Great Central
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Posts posted by Great Central
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I'm not entirely sure what you mean.
There is a Facebook group with the name that you mention. Is that what you are asking about? If so, just go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Air-Fences-No-Speedway/539396966165552
If that is what you are referring to, I believe this group was created after the tragic death of Grzegorz Knapp last weekend in a crash on a track without an air fence, so the "progress so far" probably isn't too big given the recent nature of the incident that led to its creation.
The track where this crash happened rash didn't have an air fence but having seen the photo I am not sure if an air fence would have helped. I don't know for certain but the crash appeared to occur after the start line and was mid track.
I do agree that air fences should be mandatory where an adequate alternative isn't available but in my view(and my view alone), installing an air fence at Buxton and Rye House has not improved rider safety since their fences were perfectly adequate before.
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URGENT PRESS RELEASE FROM STOKE SPEEDWAY
Stoke v Scunthorpe
After their ten point victory over Kent at Sittingbourne on Monday the Stoke Potters are confident that they can go three matches unbeaten with a victory over Scunthorpe at Loomer Road (7.00pm) this evening.
The Potters have named an unchanged team with Adam Kirby continuing to deputise for James McBain although the Scotsman is expected to be fit to return next weekend. Kirby has proved an admirable stand in and at Kent in particular he weighed in with an invaluable seven points that helped turn the match Stoke’s way. Having said that all of the Potter’s rode well and are the only visiting team to have won in Kent this season and they have achieved it on two separate occasions.
Scunthorpe have placed an emphasis on youth this season and it will be interesting to see how their team can shape up to the Potters. Any rain is expected to clear the area by early afternoon which should ensure a perfect racing strip for this evening.
Teams:
Stoke
Jon Armstrong, Chris Widman, Ben Hopwood, Lee Payne, Ben Wilson, Rob Shuttleworth, Adam Kirby
Scunthorpe
Steve Jones, Arron Mogridge, Danno Verge, Ryan MacDonald, Sam Chapman, Liam Sanderson, Reece Downes
Stoke Team Manager Malcolm Vasey said “I feel very confident that we will win this match and move into the National League Play-Off positions with matches in hand. We have put our defeat against Cradley behind us and are moving forward. Next week we hope to finish the job against Kent and then we will face Kings Lynn in the semi final of the Cup. We arte doing well on all fronts and the improved support this season has been helpful.”
Doesn't sound like dust will be a problem today!!
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The Potters take on the Scunthorpe Stags tomorrow at Loomer Road starting at 7PM but will the weather be the winner again in this re-arranged fixture? I hope not.
The Stags will have former Potters rider Alan Mogridge in their pits, supporting fast improving son Arron.
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i recognise Len when I see him (and he was in an adapted bus shelter last night to presumably keep the sun off), but i wouldn't recognise Mr. Cairns so he may or may not be at meetings.
It also acts as a rain shelter and is the Kent Kings equivalent to an Executive Box since it is by invite only! The way it looks is that Mr Silver acts as the Technical Advisor over in the pits area making sure that the meeting runs ok from that perspective.
