Plan to save the Sport

[proud panther 1,501]

17 hours ago, BWitcher said:

It's clear big changes need to be made to arrest the decline in the sport's fortunes in the UK and some outside of the box thinking is required. I've put together a plan to revamp both the league and cup competitions that should bring all the ingredients we, as fans, crave. Drama, excitement, tension, unpredictability.

LEAGUE

4 regional leagues, 5 teams in each, each team has two home matches and one away. One of the home matches results won't count. A coin toss decides, all the coin tosses are done live online in the final week of the season to give it an exciting climax.

Top team from each league and the bottom team qualify for the playoffs. The top teams race each other three times, one at home, one away and another at one of each others track decided by a coin toss.. Boy the live coin toss could revolutionise the sport.

The bottom teams do the same.

3rd place in the top team play-off league races 2nd place in the bottom teams play-off league in the Grand Final. 15 heats, neutral track to be decided by the National Lottery draw on the first Saturday following the conclusion of the final fixture. The THIRD number drawn will count. If this number is not 1-20 then the FIFTH number is used followed by the 4th, 2nd, 6th and 1st if necessary. In the unlikely event no number of 1-20 is drawn, the track allocation is postponed till the following Saturday's lottery.  

Now onto the Grand Final itself. At the conclusion of Heat 15 a live coin toss. Whomever wins it can either 'keep the score'.. or reverse it! What a twist! i.e. you lose 38-52 but win the coin toss, you reverse and win 52-38! TV will love it and the match is kept alive till the very end. It gives team managers a valuable role to play and the tension as they make their decision will be palpable. It will create great online discussion as fans debate if their manager made the right call.

CUP

I think for the Cup Competition it needs to offer something different. 16 teams to take part, 4 will miss out. Take the combined starting averages of teach team and then divide by their average age, the closest teams to 2.22 are entered, the others miss out. Seems the fairest way.

Standard 15 heat matches, but the races begin in the pits, all riders have to be pushed to the pit gate, they must NOT start their engines prior. At Wolves the action would be frantic for example as they have a long way to go around the back of the pits. Fitness of your mechanic is crucial in this respect.

Once they hit the track the bikes can start as quickly and efficiently as possible and the race begins. The four laps begin once they cross the start line for the first time.

Points are awarded as 4 2 0.5 0 for the initial race to the pits gate. Then the standard 3 2 1 0 for the actual race.

Anyone finishing more than 0.37 seconds ahead of the first opponent (not a team mate) immediately behind them gains extra pts equivalent to the number of seconds (to 2 decimal places) they beat them by over the 0.37 seconds.. If the opposing team has both riders excluded both remaining riders score an extra 0.86pts. This will encourage riders not to give up and just cruise round and provide gripping racing for the fans. 

Barry Briggs homologated stop watches can be sold at track shops to enable the fans to participate in the timing.

For example Thorssell wins 0.50 seconds ahead of the second placed rider he'd score an extra 0.13pts. Plus his 3 for winning. If he won the race to pit gate he'd score 7.13pts for that heat.

Tactical substitutes are allowed for both rider AND mechanic and can be used when a team is 8.64 pts or more behind. They can be used as many times as they wish but if you use a rider more than once he must begin the race with his helmet unfastened. Only when the green light comes on can he begin to fasten and it must be fastened before he can be pushed away by his mechanic.

All mechanics must wear standard footwear. However, if a mechanic is used as a tac sub for a second time he must wear only one shoe.

Mechanics must wear Barry Briggs homologated footwear.

 

 

You have got far too much time on your hands Bwitcher. 

[ouch 1,191]

Never forget the climax to the 2005 U21 World Final. 

Still sends shivers down my spine. Speedway at its best. 

[waytogo28 2,054]

18 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Please... I just hope, just pray, the promoters aren't reading this. Oh, please say not.

 But it's trending on Twiter... they're currently voting on whether to adopt the complete proposal. 

As they don't bother to read feedback with positive ideas ( as many people put up ) they are unlikely to see this wonderful parody ( very Monty Python) and thus the shambles that is UK speedway will go on in that phrase I now see as most appropriate " managed decline awaits'.

[Vince 9,454]

It'll never work with 4 valve bikes, re-introduce the DT Douglas and the plan is perfection.

[BWitcher 12,453]

2 hours ago, proud panther said:

You have got far too much time on your hands Bwitcher. 

I'm afraid this type of post sums up the sport as it is now.

Someones takes the time to lovingly put together a plan to save the sport and it is met with derision by certain parties.

Fortunately I'm happy to see the response has been mostly positive with numerous fans offering ideas and improvements.

Ouch remembers the wonderful scenes surrounding the 2005 World U21 final one of the most thrilling events in modern speedway history. Some say if only we could have bottled that moment.. well, we can.

Just as an addendum to my plan, KOC rules would eliminate one of the biggest bug bears that some fans seem to have.. i.e. gardening. No time for that when the race begins in the pits.

[ancient mariner 540]

How about a figure-of-eight shaped track?

[Starman2006 2,354]

On 8/23/2018 at 6:00 PM, BWitcher said:

It's clear big changes need to be made to arrest the decline in the sport's fortunes in the UK and some outside of the box thinking is required. I've put together a plan to revamp both the league and cup competitions that should bring all the ingredients we, as fans, crave. Drama, excitement, tension, unpredictability.

LEAGUE

4 regional leagues, 5 teams in each, each team has two home matches and one away. One of the home matches results won't count. A coin toss decides, all the coin tosses are done live online in the final week of the season to give it an exciting climax.

