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Has he been golfing with Heeps

Recently watched an all electric flat track race on an oval. The winner was an ex British champion on an expensive and very well set up Alta developed with his help in the US. He was amazing on it and set times that would have seen him podium in the Pro class final. However despite the speed there was very definitely something missing with regard to excitement. On the other hand you would instantly do away with one of the biggest problems Speedway now has as a city centre sport. Personally I don't think there is anything to be gained by moving away from methanol engines. Large manufacturers aren't going to invest heavily in Speedway, the sales numbers would be miniscule in their terms and the exposure largely to non motorcycle people when it comes to Speedway fans. Speedway engines are expensive to maintain if you think of it as an hourly cost but in per race terms not quite as bad. An awful lot of that cost could be lessened by a standard engine rule that didn't require the engine to be full of parts that cost 2 or 3 times as much as those from the manufacturer. That would also let more riders do their own general servicing with perhaps one visit per year to a tuner/ engine builder. I think a minimum stroke /return to long stroke - engines would benefit the sport in many ways. The fact they burn a clean fuel should be used as a positive in promoting the sport.

3rd heat leader? We don’t have 1 never mind 3

IOW are providing different classes and competitions throughout the meetings but the Island Masters is still 500cc laydown engines. I do think that 250 speedway machines do provide good racing and better range of trackcraft to generate and maintain speed plus they don't pick grab drive as hard as their bigger counterparts. All this aside riders won't / can't just drop their existing stable of equipment if forced to use new/standardised/stock or whatever engines. The only way that will take off is running as a separate entity / class that grows in stature over the years until it becomes the dominant force in a similar way that laydown engines replaced uprights.

My first ever visit to Sittingbourne and a real pleasure all round. We arrived at 3pm, found the stadium then decided to head over to Leysdown on the isle of Sheppey to see if this little seaside resort was as bad as I remembered it last time I was there years ago. In fact it was worse! A street full of amusement arcades and candy floss. Lots of overweight to obese people scoffing the pies and pizza, kids running amok and I spent £2 in 2p’s over 30 mins on the cascade thingimy. In the end I was struggling to spend it as the 2p’s kept dropping out! We watched from the shore as a massive thunderstorm floated across Sheppey and headed towards Southend across the water, then headed back to Sittingbourne to get something to eat before entering the stadium. A nice stadium in a huge industrial estate. The council imposing an 8.30 curfew is frankly ridiculous. But the stadium can hold probably as many as Belle Vue and although it needs a tidy up and some fresh paint, deserves bigger meetings. No parade or practice laps for the riders. Straight out for heat one. Poole gated on a 5-1 in heats 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Yet at the end of heat 4 the scores were 12-12. Heat 1 and Pirztes gated. But Nichols held it tight to squeeze up the inside of the Poole boys off bend 4 to take the win. Heat 2 and Pirates gated, leading by 50 metres down the back straight. A nailed o 5-1? Nope. Wright binned it into the fence. You know what happens in a rerun? Kent gated. Hume git between the pair and was challenging Morley but clipped his back wheel, which allowed Gilles through. Heat 3 and Pirates gated but Starke kept the pressure on and got past Worrall. Ge couldn’t quite catch Neilsen. Heat 4 and Poole gate. But Heeps manages to get last Hume after the youngster messes up bend 4 lap 2. Heat 5 and Starke penalises himself at the tapes and the Pirates are away. But the ref sticks the red light on straight away! Really if a rider jumps then pulls back as the tapes go up it’s his error. In the rerun Starke gated but Schlein was having none of it and reeled him in to a great pass. Heat 6 and Kent gate, but King was determined and after blasting around Nicholls on lap two he caught and ladt Morley on the final lap. Heat 7 and Morley gates but Worrall reels him and and in lap three blasts through down the back straight. 19-23. Heat 8 and Poole gate but Thomas messes up on bend 4 allowing Gilles through, then messes up again to allow Hurry through. Danny Hume away and gone. Heat 9 and Starke gates. Pirates fill minor places but again Wright dumps it into the 4th bend fence. Race awarded. 26-28 Heat 10 and an almighty battle between Worrall and Nicholls. No quarter given and Worrall came out on top. Heat 11 and Hume comes in for Thomas. A tough first bend sees Hume battling down the back straight with heeps but the youngster will not back down, joining Schlein for an impressive 5-1. 29-37. Heat 12 and tac sub time. In comes Nicholls to partner Starke. Starke gates but the 2 pirates Worrall and Hume hold off Nicholls fir the 4 laps. 32-40 Heat 13 and Schlein gates, blocks both Kent riders Nicholls and Heeps and clears off. King messes up the first bend lap 2 and tails off. Heat 14 and a big 5-1 from Neilsen and Hume to seal the match and the 4 points for Poole. Heat 15 and King makes up for his zero 2 races earlier with a win and thrilling face off with Starke. 38-52. In the end Poole were far to strong for Kent, who battled hard but were lacking firepower through the team. Starke was excellent value, backed up by Nicholls and Morley, but after those three there was little else. But the meeting had so much going on. Thrilling races, passing in all but one heat. Really a great meeting in front of a decent crowd. Rider of the meeting? Danyon Hume. Paid 13 and best Scotty Nicholls in the process. He is going places. Home by 11.15 pm. A good day.

