Jump to content
Beat the Bookie GP prize competition 2024 Read more... ×
British Speedway Forum

Tsunami

Members
  • Content count

    14,188
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    72

Posts posted by Tsunami


  1. 3 hours ago, ruffdiamond said:

    Never a good job to just paper over the cracks,,, good prep is always the way forward. Back in the day a suppose there wasn't much thought for the future tho and corner cutting was possibly more likely to go on, maybe cutting bends in this case? ;)

    There was no cost cutting or papering over the cracks RD. A decision was made to give more racing lines, and try to improve the racing, and that quick fix has lasted over 20 years till shale has been spared later.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  2. 4 hours ago, ruffdiamond said:

    Which is something that could've should've been addressed at the time when the track was altered,,, many moons ago?

    It wasn't an issue then and it has taken over 20 years before it became a problem, more through lack of shale covering the area. Never good to dig big holes on a racing line midseason and then getting the correct compaction to save it breaking up. Big changes like Glasgow did, are usually carried out off season to allow some natural settling in period. Shale and water react to each other pressure and that takes time to be complete.. 

    • Like 1

  3. On 5/9/2022 at 10:21 AM, Bandits4eva said:

    Bends 3 & 4 last week caused issues… may also explain why everyone hugged the white line as much! The only one brave enough to come off it was Bomber in heat 15, which was awarded to Starke despite it looking the other way round… never mind! I seriously hope that it is sorted… 

    Genuine question… ? I can’t remember why you originally moved from the Monday nights… I remember some banging meetings between Newcastle and Berwick at the start of the noughties on Monday nights! 

    No. When we reintroduced speedway in 1997, Sundays was thought to be best day for us, especially with having the full day to prepare the track, and more chance of track staff availability  with it not being a work day for most of the public. Bjarne Pedersen hinted that he was looking to go to Poland in 2021, but he wanted to stay with us if we could change our race night. We agreed and we started to race on the Monday. After we sold him to Poole, we reverted to the Sundays afternoons, which also allowed us to do combined meetings with first the Diamonds and followed by the new original Gems team. We copied Newport's format. 


  4. On 5/9/2022 at 1:36 PM, ruffdiamond said:

     

    Must say, a likened it to the Cheddar Gorge and it's not good.

    Looks like it's the old kerb foundation, the track must've been altered many years ago so how come it's only came to light recently,,, its obvious that someone must have known it was there. For it go for many years without notice is surprising. A cynic might think someone is out to get him?

    It's there now and needs fixing, any idea of how it can be done?

    To increase the number of racing  lines on the 1st and 2nd  bends, we decided in about 2000 to widen the track by taking the inside kerbing in by 2 metres. The same kerbs stones were used to create the new kerbing,  and you are right that the kerb foundation was left in place and the shale level increased by Tony Swales the then track curator. It was never thought to be a risk being deeper, and never showing until now when there appears to be a less shale covering. I remember in the 60's I think, that there had been an earlier concrete track under the 1st/2nd bends and it broke up and started to appear on the exact same spot  as the present problems. The concrete block was removed and I think most people will have forgot about it. Looking at the photo, I would guess someone has spotted something and deliberately scrapped the groove out with their steel shoe to show the foundation. The track action would not have  caused the shale to be divided and dumped in two straight lines either side of the concrete. Opportunist I think. BTW the 3rd and 4th bends had the same modification to the kerb line and there has never been a problem there, mainly I think, because it tends to be ridden out wider due to it being 2 metres wider, and also because the inside line of the 1st bend gets significalty more heavy traffic impact with all 4 riders from the tapes, hitting it in every race and more than any other part of the bends.

    The drainage has always been a problem with our track. We had some plans which showed a diagonal drain across the centre green, but tests proved they were cracked and blocked and beyond use. There was a plan with a previous stadium owner to instal some new drains for the dogs and speedway,  but after looking likely to proceed, the owner backed out hoping we would still go ahead and we would pay for them.   

