Newcastle 2020

[arthur cross 492]

23 hours ago, andys said:

Just a thought about the current situation, I know the cut off for racing is normally 31st October but is it possible to use stadium past that point... Although I'm personally thinking this season is going to be written off totally, don't mean to be a doom merchant just my gut feeling... 

The 31st October has been the final day of the speedway season for many years for various important reasons, most notably as the final day for at least some of the sport's insurance policies and as the marker for Australian & New Zealander riders arranging long-haul flights home for their summer Down Under.

In this coronavirus-wrecked season, it ought to be possible (definitely worth checking) before any fixtures are revised to see if the final insurance day can be reset (for this year only) to a later date to permit more fixture flexibility - meanwhile, the Australian & New Zealander riders who headed home in a hurry mid-March to beat any coronavirus travel shutdown need to know first when they should try travelling back into the UK, never mind sorting out what marker date this autumn to use for arranging their next UK-to-Down-Under flight home !!

Answering your question about the availability of Newcastle's stadium into November, it hasn't needed to become an issue previously simply because of speedway's general 31st October deadline rather than any specific rule about whether Newcastle's track could be used so late in the year - therefore, in the current circumstances, checking with the greyhound landlords whether it could be used in November pretty much sits alongside the re-setting of any insurance dates.

But ... and it's a big but ... any attempt to extend UK speedway into November greatly increases the risk (especially for the Anglo-Scottish group of tracks from Redcar northwards) of the tracks becoming too permanently sludgy heading into the winter to have any realistic hope of staging fixtures even if they've been scheduled with the best of intentions to catch-up a little of the missing coronavirus months - once even the highest daytime temperatures aren't even reaching about 12-Celsius, you're into proper sludge territory with only any wind rather than any warmth helping to dry out the track surface.

Looking at this year's calendar & Newcastle's home day on a Sunday, there's an obvious case for having November 1st available if possible given all the other tracks will have just had their final October home date anyway and it would be harsh for just Newcastle to miss out on that week of fixtures as an option.

But sludgy weather-wise, even November 8th would be pushing it, the 15th certainly worse than a 50-50 chance of going ahead regardless of dry weather that day and anything after that would be totally risking a lot of pre-meeting effort for little chance of seeing any action - it's very easy to remember just the odd freakish warm spells in November and December while forgetting what the weather's like for the majority of those months.

Don't forget, one of Workington's late October meetings not too many seasons ago was abandoned when it became clear any water being put on the track was actually freezing the surface rather than helping to moisten it !!

At the moment at Newcastle's stadium, the greyhounds are awaiting their whole sport getting any go-ahead to resume closed-doors racing (something they did successfully at Newcastle in the week of Wed-18 to the afternoon of Sat-21-March when they still raced all 4 of their meetings shown via online betting/streaming and just scrapped the Saturday night card that's for the stadium crowd only) - rather like the SCB & BSPA awaiting any general motorcycling news from the Auto Cycle Union before deciding how the sport of speedway should pick up, the dogs are reliant on decision making by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain who answer to 2 different government departments, DEFRA (for greyhound welfare) and DCMS (for the betting side of that sport).

Once the ACU and the GBGB update their respective stances for their whole sports, we'll have a much better idea what's going on at Newcastle's track whether it's on 2-wheels or 4-legs.

[Tsunami 10,219]

1 hour ago, arthur cross said:

The 31st October has been the final day of the speedway season for many years for various important reasons, most notably as the final day for at least some of the sport's insurance policies and as the marker for Australian & New Zealander riders arranging long-haul flights home for their summer Down Under.

In this coronavirus-wrecked season, it ought to be possible (definitely worth checking) before any fixtures are revised to see if the final insurance day can be reset (for this year only) to a later date to permit more fixture flexibility - meanwhile, the Australian & New Zealander riders who headed home in a hurry mid-March to beat any coronavirus travel shutdown need to know first when they should try travelling back into the UK, never mind sorting out what marker date this autumn to use for arranging their next UK-to-Down-Under flight home !!

Answering your question about the availability of Newcastle's stadium into November, it hasn't needed to become an issue previously simply because of speedway's general 31st October deadline rather than any specific rule about whether Newcastle's track could be used so late in the year - therefore, in the current circumstances, checking with the greyhound landlords whether it could be used in November pretty much sits alongside the re-setting of any insurance dates.

