Belle Vue v Somerset PL 5th September, 2018

[Gavan 5,049]

Good to watch back when Poole was a decent track but 2 riders passing was nowhere near as good as heat 13 typical shovlar response and also not as good as the Loram v Louis run off for the British Final in 1997

[nw42 2,048]

58 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Good to watch back when Poole was a decent track but 2 riders passing was nowhere near as good as heat 13 typical shovlar response and also not as good as the Loram v Louis run off for the British Final in 1997

Is it not possible for you to post without having a dig?  Loram v Louis was also good but "it was just 2 riders passing" after all. 

[ouch 1,191]

He typed into google “good race Poole” and got something from 14 years ago. 

Very amusing that he tries to make out how good his gate & go track is but ends up showing it up for what it is. 

The gift that keeps on giving. 

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

7 hours ago, ouch said:

He typed into google “good race Poole” and got something from 14 years ago. 

Very amusing that he tries to make out how good his gate & go track is but ends up showing it up for what it is. 

The gift that keeps on giving. 

Perhaps you will like this one better.  NSS is the best track in the country but you should accept the Poole track produces excellent racing as well.

 

[hyderd 1,216]

29 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Perhaps you will like this one better.  NSS is the best track in the country but you should accept the Poole track produces excellent racing as well.

 

It certainly did SS, but the sport needs those races now.

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

30 minutes ago, hyderd said:

It certainly did SS, but the sport needs those races now.

It doesn’t help when two of the 4 semi finalists are doctoring their track to give extra home advantage. Somerset are making it one line for their riders, proved by the last two meetings, and Kings Lynn are making the track ultra grippy, proved by the meetings against Poole and Leicester.

While there is nothing illegal about doing this, it takes away exciting racing. A grippy track makes racing very fast and spread out. A one line track means if you don’t get bullied off the inside line you win. Neither are conducive to exciting, thrilling racing the fans and BT demand.

Fans could argue that if Somerset make the track an inside line only, then Poole should gate and sit on the inside. Easier said than done. The Somerset riders will have their setups sorted out of the gate.

Same goes for Lynn. Whilst Iversen doesn’t like grippy tracks, making it grippy helps their riders at the bottom end.  Simon Lambert said he wished it was ultra grippy every week.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Steve Shovlar

[Bagpuss 10,757]

It’s a difficult one, teams will always want their home track prepared ow their own riders like it best because to a point home wins mean bigger crowds, particularly when it could be the difference between a Play Off final and therefore a bumper crowd and big gate receipts. But we don’t want it to be to the detriment of the racing too much. But then what would Lynn punters demand for example, great racing with a 46-44 win or a mega grippy track which provides two or three good races and a 55-35 score line? Same with Somerset and their inside line or Poole and their uneven surface?

Belle Vue are in a great position as their riders seem to prefer their track to be prepared so there are multiple racing lines, same with Scunthorpe in the second division. But I’d have thought at this stage of the season a winning team leading to big crowds and a good atmosphere would be the most important thing, however short sighted that may be for some.

[iainb 4,962]

14 hours ago, Steve0 said:

Hadn’t noticed - thanks.  I will still go for KL v Somerset final 

I hope Puk's Danish club aren't riding!

12 hours ago, Stoke Potter said:

Yes really.  We've both discussed this before on here more than once.  It's about attracting the layman. 
I defy anybody not to be at least slightly impressed with that Heat 13 last night, the spectacle of the sheer speed combined with the close proximity of the riders is a sight to behold.  Fricke must've been nudging 70+mph at times in that race.
It's not quite the same watching 4 riders pootle round the Plymouth merry-go-round at 40-50mph tops, whether the lead changes several times or not.

You are a seasoned fan and can appreciate it, fair enough but no way can you say what you saw at Plymouth bettered or even matched that at Belle Vue last night.

Lakeside is an utterly dire trick-track, the same as Wolves and the rules should be changed so that no new track can be made like that.

You can argue until the cows come home about what is a good race and where but for me the stakes also have to be taken into consideration, Fricke and BV were fighting to secure a play off place, you could have a cracking race early season with not a lot at stake (in terms of winning) and think yes it was good but will it linger in the memory.