I do t think This team was ever put out to win the league as silly as it sounds. It was put out to get fans in the stadium, and it has done that. The job this year was to get the club sustainable through this year and in to next year. reminder we started a lot later than most sides, nearly a whole year behind those that kept the riders from the season that never ran. personally I think we are close. 12 points on a heat leader was always going to be a tough ask and had he rode he’d have probs got a 9/10 average freeing up 2 points to put towards a stronger reserve from 3 points to 5 pushing Dillon or Zach there. The club as a whole has improved everything massively from the stadium to the track to the food selection in the cafe. from when mark took over to this moment in time it’s complete opposites. And he deserves every success and well done that go his way

I would be surprised Lisa , if Danny King didn’t have a huge input on getting Danyon this chance.Danny has helped him develop as a rider over the last few years great to see some young Brit’s coming through.

Would Len Silver get the best out of Lewis Bridger if he returned to the sport?I have to say a bid yes.

Couple of things from last night. No center green commentator. All we got was some muffled announcer who we gave up trying to understand what was being said. Couldn’t hear the race times and rider changes. The announcer shows little to no enthusiasm and there is a distinct lack of atmosphere. The fans don’t make any noise and tepid polite hand clapping is not what this sport is about. The presentation severely lacks. A center green presenter whipping up a crowd is what is needed.

I see Heeps scored poorly in the Championship again last night.Think Lynn should rest him for this one and bring in Sam Masters as guest.I know his average is well too high but "all in the best interests of speedway"of course

But there still isn't a petrol engine I know of that has or even has room for the flywheels found on speedway bikes. The flywheel weight is what allows a Speedway bike to broadside better than anything else, lose the flywheels and you lose the real essence of speedway.

No chance, they would have made a fortune from the bar & food wagon if you was there !!!

Are they actually doing any promoting or just threatening fans with closure? Seems to be the same story every week. At least Newcastle can be seen to really be pushing the promoting side!

Now is the time to back the club or regret you didn't when it's gone. I know you can not drag people in kicking and screaming, however as more and more of us are vaccinated it us time to come out and start to enjoy life again. You can start by attending perry barr next Wednesday.

I am actually the centre green presenter at Kent, although due to local covid restrictions we are very limited to what we can do. This season has been limited to a pre match coin toss, and post match interviews. In the past we have done interviews during the meeting but as you ve heard yourself the sound system is not the best. And its pretty pointless interviewing anyone whilst tractors are out as well. As for Glenn in the box, (when you are stood somewhere you can hear clearly...) there aren't many people better at getting all the relevant info out there, whilst dealing with all the refs commands as Glenn (and indeed his mentor Derek). I think people would genuinely be shocked at how much goes on in the box, frankly anyone who does that job has my undivided respect. Its fair to say the quality of the sound system has been a thorn in the side of the speedway since day 1, but i do know they ve had various sound engineers in over the years. So whilst there has only been minor improvements, that isn't through the lack of trying. I don't know for certain, but knowing we have a very tight curfew due to noise concerns from a couple of the neighbours, I imagine that has prevented them just plonking a couple of huge speakers on the greyhound track. Really great to read your various posts on the meeting and the stadium. I will share them with the club management, as when someone highlights all the positives that are happening you'd like to think they will take on board the constructive criticisms as well as the compliments. As for the crowd being quiet, despite air horns and the like being banned, I ve never heard us described as being quiet before. But I speak to many of my mates and many are still in awe of the speed, skill, and ruthlessness the step up in leagues has provided. Many fans are still getting their heads around the fact that the Poole Pirates are actually at Central Park. Nice to see soo many Poole fans, and getting to interview Midlo was an unexpected surprise.

