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Warsaw Gp Saturday 18th April

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It depends on how you view it........... if the owners are interested in speedway holding events in their stadium then it is in their interest to open the doors as early as they can ................. and it's up to the promoters to get that across to them

 

and if it isnt possible? then either Speedway needs to scientifically learn new ways or the promoters move on until they find a stadium where they can have a week before

 

 

Stadium owners just want to fill their stadia with events - they generally couldn't care less with what. They rent out the stadium to third party promoters, whether that's speedway or a rock concert, and it's up to those promoters to organise the events, sell the tickets and take the financial risk. It's largely irrelevant to the stadium how the event is run, whether it's cancelled, or whatever... provided the stadium is not damaged and returned in the same condition it was hired in (although the stadium probably takes responsibility for post event cleaning).

 

They'll no doubt also charge for every day the stadium is rented to a third party, even if the stadium is otherwise not required, because the renters will still be using electricity and other facilities. For big events you might get a certain lead-in time for preparation as part of the hire cost, but I'd be surprised if it's more than a couple of days for no extra charge.

 

well yes ive bought and sold a few items and understand the concept ..... but ive also had to provide some service and in some instances bend over backwards to bring the trade in...... transactions are a two way thing.........

 

are we thinking that BSI are paying the guys who own the Millenium Stadium full rates for each of the days leading up to the GP? I suspect if they were they wouldnt be making much... if at all anything.... even with a couple of free days before

 

For example if Bruce Springsteen played the Millenium Stadium....... using crude percentages how much do we think the owners are getting from the event? I would be suprised if they werent getting 20%...... start giving them money for 7 days leading up to it and you wont have any left for yourself

 

and the line of mine that you didnt quote is of course the alternative for if they are unable to negotiate longer terms with a stadium that they would like to stage a GP in........ keep looking and meanwhile pushing forward with the science of it, with the intention of reducing the time the track building takes

 

Yup, Olsen clearly being set-up for the fall in the Spar, with only relatively mild criticism of BSI given the circumstances. :rolleyes:

 

Wonder who the 'blue chip crisis management expert' commenting was?

 

I hope they are confident that they will be able to successfully replace him if that is the intention. The last thing they need is to bring someone in who cannot get it right

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For example if Bruce Springsteen played the Millenium Stadium....... using crude percentages how much do we think the owners are getting from the event? I would be suprised if they werent getting 20%...... start giving them money for 7 days leading up to it and you wont have any left for yourself

 

I've read somewhere that Wembley costs 250k per day to rent, plus 10% of the gate takings.

 

The Millennium would probably be somewhat cheaper, not least because it's subsidised by the Welsh government. My guess would be maybe half that amount, but a lower fee for the extra days for track building/dismantling.

 

So maybe half a million quid in total for the week - but that's really something of a guess.

Edited by Humphrey Appleby

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Whatever happened to Ole Olsen roll up track he talked about back in 2003ish?

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Time and again in the riders' quotes it seems that it really is all about not being able to cope with green lights starts.

That was the clincher.

 

I'm amazed that so many of them go through a pre-race ritual of 'practice starts' all around the track on the way to the tapes.

All that practice without tapes.
How on earth do they do it?

And then on the big night, when the tapes are taken away
They are impotent.
All limp and flaccid.

Little boys like that are best just playing with themselves.

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I've read somewhere that Wembley costs 250k per day to rent, plus 10% of the gate takings.

 

The Millennium would probably be somewhat cheaper, not least because it's subsidised by the Welsh government. My guess would be maybe half that amount, but a lower fee for the extra days for track building/dismantling.

 

So maybe half a million quid in total for the week - but that's really something of a guess.

 

I hadnt even considered the time taken to dismantle........ based on that Wembley price your estimation probably isnt far off ........ for it to be protected as the only GB GP for all these years I cannot imagine BSI are giving the Millenium Stadium the lion's share

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From a retro perspective, I'd just like to say what a privilege it was to know and interview the riders of the pre-95 era, when men were men and, by and large, they got on with it no matter how bad track conditions were.

 

Coming as the first GP of 2015 did In the week of the funeral of Nigel Boocock, one of the most courageous and injury-plagued riders ever to grace the world stage, the actions of the GP prima donnas in Warsaw was contemptible. Booey must have been turning in his grave at the complete disregard the 'Warsaw 18' showed for the supporters who had invested money and time travelling to Poland.

 

This was Rider Power at its most destructive worst. Nowadays, if they insist they will not ride, then there is nothing anyone - the referee, BSI, PZM, Ole Olsen et al - can possibly do about it.

 

Whoever had the idea of sending out the riders to further insult the intelligence of the 55,000 crowd with a 'lap of dishonour' after the meeting was curtailed should receive the 'P***-Take Of The Year' Award.

 

The damage inflicted on the sport and the GP series as a whole by their refusal to complete the meeting beyond the 12th heat, in conditions no worse than many other big meetings we have witnessed down the years, is incalculable.