Top team from each league and the bottom team qualify for the playoffs. The top teams race each other three times, one at home, one away and another at one of each others track decided by a coin toss.. Boy the live coin toss could revolutionise the sport.

The bottom teams do the same.

3rd place in the top team play-off league races 2nd place in the bottom teams play-off league in the Grand Final. 15 heats, neutral track to be decided by the National Lottery draw on the first Saturday following the conclusion of the final fixture. The THIRD number drawn will count. If this number is not 1-20 then the FIFTH number is used followed by the 4th, 2nd, 6th and 1st if necessary. In the unlikely event no number of 1-20 is drawn, the track allocation is postponed till the following Saturday's lottery.  

Now onto the Grand Final itself. At the conclusion of Heat 15 a live coin toss. Whomever wins it can either 'keep the score'.. or reverse it! What a twist! i.e. you lose 38-52 but win the coin toss, you reverse and win 52-38! TV will love it and the match is kept alive till the very end. It gives team managers a valuable role to play and the tension as they make their decision will be palpable. It will create great online discussion as fans debate if their manager made the right call.

CUP

I think for the Cup Competition it needs to offer something different. 16 teams to take part, 4 will miss out. Take the combined starting averages of teach team and then divide by their average age, the closest teams to 2.22 are entered, the others miss out. Seems the fairest way.

Standard 15 heat matches, but the races begin in the pits, all riders have to be pushed to the pit gate, they must NOT start their engines prior. At Wolves the action would be frantic for example as they have a long way to go around the back of the pits. Fitness of your mechanic is crucial in this respect.

Once they hit the track the bikes can start as quickly and efficiently as possible and the race begins. The four laps begin once they cross the start line for the first time.

Points are awarded as 4 2 0.5 0 for the initial race to the pits gate. Then the standard 3 2 1 0 for the actual race.

Anyone finishing more than 0.37 seconds ahead of the first opponent (not a team mate) immediately behind them gains extra pts equivalent to the number of seconds (to 2 decimal places) they beat them by over the 0.37 seconds.. If the opposing team has both riders excluded both remaining riders score an extra 0.86pts. This will encourage riders not to give up and just cruise round and provide gripping racing for the fans. 

Barry Briggs homologated stop watches can be sold at track shops to enable the fans to participate in the timing.

For example Thorssell wins 0.50 seconds ahead of the second placed rider he'd score an extra 0.13pts. Plus his 3 for winning. If he won the race to pit gate he'd score 7.13pts for that heat.

Tactical substitutes are allowed for both rider AND mechanic and can be used when a team is 8.64 pts or more behind. They can be used as many times as they wish but if you use a rider more than once he must begin the race with his helmet unfastened. Only when the green light comes on can he begin to fasten and it must be fastened before he can be pushed away by his mechanic.

All mechanics must wear standard footwear. However, if a mechanic is used as a tac sub for a second time he must wear only one shoe.

Mechanics must wear Barry Briggs homologated footwear.

 

 

League. Quickest way to kill the sport imo.

[BWitcher 12,453]

6 minutes ago, Starman2006 said:

League. Quickest way to kill the sport imo.

Really Starman?

Care to explain? Most others seem quite positive.

You're happy with the Cup rules though?

Edited August 24, 2018 by BWitcher

[Starman2006 2,354]

20 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

Really Starman?

Care to explain? Most others seem quite positive.

You're happy with the Cup rules though?

It will be a waste of time having reginal leagues.  You might as well have  a north and south leagues play off in each and a grand final. Then the National league, and then an Academy league. Again perhaps a K O Cup for north and south then a grand final. You have to remember, fans can easily walk away now, so unless its made interesting it will fail
Poland and the GP's have done a good job in killing British speedway.  I said that would happen years ago. Riders have no need to ride here which is very sad. Only Doyley has stayed loyal and if Chris Holder had not had his issues so would he have done.
As many have said, big big AGM this year, get it wrong and it will be last person out turn the lights off.

[BWitcher 12,453]

3 hours ago, Starman2006 said:

It will be a waste of time having reginal leagues.  You might as well have  a north and south leagues play off in each and a grand final. Then the National league, and then an Academy league. Again perhaps a K O Cup for north and south then a grand final. You have to remember, fans can easily walk away now, so unless its made interesting it will fail
Poland and the GP's have done a good job in killing British speedway.  I said that would happen years ago. Riders have no need to ride here which is very sad. Only Doyley has stayed loyal and if Chris Holder had not had his issues so would he have done.
As many have said, big big AGM this year, get it wrong and it will be last person out turn the lights off.

I don't think I could have made it any more interesting.

How about if Jerran Hart does the coin toss live from his prison cell?

[orion 7,610]

5 hours ago, Starman2006 said:

League. Quickest way to kill the sport imo.

Oh no .surely 

[buckledwheel 0]

And to make averages easier to work out than what they are at the moment use the following formula -

Average from three years ago + .085 - tac sub average X average race time - riders fravourite number and divide this all by .6  

 

 

[waytogo28 2,054]

12 hours ago, ancient mariner said:

How about a figure-of-eight shaped track?

Flat track racing at King's Lynn had that. Sounds exciting but with strung out racing and relatively slow riders, it was more boring than strung out speedway. Needs to be much more radical changes.

[Bagpuss 10,757]

7 hours ago, orion said:

Oh no .surely 

I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he didn’t read beyond the regional league bit before posting

Edited August 25, 2018 by Bagpuss

[ch958 2,393]

13 hours ago, ancient mariner said:

How about a figure-of-eight shaped track?

with blindfolded riders getting radio instructions from the pits