Twitter is the place to be 100%.

Short article in this month's The Oldie magazine. A fair summary of the current state of affairs.

Of the third kind?

I'm not so sure about MX, seen electric bikes there and exactly the same problem with the lack of noise, whether it is something that we would get used to I'm not sure, after all nobody was ever going to watch Speedway again when silencers were introduced. Grass Track and Speedway are similar but not the same though, what works on Grasstrack won't necessarily transfer to Speedway. I went to watch the upright Championships a couple of weeks back, really good value for money with lots of races. Plenty of old bikes there with the pre-75 class and some of the racing was excellent throughout the classes. Not a big difference between the uprights and laydowns to watch, for my money though the best to watch were still the modern 500s. Whether that is because it is what the younger lads ride or the bikes it's difficult to say but it is what the younger competitors want to ride so why risk losing them? I regularly rode a modern 450 MX bike on shale ovals until a couple of years ago and now ride a 750 Norton (old one). It's not much like riding a Speedway bike. The tyres being road legal rather than knobblies are what makes it difficult but put Speedway tyres on and we would only be able to slide coming off the corners because we just don't have the flywheels to turn in on the throttle consistently when there is a lot of grip. Some of the racing, especially in the Pro class at DTRA Flat Track meetings is incredible but apart from family and friends attracts one man and his dog to spectate live on a good day, and it's normally free. For some reason though it seems to be really press friendly and attracts good coverage Europe wide, was popular on TV, especially with racers from other disciplines, a few years back too. Speedway can't afford to do that because if the riders aren't paid they wouldn't be able to race in a league for long. However I think what the IOW are doing with running modern bikes as the main event team sport then other classes in support is the way to go. The Speedway should still attract those wanting team events and the other classes add value to the evening. Even if the additional classes only bring a few friends through the gate it's still a chance to show Speedway to a new audience.

As stated above electric bikes are on the rise both in terms of production and popularity. Plus they will be far more utilitarian than a Speedway bike. Why are there far more moto x bikes and riders around than speedway riders? its simple and clear economics, why would anyone (sane) buy a bike that they can only use on tracks miles apart and when they are told they can (and often have to pay for the privilege) when you can buy an off road bike and ride it at a multitude of places. The future of oval racing is likely to be electric and likely to be a flat track crossover. Why anyone currently is looking at or developing new engines and engine parts for speedway is beyond me as its akin to making bodykits and engine mods for reliant robins.

Hume seems to have been constantly overlooked in the past, with clubs faffing about with the Jack Smiths. He was there to be picked up but no club fancied him until Matt Ford grabbed him for this season. I must admit I knew little about him but he has been a revelation. He can pass. He is not afraid to keep the throttle open and is fast out front. Last night he was miles clear in heat 2 when Wright fell and in the rerun was caught Morley’s back wheel trying to pass which caused him to lose second to Gilkes. Without Wrights fall he would have ended up paid 15. He is still a reserve though and could well up with just a couple of points in another meeting. But he has potential and any young Brit improving in the sport is only a good thing. It will be interesting how he gets on tonight against the Thompson twins and Zane Kennedy.

Delighted to hear that first and foremost the racing at Central Park was good! Its a strange phenomenon that whats often needed is for the away team to be better to negate the home advantage or the 'lesser' riders to gate and let the 'better' riders chase them. Equally delighted to hear than Danyon had another good night and that Ben Morley rode so well. Both of these riders have been rattling around on the fringes for a while and seems crazy that Hume wasn't snapped up by a CL side sooner whilst Morley must be in prime spot for Kent rider of the season at present. Two hugely likeable riders and im delighted that the successes are matching their efforts.

I think they were meaning in place of Flint

Great post, when mentioning Danyon and the supporters who supported him i missed out Sings 4 speedway ( sorry) .He has seen alot more of Danyon than me and he always gave him a good shout.Danyon's main asset for me is his personality a dream rider to have as a teammate old school in that respect.My only worry is not to expect to much everyweek and for him to override by over trying chuffed another Brit is climbing the ladder i really like Danyon, Thompson x2, Flint, Palin, all riders who have a future.

