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Great Central

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Posts posted by Great Central

  1. Posted

    5 hours ago, kelvinlapworth said:

    Thanks Mike, The 2011 edition was known as the Midland League but came to be known as the MDL half way through. It was an unofficial league as the MDL was not sanctioned by the BSPA until 2012 so I doubt any results for 2011 would be listed in their archives. For the record 5 teams took part - Halifax, Long Eaton, Scunthorpe, Sheffield and Team Viking Academy (based at Sheffield). Long Eaton and Viking Academy then raced in a 2 leg Grand Final. Unfortunately I dont have the scores  anymore as my laptop from that time has died. I will do my best to dig any info I can out though. I would have a good bet on Connor Dwyer being up there. 

    In the meantime this may help http://www.spensites.co.uk/mdlinfo11.html

    Kelvin it is very interesting to read your summary of that year . Heady days indeed. Thank you for everything you did in running and promoting it. 

    • Like 2

  2. Posted · Edited by Great Central

    2 hours ago, ChrisSimpson said:

    Any idea of an approx. cost to run a NL meeting including 14 riders wages, medical etc? Plus % of other costs like shale, fire extinguishers, tapes, chalk, air bags, electric etc...........

     

    Chris, In a NL meeting, the host club only pays for the home riders but obviously has to pay for their away meeting costs out of the income. 

     

  3. Posted

    10 hours ago, speedy bill said:

    N L R C was a great meeting years ago but to put it on at gaters paradise was always going to be a mistake.Shame on who ever prepared the track cant see it being the regular guy

    The "regular guy" is now Graham Trollope and he prepared it yesterday.  

  4. Posted

    13 hours ago, WalterPlinge said:

    Didn't seem a bad crowd at all.   I reckon near 500 maybe.

    But what a disgrace of a track.   Made Stoke look like a billiard table.

    Riders struggling to stay on.  Bends 1 and 3 were diabolical.  Falls in most races, but not the fault of the riders, purely the track.

    The only passing came in the title run off when Morley and Bowtell were having a battle, but even then the track was the winner, causing Bowtell to fall.   Morley was handed the title in an anticlimax as Bowtell lay there on whatever that rubble was that they used instead of shale.

    Leicester should be fined and banned from ever holding a BSPA meeting again.

     

     

     

     

     

    From memory, Drew Kemp fell, and Jon Armstrong fell after being pushed to the limit by Mark Baseby. Alfie Bowtell fell in the run off. Unless I missed some falls this is hardly "Falls in most races". 

  5. Posted

    Is this just a decision made by the club/promotion or does the track need to be inspected by a official ?

    The decision was taken by the club promotion only. Both Barry Bishop and I had been in regular communication about the weather from Sunday morning and following a review of 5 forecasts, decided at lunchtime today with Barry down there, that the prospect of being able to run was very remote as the showers predicted for tomorrow seemed to be more frequent and often thundery in nature adding to the problems caused by the heavy rain forecast for this afternoon and tonight. This was not a decision taken lightly since we do know of holiday makers who are on the island and were planning to attend what looked to be a tasty meeting. One of our supporters has since reported torrential rain and flooding of roads in the south of the island and with the early call off, it meant that we at least saved Kyle Bickley a wasted journey since he was planning to leave Cumbria tonight.

    Martin Widman Co-Promoter.

    • Like 5

  6. Posted

    Sincere apologies to all those spectators and supporters who thought the meeting took too long to run last night. Yes there were incidents which caused us delays and of course the accident which Benji Compton had, proved to be more serious than at first thought creating a delay at the wrong time. Yes, Barry Bishop wasn't there which meant his normal duties had to be shared around the rest of the staff and whilst I personally monitor the time, it was one aspect that got away from me last night. We do pride ourselves on running slick meetings and sometimes without trying they are done and dusted in less than 90 minutes even with an interval, mascot rides and the Mini Warrior cycle rides so again apologies for any disappointment. Martin Widman CoPromoter.