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DRAGONS INDIVIDUAL HANDICAP MEETING AT KING'S LYNN – 22 June 2014
1. David Smith 1-2-3-2-1 = 9
2. Duane Wuerzburger 0-3-1-3-2 = 9
3. Lawrence Fielding (H)2-3-3-2-2 = 12
4. Neal Richmond (H) 2-2-2-2-3 = 11
5. Rob Muir Non-Starter
6. Gareth Davies 3-2-1-0-1 = 7
7. Ian Chambers 1-0-0-0-1 = 2
8. Shaun Smith (H) 2-1-0-2-0 = 5
9. Adam Chessell 1-3-2-2-3 = 11
10. Steve Lockyer (H) 2-R-2-3-3 = 10
11. Joe Greenwood 0-1-2-1-2 = 6
12. Mike Osborne (H) 2-3-2-2-2 = 11
13. Nigel Limb 0-1-1-0-0 = 2
14. Pat Doyle 1-1-0-1-1 = 4
15. Damon Hall 2-2-2-1-2 = 9
16. Tony Raybould (H) 2-R-N-N-N = 2
1) Richmond, Fielding, Smith, Wuerzburger 73.6
2) Davies, Smith (S), Chambers 86.5
3) Osborne, Lockyer, Chessell, Greenwood 73.1
4) Raybould, Hall, Doyle, Limb 83.2
5) Chessell, Smith (D), Limb 83.2
6) Wuerzburger, Davies, Doyle, Lockyer (Ret) 86.0
7) Fielding, Hall, Greenwood, Chambers 86.0
8) Osborne, Richmond, Smith (S), Raybould (Ret) 72.6
9) Smith (D), Greenwood, Davies, Raybould (NS) 83.8
10) Osborne, Hall, Wuerzburger 73.8
11) Fielding, Chessell, Smith (S), Doyle 79.0
12) Richmond, Lockyer, Linb, Chambers 76.8
13) Osborne, Smith (D), Doyle, Chambers 74.1
14) Wuerzburger, Smith (S), Greenwood, Limb 83.5
15) Lockyer, Fielding, Rasybould (NS) 78.1
16) Richmond, Chessell, Hall, Davies 76.3
17) Lockyer, Hall, Smith (D), Smith (S) – F.Rm 81.5
18) Chessell, Wuerzburger, Chambers, Raybould 84.4
19) Osborne, Fielding, Davies, Limb 75.9
20) Richmond, Greenwood, Doyle 79.2
N.B. The handicapped (H) riders were able to choose from starting at the gate
and having 1-point deducted from whatever they scored or starting from a
15-metre handicap and keeping the points scored.
Mike, many thanks for the superb results postings for both both events. Although I wasn't able to make it down there due to other duties, it is really good to be able to see who is doing what in the amateur scene. I hear from Steve Cook that the track was good and there were no incidents so it sounds like a good meeting was run with a slightly different format to normal.
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A force to be reckon with ?
Management make another great team change to strengthen side ???
Glad I missed tonight.
Teams aside, hot weather will always create problems with track preparation but this seemed bad from the word go. Gate and go being the norm which is a pity because on my previous two visits, improvements were visible. Bend 1 and 2 seem to be developing different racing lines but why oh why have adverse camber on bend 3 and 4 which prevents the use of over half the track. Last night the grip was out there but as Simon Lambert showed in one of his heats, go too far and you have lost it.
It is such a shame to have such a bad feature built into what could be a great racing circuit.
I forgot to add the over watering before heat 11 that was excessive in the extreme.
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The track shouldn't be dusty from the start but otherwise TMW is right.
A hot, breezy day is every track curators nightmare.
It wasn't dusty from heat 1 but it did get dusty early on. I think Dave Tattum and crew tried their best to keep it well watered. The shale on the outside was still moist but on the inside no sooner had it been watered than it dried out. It was hot and breezy which is every curators worst conditions. It wasn't pleasant for spectators and riders but I am not sure what the solution would be apart from not running in the afternoon in summertime.
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MDL
Sun June 22nd : Stoke 12 Long Eaton 20
Stoke Spitfires 12
1. Adam Sheppard R N N = 0
2. Sam Ward 2 2 3 = 7
3. Tom Sipos f/x 1’ 1 0 = 2+1
4. Paul Bowen 2 F f/x 1 = 3
Long Eaton Invaders 20
1. Lee Geary 3 3 2’ = 8+1
2. Cam Hoskins R 2’ X = 2+1
3. David Holt 3 3 3 = 9
4. Sam Darroch 1 0 N = 1
Ht 1 : Geary Ward Sheppard (ret) Hoskins (ret) 2-3 2-3 69.9
2 : Holt Bowen Darroch Sipos (f/x) 2-4 4-7 awarded
3 : Holt Ward Sipos Darroch(f/rm) 3-3 7-10 70.8
4 : Geary Hoskins Sipos Bowen(fell) 1-5 8-15 72.8
5 : Ward Bowen(f/x) Hoskins (x-2min) 3-0 11-15 74.3
6 : Holt Geary Bowen Sipos 1-5 12-20 73.3
On a hot dusty afternoon Long Eaton kept up their winning ways with a 20-12 win over Stoke at Loomer Road. They had two unbeaten riders in David Holt and skipper Lee Geary and they scored all but three of their team total.
