Corona virus

[iris123 20,935]

329 males between 15 and 44 have died with Covid in the UK. Now the number of healthy men without other health problems that have died because of Covid is probably a very small minority of thse. So speedway riders are hardly at great risk, considering they should be fairly healthy. But i'd still say the risk is greater than the risk from death on a speedway bike. Not sure how many in the UK have died in the last 20 years, but can't be many

[teaboy279 1,038]

11 hours ago, HGould said:

Stock Cars have a loophole though as it is a sport where competitors pay to participate. Classed as an amateur Sport and may get permission based on the update by Oliver Dowden last week of participation sports with small crowds.

Local Councils will approve on that basis but Government has yet to confirm what % or number Crowd can be.

It's possible crowd may only be friends and families of drivers.

It seems that Dog Tracks are guarding "betting levy turnover" and understandably as that's majority of any income. If a speedway event with a few hundred people delivers a positive test the Stadium is automatically closed for 7-14 days and  some Dog Tracks have 4-5 meetings a week. That would be very negative for Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Kent; Sheffield, Newcastle (as we have seen); Swindon chances. The Dogs have not restarted at Poole as the Stadium staff are all on furlough still.

The best hope currently seems to be the Stock Car venues although Speedway is classed in a different category to Stocks as payment is made it's considered "professional" but may be good news for King Lynn, Ipswich ; Scunthorpe, Mildenhall and Eastbourne who stage Stock Car Meetings.  

The "standalone" Speedway Tracks like Berwick, Edinburgh, Redcar, Leicester, Belle Vue, Somerset; Plymouth, Peterborough , IOW will have to decide whether it's viable to open for speedway alone or with other stadium uses to cover their costs.

They don't usually pay to race (accept a £2 levy to the ORCi) at stock car meetings, its just for a few behind doors meetings. In fact in the case of National Hot Rods, Brisca F1 and, (some) National Banger meetings get paid start money as well as the prize money. But to extend on your point about being amatuer, the BSPA have been making the point that NL is amateur level and therefore on that basis is 100 percent ok to start up.

[iris123 20,935]

2 minutes ago, teaboy279 said:

They don't usually pay to race (accept a £2 levy to the ORCi) at stock car meetings, its just for a few behind doors meetings. In fact in the case of National Hot Rods, Brisca F1 and, (some) National Banger meetings get paid start money as well as the prize money. But to extend on your point about being amatuer, the BSPA have been making the point that NL is amateur level and therefore on that basis is 100 percent ok to start up.

Think the government will ask for more than the word of the BSPA, they will want proof. Probably have to wait in a queue with all the paperwork for hours until your number comes up on the board

[Fromafar 10,333]

40 minutes ago, Badge said:

It's funny but when I read this, I read it as a tongue in cheek type of comment,  like in our opinion the riders biggest risk is riding the bikes rather than getting covid

But that's just my interpretation. 

Could be tongue in cheek, but if the people running the Sport can’t put out a clear statement on such an important subject tells you something does it not.

[leander 495]

41 minutes ago, iris123 said:

329 males between 15 and 44 have died with Covid in the UK. Now the number of healthy men without other health problems that have died because of Covid is probably a very small minority of thse. So speedway riders are hardly at great risk, considering they should be fairly healthy. But i'd still say the risk is greater than the risk from death on a speedway bike. Not sure how many in the UK have died in the last 20 years, but can't be many

Yes, but it isn't the risk to the riders that is the problem, otherwise Poland Extraliga wouldn't have started up. The problem is the supporters. Until the government agrees to some form of mass gathering being allowed then speedway in GB will continue to be on hold. The 'powers that be' can prepare as much as they like for a restart but until the government allow spectator crowds, of whatever size, then the BSPA are stuck. One of british speedway's problems is the age of it's fanbase which is far closer to the age of those deemed to be at serious risk of covid 19. 

As HGould said there is no guarantee that the stockcar meetings will go ahead with a crowd in attendance, despite  the fact they appear to selling tickets for what could yet be a 'non event'.

[iris123 20,935]

2 minutes ago, leander said:

Yes, but it isn't the risk to the riders that is the problem, otherwise Poland Extraliga wouldn't have started up. The problem is the supporters.

I know. I have already stated that........

[Chris116 755]

5 hours ago, teaboy279 said:

They don't usually pay to race (accept a £2 levy to the ORCi) at stock car meetings, its just for a few behind doors meetings. In fact in the case of National Hot Rods, Brisca F1 and, (some) National Banger meetings get paid start money as well as the prize money. But to extend on your point about being amatuer, the BSPA have been making the point that NL is amateur level and therefore on that basis is 100 percent ok to start up.

