An Open Letter To David Hemsley

[mrcts 252]

First of all David i would like to thank you for reviving Leicester Speedway after 28 years,your ambition,drive and single mindedness finally delivered what a lot of us old fans never thought we would ever see again,but goodwill will only stretch so far.

I've see far too many regular speedway fans give up up Leicester speedway solely because the track is so bad....there is no "racing" worthy of the name just a succession of heats consisting of 4 riders in one very long line- follow the leader.

I don't know if you watched the Swedish speedway on Eurosport last night...that was "proper speedway",plenty of passing and most races closely fought(oh, for it to be like that a Beaumont Park).

I read in the June 21st edition of the speedway star that the Finnish GP track at Tampere is to be changed before next years GP,the promoter Jarno Kosonen says the track will be made shorter and wider and considering its a carbon copy of Beaumont Park both in shape and the way it rides why not do the same?

I am a season ticket holder and the 4 guys who i stand with are also season ticket holders,but to a man we have all said unless the track is drastically altered...not the piecemeal so called changes of 2 seasons ago we won't renew,thats approx £1500 in lost revenue to the promotion...if 50 people decide not to renew thats 15 grand,surely it would be cheaper in the long run to keep the punters happy than to lose them forever.

Could you give us a straight answer to a straight question....will the track be significantly altered to provide decent racing..yes or no?

David you've got a great purpose built stadium,good facilities,pleasant staff working for you but a track not fit for purpose and deep down you know that.

Don't mess it up,there's a good lad.

[Stokielee 30]

Very well put. Just shortening it is not the answer though.

Some thought needs to be put in to it as to why it doesn't produce passing now.

It's the shape that's likely to be wrong rather than the size.

It also needs to be done by somebody who has a history of creating decent tracks, not sure Glyn Taylor would be the best choice in that regard.

[Skidder1 7,632]

First of all David i would like to thank you for reviving Leicester Speedway after 28 years,your ambition,drive and single mindedness finally delivered what a lot of us old fans never thought we would ever see again,but goodwill will only stretch so far.

I've see far too many regular speedway fans give up up Leicester speedway solely because the track is so bad....there is no "racing" worthy of the name just a succession of heats consisting of 4 riders in one very long line- follow the leader.

I don't know if you watched the Swedish speedway on Eurosport last night...that was "proper speedway",plenty of passing and most races closely fought(oh, for it to be like that a Beaumont Park).

I read in the June 21st edition of the speedway star that the Finnish GP track at Tampere is to be changed before next years GP,the promoter Jarno Kosonen says the track will be made shorter and wider and considering its a carbon copy of Beaumont Park both in shape and the way it rides why not do the same?

I am a season ticket holder and the 4 guys who i stand with are also season ticket holders,but to a man we have all said unless the track is drastically altered...not the piecemeal so called changes of 2 seasons ago we won't renew,thats approx £1500 in lost revenue to the promotion...if 50 people decide not to renew thats 15 grand,surely it would be cheaper in the long run to keep the punters happy than to lose them forever.

Could you give us a straight answer to a straight question....will the track be significantly altered to provide decent racing..yes or no?

David you've got a great purpose built stadium,good facilities,pleasant staff working for you but a track not fit for purpose and deep down you know that.

Don't mess it up,there's a good lad.

Have you written this to him or are you expecting him to read it on here??

[mrcts 252]

Have you written this to him or are you expecting him to read it on here??

I'm hoping he will read it or I expect one of his acolytes to relay what I have suggested and give a proper response.....not holding my breath as every time I've spoken to him he thinks everything is hunky dory.

[Guest]

First of all David i would like to thank you for reviving Leicester Speedway after 28 years,your ambition,drive and single mindedness finally delivered what a lot of us old fans never thought we would ever see again,but goodwill will only stretch so far.

I've see far too many regular speedway fans give up up Leicester speedway solely because the track is so bad....there is no "racing" worthy of the name just a succession of heats consisting of 4 riders in one very long line- follow the leader.

I don't know if you watched the Swedish speedway on Eurosport last night...that was "proper speedway",plenty of passing and most races closely fought(oh, for it to be like that a Beaumont Park).

I read in the June 21st edition of the speedway star that the Finnish GP track at Tampere is to be changed before next years GP,the promoter Jarno Kosonen says the track will be made shorter and wider and considering its a carbon copy of Beaumont Park both in shape and the way it rides why not do the same?

I am a season ticket holder and the 4 guys who i stand with are also season ticket holders,but to a man we have all said unless the track is drastically altered...not the piecemeal so called changes of 2 seasons ago we won't renew,thats approx £1500 in lost revenue to the promotion...if 50 people decide not to renew thats 15 grand,surely it would be cheaper in the long run to keep the punters happy than to lose them forever.

Could you give us a straight answer to a straight question....will the track be significantly altered to provide decent racing..yes or no?

David you've got a great purpose built stadium,good facilities,pleasant staff working for you but a track not fit for purpose and deep down you know that.

Don't mess it up,there's a good lad.

 

Why not cut-and-paste this and email that to the club?

