Time to have an enquiry into the death of Speedway

[Piotr Pyszny 206]

30 minutes ago, JamesHarris said:

I've not gone all through this thread but one thing I was wondering today is what if most of the riders who race in the British Leagues have now found themselves decent paid jobs this year to make a living. 

Given the revelations about the number of applicants for advertised job vacancies (15,000 for 10 the most extreme I've seen), how likely is that?

[Ben91 1,743]

7 hours ago, HGould said:

Never fails to amaze me how those who say they don't go to speedway anymore can make such sweeping and often inaccurate statements about its health. 

It's clearly got major problems but there are green shoots with young riders, GB set up, increased crowds and community initiatives at many clubs and a few promotions that actually have new ideas and some business acumen. 

No doubt I will be sent to the mad House but I'm more positive now than I was 3 and 5 years ago at Brummies and other clubs in CL and NDL

It isn’t a sweeping statement and it isn’t wide of the mark at all.

The sport is in decline everywhere, the trouble is some people believe the propaganda that is put out, they tend to be the ones who still attend religiously. Green shoots are easy to pull up. Look at the young riders with half a chance of progressing domestically who have retired in the last few years alone. That says more than the few who are considered prospects now and could as easily pack it in by this time next year as be riding at a high level in the future. 

[iainb 4,963]

10 hours ago, JamesHarris said:

I've not gone all through this thread but one thing I was wondering today is what if most of the riders who race in the British Leagues have now found themselves decent paid jobs this year to make a living. Come 2021 (if we are back to normal then) Will the same riders think "you know what, I'm quite enjoying having a steady income and not have to worry about the expense of running 2 bikes". Will the occasional spin in a Amateur meeting at Scunny be enough to satisfy their desire to race? Of cause I am only talking about the bread and butter riders here and not the top international one's who have lucrative deals in Poland or Sweden. Will be interesting to see what happens. 

I'm not sure these riders are securing highly paid jobs in the city, I think the chance of earning a few hundred quid to a grand a night compared to minimum wage driving a van is a pretty easy decision to make.

[Ringitsneck 348]

On 8/1/2020 at 7:50 AM, iainb said:

I'm not sure these riders are securing highly paid jobs in the city, I think the chance of earning a few hundred quid to a grand a night compared to minimum wage driving a van is a pretty easy decision to make.

You think ‘ bread and butter ‘ riders are picking up a grand a night ?
you must be looking at Glasgow’s wage bill.

[iainb 4,963]

1 minute ago, Ringitsneck said:

You think ‘ bread and butter ‘ riders are picking up a grand a night ?
you must be looking at Glasgow’s wage bill.

If you read what I wrote "the chance of earning a few hundred quid to a grand a night" 

[HackneyHawk 64]

On 7/30/2020 at 6:20 PM, mikebv said:

It's grammar not spelling.

The spelling was correct.

Starting this thread was worth it for this!! ha ha!! I stand corrected on my grammar not spelling!

[HackneyHawk 64]

Will go to Glasgow next year, was very impressed with the recent film.

An earlier post mentioned Poland doing so well despite the racing not being great and I suppose it must be presentation and advertising?

I took yet another newcomer along to Ipswich one year when they were in the top flight and I promised them that these were the best level riders.  The meeting parade was 14 scruffy riders mixed together wearing different racesuits/racejackets, appearing bored, being dragged around on a trailer hooked to the back of someone's car to the theme from Star Wars.  My friend laughed, I cringed and the racing was awful.

My friend said "in most of these races, why doesn't the red helmet help out the blue helmet otherwise it's not a team is it"? I said, there was something called team riding but you don't see it much anymore........

Speedway needs to look cared for. 'if you respect yourself, others will respect you'

I would gladly go along voluntarily to Kent for a bit of weeding/painting etc (anything for Leapin' Len)

[stevehone 3,425]

people that run the speedway should always be looking at other sports and see what it is that attracts supporters. why do bangers get 3 - 4000+ for a meeting and people walk away at the end having had a good night for example?  

the time now is right to have a complete rethink over how the sport in this country is run and presented, tried and tested is obviously not working but that's the fall-back every single season.

 

[Piotr Pyszny 206]

31 minutes ago, stevehone said:

people that run the speedway should always be looking at other sports and see what it is that attracts supporters. why do bangers get 3 - 4000+ for a meeting and people walk away at the end having had a good night for example?  

the time now is right to have a complete rethink over how the sport in this country is run and presented, tried and tested is obviously not working but that's the fall-back every single season.

 

I remember one of my brothers remarking: "The spectators at banger racing make those at speedway look well-to-do."

In my (admittedly fairly limited) experience of banger racing, the pauses between races are considerably longer than in speedway (something for which the latter is often marked down).

Edited August 3, 2020 by Piotr Pyszny

[steve roberts 9,242]

1 hour ago, Piotr Pyszny said:

I remember one of my brothers remarking: "The spectators at banger racing make those at speedway look well-to-do."

In my (admittedly fairly limited) experience of banger racing, the pauses between races are considerably longer than in speedway (something for which the latter is often marked down).

Went to one Banger meeting at Faringdon Raceway (?) many years ago and found it very uninspiring!

[cityrebel 2,960]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

Went to one Banger meeting at Faringdon Raceway (?) many years ago and found it very uninspiring!

I've seen the cars at about six venues. I was bored to tears every time.

[stevehone 3,425]

i'm certainly not a fan of bangers, but look at the crowds they get, what are they doing right that speedway isn't??

[cityrebel 2,960]

5 minutes ago, stevehone said:

i'm certainly not a fan of bangers, but look at the crowds they get, what are they doing right that speedway isn't??

The weather is speedways biggest enemy. Cars don't have that problem. What they pay for, they get.

[ch958 2,393]

4 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

The weather is speedways biggest enemy. Cars don't have that problem. What they pay for, they get.

Riders less willing to race in less than perfect conditions because of their rocket ships.

Stock cars aren't a weekly event.

[Hawk127 1,357]

1 minute ago, stevehone said:

i'm certainly not a fan of bangers, but look at the crowds they get, what are they doing right that speedway isn't??

Quite a few meetings are a mix of stox, bangers, mini rods etc. If you consider that each racer probably brings the family along and then the rivalry that exists between drivers and teams and this often does boil over and the fact that in most cases they knock seven shades of sh.. out of each other on the track and you get three or four hours of entertainment some of which is fast and furious and in other races it is stop the competition at a cost that is accessible to most who want to have a go and with kids who love the crashes etc it becomes all round entertainment from the youngest to the oldest and I suspect an aggression outlet for most who watch. In many ways why is WWE so successful and think about the parallels. I do not pretend to understand it but having watched the original early versions at Rayleigh back in the early 70’s with races held after the speedway meeting when the only way to stop a race was to turn the stadium lights out, it has certainly stood the test of time. Why, I simply do not know but most speedway teams would die to get the crowds that turn up at Ipswich. Perhaps speedway forgot the important word - entertainment.