The 4 Hours Speedway Meeting....

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.... is that is killing the sport. Meetings should take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to run, seriously, sort it out!

[The White Knight 9,039]

.... is that is killing the sport. Meetings should take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to run, seriously, sort it out!

Where was this SCB?

[Paulco 7,075]

Where was this SCB?

The Simon Lambert testimonial today .

[The White Knight 9,039]

The Simon Lambert testimonial today .

AAhh right.

 

Thanks very much Paulco.

 

A ridiculous time for a Meeting that. :nono:

 

I reckon, if it was cold, I would have left before the end.

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Where was this SCB?

Anywhere. Been to a few of them over the years and I see its come up again today at Simon Lamberts testimonial.

[Paulco 7,075]

AAhh right.

 

Thanks very much Paulco.

 

A ridiculous time for a Meeting that. :nono:

 

I reckon, if it was cold, I would have left before the end.

To be fair , there were some crashes . Plus testimonials are dreadful meetings to watch

[The White Knight 9,039]

To be fair , there were some crashes . Plus testimonials are dreadful meetings to watch

Yes. Fair comment Paulco.

 

I take your point.

[Star Lady 5,400]

Aren't testimonials run by a committee? Never a plan for brevity, however well intentioned.

[Paulco 7,075]

Aren't testimonials run by a committee? Never a plan for brevity, however well intentioned.

They probably are , but unless you are a big fan of the particular rider , they're a no-no for the discerning speedway fan .

[ouch 1,191]

Belle Vue are very quick with meetings, 90mins tops with one Colts match last year being run in under an hour.

 

Buster does seem to take an age with meetings but after the U21 farce I thought he'd do everything to prevent this and keep the fans happy.

Guess not. Great shame.

[G the Bee 639]

This is one of speedway's biggest problems. I've posted this before, but it's worth bringing up again.

 

For years I tried to get my son into the sport, but the fact is, he's bored to tears by heat 4. Why? Because in about half an hour, he's seen about 4 minutes of action. It's why speedway simply cannot attract a younger audience.

 

The modern generation expect entertainment instantly. They need something going on in front of them all of the time. The world has changed hugely in the last 20 years but the sport is stuck in the 1970s in terms of what it thinks constitutes an acceptable standard of entertainment.

• Every speedway meeting should have 20 heats, with the aim of having them all done and dusted in about an hour and a half. The whole way the meeting is run should be with the aim of giving the supporter as little 'down time' as possible.
• The riders should have 30 seconds after a race to exit the track, which is still ample time for the winning rider to pop a few wheelies to entertain the fans.
• The two minute time allowance should be halved.
• After this time, the one-minute time allowance for the next heat would be sounded.
• At the end of the one-minute, the start marshal needs to be able to signal to the referee to put on the green light. Any rider causing the start marshal to be unable to do this would be excluded and fined.
• Unsatisfactory starts for rolling would be more heavily penalised. Instant exclusion and a fine for the rider deemed to be moving before tapes up. If a rider knew rolling would hit them in the pocket with a double-whammy, they would all stop doing it.
• Riders should never be allowed to return to the pits. Even in the event of a delay for a fall, the riders not involved in the fall should have to wait on the centre green until the re-run.
• Riders should not be given as much time as they are currently given to get themselves ready after a fall. Far too often I see a rider get up, walk back to the pits and then take an age to get ready for the next heat. If their preferred bike is damaged, clogged up with shale, got bent bars etc, tough luck. Use your spare.
• Strictly timed brief grading intervals after heats 5, 10 and 15. These would replace the traditional interval at heat 10/12.
• Referees need to be tougher. They are in charge of the meeting, not the riders.

We're in the entertainment business. It's about time the riders and promoters started to realise that, because I honestly think very few of them actually do.

Edited March 26, 2017 by G the Bee

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This is one of speedway's biggest problems. I've posted this before, but it's worth bringing up again.

 

It long been a pet hate of mine but these days, working 2 hours from the nearest speedway tracks (taking into account traffic conditions) the last thing I want after having been in work all day is to get to a track, eat a manky burger that just cost £5-6 and then stand around for 2+ hours knowing I have to travel home another hour or more after the meeting. It just puts me off attending. They can't do anything about how far I work from a track and there probably very little they can do about the crap food on offer but they could get meetings over in a timely fashion so I can be home at a semi reasonable time so I can eat when I get home.

 

If it irks me, how much does it annoy and put off kids and far more casual fans that me? That said, I am only a causal fan these days, they need to be asking why.

[Trees 2,814]

Yes it went on a bit but we had a few falls, we had junior races, presentations to riders and committee, interviews with Kings Lynn legends as well as 23 heats of senior races. Testimonials are not meetings to be rushed through, they should be to celebrate a rider's 10 years with a club as they see fit ......

[cityrebel 2,960]

Fair point, and that's the reason I don't go to testimonials.

[The White Knight 9,039]

Yes it went on a bit but we had a few falls, we had junior races, presentations to riders and committee, interviews with Kings Lynn legends as well as 23 heats of senior races. Testimonials are not meetings to be rushed through, they should be to celebrate a rider's 10 years with a club as they see fit ......

I agree to a point - but - FOUR HOURS is ridiculous. Allowing for the 'extras' at a Testimonial Meeting - I reckon two and a half to three hours with three hours being the absolute limit.

 

You are right when you say that you have to consider the Rider whose Testimonial is being celebrated - but surely you should consider the paying public too. Without them - it wouldn't be much of a Testimonial.