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PHILIPRISING

Why Can't All Speedway Be Like This

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Grading of riders has been considered several times, but the system has more flaws than direct averages. Within grades there are bands covering say 1 point, e.g, 6.99 to 7.99. One team gets say a 7.01 rider and another richer team gets a 7.99 rider, so the lesser teams will lose part of the potential sum total of the agreed grading value. If say a team signs all lower riders within their grades, their team could be about 6 points value less than someone who is rich enough to sign all the top of grade riders. Averages don't lose or gain value, they are what they are, and are much more practical than anything others have considered. Everyone, to start with, has the opportunity to sign riders upto the agreed limit, making the potential of equal value teams. Grading does not.

There is still the possibility of discounts for signing home riders in either system.

 

BRING BACK RIDER CONTROL!!! :blink: :blink:

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BRING BACK RIDER CONTROL!!! :blink: :blink:

 

They have, it's now called points limit and you sign who you want.

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We need stars like Jepsen Jensen back in British speedway.

 

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes::oops::oops:

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If Sky do decide to pull the plug, it would be a great shame. As someone who has returned to to speedway after many years away, it seems to me that only Sky have attempted to drag the sport into the 21st century. Their coverage has been excellent for two reasons. (1) They attempt to portray the sport in the best light possible- camera angles which suggest bigger crowds and a greater atmosphere than is actually present (from reports, Poole this week would be a case in point).(2) I've gained a much greater appreciation of riders/engines/track craft from Chris Louis in the pits this season than all my years at Coatbridge/Glasgow and now Eastbourne. And Nigel Pearson, righty or wrongly, tries so hard to breathe life into a race where 9 times out of 10 things are settled in the first 2 corners. I realise this can distract people but what comes across to me is his real love of the sport.

I went back to Arlington for the first time in 13 years, drawn in by watching Darcy Ward, Chris Holder and (pantomime villain) Niki Pederson on TV. I was amazed that the crowd for an Elite League meeting was smaller than a national league meeting at Blantyre 30 years ago. And the world champion was on show! Having said that, the crowd themselves were as polite and enthusiastic as ever. Again, people who love the sport. But the facilities were no better than Blantyre. I mean no disrespect to the Dugards and Trevor Geer (who apparently works for free!) as they can only work with the money they bring through the gate. It made me wonder whether the track would benefit from being in the Premier League (do you realise how ridiculous that name sounds when it's not actually the top league?) where they could have 12 league matches plus the KO Cup? Do we realise that if Ryanair went out of business, we would have little or no world class riders competing in the UK? My question would be

 

Why can Polish speedway promoters attract thousands through their gate?

Purely guessing, I'd go for cheap gate prices and better stadiums surrounding smooth tracks with a bit of dirt on the outside?

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BRING BACK RIDER CONTROL!!! :blink: :blink:

They have, it's now called points limit and you sign who you want.

Here's how it works:-

A rider decides what points average he wants to be on and then manipulates several 'engine failures' until he attains that average. Hence RIDER CONTROL. Simple!

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OVER the past two Mondays we have been greatly entertained on Sky with terrific meetings from Swindon, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Poole. Last night's fare from Wimborne Road, especially for neutrals like me, was pulsating. Good racing surfaces, good crowds, what more could you want?

 

If British speedway was always like this (an impossible dream I know) the sport would have no financial woes and Sky wouldn't even hesitate about a new contract. What is does prove is that fundamentally the actual product can still be terrific

 

Your right but promotions should look at themselves. You would know more but maybe some have taken the Sky money and done very little to improve the product for it.

 

Cant agree about Poole's track. Riders were taking off and leaving the ground when hitting a ridge entering bend 1. Have a look at the replay when Andersen and Josh G came together as an example. The track only has one line up by the fence after a few heats. Didn't the Poole team complain earlier in the season ?

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TRACK has been relaid since then and, frankly, riders weren't complaining on Monday. How often do you see a 'perfect' track these days anywhere? In fact, a track that is too easy to ride and doesn't cause any mistakes can result in a boring meeting. It's all in the eyes of the beholder of course.

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Philip,

I'm back watching speedway after a long time away. With regard to the tracks, would you say it's unusual to have so many top riders having bad injuries in one season?

Especially on poorly prepared surfaces or temporary tracks eg Woffy has broke his collarbone twice at temporary circuits.

I'm also thinking of Lingren at Cardiff, injured from nowhere.

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OVER the past two Mondays we have been greatly entertained on Sky with terrific meetings from Swindon, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Poole. Last night's fare from Wimborne Road, especially for neutrals like me, was pulsating. Good racing surfaces, good crowds, what more could you want?

 

If British speedway was always like this (an impossible dream I know) the sport would have no financial woes and Sky wouldn't even hesitate about a new contract.

 

What is does prove is that fundamentally the actual product can still be terrific. That's the frustrating part.

