Brandonapolis Is Back

[Gemini 4,894]

The other reason why they need to rattle through these 20+ heat meetings is because people tend to show up earlier owing to the likelihood of a big crowd, long queues etc. So, by the time the racing gets underway folk have been stood around for a while.

 

The cold damp weather at these early meets just exacerbates the situation and leaves many of those who are not die hard fans with an overwhelming feeling of "won't bother with this lark again".

 

Couldn't agree more. I'd have always classed myself as a 'die hard fan' but I just couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of getting there early, standing around in the cold for hours and then being stuck in the car park after the meeting trying to get out again. My husband can't believe I chose to miss the first meeting of the season as I'm usually ultra keen but the horrible weather, plus the fact it wasn't an E.L. match, didn't fill me with enthusiasm. Judging by the comments of people who went I made the right decision.

 

[Druid 18]

Shovlar gets on my nerves at the best of times but its constant attacks on Leigh are getting boring and beyond a joke.....but then what do expect from someone like him

 

 

Sounds like you are going to cry do you want a tissue?

[colincooke 0]

The general concensus here seems to be that this was a long drawn meeting & for someone who had to be up at 4am to get to work i have to agree, Swindon didn't take 3 hours to run 23 heats on sunday did they.

The track was very tricky in the wet but i take my hat off to Mick just to get this meeting on.

Later on there we're some good races & Hans & Bomber looked very comfortable going into the final.

Matej Zagar was my tip for the win, he just didn't look interested.Nicki didn't have any e/fs at all, they we're just pull up's when last a la Gollob.

The tangle in the final between Roo & Jason was just an unfortunate incident caused by deterioriating conditions at that time, as was Bomber's slide off.

I have to mention Eddie cos he was looking fantastic, particularly that sweep round Crumpy, so unlucky.

 

To conclude, a shame a meeting i was very much looking forward to was determined by the the weather & a lack of need for urgency at Brandon that has become all to common these last few seasons.

 

BTW. The right man won.

Edited March 27, 2010 by colincooke

[lucifer sam 3,953]

The track was very tricky in the wet but i take my hat off to Mick just to get this meeting on.

 

CC - Yes, FTM did a good job with the track. Shame that wasn't matched by a commitment by the Coventry promotion to get on with the meeting, instead of dilly-dallying about.

 

 

And Najjer, you've missed the point. It's not the £20 admission people had a problem with (otherwise the bumper crowd of last night wouldn't turned up). But rather, it was the complete lack of any urgency to get on with the meeting on a cold, damp night.

 

EDIT: One or two funny moments last night, standing with "Team Deadlock" (well, everyone seemed to wearing the gear, so it seems an appropriate name). There was Silver Bee's disbelief and horror when Davey Watt went racing around Matej Zagar, and Sandie signing Matt's Speedway Star.

 

FURTHER EDIT: And I've just read SB's comments on the updates thread, and how could I forget: Sandie has just called the ref a naughty word...SilverBee says we have to stamp this yobbish behaviour out!

 

All the best

Rob

Edited March 27, 2010 by lucifer sam

[Stiltonpanther 338]

Have to agree with everyone else on here in that it was a boring meeting. I was pleased with Niels K Iversen as that is the best I have ever seen him at Brandon. Let's hope he does the same next week when the real action starts. Agree with everyone else about the amount of riders who packed up if not in a winning position.

[Najjer 2,889]

And Najjer, you've missed the point. It's not the £20 admission people had a problem with (otherwise the bumper crowd of last night wouldn't turned up). But rather, it was the complete lack of any urgency to get on with the meeting on a cold, damp night.

 

Well there you go then - hardly makes it worth £20 then does it?

[Silver Bee 57]

Mate if I'd paid a tenner I'd still be walking away feeling robbed

[lucifer sam 3,953]

Well there you go then - hardly makes it worth £20 then does it?

 

Nope but it wouldn't have been worth £13/£15/£16 either. You've missed the point. The admission price only effects the number of people who go in the first place - it's the entertainment / slickness of the meeting which then determines if people enjoy it.

 

All the best

Rob

 

[Najjer 2,889]

Nope but it wouldn't have been worth £13/£15/£16 either. You've missed the point. The admission price only effects the number of people who go in the first place - it's the entertainment / slickness of the meeting which then determines if people enjoy it.

 

All the best

Rob

 

I pay my entrance money to be entertained and have a good time - If I leave bored and not entertained, it's a rip off.

[Mr_M 0]

Setting aside (almost) all the negative comments which I think have been well documented above.....