Stoke were under strength and gave debuts to Tom Sipos and Paul Bowen. Number 1 Adam Sheppard’s afternoon last just two laps when he seized the engine he had borrowed off his mechanic after suffering bike troubles on Friday at Coventry and again last night at Leicester.
Home rider Sam Ward was left to ride a solo four laps in heat 5 after partner Bowen had fallen in the original staging then Long Eaton pair Sam Darroch and Cam Hoskins hit bike troubles. Ward’s bike hit problems but the local lad somehow nursed it home for the win.
Laurence many thanks for the report and the scores. It was a hot day for speedway and commiserations must go to Adam Sheppard who blew an engine in his 1st heat and took no further part in the meeting. He could well have balanced the scores up a little. Credit to all eh riders for getting stuck in on a tricky track.
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Kent need at least a 10 point lead to take to second leg.
Stoke will put up a much better show than they did at Cradley.
They will need to since the Kent side is looking a bit of a force to reckon with.
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Proud Potter is normally on the ball with the threads but in his absence I thought I would start one !!!!
My prediction is for......Good weather and a great afternoon !!!!
Line ups courtesy of the Leicester Lions Website;
Stoke: 1. Ben Wilson, 2. Chris Widman, 3. Ben Hopwood, 4. Lee Payne, 5. Jon Armstrong, 6. Rob Shuttleworth and 7. Adam Kirby
Leicester: 1. Oliver Greenwood, 2.Dan Greenwood, 3. Max Clegg, 4. Tom Perry, 5. James Sarjeant, 6. Sam Chapman and 7. Tom Woolley
Some big hitters in the Leicester line up with 3 EL Fast Track riders and 2 ex PL doubling up riders so it could be a tough one for the Potters this time.
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Speedway should be a £10 sport everywhere,every week.
Out of interest was the attendance improved? Even if it held its own against the football then it was a success.
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Looks like Kings are replacing him with another (like Ayres) MDL and former Motocross rider, Jason Garrad (related to Bob, or was that spelt differently?). In truth, Luke hasn't progressed as quickly as promised by his initial potential. The break from NL pressures will do him good.
Apparently not related to Bob.
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Congratulations onthe prediction Vog, you got it spot on.
As others have said it was an entertaining meeting (by our usual standard) and all of the Potters gave it their best shot and gave us a few gating lessons.
I was impressed with Ben Wilson. I have to confess I don't know a great deal about him other than he has been away from the sport for a number of seasons. It wouldn't surprise me to see some Elite League clubs making him an offer soon. I'm guessing he may not have seen too much of Monmore before and if that's the case he did well against some top class riders.
I'm sure the Potters will make it to the play offs and they will be stronger when they get James McBain back.
Hard to see anybody stopping the Heathens though (injuries permitting).
It is nice to see some fair postings on here about the match last night. The Potters certainly struggled on what seems to be becoming a specialist track putting up some resistance but couldn't match the Cradley fire power. Ben Wilson had only ridden there once before, Rob Shuttleworth never, Adam Kirby has very little experience around there as has probably Lee Payne and any team will struggle against a team riding there week in week out. It does seem that wherever the visiting riders place their bikes on the track, the Cradley riders can find a way round them so fair play to them on their track craft.
Clearly with all but one rider doubling up or trebling up, the additional experience is paying dividends and Cradley will take some stopping this year.
I thought the crowd was significantly down on my last visit. Is that just the football influence or the 'ommering' influence?? Not sure. Don't know what you can do about the latter since the team was built within the points limit but the effect of all the additional riding is certainly paying dividends for them.
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Well done to Ben and Jon on a great win. Sounds like it was a good meeting depending on who you listen to.
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Scunny run fridays, Storm fridays, plymouth saturdays (eventually), Stoke saturdays, buxton and mildenhall on sundays, i would have thought at least 2 of them could have held a meeting. shakes my head in disbelief.
Stoke had stock cars last Saturday but you make a good point about the lack of fixtures.
