LionsDen

Anyone but the fiercely defensive (and god knows there are a few of those at Leicester!) can see the shape is very wrong and there's a distinct lack of racing lines available. As a result, aside from the odd race every now and again, the racing there is a very poor spectacle overall with endless strung-out processions, all done and dusted after bend 2 lap 1. As Deanmur points out above, the straights are too long and riders shut off half way down in readiness for riding into the bends with the problem being that they struggle to actually 'race' in. The ones that profess to like it tend to be the ones who get in front and are easily able to stay there! If ever there was a track that could be described as a 'Gater's Paradise' then Beaumont Park is it. It's a massive cock-up as the track was always the one thing DH needed to get right more than anything else. It's central to getting people through the gates and like any business, if the product being sold is inferior then people will not buy it. The proof is that crowds have gradually been shrinking at Leicester since it opened. The hard-core loyal support will always go, and as I say, some even defend the track despite what they regularly have to sit and watch, and they've been going ecstatic on Facebook this week. I guess it was a real shock to the system to see a couple of races with actual passing in! Importantly though, the more discerning fans are disappearing fast, especially those from other tracks who want a fix of speedway and did attend Leicester meetings but not anymore. You rarely see many Wolves, Birmingham or Cov fans there now for instance. It's simply not worth their travel and expense and as such Beaumont Park has largely become the domain of loyal Leicester fans only, and I know many of those who don't bother going every week, and this despite having waited 28 years for it to come back. Leicester's return should have been the best thing to happen in British Speedway for many years, and the simple fact is it's not. And all the debate over the track's shortcomings are central to this. And there are too many people saying it. 

 Saturday's meeting at home to Rye House was a lot better - so I'm told. And thank goodness. But it needs to produce that week in week out. Will it though? One swallow doesn't make a summer and my concern is whether that is possible given that there is this fundamental flaw in the track shape. The kerb definitely needs taking in as described by Glyn Taylor, but this does require the drainage system digging up too - and that's expensive. A huge, and damaging, mistake was made in the planning of the track and the solution is not going to be easy - or cheap.

I've been saying exactly the same to fellow Lions fans on their facebook pages since the team was concluded. Couldn't agree with you more. No second strings at all means that Kauko, Magnus and Lasse need to ride out their skins every meeting for us to be even competitive. An optimistic bunch of Lions fans seem very excited that Makinen won a couple of races at BP in a very poor end of season individual meeting. However, he remains totally unproven at PL level. I can't see Lambert improving his average from last season when he did so well at Owlerton. Graversen is, and always will be, a 4.5 man and Nielsen is hardly going to be rattling up the points either. Whilst the heat leaders are a lot better, the bottom end of the team looks very similar to last year with more hope than expectation. Sad to say, the Lions have a very long tail - and the final team is an opportunity missed given the early heat leader signings. Mid table, and an improvement on the wooden spoon, is the best they can hope for. And after the processional bore fests we witnessed last season, maybe some racing too? That'd be good.

So, we get £5 off after standing in the rain, the mud and the cold to witness 16 heats of processional racing? That's a p*ss take surely? Aside from the obvious financial con being presented here, whoever's calling the shots should've tried standing on the mudheaps we had on the bends and show some respect for the fans. I felt especially sorry for all the ladies in flat sandals, trying to negotiate the puddles and slippery mud with ruined shoes and brown feet. Looked like Glastonbury where I was!! For god's sake Hemsley, get some mill waste put down before you get your shiny BSPA shoes dirty. No-one can be blamed for the weather but certain people can be blamed for the conditions over 3,000 people subsequently had to put up with, and for this completely blinkered approach to the re-staging - which offers no incentive to those who travelled to Leicester, or indeed, to any of us who have already paid out for 12 heats of the 16 due in the final. Finally, congratulations to the four Lions for showing much greater gating prowess than the other teams. The irony of such an awful experience for this long time Lions fan was that we could, and probably would, have won the thing!

My 15 year old is taller than me! No way can he pass for a 14 year old. And you're right, a tiered system should be put in place. It is ridiculous that 15 year olds have to pay full price. They're still schoolkids for god's sake!!! I find this decision absolutely disgusting and it penalises parents with speedway loving teenagers. In the absence of anyone else to complain officially to I emailed Coventry Speedway to express my anger and got a reply that stated it wasn't their decision and that it's a shared event, with the BSPA staging it on behalf of the FIM. The press officer also said that as it's a shared event, it's in the BSPA's interests to price it as appropriately as they can. Well, if that's the case they've failed by a country mile. I know I won't be going now. And reading various other posts on here it seems I'm not alone. Both me and my lad were very much looking forward to it but £50 to get in, £10 for two programmes, plus food and petrol and I'm looking at around £75 for the two of us to attend. That is way out of order and the organisers will no doubt suffer the consequences as the people who have spoken to me about the meeting here in Leicester have said they're not going because they don't want to be ripped off with what amounts to blatant rackateering. I hope Bomber gets through without the vocal support he could have had.

The details for this meeting can be found on the half page ad inside the back cover of this week's Speedway Star. But, as I'm the one who has artworked the programme, I can tell you the team line ups as they have gone to print: SWINDON SKIP SPROCKETS: 1. Cory Gathercole 2. Charlie Saunders 3. Richard Sweetman 4. Danny Warwick Res: Ben Reid OXFORD TFSuccess.com CHEETAHS: 1. James Cockle 2. Kyle Hughes 3. Jamie Courtney 4. Lee Smart Res: Brendan Johnson LEICESTER LIONS: 1. Sergei Darkin 2. Simon Lambert 3. Luke Priest 4. Adam Lowe Res: Mark Thompson BRISTOL BULLDOGS: 1. Semen Vlasov 2. Mark Burrows 3. Mark Simmonds 4. Gareth Isherwood Res: Jordan Tyrer Start time is indeed 6pm. Fingers crossed for some decent weather. Hopefully the meeting attract fans as 3 presently 'homeless' clubs will be in action, and for Swindon fans it's the last meeting of the season at the Abbey Stadium. It's a long winter so please come down and support the meeting! It will be raced over the traditional 16 heat format plus two extra heats. One for the reserves, which guarantees them a ride, and a final 'nominated' race. Special guests have been invited such as Phil Crump and Les Collins, and I know that Norman Hunter (former Robin and Lions rider) is going to climb back on a bike for a few laps. And like Nick Andrews has rightly said, there are more than just 'raw juniors' on show so we should see some good racing. Sunday is a case of raising awareness for the 'homeless' clubs and the meeting is being staged by Andy Hewlett (Bristol) and David Hemsley of the Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd (the consortium behind the proposed new site up here in Leicester) so it'd be great if they had a decent turn out as they've put a hell of a lot of work and money into staging the event. See you there! Steve Chilton Secretary - Leicester Speedway Supporters Club