Is it coincidence that at the end of the season when the stakes are higher we generally seem to see better races? Are the riders putting extra effort in while going through the motions earlier in the season? Are we just more engaged as fans? Maybe a bit of both

[Aces51 2,778]

27 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

It doesn’t help when two of the 4 semi finalists are doctoring their track to give extra home advantage. Somerset are making it one line for their riders, proved by the last two meetings, and Kings Lynn are making the track ultra grippy, proved by the meetings against Poole and Leicester.

While there is nothing illegal about doing this, it takes away exciting racing. A grippy track makes racing very fast and spread out. A one line track means if you don’t get bullied off the inside line you win. Neither are conducive to exciting, thrilling racing the fans and BT demand.

Fans could argue that if Somerset make the track an inside line only, then Poole should gate and sit on the inside. Easier said than done. The Somerset riders will have their setups sorted out of the gate.

Same goes for Lynn. Whilst Iversen doesn’t like grippy tracks, making it grippy helps their riders at the bottom end.  Simon Lambert said he wished it was ultra grippy every week.

Unlike Poole who relied for a number of years on their riders knowing where the holes were to give them an advantage. 

[Starman2006 2,354]

16 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

It’s a difficult one, teams will always want their home track prepared ow their own riders like it best because to a point home wins mean bigger crowds, particularly when it could be the difference between a Play Off final and therefore a bumper crowd and big gate receipts. But we don’t want it to be to the detriment of the racing too much. But then what would Lynn punters demand for example, great racing with a 46-44 win or a mega grippy track which provides two or three good races and a 55-35 score line? Same with Somerset and their inside line or Poole and their uneven surface?

Belle Vue are in a great position as their riders seem to prefer their track to be prepared so there are multiple racing lines, same with Scunthorpe in the second division. But I’d have thought at this stage of the season a winning team leading to big crowds and a good atmosphere would be the most important thing, however short sighted that may be for some.

How do you know our track is uneven, you walked it ?

[Starman2006 2,354]

1 hour ago, hyderd said:

It certainly did SS, but the sport needs those races now.

It does, and you wont see much better than that. Thats why i called them the Telepathic Turbo twins... But, sadly we will never see the like of them again.

[Starman2006 2,354]

12 hours ago, Stoke Potter said:

I go regular but not often.  They aren't BV width was my point. 
Poole would benefit from more width all round but I heard the Southerners do tend to lack girth 

I always get the impression that the back straight is narrower then the home straight, is it?

Yep you are right, the length is fine just needs to be a bit wider all round, track,,. No the back straight is not narrower than the home straight, it just gives that impression due to the close proximity of the glass stand.

[Starman2006 2,354]

12 hours ago, nw42 said:

I've dug that race out on you tube loads of times, it was incredibly exciting at the time, reminds me what a racer Havvy was, Keith Millard's (RIP) pronunciation of "darncing" still gets me.  Thanks for posting, evokes a great memory.

As for being better than last night's heat 13, definitely close but the way Fricke built up the speed and clawed them back was a sight to behold, both great races and sum up why we all keep watching our beloved sport.

Yup thats what the fans go to see, and thats the type of racing our track can produce. I'l leave it at that...

[hyderd 1,216]

9 minutes ago, Starman2006 said:

It does, and you wont see much better than that. Thats why i called them the Telepathic Turbo twins... But, sadly we will never see the like of them again.

The point I as making was the track, brilliant racing back then, sadly not now.

[Bagpuss 10,757]

28 minutes ago, Starman2006 said:

How do you know our track is uneven, you walked it ?

 People don’t need to walk your track, any video of a race from Poole shows riders back wheels jumping around in the corners. Mr Shovlar recently added one from Wednesday night and good race though it was it clearly shows an uneven and bare (maybe with a blue groove?) inside line.

Nobody will ever convince me that a track with lumps, bumps and holes has been prepared in the best way. The smoother the better for me as it gives riders the ultimate confidence to throw their bikes at each other, just like Belle Vue the other night. Uneven tracks will make away riders tentative and play into home riders hands who know where the obstacles are.