 

One of the worst aspects was what seemed a complete lack of communication with the viewing public and the thousands watching at home on TV. I always Sky+ the GPs, because the delays between races are invariably interminable, but the lack of information coming from the commentators working for British Eurosport throughout the ridiculous delay was unprecedented in televised sporting history. I don't doubt that the comms themselves didn't know any more than we did about what was happening behind the scenes, where the riders debunked to the dressing room to agree on their sickening rebellion pact - but they should have done.

 

In this digital communications age, was it really beyond the wit of a Eurosport producer or member of staff in London to dial or text from a mobile phone and connect with a contact in the pits at Warsaw (Steve Brandon?) to try and establish what was going on, so that the likes of Nigel Pearson/Kelvin Tatum and Andy Jaye/Scott Nicholls could, in turn, relay updates to their viewers? Poor Scott, he deserved a 'Man of the Meeting' award for the way he had to fend off one rhetoric question after another from Andy Jaye, whose lack of speedway knowledge was put to the test. The 'padding' was cringeworthy, but at the same time you had to feel sorry for them. Eurosport need to look very closely at how it handles presentation of GPs in future and, if need be, it should insist that the GP organisers BSI always provide a clear line of communication at all times. Viewers of live TV events simply cannot be left in the dark for 30-40 minutes, or whatever it was before the plug was finally pulled.

 

The one saving grace (if there can possibly be one given the dire circumstances) is that the sad, lamentable events of Saturday are confined to the pages of Speedway Star, one column in MCN and social media. The British press probably won't have even heard about it, let alone report on the farce that unfolded. On wretched occasions such as this, we have to be thankful that the national media ignore our sport, otherwise you dread to think what they would have made of it.

 

If you think I'm being unkind to the riders who compete (or don't, as the case may be) today, check out video footage of numerous meetings from the 70s, notably the 1975 and 1977 World Finals, plus the 1984 British Final, the 1978 BLRC and the 1979 UK WTC round at Reading, which was run in horrendously wet conditions.

 

Safety standards for riders barely existed back in the day but they still got on with it. There were no dirt deflectors, no air fences to cushion the fall. Just totally committed riders who cared a lot more about the sport that gave them their living - the bigger picture - rather than themselves.

 

 

Brilliant summing up, agree completely

 

To be honest Tony, apart from a few morons spouting the "riders know best" they risk their lives for our entertainment" cobblers then more and more now seem accepting that the track was perfectly adequate and the riders were a disgrace.

 

Hopefully in the fullness of time they will get duly punished for what happened on Saturday

 

That though shouldn't exonerate others for their part. The FIM jury for allowing this to get as far as it did are culpable along with the race director. The failure to provide another starting gate, although a green light was an adequate solution it could have been avoided was a major cock up

Edited by Oldace
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Brilliant summing up, agree completely

 

To be honest Tony, apart from a few morons spouting the "riders know best" they risk their lives for our entertainment" cobblers then more and more now seem accepting that the track was perfectly adequate and the riders were a disgrace.

 

Hopefully in the fullness of time they will get duly punished for what happened on Saturday

 

That though shouldn't exonerate others for their part. The FIM jury for allowing this to get as far as it did are culpable along with the race director. The failure to provide another starting gate, although a green light was an adequate solution it could have been avoided was a major cock up

 

I do have an issue in people saying 'that the track was perfectly adequate' or 'perfectly rideable' ....... watch ht10 please and tell me it was 'perfectly' anything

.............. The riders should have been going back out there and had no grounds to down tools for the night.... but they did have a case for grumble....and there was a case that the track needed attention

 

 

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Whoever had the idea of sending out the riders to further insult the intelligence of the 55,000 crowd with a 'lap of dishonour' after the meeting was curtailed should receive the 'P***-Take Of The Year' Award.

 

While I agree with the sentiments in the rest of your post,i just wonder if the parade was planned before to honour Gollobs career?Once the meeting was called off the organisers still wanted to honour Gollob.It was the only and last chance,so they went ahead with the parade and presentation as planned at the end of the meeting.I agree it didn't feel right,but I guess the alternative was to give Gollob anther wildcard for the next Polish GP and that might not have been possible?

 

In the end it wasn't really a fitting end to his GP career though

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From a retro perspective, I'd just like to say what a privilege it was to know and interview the riders of the pre-95 era, when men were men and, by and large, they got on with it no matter how bad track conditions were.

 

Coming as the first GP of 2015 did In the week of the funeral of Nigel Boocock, one of the most courageous and injury-plagued riders ever to grace the world stage, the actions of the GP prima donnas in Warsaw was contemptible. Booey must have been turning in his grave at the complete disregard the 'Warsaw 18' showed for the supporters who had invested money and time travelling to Poland.

 

This was Rider Power at its most destructive worst. Nowadays, if they insist they will not ride, then there is nothing anyone - the referee, BSI, PZM, Ole Olsen et al - can possibly do about it.

