The curtain raiser of next year’s 11-round season will be in Warsaw, Poland, on 11 May with the press release from BSI Speedway stating that “the season concludes in October, with the Australian SGP at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium still to be confirmed”.

While that ominous TBC could lead the pessimists to jump to conclusions, the optimists remain hopeful for a couple of reasons. The first is that it was a similar scenario the same time last year, and Jason Doyle went on to be crowned world champion right here on Aussie shale.

The second reason is that the 11-round calendar is already one round short of last year’s, and the series promotor BSI Speedway will not want to drop another.

According to the rumour mill, BSI Speedway definitely wants another SGP in Australia, even if it means moving to a lower-profile venue such as a showground or football ground. Watch this space.

Peter Baker