     

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  5. 7 hours ago, Diamonds85 said:

    Was it not just Dave Tinning and the co promotors? I have no idea, never seen Dave before so I dunno. Plus I couldn't see far enough to be able to tell who them men were. Maybe it's Granty begging for extra money after blowing the 50k on Brad and George

    It may well have been Dave Tinning, but Steve Pate is also a Promoter, and also the Team Manager, so he would have been in the pits managing the team and the changes. 

    Like you I could not see clearly who the others were. 


  6. 14 hours ago, Diamonds85 said:

    Same here... Rob watching from the back straight miles away from the riders, rather than in the pits stirring them on...

    It would be hard to throw a number out, but we arrived at 10 to and our ticket numbers were in the 400s... Still think a lot of people come in for free through the pits... Even 500 fans is woeful, even for a National League side...

    Must admit my patience for George is running out rapidly, surely there's a better option out there... Even Justin Sedgmen would be better... At least it would put James at reserve for a month or so... And the BWD scenario is just getting silly now...

     

    Be interesting to know who he was with (all had Newcastle jackets on), and luv to have been fly on the fence listening to what was said.:D


  7. 6 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

    It seemed like it had taken  a week to get there what a trek, a great day though really friendly people.My last visit was in 1984 when the Diamonds had there year in the BL Eddie Ingels rode.I also went to Newcastle for a weekend what a time that was stayed in Whitley Bay brilliant remember the geordies taking the p… out of our accent.Calling us Southern softees and carrot crunchers , all in good jest though they were really friendly down to earth jovial people.

    Can't beat Whitley Bay, that's where I live.:D

    • Like 1

  8. 2 hours ago, allthegearbutnaeidea said:

    Awful take, watching riders struggling hitting ruts and lifting, letting other riders pass isn’t good racing.

    Some fantastic racing at Berwick this season so far, not just Bomber, who’s had a fantastic start to the season for Berwick and Peterborough, the two teams he actually rides for, maybe if you had a number 1 and didn’t have to borrow everyone else’s it wouldn’t matter. :)

    Think it must be a long time since you visited then, that's an old chestnut and far from true about the current track.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  9. 38 minutes ago, phillipsr said:

    He might come good but he's nowhere near ready for CL yet. How does being half a lap behind every race help someone progress? Its not good for him at all 

    He was never half a lap behind in any race, except when his back wheel shifted and he still got a third place.. He couldn't gate, but was mainly on the pace towards the end. Archie had been asked to be No 7, but refused as he knew he wasn't ready. After all the other 7's were found to be useless Rob asked Archie to fill in for the rest of the season to get more experience and got a guarantee not to be dropped. The deal was get to that experience this year(2021) and be given a teamplace next year (2022).

    Pity you spout rubbish on here all the time without checking for the truth. At Newcastle we all know Archie's potential, like also Edinburgh and his new team Belle Vue does..


  10. 1 hour ago, ruffdiamond said:

    A get what you say, but 'not announced' doesn't mean that deals aren't already done,,, maybe waiting for more appetising terms?

    I give Richie only as an example, but I knew he was leaving Edinburgh and he had already signed for another club. Brummie's got Vissing and then got Ellis late, so it can be done it you get up early which we haven't these last 2 years. 

    People can't say yes but we know we will have speedway this year, be happy with team initially and now criticise.Iit was never going to work being understrength again.

    • Thanks 1

  11. 2 minutes ago, ruffdiamond said:

    Gotta tend to agree with you there Dave,,, but was there really any chance of an 8 pointer?

    Well, we have got an 8 pointer, but unfortunately he's injured. 

    At the time several 8 pointers, including Richie Worrall, were not announced to have signed for anybody. Yes, we couldn't get a decent 8 pointer, but if you go in that late you have to take what others have left.