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It really is such a shame that all of this "track shape" debate detracts from the excellent work that Glyn and Kevin are doing on the racing surface. Saturday night was a peach of a track, even after all the rain that had fallen in the week and on the day. The track is smooth and just keeps generating dirt and they then make the effort to grade it well for the MDL meetings which is much appreciated by the lads racing after the main meeting. The surface has come a long way since the early days but I think Saturday proves that you can't beat Mother Nature's track watering skills!!.
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What's weather doing at the moment in Leicester please. Would appreciate an update before setting off.
I am about 10 miles away and it has stopped raining. Sky is brightening and the roads are drying out nicely. I think that it is similar picture at Leicester.
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Thanks mrcts and perkdon.
I think I'm going to have to take the bull by the horns and travel and pray that all works out favourably. I've booked a Premier Inn for the night, which has to be cancelled before 1.00pm if you don't want to lose your money, so I'm in a kinda no win situation here.
Bloody English weather, whoever created the same 'Flaming June'????
Mike,
According to the BBC Weather forecast the rain should clear about 1400 to 1500. I am about 10 miles north of the stadium and it is raining steadily and quite heavy but not torrential. If it stops when predicted the track should be ok however there is a "heavy" shower of rain predicted just north of Leicester at about 2000. It should miss Leicester hopefully.
Martin
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I went along to this yesterday not expecting to much.
But, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Nice weather, decent racing and no Chris Popple.
Defiantly be going again.
That is nice to read. The nasty crash in heat 2 delayed the match quite a bit and lasted longer than a normal match would do but in the nice sunny weather it didn't matter too much. A fairly decent crowd as well which is always good to see.
Max Clegg is certainly upping his NL game due to his EL experience and getting down into the 62 second mark shows the improvement that he has made.
Well done also to Cubs TM Dave Howard for managing to field a team after so many withdrawals due to various issues.
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Halifaxtiger, a nice balanced post. The track wasn't as good as the first match but I think that was down to the enormous amount of rain that had fallen on it in the week, plus the hot drying conditions yesterday. It is stock cars this Saturday so hopefully they can get it quickly back to a track on which good racing is possible. It is definitely much flatter reflecting the amount of work done on it before the season.
Apparently James had a CT scan last night and there is nothing seriously wrong however I think his shoulder took a hammering again. Wasn't sure if Jack Kingston suffered any injuries in the same crash.
Early days and a lot can happen to upset things, but the team is shaping up nicely to be a good team.
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Good match yesterday in wet conditions. Nice to see Steve Boxall - he is fast!
As a Coventry Bees fan living in Kent, my granddaughter and I have "adopted" the Kent Kings as our local team. We enjoy the National League racing and think the setup in Sittingbourne is great. The facilities are far better than the nearest Elite League stadium.
Next week will give us a bit of a dilemma - Kent hat or Coventry hat? My granddaughter has literally got both!
Finally, great respect to the fans yesterday for the minute's silence. My granddaughter bought an old programme from the track shop, for the 1975 British final at Coventry, with a picture of Malcolm Simmonds - I think he scored 14 points!
Seemed to be a big crowd yesterday on what was a lousy afternoon. If it wasn't a big crowd, they certainly made a lot of noise when the Kent boys got victories!!
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RHRAIDERS 19,L.Harris (4)9+1,D.Ayres(4) 9,J.Garrad (2)1+1
.LONG EATON 17,L.Geary 6,A.Kirby 5,C.Hoskins 4+1,B.Hewitt 2+2.all 3 rides.
I have the heat details. Rob Watts was scheduled to ride but ruled himself out this morning with a rib injury. Rye House did try to get a replacement but with no luck.
Heat 1 Geary, Harris, Garrad, Hewitt 3-3 Time 62.0
Heat 2 Rerun Ayres, Harris, Hoskins, Kirby eccl after a fall. 5-1 Agg 8-4 Time 63.0
Heat 3 Harris, Geary, Hoskins, Garrad excl 3-3 Agg 11-7 Awarded after one and a half laps. Garrads bike shed lots of chain bits along the start straight at the end of lap 1
Heat 4 Ayres, Kirby, Hewitt 3 riders only 3-3 Agg 14-10 Time 62.7
Heat 5 Ayres, Hoskins, Hewitt 3 riders only 3-3 Agg 17-13 Time 62.5
Heat 6 Kirby, Harris, Geary, Ayres 2-4 Agg 19-17 Time 62.4
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I read the posts and didnt think there anything untoward in them, certainly nothing away from comments that were being directed back at him. To me, Malcolm was just defending his corner. Hardly in the Scudamore League, were they.
