Stoke Potter

It's like watching juniors at times, what a dire track this place is!!

And you'll still have the majority of tracks in this country poorly shaped, too narrow, too small, lacking sufficient banking and badly prepared. But apart from that standardising bikes will fix everything! In other words it's the completely wrong answer, utterly pointless, and potentially creates a further gulf in class between UK and the rest, particularly Poland. Fix the damn tracks!

You know. And I get the impression that more and more people are working out that poor tracks are the biggest problem in this country. Just need the authorities/BSPA to start to realise it now and we're on the way.

Yet another poor track, very little proper racing.

Actually most of them need fixing one way or another. It's the biggest problem the sport faces in this country.

Be interesting to know what has changed in that time.

The point is they didn't return. You could conclude they didn't particularly like what they saw...

Was it Arena Essex that last let people in for free and got 4000 or something? The following week the crowd was back to it's usual level if I recall correctly..? That tells you something, the question is what? The NSS is a jewel in the sport's crown already, however there are precious few other gems about for the sport in the UK. Speedway has an image problem and that cannot be changed by the NSS on it's own.

Marketing the sport more isn't the answer at this time, essentially all you'll do is inform people how poor the product is at most UK tracks. Using the NSS to show how great the sport is would backfire when people went along to, for example Ipswich, and witness that dirge that was served up on TV a couple of weeks back. It's generally a different spectacle at the NSS compared to anywhere else. The answer is staring everyone in the face - more tracks like the NSS. Then market it and see what happens... Apologies for the late contribution, been away for a bit...

There's a lot said about the shale these days. It's the wrong type, you can't get the same stuff as the good old days, or because there's no oil in it from the bikes, etc. But putting on perfect shale won't turn Ipswich in to Belle Vue, still too small, narrow, wrong shape, etc. What didn't help on Monday was the slick patch entering the bends about 1/3 away from the kerb, caused 2 falls if I remember right and no doubt caused problems for others.

I've acknowledged this issues at Stoke many times, however an "averagely" prepared Loomer Rd would easily match what was served up at Ipswich the other night. Secondly, I've commented many times on different threads about various tracks, there is always someone who wants to make a comparison with Stoke, well done you get the prize this time! Stoke, Ipswich and countless others are a long way from being the best tracks in the country, that is Belle Vue, by far.

You know! You need to tell most of the rest of them on here as most can't see it or are in denial. The only part I slightly disagree with is the last bit with the bikes not being adapted. The majority of tracks in this country have always been sub-optimal in terms of size, shape, space, etc. It is just even more apparent these days, with the bikes being even less forgiving around a typical tight, narrow British track.

At least 2/3 of the heats last night were boring processional rubbish. Barely 5 heats worthy of being called a race. Ipswich another on the long list of tracks that need improvement... Yes, we know, it can't be done for this, that, or the other reason and the racing is usually amazing anyway. Why doesn't anybody go to Speedway? The answer was on tele last night.

Thank you for the explanation regarding the landlords at the EOES, you appear to be the only one able to explain the changes over the years. I was looking for an answer and nobody else would provide it. However I completely disagree that all tracks were always fine, most of them have/had issues and produced generally poor racing. I.e. little to no passing. That is why the first out of the gate idea persists, because it is generally true. I would agree that you need riders of a certain standard to do tracks justice and that has always been the case. And in reply anyone who would want to silence my opinions because it is different to theirs, I will debate and pass judgement on various things Speedway related, including my opinion on tracks, and potential ways to improve them. The whole point of this forum is for discussion and debate after all. However, If you want me to be thrown off the forum then I invite you to put a request to the moderators to get me banned...

I'm not overlooking anything. I've observed that the track could be improved by adding width to the outside. At which point, various "homers" (people who defend their home track just because it's their home track) appeared, basically stating it's perfect and cannot be improved. It's far from perfect, when I've seen it on video/TV it's tended to be very fast gate and go and at least one other person on this thread as stated it can be like that. You seem to say that the landlords see the Speedway as an annoyance, why is that? (genuine question) Basically the situation appears to be that, within the rules, Peterborough could probably be widened but the landlords are likely to be against it. What you and various others need to realise is that if Speedway is to survive the product must improve. The main key to improving it is to make the tracks the best they can be. Most of them need to be bigger, wider and have significant improvement in track prep.

Sounds like it has potential... How many heats were processional with no racing? How many with close racing without passing? How many with multiple passes? Tempted to pay a visit next week.............

So there's room to move the fence and still be within the rules then? How close is the fence now and how close is it allowed to be according to the rules?

Thanks for the explanation, appreciated. I am surprised that there those fixtures are as close as they're legally allowed, it didn't seem particularly close to me. The exclusion/stop lights did seem rather close (and solid) to me though.

Back to topic; it needs (at least) 2 to make a race, and 2 men made that race. It's a shame Pedersen still hasn't found the missing engine "ingredient" that he's been lacking for approx 5 seasons and that the very top riders have sussed.

You can't make the bends wider because of the Grandstand? In answer to the other post about width being width. No that's completely not the case. Adding width by moving the inside line is completely different to moving the fence out. The reason Belle Vue is so good is because the relative dimensions, ratios, etc, of inside line, fence line, width, bend radius, etc. is as close to perfect as we have is this country (and possibly the world). Somebody else mentioned Stoke... When Stoke is prepared properly the racing can easily match what I witnessed at Peterborough on Monday. And yes I think the same should happen at Stoke, the circuit should be much wider - I reckon the NSS would easily fit within the confines of Loomer Rd. Shame it will never happen. The track is every promotions biggest asset. (or at least it should be, many of them are actually liabilities!) Most promotions don't seem to realise this.

Yes, think hard... It is one of the better tracks but most of the rest are pretty bad. It is not in Belle Vue's league but has the space for the increased width to allow it to become more like a B.V. Are you (and the rest) actually saying Peterborough wouldn't benefit from increased width? Very odd if so. Some said it was widened previously, was it done on the cheap by chopping away at the inside line? In short, it's a good-ish track but it could be considerably better with relative ease. All tracks should be looking to see how they can be improved.

My first visit to Peterborough and I was fairly impressed, good facilities, pretty good presentation but someone to interact more with the crowd would be helpful to get them going. It's one of the better tracks in the country but is crying out for increased width and that would help massively with the quality of the racing. There aren't multiple lines going into the bends and increasing width would also allow for some banking to be added. Time for some investment in additional track width. Plenty of space to do the necessary.

I always enjoy the PC Meeting but this year I'm feeling rather underwhelmed with the lineup................

So the learned Mr Godfrey said: "We can let even them in for free..." (Not sure if he actually said that or it's a typo in the Star) ".......................But they don't come back the next week." So the obvious conclusion is people do not want to buy the product you are offering. Ask yourself why. Speedway has an image problem and a reality problem. The image is that first out of the start usually wins, most races have very little passing and for the most part nothing of note actually happens during a race. The reality is that first out of the start usually wins, most races have very little passing and for the most part nothing of note actually happens during a race. Once you fix the reality, you will have started the process of fixing the image but it won't happen overnight. You fix the reality by fixing the tracks. Comparisons with F1 are utterly spurious - an annual event in each country with millions of pounds invested by global corporations.

This is all about context - this is a good race because of what depended on it, England winning an international. A race like this, a good chase and 1 pass, should be pretty much a minmum for most heats at all tracks. It's not, and that's mainly (but not exclusively) because the tracks are no good. This is nothing compared to the classic at the NSS last year.