 

As others have said, hats off to Mick and Co for getting the track into any kind of condition for racing given the weather conditions - bl**dy well done! Shame that the conditions for much of the night favoured gate & go, but then that's just the way it is some times.

 

Personally I was encouraged by the performace of all the current Bees. Chris seems to be on very good form, Rory was just getting better and better through the meeting and if Ed hadn't had so many mechanicals who knows what would have happened, (oh - and Ben was just..... Ben!). All bodes well for the new season.

 

Revelation of the night for me was Grzegorz Zengota. After his tangle with Zagar in his first heat he looked distinctly uncomfortable in his next two rides (OK - understatement - watchting him I was permenantly cringing in anticipation of the seemingly inevitable crash!) but he looked to have settled nicely by his fourth ride. And then there was his fifth ride where he went right past everyone (Adams, Andersen & NKI). Like I think a lot of the audience I had to double check my programme to be sure which rider it was - it really was (imho) one of the outstanding rides of the night. He was very unlucky to be brought down by NKI - and even more unlucky that he was excluded when (from where I was sitting) it was fairly clearly NKI's fault. Anyway, looking forward to when he visits Brandon again with the Robins - if he can reproduce that form in the EL then Swindon have one the signings of the season.

 

Oh - and my one negative comment...... "THAT" song! - I don't know about paying to download it - I'd happily pay to have it NEVER played again - it really is absolutely awful

[lucifer sam 3,953]

I pay my entrance money to be entertained and have a good time - If I leave bored and not entertained, it's a rip off.

 

But it's then a rip-off whether you've paid £10 or £20. How does the admission price effect the enjoyment of a meeting?

 

All the best

Rob

 

[colincooke 0]

FFS, you're like kids in a sweet shop some of ya.

[Ross 0]

Was a long old night... But after a few months of no speedway i was just happy to hear and smell speedway bikes again

 

Thank god they didnt mess about with the rider introductions and got on with heat 1 otherwise it could have been a midnight finish. Maybe they should go for a Sunday lunchtime start next season. FTM did great to even get the meeting on after all the rain, it was always going to be a meeting where the outside of the track was going to be a bit of a "no go" area and who wants to risk it this early on.

I wasn't so sure over Mr Pedersens performance , if he wasn't first or second then he didnt want to know and pulled into the centre green, then after the race managed to ride the bike back to the pits.maybe there is more to it but personlly i doubt it and from last night i think Jason is on for another world title. The final was a farce and you would never see Harris fall on his own like that but the delay in getting the riders out and the drizzle made the track really tricky to ride.

 

Not a meeting that will be remembered by many, but the weather really did the damage. I`m sure the riders just enjoyed getting a few races in.

[Ross 0]

You get plenty of football matches that are shocking, i`m sure we have all been to enough speedway meetings to know we were never going to be in for a classic last night after hrs of rain. I thought £20 was an ok price, you pay £16 for a regular meeting for 15 heats. Last night was 22 heats with a high quality field.

[21st century heathen 220]

There's something that hasn't been mentioned yet. Riders wearing the wrong helmet colour, and the referee missed it more than once. Hans Andersen even came out in black and white when he should have been in red!!!! Although everyone would seem to disagree I can understand that the ref can form an opinion on the first turn of the final and decide it should be allowed to continue, but wearing the right helmet colour is not about an opinion. Poor refereeing when you combine this with the decision to re-run a heat that was on the last lap, the failure to re-run the final after a terribly messy run to the first turn and the incredibly long time to run the meeting.

 

I believe the final count on riders not finishing a race or barely getting to the line having ridden the last lap so slow was 10, and only Ed needed a lift back to the pits because of a genuine engine failure while leading Pedersen, Crump and Zagar by a mile. Conditions may not have been absolutely perfect and it may not be the most important meeting of the season to the riders but many were just extracting the urine last night. This was the worst aspect of the night as it would be a little easier to accept the lack of good racing if we could have seen every rider giving it 100% in every ride.

 

Peter Yorke hasn't changed, sadly. After the tangle between Zengota and Zagar the Pole's bike was virtually carried off (I assume a buckled wheel because it wasn't the worst crash you'll ever see). The comment was something like 'well that's a new way to get a bike off track' which is a bit silly. And apparently Phil Crump once won the Brandonapolis light years ago. A light year is a measure of distance not time. And I hope 'the song' is ditched and not played over and over week after week.

 

The whole evening was a major let down after seeing a couple of great meetings this season that proved good racing can happen in March. I sincerely hope there were no first-timers there last night.