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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

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.

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"

Especially given its a "holiday resort" area too Lisa... Plenty of speedway fans currently within a couple of hours travel I would think that may fancy a trip that they wouldn't take if at home several hundred miles away... Personally don't use twitter but do use official websites as they should always be up to date and accurate... Looking at quite a few websites some appear a fair few weeks out of date... Making our way over this afternoon and looking forward to a good night's entertainment... Come on you Pirons, or is it Liates....?

Ridiculous comment track conditions changed dramatically after heavy rain just admit Poole dropped a clanger getting rid of him,he also guested for Eastbourne recently and did well.

That sounds suspicious

I don't mind a bit of tractor racing if it's actually doing something like bringing the track back into a raceable condition. I've seen too many tractors doing too many laps just trying to move non-existent dirt back onto the racing line and the watering of a track in parts where the riders never ride. Didn't the BSPL put the TV contract out to tender and there were multiple offers and they decided to opt for Eurosport to attract sponsors to free to air TV. How's that one worked out? Has that brought a League sponsor? Has it brought in any European sponsorship? Has it brought in any sponsorship? In fact here we are in the height of summer where Sky Sports are having orgasms about "The 100" and our "Broadcast Partner" are showing repeats of Olympic action and there's no Speedway until the 16th of August!

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?

Come down from cloud cuckoo land

Yeah, we are.

Absolutely cracking meeting with passes in every heat. Super setup. Good crowd and all over and on our way before 8.30. And stand up Danny Hume. Rider of the night.

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!

I think if there were ever to be any plans to use petrol engines for speedway bikes there would be immediate and probably insurmountable problems with the environmental police so I wouldn't advocate taking this step myself! !