  12. 25 minutes ago, geoff100 said:

    Think it shows how daft speedway can be when harria can guest for a guy who was never going to score points, and yes have seen newcastle twice this season "bwd" way off the pace .

    It's happened many times over the years to most teams. One year we had Andrew Tully injured at P and P, and we got a guest right through till he was fit. Jirout was another example from the mid 00's. It's not unusual. By getting a guest early in the season gives the unlucky club a fair chance to be at strength in those opinion forming early meetings. 


  13. 2 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

    Totally agree with you, also if Newcastle had gone for Sedgmen instead of Congreave, that would've put Wright at reserve & the team looks much more competitive!

     Newcastle should have went for an 8 pointer and honoured the contract with Archie, instead of being hijacked by signing BWD and his protege. I have highlighted that many times since all the signings were in, but I was told many times on here they were just happy still having a team. 

    Still think that now ?

    • Like 2

  14. 12 hours ago, uk_martin said:

    If you ask me, it should be a condition of the BSPZzzz ratifying a signing that the rider in question should be available for all if not the vast majority of the fixtures, if the fixtures are published before the signing is made. Anything else just invites more ridicule. 

    And what would happen if someone became available for say just the first 2 months of the season, because of other commitments.


  15. 1 hour ago, StevePark said:

    Been at Abbey Stadium since 1949.  Before that they raced at the now demolished Gorse Hill Aerodrome, where dirt track racing had taken place since 1928

    Thanks. The sizes quoted for Swindon Old were not the sizes of their present track now or then..


  16. 1 hour ago, StevePark said:

    Not working for me either.

    Working for me.:D

    I find the sizes for Swindon a bit odd. It can't be the old Swindon or the Swindon now. Was there a previous Swindon track other than its present home.?


  17. 6 hours ago, AndyPresley said:

    I remember him being quite small in height, so even if he has bulked up I can’t imagine him being ridiculously heavy

    He is overweight. I read he had been up to18 stones, and he has now got it down to 12 1/2 stones. Still too heavy, look at the Worralls  and their athletic figures through losing weight and Excercise. The days of heavy riders in league teams has gone some time again. 

    • Like 1

  18. 4 minutes ago, ruffdiamond said:

    Wouldn't say Lee needed to lose weight, bet he's good at are wrestling tho! ;)

    I think he is too muscled and losing weight would help to made himself more manoeuvrable. He looks too muscle bound IMO and was pointed out in an earlier post.. 


  19. 4 hours ago, ruffdiamond said:

    Looks as if he's got plenty of upper body strength, a bit like popeye.  ;)

    Well with both Lee and Rob going to shed loads of weight to ride in the first Memorial meeting for Dave Tattum, probably should give the meeting sponsorship of the meeting to WeightWatchers, Very apt.


  20. On 2/24/2022 at 8:38 PM, Sings4Speedway said:

    I would think Belle Vue would take issue with that, or anyone who had attended the Scunthorpe meetings or spoken to various other Cumbrians. Dan may have "burst" onto the scene but he wasn't exactly an unheard of secret.

    The first time I heard of Dan was when he was announced he would be riding on his own in our second half, and someone said "he's worth watching". He hadn't rode for anyone at that stage and looked very raw on our tight bends. I particularly noticed he rode too close to the inside of 1st and 3rd bends, clipping the kerb practically every time. In his later rides he moved out, as you should, so he came out of those bends with a better line that he could maintain, before coming out of the 2nd and 4th corners wide like everyone else does. I obviously watched his progress after that as he was being treat very well with lots of second half track time. 

    • Like 1

  21. I thought Steve Cram and Rhona were brilliant with the curling commentary knowing and explaining what shots were on to not on, and why. Once again Curling, after a major completion, will be the talk of people who never go to the rinks to watch it. Fascinating sport, played in a good and fair competitive sport, where the tactics and their execution are unbelievable. Pity there is no rinks beside me where it is played.  

    • Like 4
×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy