Nobblytriers

Hi all and Happy New Year. This week in the repair shop there is an old speedway related item being restored. Depending on which newspaper you get the information from, it is either a pair of boots that evoke bittersweet memories or a bedraggled piece of material that turns out to be a vintage speedway bib that played a crucial role in one family's history. Could be an interesting watch. At the very least we get a mention on the beeb!

I've just been onto our local paper website, the Leicester Mercury, and not a bean about Leicester Lions winning the Championship title for the first time EVER! If there's anything there then it's hidden away. Plenty of other news about other sports other than rugby or football, but nothing about ours. Shame. Well Done Leicester Lions. A great team effor for the whole season. CONGRATULATIONS!

How about removing most of the back straight stand and widening the track there? That way you'd get good exits out of turn 2 and a variety into turn 3.

Yes, what is it with the music that's played at most stadiums? They must have the right license to play music to the public so surely that means they can play anything they want? Why is it the same stuff each week?

Thanks to those who have posted information relevant to last nights meeting. It's such a shame we have been ravaged by injury, the team looked very good at the start of the season. It sounds as though the meeting was more entertaining than most this season and the extra dirt provided much need passing ... sadly by the opposition. Yes Steve, we're all aware that there are 7 riders in a team. If your Mr Klindt should move into the main 1-5 you may not have as much success as you are having now. Thanks again all for your postings

Well, just popped on here to see some kind of match report, how the racing was, how the riders were, what the crowd was like etc etc, and all I can find, for the most part, is 7 pages of people arguing, accusations of fiddling and one in particular slagging Leicester off. As has been pointed out twice, Leicester's 1-5 were as good as Poole's, the difference was in the reserves. If there's anyone out there with time and inclination to post something meaningful in relation to last nights meeting, I, for one, would much appreciate reading what you have to say. Thanking you in advance

I use castrol R in my petrol mower, strimmer and chainsaw, basically because I love the smell. It's a smell you rarely get at speedway these days. I mentioned this to my son-in-law and after a bit of a trip down memory lane he said "maybe they should get some old bikes and race them round to start the meeting off?" I thought that was a good idea, right off the top of his head. You could have two or three match races, a bit like the old Golden Helmet. That would also get the dirt moving to improve the racing for the main event. And if you could get away with it, run them with the old silencers, or better still without them! It would be different, add something else to the meeting and maybe just perk up the interest of a few punters enough to make them want to come back.

I still don't know where this bottom 4 got a vote and BV didn't get one at all idea came from. Haven't seen anything anywhere about any voting results at the AGM or who voted for what. Can anyone enlighten us as to where they heard this or read this, or is it all made up again?

I can't find out where we can see who voted for what at the AGM, any links please? Thanks

I haven't read all of the thread so apologies if someone else has suggested this but how about amalgamate the top two leagues but not with the race format we have today? Something like ... 5 riders from the current teams in the premiership and championship plus 3 from the NL. The NL riders don't ride against the main body of riders but just have, say, 4 races spread throughout the meeting. These races all count towards the result. They get 2 rides each ( 1+2, 2+3, 1+3) and then the top 2 get a 3rd ride. This would give them track time, a bigger audience (which could possibly help with sponsorship), time with more experienced riders in the pits and they will be able to ride many more tracks and surfaces. Also, as they will be riding against each other there should be less races where the less abled rider is half a lap down and getting demoralised. They should also have a better chance of scoring points so they should boost their income. The current reserve role could be taken by the 2nd strings, with a maximum of three extra rides taken between the two riders. With only five main team riders there should be enough within the current leagues to go around. No doubt there will be some reasons why this idea, or similar ones, may not work. I've not thought long and hard about this, it's just an idea. Something does need to be done and maybe something like this is the answer? Over to the more knowledgeable ones in the forum.

Hopefully not, but it would appear, from posts on the Holder thread I think, that there have been a number of number of riders who have refused to ride over the years so it's nothing new. I just get the feeling that a lot of riders seem to have lost their sense of loyalty* and are just following the money - Jack Holder now riding for Torun instead of at Peterborough in a meeting that has been known about for months**. These guys are professionals, it's their job, something they chose to do to make a living and signed contracts committing themselves to ride for a team. Most of them appear dedicated but it seems there's a growing number who forget what it's all about and they are being paid to do a job. I struggle to think of any other employment where what goes on with riders would be tolerated. * Yes, loyalty works both ways and I'm also getting a bit fed up with the seemingly constant merry-go-round of team changes as promoters/managers dump riders going through a bad patch. ** I understand that Holder was allowed to ride for Torun with the promoter/managers blessing and that an arrangement had been agreed. I could be wrong but I'd say that sounds like Torun paid a sum for Holder to ride over there. What about the fans over here? They are now being short changed and the team is weakened by allowing that to happen. (No offence to any rider taking Holders place or the remaining team members.)

