Pretenders, Liars, Kentishmen & Traitors

ITEM: So I went and had a go at that speedway thing...

A couple of months ago I foolishly put, as my Facebook status, that I'd never ridden a motorbike before but I was pretty sure I could ride speedway. The statement says more about the way I approach life than my actual idea of how easy riding speedway is, but some bright spark decided to take me up on the offer, and so I – along with some top internet celebrities – made the long drive up to Scunthorpe last Sunday for one of their training days.

I'd never been to Scunthorpe before, though I'd heard nothing but good things about the set-up there, and my visit did nothing to dispel them. The stadium, such as it is, is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by industry and the detritus of industry, and is not what you could ever call pretty. But regular readers will know that that's far from a priority for me – I'm interested in a racing track, a toilet that will only slightly kill me, and somewhere to stand if it rains. Scunthorpe has all that, and more, so I have absolutely no complaints. There is room to expand, and no neighbours to annoy, so I'd imagine that – as the club grows – the Eddie Wright Raceway will develop.

The training days, held on the small training track a stone's throw from the main speedway, are overseen by Wayne Carter and his dad. In his riding days Wayne was aggressive and combative, and as a fan very easy to take a dislike to. Maybe he's chilled out a little, but the Wayne Carter who runs the speedway training at Scunthorpe is a diamond – patient, light-hearted, and not averse to laughing at you when you make a tit of yourself. As almost total novices (although most of our group had done a similar day before), the training consisted of how to use the throttle and clutch. And that's it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, to be honest – being shown how to broadslide it into the corner? It would have been interesting, but way above our ability level, perhaps, and certainly not on that track.

Ah, yes, the track. The overnight frost had thawed, and the icy hardness turned to muddy goop, making the track slippy and slidey after a couple of hours, and playing havoc with the bikes. Those who had been before said that, on a better day, with more bikes operational, the action was thicker and faster, with more rides and more bikes on the track at once. I can't blame Wayne or Scunthorpe for the conditions, and perhaps I benefited more from not having to avoid to many people as I hurtled around the track (probably at speeds of up to 10mph!), but you can't help but wonder what a few more laps might have achieved.

As it was, with the mini-track being declared unfit in mid-afternoon, we were given the opportunity to have a go on the main circuit, which – having been expertly opining that I could do with some longer straights all afternoon – came as a bit of a “put up or shut up” moment. A couple of our group decided not to have a go, perhaps wisely, but most of us did, and recorded 4-lap times of between 100 and 120 seconds. That's still around 30mph on a bike with no brakes, and was a thrill I'd love to repeat. It also meant that Scunthorpe press officer Rob Peasley, after an afternoon of testing Wayne Carter's patience, finally did a full lap without falling off or grasstracking on the centre green. He did hit the air fence, though.

The smiles on the faces of our group – which included CleanCut Sports commentator Martin Coleman, the aforementioned Rob Peasley, BSF-glitterati Shawn “SCB” Brown and Chris “21^st Century Heathen” Jones, and Speedway Updater extraordinaire Alan “Silver Bee” Bates, amongst others – told the story of the day: a massive amount of fun. We're already making plans to go back in the spring, when the weather is better, and test Wayne Carter's nerve by trying to slide it round the small track, possibly through the fence. You should come, too.

As a postscript, as we left Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey was taking to the track in a piece of heavy machinery, undertaking some work which looked like he wouldn't get finished until well into the evening. On a Sunday. In December. That's probably why his club is going places.

ITEM: Why do speedway promoters lie? You may as well ask why the sky is blue, except there's an answer to that, and one which can be tested by science. My original question? Our top boffins are working on it, but none of them are confident they'll come up with anything more than “because.”

I've written before about the dichotomy between the modern world, where mobile 'phones and the internet can mean everything is instantaneous and open, and the world of the BSPA, where shadowy figures slice up the sport in smoke-filled rooms, seemingly convinced that what they say and do will forever be hidden, other than the parts they deign to bottle-feed to the pliant press.

This tactic is made more ridiculous by those they often try to “spin” about having their own access to social media. So while Plymouth's Mike Bowden was telling the world that Nicki Glanz's absence from the team was down to injury this summer, the rider himself took to Twitter to explain that, actually, he was fit but owed money and unwilling to ride until it was paid. Only the BSPA, who continued to grant Plymouth a facility for Glanz, seemed to believe Bowden's story.

