Message To The Leicester Promotor

[TMW 533]

Tina, please dont talk about how riders ride a bike unless you have done it yourself as it looks silly to those who have raced on here.The problem at BP is down to the shape and NOT the riders.

 

Oh bogoff and do one. Get your kicks elsewhere I'm sure Spearmint Rhino does conccesions!!!!!!

Edited April 30, 2013 by TMW

[mrcts 252]

 

 

Tina, please dont talk about how riders ride a bike unless you have done it yourself as it looks silly to those who have raced on here.The problem at BP is down to the shape and NOT the riders.

why oh why do you have to include the word silly in every post you make,to you everyone is either silly or makes silly comments.

You silly git!

[Leicester Lion 274]

I love the high quality of the debating on the Leicester threads.

[Gemini 4,894]

Me too. Just popped in here to get away from all the moaning and whingeing on the Coventry threads but it's even more depressing in here.

[lionstigersnotbearsohmy 93]

So what is the best option with what we have? The common consensus is that the straights are too close together which makes the bends too tight. I'm assuming the position of the straights can't be altered now. So will pulling the apex of the bends in by, say, 2m create another racing line that can actually be that? Or will it be too tight a line to get round without losing speed and therefore not giving the riders a usable option to the current quickest line around BP? Be nice to have some constructive comments please.

[jackson2 17]

Just wanted to ask have any riders said what they think of the track not just Leicester riders

[neb 312]

Just wanted to ask have any riders said what they think of the track not just Leicester riders

i think simon stead said recently it was the best track he has ever ridden or something on those lines when interviewed.

[Leicester Lion 274]

i think simon stead said recently it was the best track he has ever ridden or something on those lines when interviewed.

I think he also said he'd never seen so much passing in every race as he'd seen at Leicester. Or something on those lines.

[Gemini 4,894]

No good asking riders as they will just say what the management/fans want to hear. Never know what is round the corner and they may ride for the Lions one day so best not to upset the apple cart.

I do wonder what Jason Crump really thought though as I think he was one of the first to try the new track out.

[Vince 9,458]

I managed about 10 laps of Leicester last April before setting myself up for a few weeks in plaster! Admittedly on a flattrack bike and not especially fast. My thoughts at the time were initially the same as most at first look, long straights and really tight bends and it just looked wrong. However it didn't ride exactly as it looked and the problem for me was the surface more than the shape. These days without the oil going into the track it seems to take a lot longer to get a good surface and I felt that a couple of years down the line it could be a decent track that allowed overtaking by riders running in deep and cutting back. For that to happen I would think you need consistent grip rather than ripping up certain areas of the track and that is going to take time.

 

The shape might not be ideal but I think things can improve and Glyn knows a lot more about tracks than most of the people complaining. Huge track changes by bringing the inside of the bends in 10 yards or whatever might produce the desired results but then again they might not and the money spent be the end for the club.

[wandersome 281]

So what is the best option with what we have? The common consensus is that the straights are too close together which makes the bends too tight. I'm assuming the position of the straights can't be altered now. So will pulling the apex of the bends in by, say, 2m create another racing line that can actually be that? Or will it be too tight a line to get round without losing speed and therefore not giving the riders a usable option to the current quickest line around BP? Be nice to have some constructive comments please.

 

I'm not saying this is correct but the gist of what understood was going to happen was that the straights we're getting shortened by 6 metres, the apex's by a couple and the entrances opened up a bit. I personally think something like that might have worked.

[LionsDen 124]

I'm not saying this is correct but the gist of what understood was going to happen was that the straights we're getting shortened by 6 metres, the apex's by a couple and the entrances opened up a bit. I personally think something like that might have worked.

 

 

I agree. However, the problem is there are three rather large pieces of drainage dug deep into the ground on each of the two bends so shortening the straights will necessitate digging them out again and replacing further back. No doubt this is a costly and disruptive exercise, and presumably the reason why it's only been a minimal effort so far. Beaumont Park has a strange combination of great drainage and crap track.

[Skodaman 192]

Just wanted to ask have any riders said what they think of the track not just Leicester riders

 

The Redcar team manager said how good the track was even after the heavy loss inflicted by his team the other week.

[jenga 2,998]

have you tried sending the Leicester promoter a RECORDED letter, then you know he has received it.

[Tsunami 10,219]

I managed about 10 laps of Leicester last April before setting myself up for a few weeks in plaster! Admittedly on a flattrack bike and not especially fast. My thoughts at the time were initially the same as most at first look, long straights and really tight bends and it just looked wrong. However it didn't ride exactly as it looked and the problem for me was the surface more than the shape. These days without the oil going into the track it seems to take a lot longer to get a good surface and I felt that a couple of years down the line it could be a decent track that allowed overtaking by riders running in deep and cutting back. For that to happen I would think you need consistent grip rather than ripping up certain areas of the track and that is going to take time.

 

The shape might not be ideal but I think things can improve and Glyn knows a lot more about tracks than most of the people complaining. Huge track changes by bringing the inside of the bends in 10 yards or whatever might produce the desired results but then again they might not and the money spent be the end for the club.

 

I have similar views to you Vince. There are plenty of tracks that have long straights and tight corners, namely Newcastle and Belle Vue. BV has stocks but Newcastle doesn't. Our track is fairly consistant and enjoys good racing on a smoothish grippy track. Even with little banking on either bends, riders know they can pick up the dirt and ride both outside and inside and gain an advantage. Like all tracks, gaters are fancied to win but there is the chance inside or out to pass.

At Leicester, there is little wrong with the shape, and it has the great advantage of good banking. In my visits to it, there is an inability to stop drift coming out of the bends and riders need to shut off a little to save drifting into the fence. Berwick, Worky, Redcar, etc, suffer from the same characteristic. My solution would be to increase the shale and clay in it, to make it grippy and neutralise the chippings which seem to be the majority material used and is the prime cause IMO of the drift due to lack of grip. It does not need any major surgery, the shape is NOT that different from many other tracks. It is certainly a better shape than some of the current and past square or trick tracks where home fans raved about the standard of racing at their track. Get the material mix right, add some water and you will get decent racing and yes from the riders that are in the current team.

I have tried to post as a neutral, but unfortunately some posters on here are totally unable to, and seem to only want to seek remedies that are not or cannot be delivered.

Change the clay./shale mix, not the Promotor or the track shape. Newcastle has proved what can be done with a grippy track which has long straights and tight turns. Leicester can do it as well.