Thanks for the reply. So only Lions punished? Seems a bit harsh unless the Stars were happy to go the tapes? This sport seems to be lurching from one strange decision to another. I'm struggling to understand the logic behind most of what's going on lately. It's all becoming a bit 'do as you pleasey' make it up as you go along, as in Garrity's three 15m punishments but the last one was let go. Why?

When was this? Can you explain please? What lead to Lions riders being fined? I have re read the post you quoted but can't see anything that relates. Thanks

Sadly, it's the way the general public have always perceived speedway, well, since I started going in 1971, and maybe even before that. The fans know that it isn't true but to the casual observer it's what they see. If they take the trouble to go to see a meeting live there now seems to be all sorts of reasons/excuses why there isn't any passing - too much dirt, too little dirt, over watered, dusty, wrong shape, teams not competitive, track not wide enough etc. One week great racing, the next follow the leader. (Look at Kings Lynn and Sheffield, used to be renowned for great, entertaining racing but not now - well according to the forum anyway - so what's happened there?) You never know what sort of a meeting you're going to get but if you're taking a newbie along let's hope it's a great one!!

Think you'll find Grajczonek's EF and fall cost us the win!

LOL LOL LOL

Can't find any results yet but found a list of entrants here http://www.steveenglish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57889 This was a good event by all accounts.

You seem to be "in the know" flagrag but how can the management be so quick to discard riders? We've had seven matches!! Bjerre's only ridden a handful of meetings for us, and King hasn't had the best of starts to his season but he has shown in the past what he's capable of. How can we ever expect to get a team to gel together when it seems we have a different seven turn up at every meeting!! Maybe we need to make changes but perhaps we should be looking at someone who doesn't ride a bike?

Four 5-1's in the last four heats would have seen us win by a point. Why are other teams able to come back against us yet we just fade away? It seems that some riders respond well to a good telling off (Kings Lynn at the interval) and the management are congratulated for doing so, but in the past the Lions haven't responded and the management have been castigated by the fans for moaning at the riders. Do we need Mr or Mrs Motivation sat in the pits alongside the team? Doesn't seem to matter what we do, it just doesn't work for us. Answers on a postcard please to ...

How about if all current riders are used in the 1-5 and the 6&7 come from the National League? They could race only against each other and the 'reserves' role could come from the second strings. This would give the youngsters extra rides outside their own league and also get them interacting with more experienced riders. I'm not suggesting that the idea is flawless but I really think we have to have to find a way of the reducing the double up situation. I don't think Leicester have ran a team without a guest or R/R yet.

Thanks for that Gem, all good sounds good!

Couldn't make it for this one. Can anyone say how the racing was, how the riders were (the Leicester ones), how the track was and what the crowd was like ... please! Thanks.

What did he have to say?

I don't know how much money from Sky went to the promoters or how much to the riders but I think there was a missed opportunity with the millions that came from Sky. Could Sky have been that wealthy benefactor but the view of the promoters was short term when the bigger picture should have been looked at? Invest in the stadia and smarten them up a bit, especially the W/C's, and make the refreshments appealing. "But we don't own the stadium, we only rent it" . OK, so if you rent a house, do you live in a hovel? How many shops are rented? Do shop owners expect customers to come into dirty premises with grubby shelves and paint peeling from the wall? What about restaurants and pubs? Most commercial buildings are rented and it's up to the occupiers to make them attractive to the people they want to come in.

I'd say that most people do arrive at the track within plenty of time but then find themselves in a queue. Last Saturday at Leicester, a delayed start was announced because of the queue to get in. My mate was in it and he'd arrived within plenty of time under normal circumstances. In Leicester's case, you couldn't buy a ticket in the car park bar as in previous seasons, and there were also season ticket holders who were in the queue to pick up their tickets. Maybe it's not last minute fans but possibly bad organisation?