Similarly this week, Chris Harris signed for Birmingham, and gave an interview to the SpeedwayGP website explaining why he'd left Coventry, a view at odds with the official line being pedalled by Bees' promoter Mick Horton over the past few weeks. Harris said he'd asked for the same pay as last season but understood there may have to be room for negotiation. Horton, according to Harris, was unwilling to negotiate, despite telling fans in the press and on a radio broadcast fans' forum that Harris remained in his plans. He further undermined that position by claiming, in the local paper, that Harris hadn't been in his plans for some time.

Of course, riders can have their own reasons for briefing against those they're in dispute with, and there are always two sides to every story. But when the promoters' story is weakened by their inability to stick to the same story, there's always going to be a problem. The same is true when the official line is at odds with the facts – one Elite League promoter claimed an asset was still in his plans despite the rider having been transferred, on a full sale, to an EL rival weeks before.

This desperate spin belongs in a past era. The fans want and deserve honesty. If you asking them to part with their, increasingly hard to come by, cash, week after week, you need to treat them as intelligent adults. A quick glance at the British Speedway Forum reveals that's not always accurate, but it's best to err on the side of maturity.

Speedway is often derided as being an old man's sport, with the terraces full of pensioners in deckchairs, swigging from thermos flasks. Perhaps that's because the promoters still want it to be the 1950s? Time to smarten up and 'fess up, as the kids say.

ITEM: Speedway returns to Kent in 2013, and at a completely new venue. Sittingbourne's greyhound stadium will stage National league speedway on Monday nights, at the slightly unusual start time of 6.30pm, as a precursor to hopefully joining the Premier League in the near future.

The club, which will be known as Kent rather than Sittingbourne (in deference to the dormant former Conference League club down the road at Iwade), will be run with assistance from Len Silver, who has decided not to enter a team from Rye House into the NL in 2013.

Kent has always been a hotbed of speedway talent, though not so much in recent years, and as well as Iwade also boasts an open training track at Lydd, as well as a solid grasstrack scene. With a path opening up for talent to progress in that corner of the country, you'd hope it wouldn't be too long before another Mark Loram or even a Barry Thomas emerges and develops. God knows we could do with one.

ITEM: Speaking of which, one of the big talking points prior to the BSPA AGM was how to develop young British talent, and give them the league racing opportunities so sorely lacking in recent years. So much so that, in the pre-AGM issue of the Speedway Star, just about every promoter cited it as a priority. So, while the “2 from 20” and reassessment of foreign talent came as a bolt out of the blue – because as fans we're children who can't be trusted to give our opinion on matters like that before they're announced as hard and fast rules – you'd have expected their announcement to have been accompanied by a structured approach towards ensuring clubs gave young Brits an opportunity. Of course, knowing how this story goes by now, you'll not be surprised to find there was nothing.

No doubt the brains trust at the BSPA will hide behind EU legislation, which doesn't seem to hinder fellow EU-members Sweden, Poland, and Denmark in making their own regulations to keep team places for their own youngsters (and, besides, would make our Brits-only National League illegal, too), but the simple truth is – for some odd reason – they'd rather employ a dodgy foreigner instead of giving a British youngster a go.

How else do you explain the continued employment in this country of the likes of Jari Makinen, Simon Nielsen, Alex Edberg, and Micky Dyer? All averaging less than five points a meeting in the Premier League, and all potentially stealing a spot that a British rider could fill. A look at the Berwick and Redcar teams tells the story – journeyman foreigners and European & Australian riders filling spots that could otherwise go to local heroes.

I believe there is a desire in the Elite League to actually do something towards bringing on the young lads – witness Ashley Birks at Swindon, and Kyle Howarth at Poole (Poole, FFS!) - but they can't do it without a structured and compulsory system of bringing the lads through from the development leagues to the top. The Premier League has to start playing its part – and that's not to deride the likes of Rye House, Scunthorpe, and Newcastle, who have named British riders in four of their team slots thus far – or we'll be talking about this for years to come.