The best analogy is our supermarkets. For years we experienced 'price wars' when they were running cartels and costing less when in fact they increased prices and reduced the range in tired buildings. Along came Aldi, Lidl and Netto. Netto went into a failed enterprise with Sainsbury's but as for the Teutonic predators they have taken over and the rest is history. I think the promoters are worried this may happen in speedway why have such draconian penalties for potential new alternative tracks.

It rained heavily in between his races,all the heats were slower.

Excellent post Sidney. I must say one thing though. You are preaching to the converted! I lived in Devon for the last 10 years, recently moving back to Poole. Plymouth was my regular fix for speedway. Ive always liked Danyon. Good value for money efforts round Plymouth. So much so, if I was working and he was appearing, I would finish work early to be able to get there in time. A genuine favourite of mine. I was extremely pleased when Poole signed him. Told all who would listen that hes a very underrated rider. Very fast, good style, good equipment and a smashing chap to chat with. All he needed was a chance. Apart from his home debut, where he failed to score, he has exceeded most peoples expectations. Not mine! Last night he was excellent, unlucky not to score more in fact. He is my favourite Pirate. He has endeared himself to the Poole faithful very quickly. Even Middlo has commented that he loves working with him as hes always smiling and that his enthusiasm spreads throughout the team. Long may that continue.

Pro rata to earnings not a million miles away from the UK, so it isnt "cheap", which is what is sometimes perceived over here.. However you do obviously get the worlds best for that pro rata amount rather than what we get over here.. The big money comes via the TV deals as the TV companies have to actually tender for the contracts, due to the popularity of the sport, which pushes the price they pay up.. This blanket TV and media coverage then attracts the big money sponsors who want to be associated with well known "national sport brands" as well as well known "national sporting celebrities"... Bottom line is.. If the Polish Leagues ever allowed Tai Woffinden to guest for Bartosz Zmarzlik, and Wroclaw didnt qualify for the play offs on the back of it, all TV and big name sponsors would simply walk away, as would the wider sports fans' interest... Run the sport Mickey Mouse and you reap what you sow and no amount of free tickets given away will keep an audience, (and expect them to pay), who can't emotionally buy in to what should be team sport tribalism... Hence Poland dont make the mistakes the UK have made and continue to make ad Infinitum..

http://speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.37693

Bob myself and a few Leicester/ Birmingham fans on the forum were saying this over two years ago just how unlucky Danyon had been.His career started brilliantly at Ipswich and he ended up with quite a high average which often hampered his chances of getting a spot in the Championship.He had a great year at Birmingham interrupted by injury ironically at Poole but had a good year average wise.After not getting a spot at Championship level he had a great spearhead year with Ellis Perks at Leicester and was superb all year but limited rides came to him at Championship level.It was so frustrating when the likes of Bickley/ Smith ( ect) were getting prolonged runs in championship sides and the likes of Castagna at Birmingham were taking up spots yet Danyon was being frozen out.Now i believe he is at the right club and with Middlo helping him along he should keep improving i imagine the home crowd love watching him ride as he adds excitement.Hope he stays injury free and carries on how he is doing if the Pirates can get Cook back they will be in the mix for sure this year.

For goodness sake theo has been consistently scoring and is a good team man Auty is out for himself and not a team player give your heads a wobble

I would have thought running on a bio fuel like methanol has got to be a positive if the sport ever decided to market itself in these environmentally sensitive times. If you're looking for alternatives then electric is your only option. Development of petrol engine for speedway now would be a huge step back.

It's not just prices that have changed over the years. In researching how much they had changed in other sports, I found a Chesterfield v AFC Bournemouth program from a div 3 away game I attended in 1985 amongst my speedway programmes. There is a section giving details of their upcoming away trip to Derby County at the old Baseball ground. They say that the cheapest admission on the away terrace is an "extortionate £3", which is £9 odd in today's Monday. In describing the ground it says " The ground is situated in an unsavoury area. Some houses around the ground have been demolished in a slum clearance scheme, the others have been occupied by immigrants and the area has some of the qualities of a ghetto" In today's money that would equate to "a vibrant cosmopolitan area rich with cultural diversity"

Wonder if we'll go down the guest route once again or try r/r for Ulrich. Take away Craig Cook and I think both teams are fairly evenly matched with most of the Berwick team having had good performances at Ashfield. Interesting to see how they perform on a track where overtaking is the norm rather than just before bend 2. I'll go for a Tigers win but it will be closer than a lot of people think which should then make the 2nd leg very interesting.

