinion. Having said that, I was probably posting in the wrong place, as my comments are really about the general nature of the state of the sport vis-à-viz the BBC article. Yes, it's all great debate, *but* I do think we tread over the same ground a helluva lot (your post a probable exception). Will the sport "come again" - that for me is the $64million question?

Images of Flat Track racing: Foot down, turn left: Amazing photographs show biker culture in a different light http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pictures/foot-down-turn-left-amazing-photographs-show-biker-culture-in-a-different-light-10443489.html

No, everyone is entitled to an opinion I think the point I was trying to make, and having just read a post about a recent Phil Rising article in Speedway Star, is this, is that there's a huge amount of speedway social media that goes over the same ground we've gone round before - lots of times before. And a lot of it, especially the responses to the Phil Rising article post are about tinkering, more tinkering, and yet more tinkering. This will not make much / any difference to the sport moving forward. The recent BBC website article has shaken things up a bit, got people talking, although, the focus seems to be on supporter entrance costs, which *might* be part of the issue. What you need is data and facts, not opinions - what do customers coming out of the stadiums really think, what matters to customers. What we seem to have right now and have had for a long time is not what matters to the customer, but what matters to the BSPA, BSI, the FIM etc. What matters?