While what you say was true up until the virus stuck, the new normal is that drivers have to pay £25 to race and that will kill the number of entries which will kill interest in the sport. The meetings at Ipswich on 25th July and at Aldershot on 26th July will have drivers paying to race in National Hot Rods, Superstox and 2 Litre Hot Rods. They will also feature crowds for the first time. Exactly how many will be allowed in is not known at present but as the Superstox are racing at Aldershot i hope to be among those who see the meeting, I just hope the car numbers make it worthwhile as small grids can be like watching a bad case of gate and go at Speedway.

[BWitcher 12,453]

6 hours ago, iris123 said:

329 males between 15 and 44 have died with Covid in the UK. Now the number of healthy men without other health problems that have died because of Covid is probably a very small minority of thse. So speedway riders are hardly at great risk, considering they should be fairly healthy. But i'd still say the risk is greater than the risk from death on a speedway bike. Not sure how many in the UK have died in the last 20 years, but can't be many

Hmm.. but then you'd have to factor in the number of speedway riders in the UK... compared to the 15-44 population of the UK..

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,695]

7 hours ago, Chris116 said:

While what you say was true up until the virus stuck, the new normal is that drivers have to pay £25 to race and that will kill the number of entries which will kill interest in the sport. The meetings at Ipswich on 25th July and at Aldershot on 26th July will have drivers paying to race in National Hot Rods, Superstox and 2 Litre Hot Rods. They will also feature crowds for the first time. Exactly how many will be allowed in is not known at present but as the Superstox are racing at Aldershot i hope to be among those who see the meeting, I just hope the car numbers make it worthwhile as small grids can be like watching a bad case of gate and go at Speedway.

Dean Cox of Spedeworth was interviewed on Radio Suffolk yesterday and stated they were working with approx 20% of the normal max capacity at Foxhall

20% may not be practical at many venues although at Foxhall it still allows for around 2000

[00000 1,279]

35 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

Dean Cox of Spedeworth was interviewed on Radio Suffolk yesterday and stated they were working with approx 20% of the normal max capacity at Foxhall

20% may not be practical at many venues although at Foxhall it still allows for around 2000

I think for speedway 20 per cent will be insufficient in many cases.

[iainb 4,962]

14 hours ago, iris123 said:

329 males between 15 and 44 have died with Covid in the UK. Now the number of healthy men without other health problems that have died because of Covid is probably a very small minority of thse. So speedway riders are hardly at great risk, considering they should be fairly healthy. But i'd still say the risk is greater than the risk from death on a speedway bike. Not sure how many in the UK have died in the last 20 years, but can't be many

Trouble is the government numbers are all over the place and have lost any credibility. If, god forbid, Nicki Pedersen were to drop dead in the pits (I only choose Nicki because we know he's had Covid) his death would be counted as a Covid death!

[HGould 2,213]

It seems to be emerging that-:

Stadiums who share with Dog Racing are going to struggle to get Landlord approval for 2020 as Landlords religiously look to safeguard their Betting Levy payment which is principle income for many.

Stadiums that stage Stock Car Racing will not necessarily be opened for Speedway as Sports have different governance and very different categorisation in terms of amateur and professional.

In all cases Tracks have to get local Authority approval and in some areas Councils are far less likely to approve than in others, based on R-rate and other local factors.

Those Tracks that can get past those hurdles then have to strongly consider business viability and whether "its worth the risk".

Sad to say, it looks increasingly bleak for 2020.

I've all but given up on Brummies getting past Landlord issue (Dog Track) let alone Local Council (useless) let alone Business viability. I'm 100% behind Peter and David Mason and trust them to make the right call for next year and future years and not just a few Fixtures now.  

 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,695]

44 minutes ago, Richard Weston said:

I think for speedway 20 per cent will be insufficient in many cases.

Sadly possibly true.

Would pose some questions re concessions such as free children - that just wouldn't be viable surely.....

[cityrebel 2,960]

44 minutes ago, HGould said:

It seems to be emerging that-:

Stadiums who share with Dog Racing are going to struggle to get Landlord approval for 2020 as Landlords religiously look to safeguard their Betting Levy payment which is principle income for many.

Stadiums that stage Stock Car Racing will not necessarily be opened for Speedway as Sports have different governance and very different categorisation in terms of amateur and professional.

In all cases Tracks have to get local Authority approval and in some areas Councils are far less likely to approve than in others, based on R-rate and other local factors.

Those Tracks that can get past those hurdles then have to strongly consider business viability and whether "its worth the risk".

Sad to say, it looks increasingly bleak for 2020.

I've all but given up on Brummies getting past Landlord issue (Dog Track) let alone Local Council (useless) let alone Business viability. I'm 100% behind Peter and David Mason and trust them to make the right call for next year and future years and not just a few Fixtures 

If that is the case, it looks like a no goer for the majority of tracks.

[IronScorpion 1,407]

16 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Could be tongue in cheek, but if the people running the Sport can’t put out a clear statement on such an important subject tells you something does it not.

Pretty similar to the people running our country, then.