That would mean 2 years ago, you couple had Robert Lambert & Dan Bewley as your reserves! Would staying at reserve be best for their progress!

I’ve learnt that if I am pessimistic beforehand then I can always take defeat that wee bit easier as I will have expected it

Glasgow guest for both legs is Ben Barker

Aye, they've got you sussed.

Jorgensen I’ve heard.

Tomorrow night (Thursday 29th July) at 7pm, the Speed Freaks Chat Show Premieres Episode 4 on YouTube. Your hosts Scott Nicholls and Shane 'Childsy' Childs speak to FIM Race Director Phil Morris. Check it out guys.

Fantastic meeting last night at Central Park stadium. Great racing and lots of passing . Kent just need another heat leader and a replacement for Paul Hurry. It's not for the want of trying but I don't think he is going to improve, too many injuries have blighted his speedway career, although he is still a class act on the grass. Kent have a great set up at Central Park and I hope they can make a success of staging speedway at Championship level.

I thought we may have got something from this,but not now with Schlein and Heeps riding.

My first season of watching speedway, aged 7, have all the progs from New Cross 1963.. Squibbo was top rider, my fave was Penniket.

Exactly Ian... Hype can go a long way in getting an audience, even when it's 'economical with the truth'... I have always thought that each meeting should be regarded as "stand alone" and sold separately using various "high impact" promotional tools... Twenty or so meetings a year, using twenty or so definitive "pushes"... Let's be honest just an extra 500 at most tracks would be "game changing" and it doesn't need the same 500 each week, it could be 500 completely different people (although hopefully you would want to get some regulars)... Eg 2.5 million people live within the Gtr Manchester conurbation, all within 45 mins of a superbly appointed (and shaped) city centre track and modern stadium, with excellent motorway linkage.. Surely a high impact promotional strategy should get 500 a week extra to attend, even if just through curiosity based on the promotional activity?

Not ALL fossil fuels are bad, just like not ALL plastic is bad. It's the big emitters and the big single plastic users that need to change to allow acceptable use of fossil fuels and plastic. A big part of all motorsport is the noise and I don't think you're going to get that without some sort of internal combustion engine. I don't see why we can't live in a world where some fossil fuels are still used for motor sports, vintage cars etc. While the rest of the world has moved away from them

Close with score! Sounds like some decent Speedway,but looks like Heeps coming back too soon. Wonder if new signing will make much difference to results?

Interesting read this. Surely the time has come for a major overhaul from top to bottom including the rulebook, machinery, league structure race format etc etc. I'll possibly be better placed to comment further after my visit to Ipswich next week. The scarry thing is how many times have I read that so & so meeting was a bore fest with crap racing on this forum in all honesty I've lost count! And this is supposed to be a supporters form.....if your own customers think that you ain't got a hope of bringing new ones in & more importantly keeping them!

Why is their even a discussion about petrol, that time has gone & wouldn't be approved by any association today. All new or change of use motorsports have to use electric or eco fuels according to government regulations

He is and his son had an arm surgery.

The Bates family have various other successful business ventures outside of Speedway and as the Lenny the Lion has indicated own & run both Sheffield and Leicester for their Love of the sport . This passion for Speedway goes right back to the early 80s when both Damian and Mark were mascots at Sheffield often going out on track before meeting along with dad Paul a sponsor to many riders over the years. The Bates family prefer to have very good promotors and key staff working for them with the likes of Stewart Dickson,Julie Reading,Peter Mole,Alan Jones and Karen Hudson key to the clubs operations. This means that the Bates family can operate their other businesses and not have to worry about all the administration and logistics of running a Speedway club. With regards to Iain B comments about outsourcing of merchandise and catering at Leicester that is not unusual at all, Even the mighty Leicester City and Tigers have outsourced their conference & banqueting so they can focus on the score product the sport . I personally think the variety of products offered by Jaybea to be good but do think the catering is lacking especially in the summer the bottom bar should be open after meetings so fans can socialise more if they wish