But ... and it's a big but ... any attempt to extend UK speedway into November greatly increases the risk (especially for the Anglo-Scottish group of tracks from Redcar northwards) of the tracks becoming too permanently sludgy heading into the winter to have any realistic hope of staging fixtures even if they've been scheduled with the best of intentions to catch-up a little of the missing coronavirus months - once even the highest daytime temperatures aren't even reaching about 12-Celsius, you're into proper sludge territory with only any wind rather than any warmth helping to dry out the track surface.

Looking at this year's calendar & Newcastle's home day on a Sunday, there's an obvious case for having November 1st available if possible given all the other tracks will have just had their final October home date anyway and it would be harsh for just Newcastle to miss out on that week of fixtures as an option.

But sludgy weather-wise, even November 8th would be pushing it, the 15th certainly worse than a 50-50 chance of going ahead regardless of dry weather that day and anything after that would be totally risking a lot of pre-meeting effort for little chance of seeing any action - it's very easy to remember just the odd freakish warm spells in November and December while forgetting what the weather's like for the majority of those months.

Don't forget, one of Workington's late October meetings not too many seasons ago was abandoned when it became clear any water being put on the track was actually freezing the surface rather than helping to moisten it !!

At the moment at Newcastle's stadium, the greyhounds are awaiting their whole sport getting any go-ahead to resume closed-doors racing (something they did successfully at Newcastle in the week of Wed-18 to the afternoon of Sat-21-March when they still raced all 4 of their meetings shown via online betting/streaming and just scrapped the Saturday night card that's for the stadium crowd only) - rather like the SCB & BSPA awaiting any general motorcycling news from the Auto Cycle Union before deciding how the sport of speedway should pick up, the dogs are reliant on decision making by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain who answer to 2 different government departments, DEFRA (for greyhound welfare) and DCMS (for the betting side of that sport).

Once the ACU and the GBGB update their respective stances for their whole sports, we'll have a much better idea what's going on at Newcastle's track whether it's on 2-wheels or 4-legs.

I remember that very well. As the meeting went on it was obviously that track grading etc, was actually making it worse. I believe there was a small delay between two later races due to the concerns. Ritchie Worrall was riding for us and he was doing well, but it was more like skiing, or ice racing on a bike without spikes, rather that driving it like on normal wet shale. I think the water was actually coming from up the shale, and then freezing.   

[Neila 1,148]

3 hours ago, Tsunami said:

I remember that very well. As the meeting went on it was obviously that track grading etc, was actually making it worse. I believe there was a small delay between two later races due to the concerns. Ritchie Worrall was riding for us and he was doing well, but it was more like skiing, or ice racing on a bike without spikes, rather that driving it like on normal wet shale. I think the water was actually coming from up the shale, and then freezing.   

2018 comets v lakeside 29 October was called off due to ice after the 1st heat of the second match, the riders were coming into the corners then sliding up to the fence, a bit like Bambi on ice  but on motorbikes

[proud panther 1,499]

15 hours ago, pienpeesman said:

Just for a laugh it's Xmas day proud panther

We need our speedway fix in the warmer weather lol. Most of us are feeling the cold more in our old age !!

[jenga 2,998]

5 hours ago, Tsunami said:

I remember that very well. As the meeting went on it was obviously that track grading etc, was actually making it worse. I believe there was a small delay between two later races due to the concerns. Ritchie Worrall was riding for us and he was doing well, but it was more like skiing, or ice racing on a bike without spikes, rather that driving it like on normal wet shale. I think the water was actually coming from up the shale, and then freezing.   

hi , can you copy the meeting for me  , cos i cannot remember it . cheers J....

[Tsunami 10,219]

16 hours ago, Neila said:

2018 comets v lakeside 29 October was called off due to ice after the 1st heat of the second match, the riders were coming into the corners then sliding up to the fence, a bit like Bambi on ice  but on motorbikes

Yes, Our meeting went the full distance, but it was not pretty to watch with anxious faces to see if anybody was going to get hurt. Not great, but the coldness was coming up through the track. With the sea just over the railway line, the air temperature was usually cold which initially you didn't feel when the fans were allowed to be nearer on the 1st/2nd bends. When moved to the top ridge beside the van and the  toilet block, the wind off the sea used to hit you in the back all night.  Bloody cold. 

