05/10/2011
The Polish Ekstraliga in 2012 will operate a rule to limit each team to only one Speedway Grand Prix rider per team. Therefore, any rider offered a wild card for the 2012 Speedway Grand Prix should – for financial reasons – turn down the opportunity to ride in the SGP series. If, indeed, career earnings […]
29/04/2011
With the 2011 Speedway Grand Prix series about to flare back into life this weekend in Leszno, BSI ramped up the excitement still further with a series of thrilling announcements. Hot on the heels of an email that contained such awesomely important SGP & SWC news that its subject header had to be typed out […]
09/12/2010
After (allegedly) the most exciting Speedway Grand Prix series since the dawn of time, the ‘high’ quality of the racing product appears to have little impact at the turnstiles. A quick glance at the official F.I.M. figures for each venue recently published in Polish magazine Tygodnik Zuzlowy reveals that overall attendances remain more or less […]
18/11/2010
SHALE TREK Review by Paul Burbidge, Speedway Star 20th November 2010 WHEN it comes to writing about the shale sport, Jeff Scott has established himself as speedway’s literary equivalent to Sky Sports camera-come-mascot Moley. He is the man with a different angle on proceedings – an angle or viewpoint which is not always aired by […]
22/10/2010
Unusually, the permanent wildcards selected for the 2011 Speedway Grand Prix actually look surprisingly sensible choices. This hasn’t always been the case and the performance record of those permanent wildcards selected by the powers that be has often been spotty. Much more significantly, their performances have been historically worse than those riders who qualified for […]
26/05/2009
It’s not that long ago that the tablets came down from the 2007 BSPA Annual Conference mountain. We then learnt that the Elite League promoters were to self administer some tough tasting medicine to address both team strength inequality but also build a more viable long term future for the upper tier of British speedway! […]
30/04/2009
A snippet about entertainment at Cardiff that appeared in the lengthy coverage of the Prague Grand Prix (the first of the 2009 series) in this week’s Speedway Star inadvertently yet again reveals the desperation of the cost-cutting measures that BSI Speedway appear keen to undertake. Arguably, it also signals they have already planned for 2009 […]
24/04/2009
The new series of the Speedway Grand Prix is about to get underway but, arguably, finds the glamour of its start marred by cost-cutting, secrecy and prevarication. Sadly, the fanfare over the arrival of a new website for the Speedway Grand Prix fails to paper over the vexatious issues and unanswered questions that still beset […]
22/12/2008
After mismanagement and cost cutting apparently ensured the cancellation of the Gelsenkirchen Grand Prix in October, “Paul Bellamy, Managing Director of BSI (Speedway)” [as he’s snappily known] read from a prepared statement in the bored manner of a speaking clock to signal the emotional depth of his frustration at the inconvenience caused to the fans. […]
26/11/2008
In a recent post, I may have given the impression that Steve Skerry saw his Speedway from Skezza blog as an online opportunity to blow smoke up the collective bottoms of the BSPA and BSI/IMG (whatever they’re called this week). While his research still remains heavily influenced by and/or dependent upon the Speedway Star, he’s […]
18/10/2008
The Daily Mail has wholeheartedly joined the Internet age with various blogs on its website and, quite amazingly, one of these is dedicated to speedway! It’s called Speedway from Skezza with a masthead that features a photograph of a youthful looking member of the newspaper staff. Albeit one with an irksome matey nickname, gel in […]
11/10/2008
Ignoring that it’s a further embarrassment for the sport in the eyes of the outside world, the cancellation of the final Grand Prix of the 2008 at the “splendidly-appointed Veltins-Arena at Gelsenkirchen” has to raise yet more serious questions about the competence and visionary management of the organisers, BSI Speedway. It must also cast doubt […]
03/10/2008
Given that the Speedway Star and the Speedway Grand Prix appear wedded at the hip, it’s astonishing to read some reasonably strong criticism of this event within its pages (both on September 13th as well as the subsequent meeting report on September 20th). Let alone to find that the chief critic is Philip Rising! Beyond […]
01/08/2008
‘A masterpiece of observation and writing. I swear his books get better and better’ Peter Oakes/Speedway Star To order your copy, click here