In hindsight maybe the poster felt it was a futile excercise trying to argue the toss, as it seems certain people have a real downer on Stoke. Just seems a little unfair that Vasey is copping the flak for what appears to be peoples feeling toward Stoke Speedway. The guy is only the Hired help, can he really be held responsible for all the past misdemeanors at Stoke, that may have occured ?
A very balanced post to hopefully end a series of posts that has detracted from the Potters superb win at King's Lynn.
Clearly there is bad blood around Stoke Speedway, and in reality they are not alone in that respect and it is just a pity that both sides of the dispute cannot reconcile their differences for the good of speedway in Stoke and speedway in general.
Putting aside the Stoke issues, I personally struggle to understand why some spectators would rather not watch speedway at all than watch National League racing, a situation which certainly aided the demise of the Isle of Wight.
Yes sometimes the racing is strung out, but look at the GP's and EL matches and they suffer the same problem. Lap times may be slightly down on EL times but you can't fault the effort of the lads and one of the attractions surely is looking for the next star in the making. Didn't we all used to do that when watching the old 2nd half events in days gone by?
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Report courtesy of Nigel Nattrass.
Mildenhall Stadium
18th May 2014
MDL
MK Knights 25 Long Eaton Invaders 11Despite a spirited performance on a scorching hot afternoon, Long Eaton Invaders were unable the halt the charge of in-form league leaders MK Knights, who collected a victory which was not quite as comfortable as the scoreline might suggest. On the short and tight West Row circuit, this match was as much about gating as anything else, and quite simply the Knights were much sharper away from the tapes, but the margin of victory at the chequered flag was never very wide.
MK
1. Jez Pestell 332* = 8+1
2. Niall Strudwick 2*00 = 2+1
3. Sam Chapman 2*33 = 8+1
4. Danno Verge 313 = 7Long Eaton
1. Lee Geary 121 = 4
2. Layne Cupitt 002 = 2
3. Alex Wilson fx20 = 2
4. Lee Springthorpe 11*1* = 3+1Ht1: Pestell, Strudwick, Geary, Cupitt 57.5 5-1 / 5-1
Ht2: Verge, Chapman, Springthorpe (Wilson fell, ex) 57.6 5-1 / 10-2
Ht3: Pestell, Wilson, Springthorpe, Strudwick 58.1 3-3 / 13-5
Ht4: Chapman, Geary, Verge, Cupitt 58.6 4-2 / 17-7
Ht5: Verge, Cupitt, Springthorpe, Strudwick 58.3 3-3 / 20-10
Ht6: Chapman, Pestell, Geary, Wilson 58.7 5-1 / 25-11
Kent Kings 2014
in National League Speedway
Posted
It was my 4th visit this season yesterday and although I have no access to actual spectator numbers, the numbers sitting outside of the bar/lounge area do seem to be dwindling. No excuse last with two mid table teams battling for points and good weather.
Some people are saying the racing was superb last night but I must have missed those races but since I always buy the superb DVD's of the meeting filmed by ReRun Productions I will make my mind up fully after seeing that. Doing the mechanics role, you do miss a lot of the racing but the races that I saw were essentially follow the leader and with the track being "threadbare" after about 8 heats it was always going to be the case. The adverse cambers do nothing to aid passing on what could be a great little track due to its size and shape. True the match result last night was in doubt until the last heat but does that make the racing exciting? I think not.
The only plus point is that the meetings are usually held in quick time due to the curfew. The stadium is very good, facility and viewing wise, and would be the envy of a number of clubs but the track needs sorting. I won't comment on the meeting presentation since the pits are so far divorced from the stand that it would be unfair to make any judgement.