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Mr Ore

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Posts posted by Mr Ore

  1. Posted

    Very pleased with the home win on my first 400 mile round trip of the season, but equally so to see Craig Cook shaking off his demons so effectively Great to see hugs from Steady and others positively encouraging him in the pits after the meeting. I only hope the planting of a sloppy smacker on his cheek, by Peter Shroek, doesn't ruin the good work. :lol: Craig appreciated the compliment though. 

    • Like 3

  2. Posted

    Second time I have booked a hotel in Plymouth over Easter only to have the speedway cancelled on me (Somerset match several years ago was the first)  Disappointed as, in order to be free to attend I had to miss my own team's first two away meetings and it is unlikely I'll be able to get along again this year, owing to other prearranged commitments.  That said with alleged knowledge of all the factors (will shy from saying excuses) leading to the postponements, any criticism would be that a far earlier decision could and should have been made.It could also have avoided all the conspiracy theories too. Now it has I look forward to watching Ivybridge v Dartmouth that evening instead as no sense in moaning and moping around, and allowing a few Devon belles to have the pleasure of my company later on. I still have the hotel room ladies.  :) 

    I wish Mark Phillips  all the best, as he is clearly dedicated to the cause, but maybe a more empathetic approach to press releases should be looked into.  

     

  3. Posted

    2 hours ago, Scipio777 said:

    coming down from Yorkshire tomorrow for the match. Is there a decent food option at the stadium, or are we better eating elswhere first?

    Thanks in Advance

    Trevor

    Southern based Dee Dah here, with Oxford my nearest track now. TBH the food in the grandstand at their first match was of quite appalling quality and value, and no Hendos, so we've taken to going to Posh Fish en route, 150 London Road, OX3 9ED. Not cheap, but no chippies are now, and no Yorkshire fish cakes but portions are really huge and quality excellent  Maybe 2-3 miles from the track, near the old Oxford United ground in Headington, but you drive nearby when coming in off M40. Whatever enjoy and let's continue where we left off last year. COYTs. 

  4. Posted

    Unsure if this is acceptable so MODS please remove if not. A friend of mine, who doesn't post on here, has just had major surgery and is unable to travel for several weeks. He has 2 tickets for each day at Inzell, 3rd bend, which he is now unable to use. Face value €140. He does not want payment but would like them to be used if possible. Anyone attending who has yet to buy stadium tickets, who could make use of them, please DM me with Email details, which I can pass to him to send the tickets (printable at home). As he says he would just like someone to get the benefit, so is happy to pass on at no charge, but a nominal donation to SRBF as a gesture, in exchange, would be appreciated.     

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    Hundreds of non league football clubs in England and Wales already successfully use this type of stand. Always thought it would be great to have put a few on the starting straight at Buxton.  Need a good foundation but many positives.  Various sizes and sponsor opportunities, being a couple. 

    • Like 1

  6. Posted

    5 hours ago, siggysigalos said:

     

    So well done Sheffield, great effort last night, and you are the Champions.

    Sadly as a Witches fan, 8 weeks does not culminate in a season, but what a last 8 weeks this team has give us supporters, Runners-Up in the league and KO Cup winners, i would of taken that at the beginning of August, its been entertainment all the way with Emil and Jason, worth the entrance fee alone, it seems absolute certain both will return next season, so let's hope we have a league with enough teams in, so its competitive and all of us supporters of this great sport all over the country have Speedway to go and watch next season.

    But i cant just leave one situation which as a 55 Year Old lover of Speedway for over 47 years i have to address.

    This also isn't a jab at you Sheffield Fans as i don't blame any of you in the slightest, but i travelled to Sheffield last night, yes devastated at the end, but all Sheffield supporters(most) were very humble to acknowledge we had made the journey and conversations were absolutely fine,

    Well done the Tigers, great performance last night, let's all hope we have enough tracks to cheer our boys on next season.