 

Whoever had the idea of sending out the riders to further insult the intelligence of the 55,000 crowd with a 'lap of dishonour' after the meeting was curtailed should receive the 'P***-Take Of The Year' Award.

 

The damage inflicted on the sport and the GP series as a whole by their refusal to complete the meeting beyond the 12th heat, in conditions no worse than many other big meetings we have witnessed down the years, is incalculable.

 

One of the worst aspects was what seemed a complete lack of communication with the viewing public and the thousands watching at home on TV. I always Sky+ the GPs, because the delays between races are invariably interminable, but the lack of information coming from the commentators working for British Eurosport throughout the ridiculous delay was unprecedented in televised sporting history. I don't doubt that the comms themselves didn't know any more than we did about what was happening behind the scenes, where the riders debunked to the dressing room to agree on their sickening rebellion pact - but they should have done.

 

In this digital communications age, was it really beyond the wit of a Eurosport producer or member of staff in London to dial or text from a mobile phone and connect with a contact in the pits at Warsaw (Steve Brandon?) to try and establish what was going on, so that the likes of Nigel Pearson/Kelvin Tatum and Andy Jaye/Scott Nicholls could, in turn, relay updates to their viewers? Poor Scott, he deserved a 'Man of the Meeting' award for the way he had to fend off one rhetoric question after another from Andy Jaye, whose lack of speedway knowledge was put to the test. The 'padding' was cringeworthy, but at the same time you had to feel sorry for them. Eurosport need to look very closely at how it handles presentation of GPs in future and, if need be, it should insist that the GP organisers BSI always provide a clear line of communication at all times. Viewers of live TV events simply cannot be left in the dark for 30-40 minutes, or whatever it was before the plug was finally pulled.

 

The one saving grace (if there can possibly be one given the dire circumstances) is that the sad, lamentable events of Saturday are confined to the pages of Speedway Star, one column in MCN and social media. The British press probably won't have even heard about it, let alone report on the farce that unfolded. On wretched occasions such as this, we have to be thankful that the national media ignore our sport, otherwise you dread to think what they would have made of it.

 

If you think I'm being unkind to the riders who compete (or don't, as the case may be) today, check out video footage of numerous meetings from the 70s, notably the 1975 and 1977 World Finals, plus the 1984 British Final, the 1978 BLRC and the 1979 UK WTC round at Reading, which was run in horrendously wet conditions.

 

Safety standards for riders barely existed back in the day but they still got on with it. There were no dirt deflectors, no air fences to cushion the fall. Just totally committed riders who cared a lot more about the sport that gave them their living - the bigger picture - rather than themselves.

good post TMC and hopefully looking forward this will have given everyone a jolt, and a reminder of what their roles are............ on the night everyone messed up and the riders took it upon themselves to carry out the final calamity

 

Steve Brandon was talking to Nigel & Kelvin in the hour after heat 12 ..... but had nothing to report on the riders' meeting.... nothing was coming out

 

The treatment of the media.... and by extension all of the fans who werent in the stadium was a disgrace..... it would have been a disgrace in the 70's.... let alone now......................... if the riders want to play hardball then there should have been a statement made by one of them................ if the Jury want to rubber stamp the decision then a statement should have been made by them ............... if BSI/PZM want fans to feel valued then a statement should have been made............................I still cannot believe that fans had to endure what was an extremely painful 12 heats over two hours...... followed by another hour's wait with no update..... and then no statement...no interview............................. put simply it is just suicide for a sport in this day and age

 

edit: and as for the fans in the stadium who simply put are being robbed by the chain of events .... I wouldnt be suprised if a large portion of them never trust the GP's enough again to go to one

 

I disagree about the coverage to follow............... i'd like it to be warts and all, turning over every stone with full disclosure as the secrets, lies and back scratching in speedway is part of its problem............ lets have it all out and then move on

 

 

and if the riders want to change the margins involved in 'rider safety'.... then it is clear to me that it will end up in changes to the bikes

Edited by spook
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Oh my word, Speedwáy Star in refusing to blame officials shock. Theres a surprise.

well as most of them were British dont think that was ever going to be the case...

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Brilliant summing up, agree completely

 

To be honest Tony, apart from a few morons spouting the "riders know best" they risk their lives for our entertainment" cobblers then more and more now seem accepting that the track was perfectly adequate and the riders were a disgrace.

 

Hopefully in the fullness of time they will get duly punished for what happened on Saturday

 

That though shouldn't exonerate others for their part. The FIM jury for allowing this to get as far as it did are culpable along with the race director. The failure to provide another starting gate, although a green light was an adequate solution it could have been avoided was a major cock up

 

Spot on.

 

I would also add that the others who are revelling in it and refuse to point any blame at the riders are those with prior agendas. i.e. the anti-GP/BSI mob..

 

As you say, that doesn't exonerate the other errors made.

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