[Racin Jason 72 1,272]

Glyn Taylor designed and laid the Somerset track which in my opinion is the best track in the country.

He also created the Redcar track and when he curated that was also a fantastic track.

As they say ..... You can't polish a turd.

[Daniel Smith 5,646]

I think the 1st thing that should be tried before the Leicester track shape changes to drastically is increase the banking on the turns and add an extra half inch of shale.

[robert72 845]

I think the 1st thing that should be tried before the Leicester track shape changes to drastically is increase the banking on the turns and add an extra half inch of shale.

 

I don't agree with your point about increasing the banking,I think if they are not going to reshape the track then take all the banking away.

 

I am not sure DH will reply as he feels his track is the best in speedway and won't be told different.

[jim the whipper 231]

First of all , I would like to thank Ken Naylor and a small group of real lions fans for working tirelessly for 28 years to bring back ,what you eventually siezed control of , their ambition,drive and single mindedness finally delivered what a lot of us old fans never thought we would ever see again,but were glad to turn up at on opening day and lord about as if we had been instrumental in anything other than sitting at home and saying I believe it whern it actually opens ,

I've see far too many regular speedway fans give up up Leicester speedway solely because the track is so bad....there is no "racing" worthy of the name just a succession of heats consisting of 4 riders in one very long line- follow the leader.

I don't know if you watched the Swedish speedway on Eurosport last night...that was "proper speedway",plenty of passing and most races closely fought(oh, for it to be like that a Beaumont Park).

I read in the June 21st edition of the speedway star that the Finnish GP track at Tampere is to be changed before next years GP,the promoter Jarno Kosonen says the track will be made shorter and wider and considering its a carbon copy of Beaumont Park both in shape and the way it rides why not do the same?

I am a season ticket holder and the 4 guys who i stand with are also season ticket holders,but to a man we have all said unless the track is drastically altered...not the piecemeal so called changes of 2 seasons ago we won't renew,thats approx £1500 in lost revenue to the promotion...if 50 people decide not to renew thats 15 grand,surely it would be cheaper in the long run to keep the punters happy than to lose them forever.

Could you give us a straight answer to a straight question....will the track be significantly altered to provide decent racing..yes or no?

David you've got a great purpose built stadium,good facilities,pleasant staff working for you but a track not fit for purpose and deep down you know that.

Don't mess up, someone elses dream and hard work there's a good lad.

[hulvik 73]

The Problem at Leicester is not the track but the league. From what I have witnessed over the last few years this type of boring racing is indictive of the Elite league. Anybody who as ever watched the Primer league matches on Sky can not fail to have noticed this.

[spanner47 336]

The Problem at Leicester is not the track but the league. From what I have witnessed over the last few years this type of boring racing is indictive of the Elite league. Anybody who as ever watched the Primer league matches on Sky can not fail to have noticed this.

Certainly not the case in my view, it was rubbish when there were premier league. I've been to almost 200 tracks and there's only a handful I've said "never again", but i certainly said that when i walked out of there. But i was hopeful things would change, he was making a lot money with big crowds, and i assumed it was a case of where he would invest the money, build a decent stand, or improve the track, sadly he did neither. Me and the wife stood under the cover on the back straight, when the racing started and they all stood uo at the front, all we could see was the helmets as they went past, so we moved to the 3rd bend, so not only was the track a massive cock up, no thought went into that stand either.

[Shale Searcher 1,264]

The banking has been increased considerably since opening, it also cannot be increased to a final height overnight, it's a slow, gradual process, if you want the surface to be usable, same really all round the track, building up a usable layer of shale is an on going, slow process, otherwise you end up with a load of deep slop when it rains, or a rock hard concrete finish when it's not raining!

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

 

I am not sure DH will reply as he feels his track is the best in speedway and won't be told different.

 

And that's the real problem - a promoter who can't (or, more likely, won't) admit there is something wrong despite the overwhelming opinion expressed by fans across the country.

 

If there's nothing wrong, why spend money fixing it ?

[Tom Turner 347]

Certainly not the case in my view, it was rubbish when there were premier league. I've been to almost 200 tracks and there's only a handful I've said "never again", but i certainly said that when i walked out of there. But i was hopeful things would change, he was making a lot money with big crowds, and i assumed it was a case of where he would invest the money, build a decent stand, or improve the track, sadly he did neither. Me and the wife stood under the cover on the back straight, when the racing started and they all stood uo at the front, all we could see was the helmets as they went past, so we moved to the 3rd bend, so not only was the track a massive cock up, no thought went into that stand either.

 

200 tracks? I didn't even know there was 200 tracks in the whole world?

[Man in black 18]

Just had a look at Beaumont Park on Google maps satellite view & it's not hard to see why the racing is poor. From the air it looks like Belle Vue, only narrower. Makes an interesting comparison with other recent "green field" tracks like Somerset, Scunthorpe & Redcar and you have to ask who thought it would be a good idea to build it like this? Long straights, tight bends with narrow entry & exit = no room to pass.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.6688119,-1.1598311,483m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en (Leicester)

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2302026,-2.9555397,250m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en (Somerset)

Edited June 26, 2014 by Man in black