[East End Fan 426]

43 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Yes, Our meeting went the full distance, but it was not pretty to watch with anxious faces to see if anybody was going to get hurt. Not great, but the coldness was coming up through the track. With the sea just over the railway line, the air temperature was usually cold which initially you didn't feel when the fans were allowed to be nearer on the 1st/2nd bends. When moved to the top ridge beside the van and the  toilet block, the wind off the sea used to hit you in the back all night.  Bloody cold. 

sounds wonderfully inviting.....

[jenga 2,998]

2 hours ago, Tsunami said:

Yes, Our meeting went the full distance, but it was not pretty to watch with anxious faces to see if anybody was going to get hurt. Not great, but the coldness was coming up through the track. With the sea just over the railway line, the air temperature was usually cold which initially you didn't feel when the fans were allowed to be nearer on the 1st/2nd bends. When moved to the top ridge beside the van and the  toilet block, the wind off the sea used to hit you in the back all night.  Bloody cold. 

so was that the 2018 double header on the last day of the season  with newcastle on first and then the champship/ko cup thing v lakeside .  the old grey matter seems to be fading ! ! !

Edited May 1, 2020 by jenga

[Tsunami 10,219]

9 minutes ago, jenga said:

so was that the 2018 double header on the last day of the season  with newcastle on first and then the champship/ko cup thing v lakeside .  the old grey matter seems to be fading ! ! !

NO, I doubt think it was a double header. Obviously it wasn't the  abandoned Lakeside meeting.

[TotallyHonestJohn 3,078]

So after that nice little bit of Speedway chat we seem to have cooled off slightly again therefore to bring the SMILE  back to everyone's faces again (or in ruffdiamond's case another groan) in our Covid impacted lives how about these offerings. (and only because Donald has got the USA in the news)

A man is walking through his local shopping mall in the USA and notices a Mexican book store.

He decides to go in because he has never seen a Mexican book store before.

He browses through the store and finally asks the clerk, "Do you have the book on Donald Trump's foreign policies with Mexico?"

The clerk replies, "F#ck you, get out and stay out!" The man replies, "Yeah, that's the one!"

So the Pope is SUPER early for his flight from the USA back to the Vatican.

He asks his driver on his way to the airport if he could drive around for a while because they have time to kill and he hasn't driven a car since becoming the pope.

Naturally, he's a bit rusty, so he's driving poorly, when suddenly he sees police lights behind him. He pulls over and when the officer comes up to the window his eyes go wide. He says to the pope "Hold on for a minute," and goes back to his car to radio the chief.

Cop: "Chief we have a situation. I've pulled over an important figure."

Chief: "How important? A governor or something?"

Cop: "No sir. He's bigger."

Chief: "So, what? A celebrity or a footballer or something?"

Cop: "More important, sir."

Chief: "A major politician?"

Cop: "No sir, he's much more important."

Chief: "WELL WHO IS IT!?"

Cop: "Well actually I'm not sure. But the pope's his driver."

Now get back to the Speedway related banter or I will drop another one in...

Stay well; stay safe and look after yourself...

Regards
THJ

[MaugerDiamond 0]

On 4/30/2020 at 2:49 PM, Tsunami said:

With Ivan's love of Newcastle, every time he came back to this country, he used to plan his time here and then ring Joan English to advise her of his visit. I believe he used to meet a family he knew in the afternoon, and then travel on to us. His visit was never announced and he was often in the office at the beginning of the meeting but the fans  didn't know. At some stage he would come out and stand in the office doorway and then the news went around that Ivan was with us. Another reason he used to visit us was to check on the progress of David Bargh and Mark Thorpe. He never forgot the New Zealanders. As soon as he arrived and met people, he was away and gone. Very low key.

He must have certainly loved his fellow New Zealanders.

[Tsunami 10,219]

59 minutes ago, MaugerDiamond said:

He must have certainly loved his fellow New Zealanders.

Yes, he certainly looked out for them.

[ONTWOMINUTES 118]

38 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Yes, he certainly looked out for them.

Has there been any decent riders from new Zealand since mark thorpe ? 

[northyorksbear 610]

33 minutes ago, ONTWOMINUTES said:

Has there been any decent riders from new Zealand since mark thorpe ? 

Jade Mudgway !!

[Aceslider 218]

Bradley Wilson Dean. Should have been riding for Somerset 2020.