Sevy

Thanks for the tip - much appreciated...

I was going to take my sons along to this, but the Oxford website says the UniPart car park is sold out. Would any Oxford regulars/locals be able to recommend where else I could park? Don’t mind a walk of up to 15-20 mins as long as it’s safe and the car is still likely to be there afterwards... Thanks in advance...

Thanks for this - that’s definitely good to know as my boys do struggle to get a clear view as they’re both so short...

Thanks for this Lisa - good to know. Think I’ll make sure I bring cash to reduce the queuing time!

Thanks Skidder - that’s very helpful. We’ve missed our speedway with Swindon not running this year so think we will come along & see some hopefully decent racing. Cheers...

Hi Steve - thanks for the helpful info - much appreciated. One further question - any recommendations of where it would be good to stand? My kids are fairly short so I’d ideally like to find somewhere where they can get a clear view without being blocked by walls/fences etc - any suggestions? Cheers...

We’re holidaying in Bournemouth so I’m considering bringing the family to this match - even though it sounds like it could be very one-sided it would be our first live speedway in almost 2 years and my kids love it. Can any regulars clarify a couple of things though please? I see on the website you can buy tickets on the gate - presumably you can pay by card rather than cash? Presumably there is parking at the stadium - does this tend to get full up? Thanks...

My sentiments exactly! I'll come & watch the Robins now & again next season if Doyley is riding...and my 7 year old will be chuffed to bits that he's back which will probably encourage me to bring him a bit more often too...

I think you're right - respecting your local residents and their views is key. As it happens we have used the discounted & free tickets on more than one occasion, but even if we hadn't the fact that the Racecourse has actually bothered to make the offer shows they appreciate that some of the locals might not be too happy about the noise, and are trying to do something to appease them. As Shale Searcher said, some may view that as bribing the locals to stop them complaining, but hey as a local resident I'd be happier to be offered a 'bribe' than nothing at all! There are always going to be some locals who aren't happy regardless, and no offer of cheaper tickets is going to change their mind, but I'd like to think that for the majority the offer of something at least shows their feelings are being considered. As speedway becomes more & more of a minority sport, the more that the Robins promotion can do to keep the local residents sweet the better in my view...

I completely agree with this - I too live within earshot of Newbury racecourse and the freebie/discounted tickets for local residents are definitely appreciated and would possibly be a good idea for the Swindon promotion to consider... grachan - We must almost be neighbours! I'm just off Pinchington Lane near the car dealerships - anywhere near you?

Well I'm glad we went last night to see the boys put on a good performance - the riders were understandably a bit sombre but I thought all the Robins did ok. As others have said Zengi was the standout performer and he was really impressive - even when he had to go out on Nick's bike in one heat. To think he was that close to being dropped from the team! I continue to be impressed by Doyley too - can't believe how much he's improved in the past couple of seasons and he just looks a class act. My lad really enjoyed himself so I'm really glad we made the effort to go - it was a decent sized crowd bearing in mind the circumstances & opposition, and a really good collection for the SRBF too - no doubt Darcy's accident may have got some people digging a bit deeper for a very worthy cause. My lad was just chuffed that he got to put some money in the bucket that Charles Wright brought over to us...and then Doyley appeared in front of us which made his night cos he recognised him from seeing the GPs on TV!

I totally agree - I only get to the Abbey 2 or 3 times a season and had provisionally planned to go tonight with my 6 year old son. After the terrible events of Sunday I initially felt I couldn't face going, but the more I've thought about it the more I think the other riders will get a lift from seeing a decent sized crowd on the terraces. So me and my boy will be going...despite the fact that when I told him this morning what had happened to poor Darcy (I didn't have the heart to tell him sooner as he'd been so looking forward to seeing Darcy ride for the Robins) his eyes welled up. At the end of the day he's already a speedway fan just as I've been since I was a kid, and we need to support all the riders even though our thoughts may be understandably focused on Darcy at the moment.