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Rob B

Why speedway is failing

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On 8/4/2021 at 4:05 PM, Midland Red said:

Lots of mentions of grasstrack riders. How many “progress” successfully to shale? Stand-out grasstrack riders like Wajtknecht and Shanes came over full time. Neither set the house on fire. 

wiggy !

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On 8/4/2021 at 4:05 PM, Midland Red said:

Lots of mentions of grasstrack riders. How many “progress” successfully to shale? Stand-out grasstrack riders like Wajtknecht and Shanes came over full time. Neither set the house on fire. 

Once plenty of great riders came though the grass Louis,Loram,Screen, Schofield etc etc

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On 8/4/2021 at 4:05 PM, Midland Red said:

Lots of mentions of grasstrack riders. How many “progress” successfully to shale? Stand-out grasstrack riders like Wajtknecht and Shanes came over full time. Neither set the house on fire. 

The USA doesn't have Grasstrack's. I think this one flew over the grandstand !!

Edited by Pieman72
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9 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Once plenty of great riders came though the grass Louis,Loram,Screen, Schofield etc etc

...not forgetting Wiggy probably the best exponent of all?

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22 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

...not forgetting Wiggy probably the best exponent of all?

Jeremy Doncaster!

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42 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said:

Jeremy Doncaster!

...and, if I recall, Peter Collins? I'm sure he started racing on the grasstracks?

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58 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

...and, if I recall, Peter Collins? I'm sure he started racing on the grasstracks?

Grasstrack riders are definitely, in my opinion, an immensely overlooked resource, as riders on speedway. I think the problem is, some speedway supporters and maybe promoters, look down their noses at grasstrack, for some inexplicable reason?   

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6 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said:

Grasstrack riders are definitely, in my opinion, an immensely overlooked resource, as riders on speedway. I think the problem is, some speedway supporters and maybe promoters, look down their noses at grasstrack, for some inexplicable reason?   

I recall that during second halves at Cowley in 1972 Grasstrackers would often perform on their grasstrack bikes...the likes of Julian Wigg, Ken Matthews and the Drewett Brothers. Made for good entertainment.

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Havvy!

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3 hours ago, Ray Stadia said:

Grasstrack riders are definitely, in my opinion, an immensely overlooked resource, as riders on speedway. I think the problem is, some speedway supporters and maybe promoters, look down their noses at grasstrack, for some inexplicable reason?   

Your obviously not up with the grass track scene these days.
There are only a fraction of the events that used to take place in the 70’s and 80’s , therefore there is only a fraction of grasstrack riders around and if you look at recent trends , it’s speedway riders turning to grass to get a nice little bonus wage packet . Even the youth classes, the hotbed for speedway in the past, have very few entrants of genuine grass bikes and Over 60% of ‘ grasstrack ‘ entrants are riding moto x bikes so there’s very little chance of a speedway club finding a star from the grasstrack scene. 

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9 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

Your obviously not up with the grass track scene these days.
There are only a fraction of the events that used to take place in the 70’s and 80’s , therefore there is only a fraction of grasstrack riders around and if you look at recent trends , it’s speedway riders turning to grass to get a nice little bonus wage packet . Even the youth classes, the hotbed for speedway in the past, have very few entrants of genuine grass bikes and Over 60% of ‘ grasstrack ‘ entrants are riding moto x bikes so there’s very little chance of a speedway club finding a star from the grasstrack scene. 

A lot of ex speedway riders still appear on the grass. I'm lucky that regular meetings are still staged in Kent, which is not too far for me.

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4 hours ago, iainb said:

Havvy!

Seem to remember he did like the grass..... ;):D

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2 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

Your obviously not up with the grass track scene these days.
There are only a fraction of the events that used to take place in the 70’s and 80’s , therefore there is only a fraction of grasstrack riders around and if you look at recent trends , it’s speedway riders turning to grass to get a nice little bonus wage packet . Even the youth classes, the hotbed for speedway in the past, have very few entrants of genuine grass bikes and Over 60% of ‘ grasstrack ‘ entrants are riding moto x bikes so there’s very little chance of a speedway club finding a star from the grasstrack scene. 

That simply isn't true. Moto X bikes used to be allowed at grasstrack events, especially in the 70s, but not anymore. A meeting might be padded out with quads, but they have their own heats. I haven't seen a club run with a separate event with moto x bikes in recent years. The 'non-adult' races, are virtually all grasstrack machines, except for the very little children going round on Pee Wee motorbikes. Are you referring to another country and not the UK?

Which riders are turning up at grasstrack meetings? And those that are, the prize money certainly won't be a 'nice little wage packet'.

Edited by Ray Stadia

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Talking about Moto X I recall that promoters had a bit of a hard on (forgive me) for these type of riders coming straight into Speedway with hardly any experience. Is this still the case?

Edited by JamesHarris

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25 minutes ago, JamesHarris said:

Talking about Moto X I recall that promoters had a bit of a hard on (forgive me) for these type of riders coming straight into Speedway with hardly any experience. Is this still the case?

There was a "push" several years ago with the BSPA (as they were at the time), getting the message out that you could earn "£3k to £4k a week" at the top level in the UK....

Didn't seem to inspire too many to come over it seems, but I do remember Craig Cook and (I think) Dan Bewley both being MX's initially in their youth...

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