    • Like 8

  7. Posted · Edited by Great Central

    One or two kamakarzy pilots on show tonight of course another useless ref was inconsistent in judging the wipe outs,,but he got the last one in the final right when Simon Lambert was wiped out when leading, by Dan Greenwood who had been on the recieving end earlier in the meeting himself,,Danny Ayers being excluded in that one,, and the race had to be awarded, ,the curfew had expired any way,,Lambert being named the winner and well deserved to. Little to say about the rest ,The Nicky Pedersen award going to Danny Ayers who somehow managed to finish runner up and Cris Widman was 3rd ... Withdrawalls during the meeting were James Shanes after a nasty looking 1st bend bunching incident and Bradley Wilson Deans who had machinary problems Basby looked quick tonight and Ben Morleys run of diabolical ref decisions lately continued tonight ..Crowd simular to last week..Note there is NO MEETING AT CENTRAL PARK NEXT MONDAY !!!

     

     

    I don't often post on here but I cannot understand why the referee was so lenient on some riders at the gate. We all know there is a tight curfew at CP and the meeting was not without incidents but one rider in particular seemed to exit the pits with 60 seconds or less of the 2 minute warning remaining and then proceeded to do his gardening, and only cap it off spending more time faffing with his machine and equipment. The rules state that Riders must be “ready to race” or be “under the control of the Start Marshal” in the correct Gate position within the permitted Time Allowance.

    It is about time the referees clamped own on these delaying tactics and 1st bend bunching shouldn't include incidents on bend 2!!
    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    Wasn't it poor attendances that forced them to quit speedway?

    I remember being there for a PL meeting in October (may have possibly been their final PL season). There couldn't have been more than 150 people in attendance.

    Speedway crowds are down all over the place.

    While I'm genuinely pleased to see the Islanders return, but I'm not overly convinced it'll work as an PL project, unless someone with deep pockets is bankrolling it

    I can assure you that PL will not be considered unless it works at NL level and there is definitely nobody with deep pockets bankrolling this project. This has to run as a profitable business.

  12. Posted

    Reading was a bit $hit in most ways but for me it epitomised British Speedway. A bit crap but you loved it. Had some great memories, Newport rarely won away but I remember many wins at Reading and I don't think I ever saw Coventry lose there! And Big H on the mic was always a laugh, often abused a few of us personally on the mic :D

     

    I miss the place actually. And it's really frustrating to know that it's been knocked down and nothing has been built in it's place so it could still be there hosting speedway in it's own slightly naff way.

    It also had something very special these days, which was a fine training track, well run and well placed to any riders in the south of England, the south west and the Midlands. Miss it tremendously and it must be sad to see the whole Smallmead site flattened.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    Regardless of the poor condition of the Coventry track ( not the first time this season ) The whole format of this meeting is a farce ,,why should 50% of the riders have to travel hundreds of miles for just two races,resulting in undoubted loss of earnings compared to any other meeting ..I would go further and say most of that 50% would have considerable losses. It should also be run on a neutral track in my opinion....

    Totally agree with your comments. The format is rubbish. Too much hanging around for the riders and those who didn't qualify only get two rides and travelling hundreds of miles in the process. Isn't it about time that the 4's was run as a full meeting for the top 4 clubs coming out of qualifying rounds or is that too difficult to organise? Next year with what looks like a bigger NL this format won't work.

    • Like 2

  17. Posted

    Gutted to have missed this. :cry:

     

    Sounds like 30 Heats of high quality racing at the EWR yesterday.

    I wouldn't say that all 30 heats were quality racing but with dirt on the track, the PL boys were exciting to watch at times. I thought David Howe was brilliant in the races that I saw him ride. The NL racing was good but as the dirt went, it became increasingly difficult to pass but the Stags did well. I think Danno Verge scored his 1st win of his NL career so well done to him.

    Stoke struggled with Simon Lambert not being able to guest at No1 position and Armo blowing an engine, borrowing a spare bike from Ben Hopwood and that failed and then he rode on Rob Shuttleworths, neither of which suited Jon's small stature.