Interesting and refreshingly honest match report in this weeks speedway star from Paul Rickett reporting on the 13 heat Retro cup fixture at Sheffield last Thursday.He reports"The message from the 13 heat exercise was that,even though the scoreline was nip and tuck all the way through,if the promoters really want to turn the clock back to the old terrace thronged days,then on this end of season evidence they might be better off addressing what is more and more becoming the problem of supercharged processional racing"Some reporters particularity the one in the local newspaper I read regularly describes meeting as thrillers when having attended I know that they were not.The problem lies with that most speedway reporters/journalists are fans(think Nigel Pearson)and are loathed to paint the sport in a negative light.Also today expectations of the sport have become less than they were,a heat with a pass or a meeting with 5 passes in total are labelled classics when they are not,similarly with crowds,anything over 1000 is deemed huge by the commentators,when in reality a few years ago that figure was just the norm.The recent meeting at Poole was no where near the standard of the classic Play off final of 2010 and the crowd significantly less.Unfortunately speedway took another direction after 2010 which may go some way to explaining why the racing is more processional and crowds are reducing year on year ! Edited by New Science

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I am one (of the many on here) who can hark back to when 'speedway was great'...

 

The reality though is that the speedway wasn't that much better than we have today (if at all)..

 

You only have to look at youtube coverage of the 70/80/90's to see that one or two good races per meeting was about 'the norm' with the first rider round turn two winning the vast majority of races..

 

What is different today is that you watch the same kind of races in virtually empty stadia, which adversely effects any kind of atmosphere being generated..

 

In the 'golden years' the noise generated by the sheer crowd size made the most mundane 3-3 seem 'an event' hence the entertainment level appeared higher...

 

I would go as far as to suggest it isn't the standard of racing that's the main reason crowds have decimated, but rather it is the 'mickey mouse' perception in the way the sport is run that has turned far more away, I know many who have simply 'given up' due to this and I myself have done so on more than one occasion!...

 

Why can't all speedway be like this? Without a big crowd to generate an atmosphere, it cannot be. In the 'great meetings' tucked away in our memory banks you can bet the vast majority took place in front of a large vociferous crowd which made the occasion 'special'...

 

Keep charging £20 to get in and buy a prog and speedway will never deliver 'great nights' consistently as simply not enough will turn up to generate that much needed noise and atmosphere...

 

Keep coming up with the 'mickey mouse' ways of running (or should that say ruining?) the sport on top of this, and eventually it will be the crowd changes that get announced each week before the rider changes..!!

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I am one (of the many on here) who can hark back to when 'speedway was great'...

 

The reality though is that the speedway wasn't that much better than we have today (if at all)..

 

You only have to look at youtube coverage of the 70/80/90's to see that one or two good races per meeting was about 'the norm' with the first rider round turn two winning the vast majority of races..

 

What is different today is that you watch the same kind of races in virtually empty stadia, which adversely effects any kind of atmosphere being generated..

 

In the 'golden years' the noise generated by the sheer crowd size made the most mundane 3-3 seem 'an event' hence the entertainment level appeared higher...

 

I would go as far as to suggest it isn't the standard of racing that's the main reason crowds have decimated, but rather it is the 'mickey mouse' perception in the way the sport is run that has turned far more away, I know many who have simply 'given up' due to this and I myself have done so on more than one occasion!...

 

Why can't all speedway be like this? Without a big crowd to generate an atmosphere, it cannot be. In the 'great meetings' tucked away in our memory banks you can bet the vast majority took place in front of a large vociferous crowd which made the occasion 'special'...

 

Keep charging £20 to get in and buy a prog and speedway will never deliver 'great nights' consistently as simply not enough will turn up to generate that much needed noise and atmosphere...

 

Keep coming up with the 'mickey mouse' ways of running (or should that say ruining?) the sport on top of this, and eventually it will be the crowd changes that get announced each week before the rider changes..!!

As much as i enjoy speedway now, i will be shot down i exspect but theyre is no doubt in my mind speedway in yesteryear it was far superior to todays racing i watch.Dont get me wrong, the GP series is in great shape ( i am not a big supporter) but credit where it is due it is in a good place.League racing no comparison in my book the league racing say from 1970/88 far superior in my view.The annoying thing is the product is there i believe but i don't no if other elder supporters feel the same i have given up on the sport ever changing it won't ever happen not in my lifetime.I know years ago i did see alot of dross, it was not all great racing but now at times i can't wait for heat 15 to finish that's one thing i never felt from the first time i went with my uncle in 1969. Edited by sidney

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The main thing that has changed in Speedway is the passion of the fans ....in the old days that always made the match look and feel better than is was ...it was like the other night after losing to Poole I really did not care to much and that sort of feeling is what I sense at most tracks these days .

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Not much hope when the farce that was Belle Vue v Poole on 9 September last appears to have the 'blessing' of all that run speedway in this country.

Edited by TonyE

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Not much hope when the farce that was Belle Vue v Poole on 9 September last appears to have the 'blessing' of all that run speedway in this country.

 

It seemed a bit 'OFF' to me. :shock::mad:

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