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Speedway Life: Twitter & scuttlebutt – December 2011
04/01/2014
1st December Nicolai Klindt* “just woke up.. times 8.00 in the morning. going for a radio/tv interview later and then practice from 5.00-8.00 tonight #theresnolimit oh……and not to forget the beach!” Chris Holder* “heaps of sharks over that side of aus! #sketchy” Dakota North* “yeah work is shit, I’d rather be riding right […]
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Speedway Life: Twitter & scuttlebutt – November 2011
1st November Taylor Poole* “Ac0rding t0 my acc0untant I need a will :P” Roman Chyla “Rumour has it no2. Scott Nicholls and Davey Watt will get wild cards for the 2012 SGP… if Darcy Ward and Piotr Protasiewicz will confirm their refusal. Protasiewicz is due to give his decision today. Ward has already declined the […]
Speedway Reporting Revolution on Twitter, part 1
26/12/2013
Some romantics still believe the proper function of news journalism and news reporters is to try to speak truth to power. Sadly in the English language speedway media universe – without so much as a blush or backward glance – reporters usually only provide news and opinion suitable to those who pay them or, at […]
Speedway Grand Prix series average attendances: fall continues in 2012 & 2013
08/12/2013
Latest figures reveal that the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series average attendances continued to fall in 2012 and 2013, despite the ‘blip’ poor results of 2011. Worse still, SGP series continues to decline in popularity at most series event venues and overall. This isn’t really a great surprise – since 2002 the trend remains one […]
The strange case of Speedway Grand Prix programme shrinkage
14/08/2013
It’s a really tough job to learn anything of value or gain insights from Speedway Grand Prix reports on its website or in trade press reports, let alone any SGP programme. That said, though not an exact science, the ongoing declining popularity of the Speedway Grand Prix is, perhaps, further laid bare by recent […]
Speedway World Cup Viewing Figures 2012: slightly up but still second worst yet
04/02/2013
The good news is that the 2012 FIM Monster Energy Speedway World Cup finally halted the ongoing precipitous decline of the Speedway World Cup television audience on Sky Sports. The international big name sponsorship of Monster Energy was extensively trailed and hailed as the dynamic future by themselves, the speedway trade press and rights holders […]
eBay auction sells 2012 Lotus FI GP race suit worn by FI star Kimi Raikkonen for £4600 to raise funds for Alan Wilkinson Appeal
28/12/2012
****STOP PRESS******* Just sold for £4600 – great fundraising for a worthy cause! Lotus FI GP race suit worn during the 2012 season by FI star Kimi Raikkonen is to be auctioned on eBay next week to raise funds for the Alan Wilkinson appeal fund. This incredible donation – authenticated by the Lotus F1 GP […]
Selected Speedway Twitter photos 2012
20/12/2012
With more speedway riders than ever on Twitter, fans now get to learn much more about their favourite characters and the reality of the lives they lead. Though not everyone has yet joined Twitter, the riders (and others from the speedway world) regularly share their thoughts and opinions. Not all of these comments meet with […]
Some Xmas Ideas supporting the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund
06/12/2012
Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund Calendar 2013 One of the most successful fundraisers in recent times for the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund has been the calendar which the current riders have been kind enough to contribute to and pose for. The first edition was produced a couple of years ago and was a complete sell-out, and […]
Sky Sports British Speedway Viewing Figures 2012: Third worst ever
16/11/2012
The latest Sky Sports British Speedway viewing figures for the 2012 season don’t make edifying reading for speedway fans concerned about the allegedly diminishing likelihood of contract renewal. Looking to the positive, from June to August 2012 speedway was consistently the second most popular sport on Sky Sports (after WWE) – albeit on Sky Sports […]
John Campbell – longest serving promoter in British Speedway – quits after 29 years
21/10/2012
Edinburgh Monarchs promoter John Campbell has sensationally quit the sport after 29 years according to press reports Always approachable and articulate, here is one of my many enjoyable and illuminating conversations with him (taken from Bouquet of Shale): Strong winds buffet the opening two days of the Open Golf Championships at St Andrews lessen […]
Eric Hobsbawn and Speedway
02/10/2012
It’s to Charleston that I head before the Knockout Cup encounter with Peterborough, a meeting that will bring Peter Karlsson back to the track for his first appearance since his recent display of dangerous petulance. Interestingly, despite the historic strength and importance of Eastern Europe as a region that over the years has provided a […]
The Rise of British Speedway on Twitter
30/09/2012
Here’s an article on speedway and Twitter that appeared in the Newcastle v Somerset magazine dated 30th September 2012 Twitter didn’t exist seven years ago and now has 500 million users posting 350 million tweets a day. Understandably, there has seen an explosion of riders taking to Twitter to share their thoughts, opinions, photos (see […]
new speedway book available and launched at the Cardiff Speedway Grand Prix Collectors Fayre Saturday August 25th 2012
23/08/2012
26 Shades of Shale – the new book from speedway author Jeff Scott – is launched this Saturday 25th August at Cardiff Speedway Grand Prix Collectors Fayre (at Cardiff Rugby Club – close to Fanzone) This seventh speedway travelogue by Jeff Scott covers the 2011 season in trademark fashion mixing reportage, opinion and behind the […]
Speedway World Cup viewing figures: ongoing decline of television audience on Sky Sports
06/07/2012
The reverse Midas touch BSI repeatedly show via the ongoing decline of their Speedway Grand Prix television audience on Sky Sports looks like an outlandish success story in contrast to the rapid collapse of viewer interest in the Speedway World Cup. Looking at the publicly available figures for 2006-2011, popularity has gone from robust to […]
Forgetful Paul Bellamy hails latest Speedway Grand Prix stadium with a roof
17/06/2012
This week BSI managing director Paul Bellamy announced ‘news’ that 2013 will see Speedway Grand Prix staged in yet another stadium that they’ll fail to fill anywhere near capacity (in this instance the brand new 50,000 seater Friends Arena in Stockholm). In trademark his usual breathless specious fashion, Mr Bellamy claimed “Speedway fans should be […]
Some speedway search terms used in 2011 & 2012
26/12/2012
The search terms that people google or bing give a potentially revealing snapshot into what excites or makes them curious about speedway. Here are some of the more interesting and/or surreal terms that brought web users onto the Methanol Press site in 2011 & 2012: What was life like in medieval Weymouth Maskells Hailsham expensive […]