  18. Posted

    Who is this main man telling us we have 30 heats of Speedway. After 25 everything stops and as usual for Speedway supporters we all how home, muttering, complaining but doing nothing about it. My solution is that this is the last double header at National League level I will ever attend. Think about any Devon supporters who attended and paid their £15 having to watch a total one sided massacre of Buxton, if Tony Atkin hadn't been there there would gave been no competition, then they are deprived of 5 heats of supporting their team. At least Devon tried to make a meeting out of in particular young Josh Bates, brilliant, he was ready for heat 11 sitting on his bike, helmeted and what happens, match finished Curfew, never been heard of before in my experience at Brandon well over 50 years. Last double header finished at 10.45, with last heat called off. Brandonapolis last year? was still going at 11pm, went home before it finished. It's time the truth was told to Coventry supporters about Curfew's especially with Elite double header due in two weeks time. Sorry this was another prime example of how unprofessional Speedway is. Staff standing around, Peter York occasionally addressing ghe 'crowd'. No information to the fare paying customers, long periods of total silence, no information just "talk between yourselves for the next 15 minutes" A total shambles and that's how Speedway has become. Sorry I will this year have invested some £800 into watching Speedwaty at Brandon and as I feel at the moment this will be the last year of such "investment". Sorry but that's how I feel after tonight's event. I have supported Speedway at all levels for a very long time but this was a sad way to end any event.

    I clicked your post "as a like" but really it should not be that. It is so disheartening to read these comments. The Storm started out really well last year presentation wise, and I remember going to one meeting and being back on the road about 9.30pm and all for £10 but it started to slide and hasn't stopped sliding.

    The NL is the breeding ground for new talent and spectators should be encouraged to attend this type of meeting and we should theretofore be reading about how good it was, and how quickly the teams rattled through 30 heats and why can't teh Elite riders do that!!

    • Like 1

  19. Posted

    Since nobody else has posted about this meeting tonight, I thought that somebody should. Meeting starts at 7pm and there is no team news since neither team has published any. It is a must win for Stoke as they battle to make the play offs.

    I did hear that the M6 was closed J15 -16 which was affecting traffic in the area. Hopefully it will all be cleared soon.

     

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    Belle Vue Colts 26 Long Eaton Invaders 10

    Colts

    David Holt 11+1

    Conor Dwyer 7+2

    Rob Shuttleworth 7+1

    Andy Mellish 1

     

    Invaders

    Layne Cupitt 5

    Alex Wilson 3

    Sam Darroch 1+1

    Adam Portwood 1

     

    Heat 1 Dwyer, Holt, Wilson , Darroch 5-1 Time 68.5

    Heat 2 Cupitt, Shuttleworth (15m), Mellish, Portwood Ret'd 3-3 8-4 Time 70.0

    Heat 3 Holt, Dwyer, Cupitt, Portwood 5-1 13-5 Time 87.5

    Heat 4 Shuttleworth, Wilson, Darroch, Mellish (N/S) 3riders only 3-3 16-8 Time 67.9

    Heat 5 Holt replaces Mellish(M/F), Dwyer, Cupitt, Wilson 5-1 21-9 Time 67.4

    Heat 6 Holt, Shuttleworth, Portwood, Darroch 5-1 26-10 Time 67.5

  23. Posted

    help! ive ruined a brand new tube and dont want to ruin another.

    whats the best (and safest) method to get the innertube and tyre off the front wheel

    and then back on again!??

    You are not the 1st to suffer this damage so don't panic. Plenty of Swarfega or something similar round both beads and make sure you get the bead round down into the well. Work from the opposite side to the valve. If the tyre has been on a long time it may have hardened with age making it more difficult. Don't fall into the trap and using massive tyre levers since these are not necessary.

  24. Posted

    Surely Marc Owen showed that if you went for it overtaking is possible as he did not make the best of starts. The track is now much smoother and not cutting up so quick. Still agree that the banking sends riders into the 3rd 4th bends. Still need more shale laying and the rotary grader when hooked up will help. Still early Days!

    As I said when you are doing the mechanic role, you miss a lot of the action and I only saw Marc in action twice.. On our 1st visit this year it was vast improvement over last year but does seem to have been let go a bit lately. Although obviously not as pronounced as Rye House the adverse camber does nothing to improve racing. The bends are wide but large areas can't be used because of the camber.

  25. Posted

     

    Is there concern among a MAJORITY of fans or just with a vociferous minority to blazen their comments?

    An interesting question but I would be worried to see my fan base dwindling as it appears it is. Again I reiterate that I do not have access to actual figures so it is always a perception rather than statement of truth.

    Kent being the newcomers into the NL had the opportunity to do something really different in speedway presentation but seemed to have drifted. The track is the right shape and size to produce good racing but the surface isn't.

    I have ordered the DVD of Mondays meeting so if I come back on here on Friday or Saturday eating humble pie, it will be because I missed all the good racing on Monday whilst doing my duties as a mechanic!!

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