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TonyMac

So where did it all go wrong?

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26 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

YOU could count the number of promoters who go to Cardiff on one hand. Says it all ...

Really? I'll try that next year.

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57 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

YOU could count the number of promoters who go to Cardiff on one hand. Says it all ...

can't afford it

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To be fair Speedway and Grasstrack sidecars are loved by many, it seems like they are more popular than solo's with spectators at Grasstrack........but I have never liked them much.

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13 minutes ago, ch958 said:

can't afford it

Every promoter (and their entourage) I've seen are on comps

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1 hour ago, Vince said:

Sidecars :o a perfectly good motorcycle ruined :D

 

I have a mate who says exactly the same about road bikes converted into trikes :D....

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1 hour ago, Vince said:

To be fair Speedway and Grasstrack sidecars are loved by many, it seems like they are more popular than solo's with spectators at Grasstrack........but I have never liked them much.

Love the sidecars on the grasstrack - but speedway tracks seem too narrow in comparison (and too short) for full on racing

Brandon staged sidecars on occasions but I never found any entertainment or excitement from them

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13 minutes ago, Midland Red said:

Love the sidecars on the grasstrack - but speedway tracks seem too narrow in comparison (and too short) for full on racing

Brandon staged sidecars on occasions but I never found any entertainment or excitement from them

I agree. I've seen junior speedway, sidecars and even quads after the main meeting at Swindon. The fact is the majority of supporters leave before the support races even start.

This isn't the solution to speedway's problems.

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6 minutes ago, MattK said:

I agree. I've seen junior speedway, sidecars and even quads after the main meeting at Swindon. The fact is the majority of supporters leave before the support races even start.

This isn't the solution to speedway's problems.

30 odd years ago, when Bob Jones and Jim Gregory rode their Rudges with Steve Chilman on a Douglas and others rode in second half most people stayed.

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1 minute ago, JOS50 said:

30 odd years ago, when Bob Jones and Jim Gregory rode their Rudges with Steve Chilman on a Douglas and others rode in second half most people stayed.

It is a strange phenomenon. At Swindon more than half the crowd leave before the team have come round on the victory parade, let alone stay for the post meeting interviews, MoTM presentation etc. I can't explain it. I'd rather stand around for 10 minutes watching the proceedings than sit in a queue of traffic waiting to get out of the car park

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1 hour ago, MattK said:

Every promoter (and their entourage) I've seen are on comps

yeah it was just a gag

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5 hours ago, MattK said:

It is a strange phenomenon. At Swindon more than half the crowd leave before the team have come round on the victory parade, let alone stay for the post meeting interviews, MoTM presentation etc. I can't explain it. I'd rather stand around for 10 minutes watching the proceedings than sit in a queue of traffic waiting to get out of the car park

You see that at most tracks...they all walk towards the exit before heat 15 and then rush out of the gate on lap 4 of heat 15..but a fair few do it and they then sit in traffic.   The daft thing though is even if everyone leaves at the same time..it barely takes 2 mins to get out of car park since so few people go .

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12 hours ago, Vince said:

This video gives some idea of the effort put into making the AMA Supercross a well publicised and superb spectacle.

The social media coverage is excellent, the events are well publicised locally and held in Football stadiums with top notch facilities.

The racing is great (a must watch on the PC every Sunday morning for me). The stars of the sport become rich and famous as sportsmen.

It is supported by factory efforts from the main manufacturers backed up by some huge sponsorship deals and teams. Vast sums of money are invested in these events.

They run around 18 meetings a year between January and May throughout the US.

They do absolutely everything that I have seen suggested needs doing for Speedway.

The live crowds are dropping, currently they are still big enough to be sustainable but it's becoming a real concern.

I think the majority of live sports are losing spectators in an age when you can watch just about anything on your phone, PC or TV at little or no cost.

Don't know the answers but Speedway has been around a lot longer than Supercross and it seems to have found a level now.

I was in Barcelona before Christmas and as I was on a tour bus I saw banner for the Superprestigio. Greta I though, I'll pop along and see that, see Marques and hopefully a speedway rider or two as they have competed in recent years - just my luck that no Marques and no speedway riders (Kylmakoprpi having retired and Lindgren being injured I guess) but I still had a decent evening out for about £20. The racing was OK, there was passing (100% up the inside) but the actual show itself was better. There was noise, a light and razzmatazz.

OK it's a one off but surely that just makes all them things more expensive to do? Why does British Speedway do it best to be as boring and dull as possible before, after and between heats?

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1 hour ago, SCB said:

...Why does British Speedway do it best to be as boring and dull as possible before, after and between heats?

How dare you? How can the music of Glenn Miller, Bill Haley and Roy Orbison possibly be called dull? ;)

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13 hours ago, MattK said:

I agree. I've seen junior speedway, sidecars and even quads after the main meeting at Swindon. The fact is the majority of supporters leave before the support races even start.

This isn't the solution to speedway's problems.

It isn't, but you could do it in the interval (if you have one) instead.

Personally, I loathe intervals but if there is some form of attraction it makes them slightly more tolerable. 

Isle of Wight have a kids bike race. All lined up at the tapes with their helmets on to rocket round, and they even have handicaps for some of the older competitors. I still would prefer to get on with the meeting but I have no reason to doubt Barry Bishop when he told me that that is why some of the youngsters are actually there, the speedway coming a distant second. 

Better that than standing around in the freezing cold for 20 minutes as I did at Birmingham a couple of seasons back. 

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11 hours ago, SCB said:

OK it's a one off but surely that just makes all them things more expensive to do? Why does British Speedway do it best to be as boring and dull as possible before, after and between heats?

The 2017 season was the worst yet for the many fans, the number of restarts from the tapes and the riders stopping at the pit gates to muck about with the bike before going back to the start.  Cutting the two mins to a one min time would help and stop much gardening etc.

They should reduce the delays between races, and at certain clubs, the amount of tractor racing and get on with the meetings, especially when it is cold.

The main meeting should take no more than 90 mins, unless there are many accidents or air fence issues and fans can then either go or stay on for a second half of either practice or a 4 or 6 heat junior type event.  

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