    And mega thanks to the Witches fans who offered me their congratulations after the meeting, which were sincere and humble, in spite of their obvious disappointment. Being able to empathise with my own return trip being even longer gave a joint laugh. Top guys.  

  7. Posted

    First saw him race in Remo dal Bosco's Memorial meeting at the Castiglione Olana track, near Milan and he looked quality, beating Paco's dad from behind who seemed intent on putting all rivals through the fence. He was racing at London Lions 2 nights before his GP debut and needed a lift to the airport early on the Friday. A local speedway celeb offered to put him up and get him to his flight but as I'd driven to Hackney that night we gave him the lift to his lodgings, via my local pub and curry house. Introducing him to the landlord we advised he'd be on the telly on the Saturday so all pub tellies set for the GP. As he lined up for his first race we told the landlord it was our friend from Thursday in red, so the whole bar was cheering Fonzi's victory. The publican was over the moon, telling people the winner was drinking there on Thursday.  However he didn't appreciate the etiquette of speedway as he continued with every race telling punters to watch the guy in the red helmet who was there on the Thursday.   

     

    • Like 4
    • Haha 1

  8. Posted

    I go a couple of times a season, including past Crusaders matches and when an even lower level Crayford raced there, so am used to the facilities. I'll leave it to others to answer, as I may have a bias. However, during one of the grading intervals, I did a rough distant headcount, from my place on the back straight, and got to just over 300. 

    Connor Bailey's win in heat 15 was the best race I've ever seen at the track and Ace Pijper was also unlucky throughout, actually trying to race; his heat 9 exclusion could have gone either way from what I saw but Tom Woolley is an honest guy , so I will accept there was contact. It seems the current promotion are trying to get things right. I was at a FA Cup tie 10 miles away on Saturday and it rained all day, including 3 torrential downpours, so I was surprised the meeting was on, let alone with a track needing regular watering, so well done to all linked to the promotion. Hope they succeed.     

     

  10. Posted

    2 hours ago, Tim G said:

    The best stadium in London is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium but the area is far from the best but you can see they are starting to do parts of it up.

    Probaly would actually be the easiest to convert to a speedway track aswell due to it having two pitches so no damage to the football pitch. 50,000 fans would be a pretty much sell out but I don’t see a speedway meeting get those sort of numbers these days.

    Wembley is a fantasy and too big for speedway now and I believe the London Stadium has seating removed when it’s converted for athletics so would need the same for speedway.

    I just cannot see how economical a speedway gp would work in a big London stadium.

    The groundsman at Tottenham is a big (probably huge) speedway fan. He checked in the early stages of the development whether the pitch could be lifted and base accommodate a speedway track.  Sadly not, I believe owing to the structure of the base beneath the pitch, but we do have people in high places on our side. Similarly London Stadium/West Ham ownership gave a favourable response to initial enquiries. With the baseball and athletics contracts though I am unsure how speedway could be fitted in at this stage during the football close season. Never say never.  

    When AFC Wimbledon asked for ideas for other uses of the stadium I don't think I was alone in suggesting speedway but never received a response.  With complaints that other stadia could be too large this could be too small to justify expend though.  

    I find the main problem with going to the London Stadium is that, when you go to a pub afterwards and they hear an English accent they immediately start talking Cockney and singing "Knees up Mavver Brarn"   :rolleyes: Being bananaphobic their offer to "'ave a banana" is quite insulting too.   

     

     

     

      

    • Haha 2

  11. Posted

    8 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

    The roof doesn't fully close. It's primarily there to cover the spectators, but it can open so the pitch will (in theory) get light and air. 

    Even with the roof "fully closed" I received a thorough drenching during one of the NFL games there, like several hundred others adjourning to the concessions area to watch on live TV, for nearly the whole 2nd quarter. It is definitely no Principality Stadium, in that respect, only just covering the crowd.

    More recently I watched the Blades in the FA Cup Semi Final there and, at regular intervals a  video loop played on the big screens, showing the stadium history, including speedway . Not very inspiring as it showed a murky black and white film of two old time riders with their legs stuck out going round a bend, followed by another from the same era, of one taking the chequered flag. The full colour Penhall heats in 1981 would have made far more impact but maybe ownership rights dictated.  

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    Finnish final Pyynikin Stadium, Tampere, 1 p.m. Saturday 11th March  

    1. Mats Järf, VaMK                                                        14+3

    2. Matti Isoaho, OMK                                                     10+2+2

    3. Christer Biskop, KPMK                                               14+1

    4. Heikki Huusko, KaMK                                                 11+3+0

    5. Aki Ala-Riihimäki, SeMK                                             10+1

    6. Tomi Norola, SsMK                                                     10+0

    7. Topi Mustonen, HMK                                                  8

    8. Timo Kankkunen, VRT                                                8

    9. Atte Suolammi, HäMK                                                7

    10. Max Koivula, KaMoKe                                              6

    11. Markku Weckman, HyMK                                        5

    12. Artturi Ervasti, OMK                                                  5

    13. Jukka-Pekka Seppä, VaMP                                     4

    14. Jussi Hulkkonen, VRT                                              3

    15. Mika Helin, FMS                                                        3

    16. Jani-Pekka Koivula, KaMoKe  (reserve)                1

    17. Rami Systa, JaMoKe/UA                                         0

    18  Tommi Suolammi (reserve)                                  dnr

    Spent an enjoyable weekend in Finland, to take in this event. A packed crowd in the grandstand and open back straight seating had a great time, in what may well be the final such event in the stadium.

    Mats Järf showed his quality in being the ultimate winner following an opening heat collision with  Atte Suolammi, which left him writhing on the ice in a great deal of pain, for several minutes. Following an ambulance ride he returned for the rerun.

    Possible premeeting favourite  Max Koivula, never recovered from an opening heat ef, and another in his third ride before showing his quality with a showboating win in his final race. This left Järf, the deserved winner coming from the back in each race to claim the title.  My predicted winner, Heikki Huusko, following a great start gradually slipped back to finish 4th, as Järf, went in the opposite direction to take the spoils,

    • Like 1

  19. Posted

    1 hour ago, RS50 said:

    Fairly sure there was at least one winter meeting at Sheffield while Neil Machin was promoter.

    Drifting further away from the title/theme of the thread, but I definitely attended a Christmas week match at Owlerton in the 1990s. It wasn't called speedway though, something like "Speedtrack" and had a ramp on the back straight so the riders had to jump MX style. As a result, as it was not conventional speedway, it did not to breach winter close down regs. Shortly afterwards, may be even the next year, regular meetings were held annually at Newport, with official approval, and called speedway.

    I remember at least one of the Tatums riding in the Owlerton meeting and think he won.  

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    On 6/22/2022 at 11:25 PM, Wobblywheel said:

    Is nobody going to say what a fantastic job the promotion at Oxford are doing? The racing tonight was brilliant, the track was well prepared despite temperatures of about 28 degrees, with no dust until heat 14. A good crowd and a great atmosphere, it was simply exciting - like speedway should be but at most tracks it is not.

    To the person whinging about the £1.00 booking fee. I would like to inform you that 2 weeks ago the meeting was cancelled after heat 4 due to rain and guess what, the promotion gave everyone free admission tonight. I do not think many tracks would do that. Oh, and parking at Unipart is free with a free shuttle bus. But hey -ho you can’t please every body all of the time. Personally, I’ just delighted to see Oxford running again after 15 years.

    OK, I will. My high spot was the atmosphere on the terraces, totally different to previous seasons' visits to Sandy Lane. Early heats were hardly the best but fans audibly getting behind the riders in each race was fantastic, and with the excellent last two heats, the noise was overwhelming. Dozens of 20 somethings dancing on the terraces, when Oxford went ahead for the first time after heat 15, certainly was a slap in the face for the inaccurate oft quoted profile of the average speedway fan. Great stuff. Easy to join in. 

    My second visit of the season with a 150 mile round trip, and petrol at £1.95 a litre, was no cheap jaunt, but well worth the effort, so much so that we have already booked tickets for next week, with extra bodies in tow. 

    Wouldn't be the BSF without a moan so negatives are, food in the main stand, needed when coming straight from work, is really overpriced crap. Solved by dropping in at one of the many eateries in London Road on the way, to have a more substantial and nutritious meal, at around the same price. All real ale had run out in the bar, but this is possibly a positive sign that the good burghers of The City of Dreaming Spires may have educated palates to drink it dry, so hopefully extra supplies will be ordered in future to quench the thirst.    

    OK, those were  tongue in cheek, and certainly irrelevant to the excellent job done by the promotion, in respect of the main course.

    One genuine minor moan, and I say this as someone who accepts the need for positive track grading, but WTF didn't they do the track grade whilst it was clear for around 10 minutes, after Broc's fall in heat 4. No problems with him having a breather, and time to recover but to have the rerun and then carry out a grade, taking around the same time as the gap to the rerun, was a careless lapse. 

    Anyhow, bedtime after waiting for the bye election results to come in; Yeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss. See you next week; mine's a pint of Doombar

     

       

     

     

  21. Posted

    16 hours ago, steve roberts said:

    Wasn't there some sort of a track at Ringwood once? Recall that Martin Yeates used to practice there.

    Matcham's Park held speedway style "Mini Longtrack" meetings from the late 80s to 1993. We went to the first meeting of 1993 (IIRC Ringwood v Rye House) only to be turned away at the entrance. Never got inside, although I'd seen F1 stocks there previously, but it seemed they had put a speedway type track around the outside of the stock car one but leaving the fixed car fence in place on the inside. Sadly a sidecar passenger had been killed hitting that fence during afternoon practice, causing the cancellation and I assume, an end to the whole project, as no bikes seen there since. 

    In later years the complex was subject to a Great British Rip Off with people being charged up to £40 to enter a "Lapland Wonderland" leading up to Christmas. This included seeing 2 plastic polar bear models, several chained up huskies, labelled as wolves, and a "magic tunnel of light" made up of a few "Poundland" Christmas Tree lights, thrown over some garden netting. Santa was seen having a smoke next to the "state of the art" Portaloos before handing out potentially hazardous plastic toys to children who had queued for a couple of hours for the privilege. To top it all a naturally irate parent was seen punching an "elf" in frustration. Like at speedway tracks I assume they had an "Elf Warning" on display at the entrance.    

    Regarding the possible return of speedway to Southampton, the stadium/track plans produced are amazing and professionally drafted, so it would be great if it happened.  Good luck to all involved. 

    • Like 2

  22. Posted · Edited by Mr Ore

    A great ambassador and total professional yet humble at the same time. We were very recently discussing catching up with him, in a couple of weeks, not realising, at the same time, he was being rushed to hospital. A tragic loss. Condolences to Kerrie and family. 

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    2 hours ago, customhouseregular said:

    My schoolboy German can decipher some but not enough 

    I received this information from Russia. Toloknov has a rather shredded foot and he had to have 2 toes amputated. Kuzhin has torn open an artery in which there was a cardiac arrest as a result of 3 litres of blood loss. However, both have been successfully operated on and are doing well according to the circumstances.

    Not the best of news, but could have been far worse. Best wishes to both.

     

    • Sad 1

  24. Posted

    On 1/4/2022 at 7:39 PM, Bavarian said:

    Is there any ice speedway racing taking place in Sweden or Finland ?

    Please don't ask for a link, as I had a computer crash, when I was checking possible ice racing options for this winter. Subject to there being no or limited restrictions on attending events the Finnish final is proposed at Varkaus on 26th February. Sadly the airport closed a few years ago to passenger flights so would be a difficult journey from UK for us.

    Not asked for but Weissenbach, which we have done by public transport, are similarly awaiting details from the Austrian government but seemingly have a plan in place to run if they are allowed the crowd level. I can find no info regarding potential events in Czechia.   

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
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