mike1944 151 Posted August 1, 2018 Watching Polish speedway on FreeSports I am getting increasingly impressed with their 2 minute timer for the riders to be ready at the tapes. The timer countdown can be seen on screen and the riders always appear to be ready on time. Any restarts get the 2 minutes too. Can we please adopt this Polish timer system as it is annoying to see four riders at the tapes after lots of delay and then one turn round and go back to the fourth bend and returns and then some more shuffling, gardening and clutch adjustments from the others too. Of course this can happen without the countdown clock but at least supporters know that the moment they get the go-ahead to leave the pit gate there is a time they have to adhere to and they have 2 minutes to be ready at the tapes to race. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racers and royals 8,697 Posted August 1, 2018 33 minutes ago, mike1944 said: Watching Polish speedway on FreeSports I am getting increasingly impressed with their 2 minute timer for the riders to be ready at the tapes. The timer countdown can be seen on screen and the riders always appear to be ready on time. Any restarts get the 2 minutes too. Can we please adopt this Polish timer system as it is annoying to see four riders at the tapes after lots of delay and then one turn round and go back to the fourth bend and returns and then some more shuffling, gardening and clutch adjustments from the others too. Of course this can happen without the countdown clock but at least supporters know that the moment they get the go-ahead to leave the pit gate there is a time they have to adhere to and they have 2 minutes to be ready at the tapes to race. The other thing you might have noticed with Poland is that the start Marshall will not signal race is ready to go until the ref has given him the thumbs up. They also will not allow any rider on gate 4 to have his bike pointing to the inside and not straight ahead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
therefused 809 Posted August 1, 2018 i agree with this and have been saying it for ages. Another small thing i would implement is the start marshall only pulls the tapes down just before the start of the race. This may seem like a petty thing but with the new rule of riders not allowed across the centre green it can mean on some tracks they have to go all the way round the track compared to others where they come out at the fourth bend and down to the tapes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Smith 5,645 Posted August 1, 2018 1 hour ago, therefused said: i agree with this and have been saying it for ages. Another small thing i would implement is the start marshall only pulls the tapes down just before the start of the race. This may seem like a petty thing but with the new rule of riders not allowed across the centre green it can mean on some tracks they have to go all the way round the track compared to others where they come out at the fourth bend and down to the tapes. I think the centre green rule is just for riding the bike. I believe all rider's can get off and push their bikes across. Just for entertainment reasons I'd change the 2mins slightly. 20 meters of the start area is off limits for the 1st minute. 2mins on, so adjustments can be made to the bike, then the last minute is where the start area is opened up to the rider's. To much time is given to kick dirt imo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,163 Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) Also all four riders line up and not allowed on track till the pits Green light is shown... No drip feeding... All come out together and have two mins to make their way to the tapes.. Every race so far I have seen has had 'tapes up' (at the very latest) just seconds over two mins from the Green light, with the vast majority starting well under 2 mins from it... It all looks very professional..... Edited August 1, 2018 by mikebv 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghostwalker 1,858 Posted August 1, 2018 The Swedish referees are pretty strict too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spl77 337 Posted August 1, 2018 The whole set just seems so professional compared to the UK. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted August 1, 2018 All you currently lack is refs with a backbone to start excluding riders for 2 minute rule violations. When they start doing that, problem solved in a week without any fancy clocks. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StevePark 2,740 Posted August 1, 2018 6 minutes ago, f-s-p said: All you currently lack is refs with a backbone to start excluding riders for 2 minute rule violations. When they start doing that, problem solved in a week without any fancy clocks. Which would, ultimately, be paid for by whom? Yep, the fans, as always. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparks123 147 Posted August 1, 2018 1 hour ago, f-s-p said: All you currently lack is refs with a backbone to start excluding riders for 2 minute rule violations. When they start doing that, problem solved in a week without any fancy clocks. Greg was still mucking about when the timer reached zero at Cardiff and he wasn't excluded. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
New Science 1,059 Posted August 1, 2018 I think you can forget all these fancy ideas. The BSPA has shown in recent years that the want to go down the PC route. Only have to be on track within 2 minutes, not ready to start, no crossing of the centre green. They are not going to put the tapes up so you can ride round the wrong way, if you do that now and touch the centre green to get the right side of the tapes you are out. The starting system in the UK will only get slower and more pedantic than slicker and faster, all in the name of PC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted August 1, 2018 37 minutes ago, sparks123 said: Greg was still mucking about when the timer reached zero at Cardiff and he wasn't excluded. So in reality we should have seen the last of Froschauer at GP/SWC/SoN level. Thats a pretty big mistake if you ask me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparks123 147 Posted August 1, 2018 3 minutes ago, f-s-p said: So in reality we should have seen the last of Froschauer at GP/SWC/SoN level. Thats a pretty big mistake if you ask me. Just showing that even at the highest level there is some give so it's not only league referee's that could be stricter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted August 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, sparks123 said: Just showing that even at the highest level there is some give so it's not only league referee's that could be stricter. Or maybe Froschauer just did not have the balls to exclude him or he was told not to... but if he really was over the allowed time, he should have been excluded. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghostwalker 1,858 Posted August 1, 2018 I have once seen all 4 riders getting excluded for the 2 min violation (and yes I have mentioned it before). Unfortunately some fans starts complaining that the referee should be more lenient and that "we want to see four riders in each heat", even if the rider is far away from the tapes (for whatever reason). Imo it's the opposite. A referee cannot be lenient or start bending rules because then the riders will stop respect the rules. I think the all 4 back is similar. Once you are lenient the riders will use it to get a restart when they don't get a good start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites